(Above: A collaborative drawing painting my friend Kobe Barber and I worked on together. He painted and added color to the pen and ink skeleton which is still visible.)
Below is a response to my post about Buffalo being ranked #1 among mid-sized cities for arts and culture, which I’m still trying to understand myself.
“I have found most Buffalo artists to be #1 in creativity, dedication, perseverance, and courage……
I love what i do so much that i’d do it for nothing…..and sometimes i have to do it for nothing….if buffalo is #1, it must be because we artists are #1…..i wonder when this city will come to believe, as we do, that ART is central to LIFE……I wonder when us #1 artist-folks will be financially rewarded for working so hard and for making Buffalo #1 for arts and culture among mid-size cities……”
– Karima Amin
I had to take this quote from one of the most talented and gifted “heros or SHE-ros” I know. Karima Amin is a wonderful person first and foremost, but also an activist, an encyclopedia, an actor, a singer, writer, storyteller….and the list goes on. Oh, and she can beat the heck out of a drum and rap at the same time. She has dedicated so much of herself and her talents to Buffalo and the surrounding areas for so long, that she has all the right to say what she wishes about the state of Buffalo.
I don’t have enough time to convey all my feelings about the importance of art, but the short version would go like this.
*Are you sitting in a chair right now?
*Are you clicking a mouse, whether wireless or wired?
*Are you reading this from an iPod, Blackberry or monitor?
*Are you resting your elbow on a desk staring at each letter I’ve typed on your monitor?
*Are you dressed right now?
From the clothes you have on, the sneakers, the undies, your technology gadgets, the desk you are sitting at, the chair you are sitting on, the car you drive….
You can thank us ARTISTS for making that possible, for everything starts on paper as a sketch/layout/drawing before manufacturing happens. GIVE PROPS TO AN ARTIST TODAY!!
Peace
