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Anna Deavere Smith Quotes about Art

All Anna Deavere Smith Quotes Acting Art quotes Country Discipline Giving Heart Language Reality School Study
President Obama called for a 'we' nation in his Inauguration Address. Art convenes. It is not just inspirational. It is aspirational. It pricks the walls of our compartmentalized minds, opens our hearts and makes us

President Obama called for a 'we' nation in his Inauguration Address. Art convenes. It is not just inspirational. It is aspirational. It pricks the walls of our compartmentalized minds, opens our hearts and makes us brave. And that's what we need most in our country today.

Anna Deavere Smith
Inspirational, Country, Art
"Put a Face on It" by Anna Deavere Smith, www.huffingtonpost.com. February 22, 2013.

They say that art should stand the test of time. Life lasts a limited amount of time. Mountains and trees and earth will outlive human beings, but we don't know if they will be here always. Art does outlast the life span of its maker. Art should communicate to an increasing circle of strangers-people who do not know the artist, but come to know the work, and through the work, come to know something about the humanity of the artist that rings with their own humanity.

Anna Deavere Smith
Art, Circles, People
Anna Deavere Smith (2008). “Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind”, p.127, Anchor

Art simply can’t be stopped.

Anna Deavere Smith
Art
"Art in a Time of Civic Failure: Anna Deavere Smith and Tom Healy". Interview with Tom Healy, creativetimereports.org. November 20, 2013.

Perhaps art is a quest for the perfect, or even the imperfect. Reality always falls short on both sides.

Anna Deavere Smith
Art, Fall, Reality
Anna Deavere Smith (2008). “Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind”, p.124, Anchor

We who are in the arts are at the risk of being in a popularity contest rather than a profession. If that fact causes you despair . . . pick another profession. Your desire to communicate must be bigger than your relationship with the chaotic and unfair realities . . . We have to create our own standards of discipline.

Anna Deavere Smith
Art, Reality, Discipline

I think some of our most talented people are not going to pick the arts as a way that they're going to spend their lives.

Anna Deavere Smith
Art, Thinking, People
"Anna Deavere Smith revisits 'Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992'". Interview with Reed Johnson, articles.latimes.com. April 25, 2012.

Commit to finding the true nature of art. Go for that thing no one can teach you.

Anna Deavere Smith
Art, Commitment, Teach

I think that art is supposed to be ahead of the times.

Anna Deavere Smith
Art, Thinking, Art Is

Art should take what is complex and render it simply. It takes a lot of skill, human understanding, stamina, courage, energy, and heart to do that.

Anna Deavere Smith
Art, Skills, Simplicity
Anna Deavere Smith (2008). “Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind”, p.4, Anchor

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