Kurt Neugebauer loves his job as Associate Director of the University of Oregon Art Museum. “I create experiences that people will never have in other ways.” Kurt walked me through the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the UO campus, pointing out his role in curating and mounting various exhibitions. His hand is evident in the exhibit organization, descriptive text, color, and lighting. He even designed several display cases. “Our lives are a series of events that we differentiate as ‘special’. That is what separates us from other animals. The challenge of our lives now is that many of us are not fully nourished; our creativity is untapped. The closest thing I know to a god thing is our capacity to design. I don’t know where it comes from, but it’s generative.

How will we live tomorrow?

“What’s going to survive? Not us. The earth will survive. It will grow and change. We are the ones who will be gone. Earth has taken so many forms before, it will evolve again.”