Comparing anything to food must be one of the highest compliments. Very few things in the world are tied as strongly as food is to the individual experience. We are dependent on it to live, it engages all five senses. (Foods make wonderful noises, they do!) It is a moveable and transcending event that is enjoyed by oneself and in mass with equal fondness and fervor. The spectrum of culinary nuance in spices, creative variation in recipes, simple pleasures of fresh fruit, and an intrinsic tradition of sharing make it simultaneously an unparalleled individual experience and a highly relevant expression of culture and community.

So what can the art world learn from food? Or maybe a better question would be, How is art food, and what is it about food that we can identify and enhance in our art experiences? Do we not experience individual and group wonderment through concerts, dance, and even the simple act of gazing in awe at a masterpiece with 20 other onlookers? Isn't our creative variation inherently bound to our interpretation and expression? Why does something as seemingly simple and pure as Yves Klein's IKB, the primary colors and grids of Mondrian, or the peculiar grace of a George Ohr ceramic work, strike us with such intensity that we want to... touch the artwork. And above all else, how does sharing and the social actions of our cultural surroundings create a sense of community?

Too many questions.

The point is there is great potential to grow the arts via models of thinking that line up with food. It has value to you, it provides meaning, it feeds strange abstract parts of you that you can't touch but know exist, it creates a vortex around which to contemplate with oneself or share with many, it moves with trends like crops change with seasons, with attention and cultivation it thrives and begs to be shared.

More questions.

How much more valuable do you find an artist you know than an artist you don't know? Certainly owning a Hirst piece is pretty valuable but how does that compare with being able to walk into an artists studio on your way home from the grocery store and pick up a pair of prints to go with dinner? How does that Silver Oak Cabernet taste when paired with the new album you just bought from a local band you just saw? When you make dinner, do you always cook for an army from New York, or do you cook for a couple friends that share studio space and bring a performance to dinner instead of a loaf of focaccia?

Think about what makes your art experience most valuable here in the Twin Cities. An abundance of highly talented, extremely creative artists, creating new works. Picking it fresh from the easel and delivering it to you, in person, pretty much like Community Supported Agriculture but in this case Community Supported Art. Stop by your local arts grower, ask how the season's looking, inquire about what's coming up in the next harvest, take a little bushel of something home. The truth about the Community Supported anything, whether food or art, is that they're here because of you and you're here because of them. Think of it like a good meal. Pick up something fresh from a local grower and invite the friends over or just look, listen, touch, smell and taste for yourself, and while you're at it make some good food too. Support. Share.

Community Supported Art