Robert Creeley, Paul Mellon Distinguished Fellow Lecture 2001

Drawing often from his own life experiences (e.g. the loss of an eye as a child and his sister’s declining health) and from the thoughts of other poets and artists in the visual media, Robert Creeley reads, with frequent digressions, from prepared remarks he calls “Notes Toward a Recognition of Art,” exploring such philosophical issues as seeing, what art is, meaning, beauty, truth, art, the marketplace, imagination, and whether art leads the artist to make it or vice versa.