– Illuminating Our Path –
It has been said that art is the soul in conversation with the world. Art is the pure, fundamental instinct of the human spirit to express itself in the physical realm. To sing; to dance; to tell stories; to make music; to write; to paint. To make art is to reach out, to communicate with others across time and space, and to inscribe some permanent memento of our individual being, of our finite minds and hearts, upon the surface of our collective history.
In essence, the core of all creative impulse is the desire to explore the ultimate meaning of our human existence. The human heart craves a profound truth capable of illuminating the deepest mysteries of life: who we are, where we came from, and where we belong. And art cannot lie. All art sings out a form of truth that extends far beyond our every-day reality, illuminating our path to self-discovery. The artist holds up a mirror to reality, reflecting back myriad new perspectives and fresh interpretations. In the potent possibilities reflected by art, we discover that truth does not reveal itself in objective reality, but in the intangibles of how we feel, what we love, what we believe in, our highest aspirations and grandest dream, our greatest fears and bitterest disappointments. Paradoxically, art allows us to escape the constraints of our familiar reality by losing ourselves in the sensory experience of color, sound, texture, shape, and imagination, only to discover our individual uniqueness in our emotional and cognitive responses.
In a very real sense, art is the antidote to reality, for it invites us into the realm of concepts, ideas, and imagination, and allows us to envision the limitless potential that each human being represents. A world without art would be barren indeed. For as Victor Hugo said, although “It is by the real that we exist; it is by the ideal that we live.”
In virtually every culture and civilization, artists have held a special place in society. At CVAF, we believe that to nurture the creative spirit of young artists is crucial to our well-being as a society. Our primary purpose is to provide encouragement and financial support to student artists so that they may pursue their own creative vision. CVAF offers scholarship awards to students working in any artistic medium, including painting, writing, photography, visual arts, media, and film. Through the Mary Pickford Institute for Film Eductiona, we provide grants for filmmaking for economically disadvantaged students including at risk teens and young women in the Los Angeles area.
The CVCAF recently introduced the Caroline Victoria Rose for the Arts to the United States and Canada to assist our fundraising efforts for art scholarships. The Caroline Victoria, an ivory hybrid-tea rose, was created in England by Harkness Roses and introduced at the Chelsea Flower Show in London with Queen Elizabeth II receiving the first bouquet. Planting a Caroline Victoria Rose for the Arts in your garden will be a lasting reminder of the beauty art brings to the lives of each and every one of us.
Please help us support student artists in need by making a gift to the Caroline Victoria Coldicutt Arts Foundation or purchasing a Caroline Victoria Rose for the Arts. A substantial percentage of each rose purchase will be directed towards the CVCAF.