This is the future of art in America
It’s not about the things that “matter”
That “impact people”
What “the court of public opinion deems valuable”
No this is about what’s actually valuable
Human expression
Humans expressing themselves
That’s what leads to things happening
Anything happening
It’s what you rush home from work to go experience
A concert
A dinner
A movie
It’s what you look forward to
That’s art
Not just in America but everywhere
And that is meaning
What allows us to see what’s going on around us
Within is
In the people we know
All around us
It’s the intangible thing
People struggle to describe
Because it doesn’t operate according to consistent data
Numbers
Math
It flows like a River
It brings things, information, and connection across the world like bodies of water
And man made ships
Delivering precious cargo
Countries go to war over those
Relationships end because of a failure to communicate
To try and understand
To do it together
The stories that are told on this podcast are people’s real lives
Artists who made art in a greater society that constantly and relentlessly told them it was a waste of their time
It’s 2026
And this project has been standing on the front lines and chronicling
What’s been planted
Watered
What’s growing
What’s blooming
What’s spreading
Unbeknownst to the powers that be
And the super famous celebrities who still think they are controlling the narrative
Here is our Grand Central Station
For conversations about all things
What’s been, what is, and what
Could be
Choose your own adventure
There’s a New Orleans specific section because New Orleans is our home
And New Orleans has figured out a LOT about life
Much earlier than the rest of us
It’s the birthplace of Jazz
Of Rhythm & Blues
Of Rock N’ Roll even
Then there’s Seasons 1-5
And then there’s my story or how I made it through my first year of working (mostly) full time for Olivia Lilley LLC. as an artist and business owner coming to a brand new city
And finding my way
Welcome, artists
Humans
You are not alone
You never were
We’ve been here this whole time
Doing all of these things
All of this
*wrote this via notepad on my phone as I was walking home from the Krewe du Cleopatra parade in New Orleans, Louisiana; 2.6.26.
