Being at-large is a beautiful thing.
It means being on the loose, without a direction, without control, without a plan.
Being an artist-at-large is even more exciting when it is combined with the discipline of art, the freedom of travel, the history of culture, the desire of discovery, and the mysteries of the universe.
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Picasso did it. Gertrude Stein did it. Leonardo da Vinci did it. Gaugin really did it. Henry Miller is famous for it. Mozart did it. Mary Cassat and Vincent Van Gogh also did it.
Our ancestors did it.
They traveled. They explored. They moved. They experienced. They observed.
Artists, Writers, Photographers … it’s probably our intense curiosity about life that drives us to move about on the planet. Our need to experience the revitalization of Self attracts the artist in us to the road or the rail or the skies. In a way, traveling is very similar to the creation process – both are taking a leap into the unknown. Within our travels we find the discovery of a new place, a new language, a new taste, a new way of seeing, or find new work methods that will ultimately, profoundly affect our work.
Artist-at-large is here to inspire and encourage you to open the door and step out into an unknown world – to transform – even if it is only by experiencing your own neighborhood.
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It’s 2020. The twentieth year online. Where are we going?
All things change, yet all things stay the same.
This site is all about the excitement of community – not about any one person – rather the excitement of coming together as a community of cultural travelers and artists, writers and photographers, explorers and performers.
The site is in a constant state of renewal. There’s a lot of content on the site that is outdated – like exhibition announcements – which is still useful for research, but there have been enough interesting images and stories and thoughts to bring them Out Of The Archives. The content is a mix of new and old, but all still very relevant.
Site Intentions
Simplicity. Story telling. Inspiration. Diving deep into what travel means to us as independent movers about the planet. Using words and images to tell stories on the subjects of working in the studio and observing while moving through this life and around the globe, through worlds both seen and unseen. Sharing observations, travel excitement, work.
And through it all we’ll keep exploring cultures with eyes and heart and mind wide open.
In 2019, a travel and culture editorial stock image division went live on the site. You can now purchase images from this ever growing collection to use as illustrations in your blog posts, email newsletters, e-books, or just use them as screen savers to remind you of a place or time.
Have fun looking through the site! Besides reading the blog posts you can:
Participate! It’s free! This has always been meant to be a participatory web site based on a community of artists, photographers, writers, musicians, creatives, and cultural travel nerds. We work in studios, live on the edge, and trip down the road.
The Stream and the Groups and Forums are a sitewide social media stream that functions like a combination of other popular social media sites out there. There are also groups and forums where you can start a conversation that may be a little more long term. Use it as a way to have more focused discussions on travel, art, and culture and to get your work under the eyeballs of people who might actually make the trip to see it. All you need to do to use it is to become a site member!
Besides participating in The Community, and posting your cultural or travel events, openings, and workshops in our Event Calendar, you can also submit guest posts, or become a regular contributor to the site.
Kimberly Kradel
artist. photographer. writer.