Creative Mindercising and Getting Arty

Lately I have been hopped up on the ideas of art and creativity and the way that they advance culture.  Now, some Boulderites are going to pull out their hair, stomp their feet, and possibly spit on the ground when they hear me say these next words: Boulder creativity is rather stale. I mean, broke in college, napping on the couch, see a Wheat Thin on the coffee table, bite it and chip your tooth. That stale.

Don't panic if you audibly hear something right now.That sound you are hearing is the collective gasp and a few shouts of "Heretic!" from the yuppie masses.  You can hear them clearly because they are all out on the patios, listening to the ambient drone of String Cheese, Wide Spread Panic, or OAR.  Drones of the jam band variety, occasionally peppered in with "Redemption Song."  Oh Bob Marley, if only you had known your lyrics would be displayed on so many luxury SUVs. 

I know there are creatives in this town who do art outside of political motivation;   who play music that doesn't make me want to cry as middle aged men and woman flail their arms and kick in spasms  dance on the Pearl St. bricks; who do not think that close up photography of columbines mixed with wild grasses are the highest form of art.  While those things can be nice for a mountain town or hippie vibe, I think that there is much more to be explored.  I think there are people who believe in art as a progress-or, and even occasionally the aggressor, when faced with ignorance or stagnant perspectives. I know that I do.

I'm going to start out on a creative mindercise regimen (because I'm not really a fitness writer, I tried, it ain't me babe).  There are a number of exercises, creative espresso shots, and inspiration-based blogs and forums that I am going to draw from to spelunk the funk in my brain.I have invited a few others to do this with me on a Facebook group page at this link. We have completed our first project: Create a flier of a typical day and post it around your neighborhood (or post it in the photos section of the group). I have to say, for such a simple and potentially one-dimensional assignment, the creative approaches and streams of consciousness that my friends produced was inspiring. It solidified my theory that there can be a resuscitation of the arts in our community.  I'm excited to see Boulder grow this into something, and then one day (oh please oh please!) Boulder can be known for something in addition to it's reputation as a liberal  (add to that, mmj) mecca.

Check out some of the art postings from this week, and if you would like to join our group, welcome pal.

**I only put a couple up here, to see the rest, visit the Facebook Group page...it may become its own blog in the near future... stay tuned Lovely People, stay tuned.