Today I talk about the role art and artists play – or have played - in every society in human history. Art not only as a means of personal expression, but in the many ways it inspires, criticizes, lauds, entertains, and memorializes the human condition.
And we’ll explore this topic with my guest, Barry Shapiro, a graduate of Pratt Institute with a BFA in painting and printmaking. In New York, he worked as an illustrator, and was a regular contributor to New York Magazine, the New York Times, and Travel and Leisure.
A second career in film and video, earned him numerous awards, including an Emmy and a Clio as a producer and director.
Barry currently lives in Vero Beach, where he’s blended art and activism by creating connections and opportunities for his community to find their own voice. For Barry, all art is political, so let’s find out what that means for him, and for all you artists out there looking to Do Something!
He teaches painting to veterans at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, and at a primary school for children from challenging home environments. He ran an Art for Inmates program at the Indian River County Jail, and works with the Vero Beach Film Festival.
Learn more about Barry, his art, and his activism, here.
