Storytelling

If all the world is indeed a stage, then we are its storytellers, threading our narratives to make sense of the vast and tangled web of existence. Through our stories, we shape our identity, carve out our ethics and set our aspirations aloft. We dissect our past, hoping to imagine a future we dare to dream. In sharing these stories, we spark compassion, empathy, connection and catharsis.

The language of our stories is the language of the human condition: hope, love, longing, fear, passion, laughter, anguish, joy and all the shadows and lights in between. As the age of artificial intelligence dawns, these terms become our measures of sentience. They are the currency of life. They are the currency of the arts. As surely as we navigate the spaces around us and the forms that fill them, the archetypes of stories dwell in our collective unconscious, timeless and universal. The hero’s journey, the noble sacrifice, the tragic flaw, the coming-of-age, the quest for immortality and the myriad creation myths remain immutable, enduring as time itself.

Artists probe the depths of these shared truths, their significance and their psychology. They explode them into grand epics — a Sistine Chapel or Mahler Symphony — or distill them to their essence — a Mark Rothko or Philip Glass. Through word, sound, image and movement, they reveal the engine rooms of our psyches.

This season, we celebrate stories across art forms. And what a feast awaits us! Gabriela Ortiz’s evocation of Kauyumari, the spiritual Blue Deer of native Mexican lore, lifts the curtain on a season replete with tall tales and beguiling characters. We will meet Mendelssohn, inspired to craft some of his most charming music by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We will encounter Beethoven, radiating the hope and promise of Schiller’s Ode to Joy across two centuries.

We will be charmed by Mussorgsky’s musical pictures, conjured during his promenade through Viktor Hartmann’s famous exhibition. Richard Strauss, the greatest of symphonic poets, will seduce us with the wit and trickery of Till Eulenspiegel and the unsurpassed beauty of his Rosenkavalier. Bringing meaning to stories of loss and grief, the elegant mind and blistering words of Margaret Atwood will touch us all. We will explore African diasporic identity through As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic, Selections from the Wedge Collection. We will marvel at Alex Katz’s unbridled creativity, bringing stories from theater and dance to life. The voice of Renée Fleming, the choreography of Andrea Peña, the photography of Edward Burtynsky and the Floridian artists of Entangled in the Mangroves will share their stories of nature.

It is my hope that you will be enriched and stimulated by this unique kaleidoscope of art and the interweaving of Storytelling across disciplines and programs with Artis—Naples this season. These are our stories, our attempts to make sense of ourselves, each other and the world around us. Whichever of our stages or spaces you find yourself in, may this rich seam of work bring you joy and inspiration. We look forward to welcoming you!

  Alexander Shelley
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Artistic and Music Director