Now Is the Time for Artists to Conceive Our Cultural Future

There is no point in waiting for U.S. leaders to do so.

This week, the Presidents of the European Parliament, Council, and Commission issued a shared commitment to protect, promote, and invest in culture.

“Europe’s story is told through its art, culture and creativity,” said Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament. Supporting creative minds, she argued, is an investment in the millions whose talent helps societies flourish.

Imagine the U.S. President, Vice President, and Speaker of the House issuing anything remotely like that. Imagine a shared cultural declaration from the leaders of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

We know that is not coming.

So why should artists wait for political leaders or bureaucracies to decide what cultural climate is best for us? And by “artists,” I mean everyone who shapes meaning, imagination, and shared experience across disciplines and communities.

Why wait for something that will never materialize unless we shape it ourselves? Otherwise the idea will be reduced to a dated PDF in a forgotten agency folder or a slogan on a soda can.

Around April 1, 2026, I began floating the idea of Res Creativa, an initiative to inspire, mobilize, and equip artists to apply creative intelligence toward social change and a healthier democracy.

I believed we needed 100 founding members before we could begin imagining our cultural future and reverse‑engineering how to build it. Then the June 18 declaration from European leaders arrived. It was the nudge I needed.

We have enough founders to begin.

We will build this from the grassroots up.

As I wrote last time, founders are not being assembled because Res Creativa needs labor. They are being assembled because Res Creativa needs imagination from different disciplines, generations, geographies, and lived experiences.

That is how we model democracy. We do not wait for permission. We practice it.

A version of this post was originally published on Substack, Jun. 20, 2026

Banner image: The northeast side of the Kaohsiung Music Center during the Taiwan Lantern Festival. The temporary floating bridge “Great Tiger Bridge” on the left side was specially built for the festival. Photo 2022 by Y.C. Tsai, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0