You Are an Artist, Sarah Urist Green
You Are an Artist, Sarah Urist Green
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You Are an Artist
Assignments to Spark Creation

Author: Sarah Urist Green

Narrator: Sarah Urist Green

Unabridged: 5 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 04/14/2020


Synopsis

“There are more than 50 creative prompts for the artist (or artist at heart) to explore. Take the title of this book as affirmation, and get started.” —Fast Company

More than 50 assignments, ideas, and prompts to expand your world and help you make outstanding new things to put into it

Curator Sarah Urist Green left her office in the basement of an art museum to travel and visit a diverse range of artists, asking them to share prompts that relate to their own ways of working. The result is You Are an Artist, a journey of creation through which you'll invent imaginary friends, sort books, declare a cause, construct a landscape, find your band, and become someone else (or at least try). Your challenge is to filter these assignments through the lens of your own experience and make art that reflects the world as you see it.

You don't have to know how to draw well, stretch a canvas, or mix a paint color that perfectly matches that of a mountain stream. This book is for anyone who wants to make art, regardless of experience level. The only materials you'll need are what you already have on hand or can source for free. Full of insights, techniques, and inspiration from art history, this book opens up the processes and practices of artists and proves that you, too, have what it takes to call yourself one.

You Are an Artist brings together more than 50 assignments gathered from some of the most innovative creators working today, including Sonya Clark, Michelle Grabner, The Guerrilla Girls, Fritz Haeg, Pablo Helguera, Nina Katchadourian, Toyin Ojih Odutola, J. Morgan Puett, Dread Scott, Alec Soth, Gillian Wearing, and many others.

About The Author

Sarah Urist Green is the creator, curator, and host of The Art Assignment, an educational video series produced in partnership with PBS Digital Studios that focuses on the creative process and the act of making. She is also the former curator of contemporary art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She holds a master of arts in modern art history from Columbia University and a bachelor of arts from Northwestern University. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband, the author John Green, and their two children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Robin on April 22, 2020

I listened to this as an audiobook, but it seems like it would have been better in print form. For example, getting verbal directions on how to make a rug isn’t as easy as seeing the directions.......more

Goodreads review by Megan on May 07, 2021

I very rarely read non-fiction books. It's just not my vibe as a person. But I absolutely adored this book, like I had a feeling I would. I've loved Sarah's work since I discovered the Art Assignment youtube channel. I loved learning about all the featured artists, and have tabbed at least a dozen o......more

Goodreads review by Kieran on January 10, 2021

This isn’t really my type of book, as I don’t usually get motivated to do art projects via reading. However, even I tried a few of these cool ideas! As a means of artistic inspiration and exploration, it is perfect. It’s a beautiful book, filled with interesting art projects, philosophical musings,......more

Goodreads review by Elana on December 02, 2020

This was a completely delightful guide to sparking your inner artist. I love art, but I find I don't have much time to actually do art. This book is full of great little assignments from a diverse array of artists that are achievable for all, art skills and availability of resources notwithstanding.......more

Goodreads review by Christine on July 31, 2020

While I may not ever actually do all of these assignments, reading this has shown me that art is whatever you want it to be. Each "chapter" is only a few pages. It's laid out as some background and context of the artists, then their assignment for you. But then it has tips/cheats/variations which pr......more


Quotes

Praise for You Are an Artist

“In her new book, You Are An Artist, [Green] hopes to take the elements of fear and decision-making out of art-making. . . . The projects, thankfully, can be done in isolation and shared virtually.”
—NPR.org

“There are more than 50 creative prompts for the artist (or artist at heart) to explore. Take the title of this book as affirmation, and get started.”
Fast Company