We gather.

I teach an Art Appreciation course at my studio, and it's become my favorite class to offer. The class is a hybrid of learning about an artist, medium, or era and developing a new skill to accompany the piece of art history we're studying.

Last week, I had 15 individuals attend an Art Appreciation course on Claude Monet. We discussed the scientific breakthroughs that influenced his dedication to studying light and how the camera created an artistic divide during this time, which Monet himself embraced.

But what stood out the most during class was our conversation about the Impressionists' ability to form a new era in art through ridicule and disgrace from the prestigious art community. The term itself, Impressionism, was used to mock this group of artists and their inability to create realistic paintings.

Instead of following the academic community's requirements, a group of artists forged a new concept that wouldn't be taken seriously for years.

Yet here we are, 100 years later, studying the final years of Monet's life, when he heavily worked through his famous Lily series. We are drawn to an artist, era, and body of work known worldwide but only came into existence through scrutiny.

In a previous studio class, I asked one of my students if she was making work with the intent to sell or making work with the intent to create, discover, and foster growth within herself. It's a hard question to wrestle with. As an artist, there is an element of survival through selling works; however, there is also a death to creativity when one leans heavily into an intent to sell.

I asked my art appreciation class if they could do what Monet and the other impressionists did. Could they hold true to a new era, a new discovery within the world of ever-changing art, to forge a path forward with ridicule, mockery, and an unsteady future as artists? Could we approach our art with the same conviction as Monet?

My class was a beautiful tapestry of people from every age group and profession, with differences that enriched our discussions. But what united us was our shared belief in the power of art appreciation. We gathered to celebrate a moment in history when art boldly stepped out of its traditional mold.

How do we, as people, embrace the creative courage that Monet and the other Impressionists did during an era when their work was not celebrated How do we create work for the sake of our own self-discovery while pushing the boundaries set in front of us? How do we muster on when making art often feels out of reach and atmospheric in its vast nuance of existence?

We gather, we discuss, and we appreciate what has been and what will come.