Art is a sport, sport is an art. Both demand hustle — and make life worth living

I emotion speechmaking astir artists’ processes and routines. Toni Morrison wrote earlier dawn, earlier her children awoke and she had to spell to her publishing job. In the evenings, Maya Angelou cleaned and enactment distant each her dishes earlier she sat with what she had written that morning. Louise Bourgeois lone worked successful implicit silence. These rules and routines are reminders that creation takes enactment — and immense amounts of energy.

I grew up with parents who are besides artists and had to find clip for their projects betwixt beingness and regular obligations. My begetter wrote successful the aboriginal mornings; my parent painted successful the hours aft luncheon and earlier we were done with school. It normalized for maine the intentional carving retired of clip needed for writing, speechmaking and creating. This has meant that I’m astir ever engaged doing something, and sometimes tired, but erstwhile I don’t carve that time, I’m guaranteed to beryllium successful a atrocious mood, similar the hanger that comes from skipping a meal.

In Viv Chen’s interrogation with Tory Burch, the decorator compares her workdays to being “like an jock wherever it’s astir subject and grit and endurance.” It’s a sentiment that sums up overmuch of the tone of this issue, which looks astatine creation arsenic a athletics and athletics arsenic an art. Whether you’re playing fútbol, sewing apparel oregon staging a performance, it’s a carnal arsenic good arsenic intelligence game.

Above all, the artist-athletes successful these pages amusement america the rewards of their commitments. We witnesser this successful the sizzling images of Tory Burch shoes pounding the blistery Los Angeles pavement and successful the sportswear designs that Otis students worked connected for months, the results virtually glowing and electric. We witnesser this successful the portraits of Betye Saar, regally dressed successful a Gucci kaftan for what volition apt beryllium the past accumulation she’s progressive successful during her lifetime. We witnesser this successful the representation of our fútbol queen connected the cover, strong, reverent and astatine peace. These stories are each reminders that dedication to one’s trade is not conscionable life-giving, it’s what makes beingness worthy living.