What I want (and what I believe many of us want) is a way to use our creative intelligence to restore cultural clarity and strengthen our democratic life.
That’s why I am launching Res Creativa.
Res Creativa will be a network for creative intelligence, uniting artists and creative thinkers across disciplines to help shape a healthier democratic culture.
A Civic Force for Creative Minds
We all know the chaos. We all know how quickly creative people get dismissed, sidelined, or caricatured. And I, for one, am exhausted by the language of “fighting.” I want to build. I want to imagine. I want to be driven by purpose, not by anger.
What surprised me (especially in retirement) is that I had one more match left in the matchbox. I struck it, and it lit Res Creativa.
Become a Founder
Over the past week, I’ve shared ideas for what Res Creativa could accomplish. They’re ambitious by design, starting points for the founders who will shape this with me.
We already have forty signers. I’m aiming for one hundred before I present this work at a conference next month. There is no cost to join as a founder, only your name, your imagination, and your willingness to help build something new.
If we reach that first hundred, we can move from possibility to structure, from conversation to activation.
I hope you’ll add your name.
Editor’s Note (2026): This essay was written during the earliest days of Res Creativa, when the project was first being imagined. It remains here as part of the organization’s founding story.
A version of this post was originally published on Substack, May 13, 2026
Banner image: Lawrence W. Ladd, Parable of the King and His Servants (ca. 1880), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Bates and Isabel Lowry, CC0
