The Value of Peer Assembly

Because visual artistry tends to be a solitary endeavor, I have long been an advocate of peer assembly, encouraging artists to take courses, join collectives, partner for commissions and join visual arts service organizations online and or in their communities. So I was happy to discover this text by Leonardo da Vinci:

“I say and say again that to draw in company is much better than working alone, for many reasons, the first of which is that you would be ashamed to feel inferior to the other students, and this shame will make you study well; secondly good envy [la invidia bona] [sic] will stimulate you to be among the number who are more praised than you, and the lauding of the others will spur you on.”  

I love that term, "good envy," and although this quotation is about the advancement of the artist's technique, I think getting together with your peers is very important for career advancement—you are individually involved with solitary wheel reinvention without it.