"Arguably, no artist grows up: If he sheds the perceptions of childhood, he ceases being an artist"

Ned Rorem’s observation underscores a profound connection between artistry and the unique lens through which children experience the world. Childhood is a time when perceptions are raw, unrefined, and untethered by the constraints of convention or expectation. The sights, sounds, and emotions encountered are met with awe, curiosity, and, most importantly, authenticity. For an artist, it is this very perspective, free from self-censorship and the habitual categorization that adulthood often brings, that forms the wellspring of genuine creativity.

Artists harness this childlike openness to see possibility where others see familiarity and to interpret the ordinary as something extraordinary. The implication is that maturation, as commonly understood, might paradoxically erode the very qualities that allow for artistic innovation. As people grow, socialization teaches them what is appropriate, normal, or valuable, often at the cost of spontaneity and imaginative freedom. An artist who abandons these childhood perceptions risks losing touch with the source of their most vital work.

Shedding childhood perceptions could be likened to losing a sense of wonder or the courage to ask “why not?” Artists retain this spirit, channeling the questioning and exploratory energy of youth into their practice. Their creations serve as invitations for others to briefly re-enter that sense of playful engagement with the world.

Rorem’s statement is both a warning and an inspiration. While growing up is inevitable, clinging to the perceptual innocence and imaginative acuity of childhood is not just permissible for artists, it is vital. Without it, their insight becomes dulled, their art diminished. Thus, to remain an artist is to continue seeing, feeling, and creating with the immediacy and honesty that characterize a child’s relationship to the world, resisting the impulse to surrender this vision, even as the passage of time presses for conformity and resignation.