Jaume Plensa (Spanish, b. 1955), Isabella, 2014, cast iron, Gift of Craig and Anne Maier, 2021.82

There’s a renaissance going on. It’s not far away and long ago. It’s here and now, right here in twenty-first century America. It’s happening in homes, neighborhoods, small towns and big cities. It’s happening in the small and large, from the child with a box of crayons in Ohio to grown up creators all over America.

You can’t really explain a renaissance as it’s happening. That’s because time and distance haven’t yet given us historical perspective. Renaissance means “rebirth.” It is present in the living, the experiential, the actual lives of countless real people today.

The American Arts Renaissance of the now has roots in our American history, still young compared to much of the rest of the world with cultures more ancient than 250 years or so. The American Revolution, posing the great questions of freedom, equality, and self-governance based on consent of we the people, isn’t over. It just got the ball rolling.

American arts and humanities thrive when we the people, each of us and all of us, see within ourselves and each other a dignity that can’t be fully explained in words alone. If words could say it all, why paint or sing? Who can explain the many ways and means of We-the-People freedom of creative energy?

Of course, it’s very American to debate and disagree with the idea of a here-and-now American Arts Renaissance. Freedom includes the right to think that the opposite of a Renaissance is going on at home and abroad.

But here’s the thing about the arts and humanities. A Renaissance, here or anywhere, depends on encouragement. No youngster (or adult) picks up a brush, draws a picture, sings a song, dances a step, writes a poem, acts in a play, or takes those first creative steps without some encouragement.

Encouragement is also known as your Cincinnati Art Museum. Visit, look around, enjoy, and then ask yourself. Is there a renaissance going on?