We were lucky to catch up with Ric Dragon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ric thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I have often asked myself, “why didn’t I simply find a beautiful place on the mountain, build a house and studio, and be done with it… why did I throw myself into a project which is, at its most ambitious, supposed to help save the world, and at the least, help artists have life-changing experiences?” And then, I am part of a conversation with an artist, a poet, a musician, another creator – and I remember, “ah, yes, that’s why – this feeds my art; this feeds my need for connection and community.”

Over eight years ago, I had moved to Bogotá, Colombia. The city is famous for having an element of the chaotic. It has more street-art per square meter than any other city I’ve ever visited in the world! After living in upstate New York, I was seeking a more economically viable place to sustain my art practice. I joke, although with a bit of truth, that you cross the street in NYC and it costs five bucks. And Bogotá gave me the large cultural community, yet extreme affordability.

But I’d also been nurturing a dream of creating an alternative art school – one based on decades of teaching art, influenced by theatre games and zen meditation. That in turn, led to the founding of a 240 acre art residency in the mountains outside of Bogotá. That project, which has hosted hundreds of creators over the last four years, is also, albeit ambitiously, creating an intentional community of artists, a sculpture park, and more.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The other day I was in a conversation about BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS DREAMS – those things that might also be called “Moon shot” dreams, in which you’re aiming to do something enormous. At heart, I’m a painter – great big juicy oil paintings. And isn’t the making of any given painting ambitious enough!? And yet, I’ve got this non-profit project which also feeds my creative juices.

On the painting side, I want to create works that – ok, I know this is going to sound a bit cheesy perhaps – works that make you feel embraced – hugged even. I want you to be able to walk into a room full of my paintings and feel loved. So, that’s a lifetime’s work, that will never be finished.

Then, there are the other things: a non-profit organization, a sculpture park, an alternative art-learning program. Some of these things I’m content being the mid-wife to -pushing along and supporting others in the creation of these things. The painting, itself, is more like giving birth itself.

The theme of trauma emerges sometimes. Colombia is a country in which the people and the land have suffered enormously. The US, too – generations of people going off to war and bringing their trauma back to their families and communities. Racism and misogyny are endemic. I have a central belief that art and culture have the power to help heal trauma. I don’t mean in a directly therapeutic manner, although that exists – but in a deeply fundamental way. People viewing art are often thrown into places of discomfort – and that discomfort is a good sign, often, that some magic is happening.

We have a mission here – and perhaps it isn’t unrelated to my thoughts about what I would like to emerge from painting – that we want the artists visiting here to have life-transformative experiences. And we hear often enough that this is happening. Perhaps it´s the combination of being fed three meals a day in the middle of lush nature, surrounded by a community of others focused on creating, that all helps throw a person back to the fertile childhood state of play and creation. And maybe, just maybe, this energy can spill over into the lives of the communities around us.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Like many artists, I’ve had to do quite a few different things for a living. When I was about 36 (I’m 62 now!) – I had taken to playing around with computers and databases – which led to an invitation from a friend to create a website. For that little gig, I got paid much more than I had painting houses or any other of the. myriad things I’d been doing to get by. And that, in turn, led to the creation of a company that made websites. Now, you’ve got to understand – it was fortunate timing – a propitious moment. Folks were just coming to understand the need for websites. The company I’d created then morphed into a company that did digital marking, and again, propitious timing with the advent of social media. An invitation to write a book for a major business publisher segued into a teaching gig at NYC and the giving of talks all over the world.

Then, a crisis. OK, it happened around the mid-life point, so maybe you can call it a mid-life crisis. I felt like I had been in a fog – NOT in the studio everyday making paintings. Being successful at something can sometimes be seductive! At any rate, I came to the conclusion that i needed out – and after negotiating a buy-out with my business partner, I knew I needed to go somewhere where I could stretch the dollars, and get re-focused on my painting. Thus, Colombia.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In a way, all that time in the world of marketing and such feels like it was my graduate school for what I’ve gone on to accomplish. One enormous lesson from that world is the cultivation of network. Imagine showing up in a new city, not really speaking the language. I can actually map out many of my important friends and associates as having come from the folks that hosted me in my first AirBnB!

I’m not naturally an outgoing person. When I’m with others for too long, I need to run back to the seclusion of my home and studio, and recharge the social batteries. But every chance I got, I said “yes.” It wasn’t unlike that movie with Jim Carrey in which he decides to do just that – say yes to every invitation that life threw his way.

In my past life, I held a belief, that one should “always take the coffee.” Never mind that someone just wants to pick your brains – go, share, be generous with knowledge.

But then, and perhaps its just different challenges for each of us – comes that important ability to protect your own boundaries. I suppose it´s a dance.   

Contact Info:

• Website: artesumapaz.org, ricdragon.com
• Instagram: ricpdragon
• Facebook: ric.dragon
• Linkedin: ricdragon
• Twitter: ricdragon
• Youtube: @artesumapaz1732