Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission

The Leo Marchutz School of Painting & Drawing fosters a diverse, engaged, and art-focused community through the sustained investigation of the mysterious nature and aim of art. Preserving, nurturing, and expanding the pedagogy and artistic legacy of the school is made concrete through ongoing dialogue, educational apprenticeship, and artistic achievement rooted in Aix-en-Provence, France. We are dedicated to enhancing the ability to see — into the world, into works of art, and into ourselves — encouraging the pursuit of truth, imagination, coherence, and beauty in our art and in our lives. 

Vision Statement

To develop a collaborative, art-focused educational and cultural center in Aix-en-Provence and to build an inclusive international community of artists, writers, and students dedicated to pursuing a holistic approach to art-making, art education, and critical dialogue.

Values

Seeing, Wholeness, and Relationship

Every significant work of art, with its own laws, innate structure, and specific relationships, can transcend temporality, place, and personality. We encourage and develop sustained and intensive observation of the visible world – seeing – and sharpen the recognition that the most profound works of art from all periods and cultures are linked and possess a common thread – wholeness – made concrete through the imagination of the artist. "I am the primitive of a new art," Cézanne writes, "One does not replace the past, one only adds a new link.” At the Leo Marchutz School of Painting & Drawing, we believe that a unified whole yields a more powerful expression of significant meaning and a more comprehensive sense of belonging in the world. Recognizing this linkage deepens our ability to appreciate the uniqueness of each work of art, fosters open-minded receptivity, develops the whole person, and expands the ability to empathize with others.

Integrity and Ethics

Our culture is based on trust, constructive discourse, and a collaborative work and leadership model that demands integrity, empowers innovation, and fosters unity. We strive to model openness, inclusion, and transparency. We celebrate the success of others and respect the unique gifts of each individual. We are accountable to one another, to our constituents, to the projects we support, and to society at large.

Community

We are committed to the appreciation, investigation, and creation of art by engaging in dialogue and fostering community. The most significant works of art connect us and have the potential to bring understanding, coherence, and inspiration. Our community is a diverse, engaged, and art-focused group of international artists, students, writers, supporters, apprentice-teachers, educators, and appreciators, connected by a shared interest in learning to see into the world, into works of art, and into ourselves.

Sense of Place

We consider Aix-en-Provence to be at the center of our mission. Located in the South of France, the school is uniquely situated to give artists the means to experiment in the studio and the landscape while delving into the minds and works of some of the most revered artists, writers, and thinkers. Aix-en-Provence, whose city center is an architectural work of art unto itself, embodies the “quality without a name” so beautifully articulated by the renowned architect Christopher Alexander. The Route du Tholonet and the Châteaunoir, made famous by Paul Cézanne, and embraced by Leo Marchutz, have inspired many contemporary artists and thousands of students over the past fifty years. We continue to work from within this specific sense of place — rooted in Aix-en-Provence — as we reach outward to further develop an international community.

"A new paradigm of thinking involves a significant shift from objects to relationships, the rooting of a vision in the ground of our needs; the need for openness, the need for contact, the need for wholeness." - Suzi Gablik

“Great art can only be created out of love.” - James Baldwin

“Form results from a maximum number of relationships; what else gives us Beethoven or Rembrandt? … ‘Relationships of what?’ one may ask. What we get through the senses, through life, through contact with nature.” - Leo Marchutz

“To pay attention: this is our endless and proper work.”  - Mary Oliver

“Art is the measuring stick of art and only by art can art be measured.” - Thomas Aquinas

“Art is a harmony parallel to nature.” - Paul Cézanne 

Constituent Outcomes

• Beginner’s mind

• Seeing more deeply into the world

• Listening more attentively

• Collaborative action

• Apprenticeship learning 

• Integrity

• Intentionality

• Accountability

• Respect for others

• Respect for the work and the dynamic creative process of making art 

• Trust

• Dedication to cross-generational transmission

The Leo Marchutz School does not discriminate in any way on the basis of race, color, age, background, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, religion, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or national or ethnic origin, and admits students/participants of any race, color, age, background, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, religion, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or national or ethnic origin.