URIST
GREEN
Theauthor,curatorandpodcast
hoston whatartmeansto her.
Interview:REBECCABRADBURY
WHATINSPIREDYOURNEW
BOOK,YOUAREANARTIST?
Travellingwidely,meetingartists,
andwantingtospreadtheword
thattherearesoverymanyways
tomakeartandbeanartist.
WHATCANWEEXPECT
FROMTHEBOOK?
A widevarietyofpromptsformaking
artwitheasily-foundmaterials,all
devisedbyworkingartists.You’llgain
a windowintosomanydifferentways
ofworking,alongwithtipsand
inspirationfromarthistory.
WHATARESOMEOFYOUR
FAVOURITEASSIGNMENTS
INTHEBOOK?
I amparticularlyfondofJulie
Green’sassignment,which
asksyoutosummona
memoryofa mealand
paintit ontoa paperplate.
WHYDOYOULIKE
READERSTOSHARE
THEIRART?
Tofeelevena smallsenseof
communityis importantwhenyou’re
makingart.I hopeseeingwhatpeople
WHOAREYOUR
FAVOURITE ARTISTS?
The masterful painter Kerry James
Marshall, fi bre artist Sheila Hicks,
sculptor Marisol Escobar, and Gordon
Matta-Clark, a brilliant artist who
made cuts into buildings as his work.WHAT SETS ART APART
FROM OTHER DISCIPLINES?
There is no set of skills you must
learn or body of knowledge you must
master to be an artist. All you need is
a will to make. Art gives you access
to the way other people see,
understand and process the world.WHAT WAS THE LAST GREAT
EXHIBITION YOU VISITED?
My daughter recently staged her own
art show in our kitchen, taping her
drawings to all the windows. It was
the best show I’ve seen in ages.
Sarah’s new book, You Are An Artist, is
published by Particular Books, RRP £20.
Listen to Sarah’s podcast episodes at
http://www.theartassignment.comA sense of community
is important when
you’re making art
10 MINUTES WITHSarah
make in response to the prompts
will inspire others to follow suit.WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO
MAKE ART RELATABLE?
No art is universally relatable – it’s
all so contingent on cultural context.
But I strongly believe the art world
gets better the greater the variety
of voices that are in it.WHEN DID YOU FIRST
WANT TO BECOME
PART OF THE ART
WORLD?
I wanted to be an artist
from a young age, but
at university I discovered
I preferred to talk about
otherpeople’s art more than
my own. From there, I looked for ways
to be involved with art without being
an artist, fi rst and foremost.HOW DID YOU GET INTO
CURATION?
While working at a commercial art
gallery in Chicago, I became jealous
when I realised curators saw art
shows, met artists and visited studios
as a job. I went back to study art
history, with a masters from Columbia
University, and interned in museums.MAIN PHOTO: © MARINA WATERS. ISTOCK/PEDRO LASTRA/UNSPLASH/MIXPIX/ALAMY