God, you’ve always been my audience, from the beginning of time to the end of it. And there is another kind of creativity, one associated with something new. This was the kind of creativity I was thinking of when I wrote the word down in 1995. For example, when I was in charge of tobacco prevention for King County, we noticed tobacco companies spending lots of money sponsoring artists and supporting venues of creativity. Instead of peppering artists with hortatory messages about the harms of smoking, we started sponsoring artists and venues as well, even opening up our own gallery in Pioneer Square with a resident artist.
But we did this in spite of the institution of government, not with its help. When I was squeezed out, the project, Art Patch, ended. Yet I prefer this instead of accolades. I’d rather achieve creativity through a kind of theft of institutional prerogative; on the beach with all the loot while the bank wonders what happened. It’s why I haven’t made anything that lasts. Creating something new makes it feel like it’s mine. Scaling it and sharing it requires a sales job. There’s something more satisfying about getting away with being creative.
Roger Valdez 