Making Art Is a Civic Duty

The small thing you make matters far more than you think

We call voting, paying taxes, and sorting the trash our civic duties. I would like to add one more: making something. Whether it is a painting, a song, or a short piece of writing, the small work you make matters far more than you think.

From consumer to maker

We are the generation that consumes more content than any in history. As a result, we have come to think making things is a job for professionals. But culture is built not on a few geniuses but on the attempts of countless amateurs. Without community choirs and weekend painters, great art would have no soil to grow in.

Making well is easier than making continually, and making continually matters more.

An art teacher’s remark

Record over perfection

The work does not have to be good. What matters is leaving a record of what one person living in this age saw and felt. A clumsy sketch you draw today could be a clue that helps someone a hundred years from now understand our time.

• Make something, anything, for ten minutes a day
• Keep unfinished work instead of throwing it away
• Show what you make to at least one person
• Leave specific feedback on other people’s work

This weekend, take out a brush, a pen, or an instrument. It will be the most personal contribution you make to this society.