Today, I turn sixty. Such anniversaries are foreseeable, and this one’s long presence on my personal horizon was a reason for writing A Restless Art. It is also why I made so many mistakes in the process, and it has shaped the final book. So here’s a little explanation of how my age, at once so irrelevant and yet so integral to my understanding of community art, has influenced my book.

The imminence of this birthday was one motivation. At a human, physical level, I am aware of my diminishing resources and I wanted to explain my ideas while I still could. At this time of life, it’s natural to look back and try to interpret the journey. We want to pass on what we care for—in my case, community art—and believe it will be in good hands. Those of us with an excess of self-importance want to give…