William Zorach, Visiting Artist Lecture 1959

In this lengthy lecture, William Zorach speaks candidly and intimately to the participants about his life as an artist. Zorach begins the lecture by urging students to close the door on their schooling, and open the door on their own art. He states that in a time where one is constantly bombarded with all kinds of ideas, it is important for artists to make up their minds in order to develop resilience, as well as to learn how to become a dedicated human being. Artists must then try to cultivate luck, even though it is something they won’t always have control over. Zorach then states that the art world is full of illusion and one of the most important things as an artist is to retain one’s integrity and fight for it. When artists do this it is easier for them to express with clarity their simplicity and power, which are spiritual qualities and aspirations of the humanities which are timeless. Zorach states that a work of art is something conveyed, a feeling, an invocation, and that art must not just be a beautiful thing. Art’s goal is not to just echo, enhance, and animate life, but it must also be an expectancy, a foreboding, a tension, or a vision. Zorach says that artists should also challenge themselves to go beyond the limitations of their mediums, which will teach them how to develop their consciousness in taste and understand what art can be about. Zorach then shifts gears and speaks about his own artistic practice, which includes painting, drawing, stone-carving and ceramics. Zorach shares some of the themes that have inspired him as well, drawing from ideas around African sculpture, history, geography, spirituality, and autobiography. Zorach ends his lecture urging the participants to try and make a living by their work, while never compromising it. Zorach says the participants should believe in themselves and find people in their community who believe in them as well.