I see the potential of contemporary visionary art as a medium to expand awareness around the connection between spiritual and scientific subjects. Bridging past, present & future stories through art and community building to find healing and purpose within a global tribe of heart centered individuals. Psychedelics are valuable tools that humans have used down through the ages and when used properly they can help us process generational trauma so we can find new ways of living as collective stewards on this planet. Art is an incredible bridge to connect with the innate spirit in all things. I think right now we have a great opportunity to use art, community and psychedelics as tools for transformation, and we have no time to waste! 

I was 18 when I first studied with Philip Rubinov-Jacobson and Michael Fuchs in a 3 week workshop in Boulder, Colorado. This led to a 2 year apprenticeship with Michael in Vienna, and led to working with Ernst Fuchs for 11 years as a painting assistant. I feel deeply blessed to have had this opportunity at such a young age, and feel a responsibility to carry on the legacy of teaching and gathering in diverse places to create art in community. The Fantastic Realists were born out of a war stricken era in Europe, and the thread of visionary exploration that fruited at that time in Vienna has continued to bloom in different ways through available visionary thinkers and artists. 

Alex & Allyson Grey have woven the storyline of visionary art, tracing back to the origins of the cave drawings as a thread inherent in humans to be curious and connected to the spirit realms, the place from which we are born and return to when we die. The west-coast of the U.S is where Tribe 13 began bridging live painting & visual art with music & transformational festivals, and this has snowballed into a movement of live painters, empowering a generation of artists exploring performance art and community outside the limitations of galleries and museums. 

Before Ernst Fuchs passed in 2015, he was fascinated with “western visionary art movement” and the stories and photos I was showing him of the global visionary art scene. It is very different in that so much of the current culture is found in temporary gatherings, whereas the Fantastic Realists were very focused on permanent spaces, museums, etc. I hope that there will be more permanent hubs to cultivate visionary culture, like the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors and the Entheon Museum in New York.

The chapter of my life that was spent in Europe does seem like a dream, but also more relevant than ever, as I see appreciate the foundation of being front lines with masters while having the opportunity to experiment with community concepts during my decade long residency at the WUK Culture house in Vienna. 

I began playing with the concept of the Vision Train in 2012 and seeing the Train as the perfect vessel to carry the goodness of humanity back on the tracks on a journey of regeneration, reconciliation and remembrance. I saw it as a grand festival & world's fair, leaving a trace of awesome as it went. I began painting about it, talking about it and telling people to get ready for the next biggest party on planet earth, and that each one of us has something to contribute so we better get clear on what that is. The story of the Train is deeply woven through the modern world, as it carried the industrial revolution and was foundational in creating the world we live in today. It also was responsible for the loss of many incredible cultures, and disconnecting a deeper sense of belonging in light of greater connections and progress. In this wake we are now connected more than ever with the pervasiveness of the internet, linking us instantaneously around the world.

When 2020 hit and the Covid pandemic began shutting down the world, I saw the opportunity to start the Non-Stop Vision Train Global Art Jam on Zoom and gather the community of artists and visionary thinkers I had met around the world in a collaborative creative virtual space station. The community responded and we created a system to coordinate and keep the “train on the tracks” by passing the zoom host from conductor to conductor as we took turns hosting interviews, skill shares, art jams and virtual gatherings to support each other in creating our best work at a time of global change. 

Now 5 years later, the Vision Train is a thriving online community, led primarily by a volunteer group of Conductors and a small team of Engineers. Powered by passion, memberships and fundraisers, soon to become a 501c3 non-profit so we can continue to provide greater opportunity for community development and connection across borders. More than ever we need to find the others, bridge resources and get online to get offline. Root down to Rise UP and remember why we are here and what we can do to contribute to a world worth leaving to future generations.

Join us on this journey, share your story and let's create ripples that create waves, that carry Trains back on the tracks towards a future worth remembering!

www.visiontrain.org

www.visiontrainstation.mn.co