Art helps me love people. Everyone looks beautiful when they are dancing. The process of creating art invites one to explore themselves, their values, instincts, and aesthetics and develop sensitivity as to how we interact with the world around us. Viewing art invites audiences to be curious about other perspectives. Through art, we can better understand how and why people do what they do. It develops our sensitivity to subtext and context. Art enhances empathy for ourselves and each other.

The Creative Process resonates with me because it aligns with the values of preserving and celebrating the richness of human creativity and culture. By exploring the arts and humanities, we can foster deeper connections between people and communities, encouraging shared experiences and dialogue across cultures and generations.

We slip behind projections of prophecies
I tell her could mean nothing. We have

tendered a raging maw with hysterical
sleep. Tonight will be of modest dreams.

S.A. Aguillón-Mata is a Mexican-American author and artist inspired by tradition, circumstance, and whim. He has published the fiction and prose volumes Quién escribe (Paisajista) (IZC, 2004), Tratado (De una zona privada) (Pictographia, 2014), and Envés (UANL, 2016). His work also features in numerous anthologies, compilations, and literary magazines, both printed and web-based, in Mexico and the USA. He has both curated and participated in contemporary art shows in Cincinnati, OH, where he resides.

The arts are fundamental to humanity’s existence and survival on the planet because, in addition to showcasing creations and teaching techniques on how to create, they broaden human perception and thought. Through techniques and methods of thought, one can better perceive the directions of the world and gain an idea of ​​how to act or anticipate situations with previous experiences from other ancient but similar eras. One can also increasingly explore the techniques of effects and technology, which are increasingly present in the arts and in humanity’s daily life.

O
supplication,
o
fresh woven
voice
of
forced
supplication,

In my reality, Nature is the purest expression of God (not in a religious way). As we are an integral part of Nature, it acts as a mirror to our inner world, revealing at every moment its profound intelligence, beauty, and infinite mystery. Nature teaches us how to dance with life, embrace uncertainty, and move gracefully within the chaos of change.

Sleep falters,
thoughts gather in the dark
like a thick fog,

Arts, culture, and the creative process help us connect with each other and share how we experience the world. It’s a way to challenge ideas and welcome differences.

The arts and The Creative Process are important because they allow us to connect. Art is a byproduct of the artist connecting with something bigger than themselves. In my case, I connect with nature, and the outcome is a painting. If the connection is complete, then the resulting picture contains a record of that, and a discerning viewer will perceive that and make yet another connection, completing the cycle. Art is a shared energy, and the artist is a conduit.

In light of our world's exponential growth through AI and technology in general, the arts and humanities have never been more critical to our continued growth as a species. Without the arts and humanities to bring us into stillness and contemplation, we would be left with purely materialistic, physicalist views and miss out on the truth of our oneness.

Rosemary Burn is a British figurative painter based in the UK. Her works have been exhibited widely in Italy, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom and are held in several notable collections.

On a physical level, we have the ability to influence only as long as we are alive.
We are alive as long as we are in an environment that can support our life.
By destroying the environment, which is a necessary condition for our existence, we deprive ourselves of the ability to influence.

My work is driven by spontaneity and intuition and I have to restrain myself sometimes from throwing everything at the painting. However, I also like to paint purely for the act of painting, and the tension I feel between the two is where I need to find the right balance, hence the name of this painting.

My heart is a river And like a river
I cannot enter myself in the same way twice
I carry your river in mine–one heartbeat at a time

She is sitting next to me on the carpet in my living room and I tell her I was attracted to her from the moment I heard her sing and I knew together we could make music and love, and in response she shows me the LP in her tote bag, Jazz Raga, where inscribed in the inside cover in blue-ball point pen it says “To Jo Rae- the swingingest lady on air, sincerest Gabor Szabo,” and she tells me, You could be like Szabo, famous and inspired, and I could be Jo Rae, and together we could experience musical nirvana, and she leans forward and her long hair brushes against her cheek and she pushes it back from her face and the gold bangles slide up and down her slim arm, and she says, will you play for me? and I say yes, yes, because I’m thinking I'll do anything, anything, if only she'll let me kiss her, just once, or twice, and she says…

Setting and historical note: The following story takes place in 1st century Rome, during the reign of Gaius Julius Caesar, colloquially known as Caligula. The year is approximately 38 CE.
SCENE I.
NARRATOR: With a swift, anxious tread, comely Drusilla proceeded through the lavish halls and chambers of the new mansion on Palatine Hill. Under other circumstances, she might have been waylaid by any one of the two-score retainers that her brother the emperor routinely kept on hand. Most everyone knew that Gaius Caesar’s second sister was by far the gentlest member of the imperial family. Her sweet and indulgent smile drew petitioners like moths to a flame. But that morning she strode more quickly and frowned more deeply than usual. Even Agrippinilla, with all her quiet authority, struggled a moment to secure the girl’s undivided attention.