The single piece of art that moved me more than anything else I can remember was when I was teaching drama up in Juneau Alaska one summer. I decided to base the summer workshop around the Exxon Valdez spill which had happened earlier that year, and we had all sorts of projects based on how the enviornment affects us both as a community and individually.

One girl, aged 12, created on her little portable Casio Piano, a piece of music, called "The forest". She was extremely shy at first to play it for us, but when she did, I found my eyes welling up in tears within the first four notes. It was inexpressably beautiful, and I snuck a peek at the rest of the class who were all as mesmerized as I was by this girl's magical music. It lasted 7 minutes.

The thing about art is that it's everywhere, just waiting to burst out. It knows no age nor culture nor anything but the moment it "becomes".

I keep wondering if that particular piece would have come into being if this child hadn't been moved towards it by our class and the thought process it may have engendered. I like to think it would have, but you never know, and it certainly reminded me of how we are all part of the instigation process...xx..e