Arena Painting
Charles Clough
1992

I paint with “big fingers.” I made the first one in 1985, by stretching latex rubber over fiber-fil onto a
disc of plywood attached to the end of a stick. They articulate paint as fingers may and allow for
adjusting scale from inches to feet to yards. The paintings are colorful, dynamic realizations of
chance and choice. I like to share the pleasure of painting with others. The first group to paint with
me was arranged by the Education Department of The Brooklyn Museum, in 1986. Most recently,
Artpark in Lewiston, New York, in August of 1992, presented Arena Painting, over a two week
period, in which, over a thousand park visitors collaborated with me on a dozen monumental
paintings.
To engage painting is to enrich experience. Many people enjoy painting, many more could and
everyone may gain deeper understanding. Painting liberates imagination. It’s fun to run and sing and
paint—some people like to and some don’t and some will make art and some won’t. Painting is like
the ocean—it may be appreciated for its surface and savored through nearly infinite depths. Answers
to questions concerning talent and quality become self-evident. To paint is to initiate the painter’s
inner dialog of freedom and value.
Paintings by groups are different than those of individuals. In both cases, some will be compelling
and some won’t. Arena Painting literalizes inclusivity. It establishes a special relationship of art and
politics. A particular appearance is formed by particular people in a particular space and time.
Participation becomes an element of content. Talent becomes identified. Habits may be reformed.
Arena Painting is an opportunity for pleasure and meaning and understanding.
The Arena may be as simple as you, the color and a place, or as elaborate as a television studio, large
enough for earth moving equipment (to be fitted with very big fingers), supported by commercial
sponsorship, sanctioned by cultural institutions, producing huge paintings, televised programming,
video recordings, a new outlook and an amplified audience for painting.
The paintings that I like move me to paint. The institutions that present painting should provide
circumstances to experience its creation.