David Ortolano, President

The fringe gives us an opportunity to engage the world community in the heart and soul of human culture - Creativity and Artistic Expression. In places like Bali Indonesia, for example, there is no separation of art and "living". In Balinese culture the modern economic system tends to take the back seat to artistic expression. For years I have been perplexed by the notion of creativity in American culture, being extra-curricular in schools or something that is maybe helpful in business but certainly not necessary to "make a living". As a matter of fact we are more frequently taught that if we want to make a good living, art is not profitable (or valuable), as if that were the only reason to be creative. Artistic expression in the United States is entertaining at best - something to do in your spare time once all the work is done. The only real value, according to many, is its potential to generate profit or draw people to a product thereby serving the greater good of our economy. There is a fear-based economic model that determines what is good artistic expression based on the numbers of dollars that it makes and/or the numbers of people that buy it. Our western minds believe that there is a best in art which inevitably implies that there is a worst and even more challenging, a mediocre. In other parts of the world artistic expression is viewed in the same light as breathing, eating and general health.

The Fringe gives the entire community the opportunity to open dialogues on the subject of art and creativity. It allows all people to participate with no judgment based on age, ability, cultural heritage, spiritual practice or political affiliation. All artistic expression is primary to our lives and does not deserve the limitations imposed by current trends and standards of the industry. The idea of fringe allows us each to present our work in a truly creative and free environment.