ABSTRACT
The African American artist should establish a direct relationship with people at all socioeconomic and educational levels. In this role the artist is an interpreter, a voice that makes intelligible the deepest, most meaningful aspirations of the people. The artist is a channel through which their resentments, hopes, fears, ambitions, and all the other unconscious drives that condition behavior are expressed and become explicit. In this role the artist is a community resource, valued and supported because he or she forsakes the ‘ivory tower’ and gets to the heart of community life. 1
