Yoko Ono
Field: arts
Yoko Ono's commencement address to 84 graduates of the Maine College of Art began with a brief stylized shriek and centered on the idea that art is love and that love is what society most needs. She congratulated the graduates, encouraged them to practice their passion, and quoted Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa to underscore her message.
Key moments
- 01 Opens the address with a roughly 10-second stylized scream
- 02 Declares that art is love and that artists give society love
- 03 Quotes Nelson Mandela that light, not darkness, is to be feared
- 04 Quotes Mother Teresa about giving the world your best
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Yoko Ono at Maine College of Art, 2003
A Maine College of Art address about art as love, creative courage, light, kindness, passion, and giving society what it most needs.
Speech arc
- 01Maine College of Art
Opening move
- 02Class of 2003
Speech beat
- 0384 graduates
Speech beat
- 04Vocal opening
Speech beat
- 05Art is love
Speech beat
- 06Practice passion
Speech beat
- 07Choose light
Speech beat
- 08Give your best
Final charge
Opening: The ceremony begins as performance
The address is remembered for opening with a stylized vocal gesture, making sound itself part of the message before the advice begins.
Voice
Ono uses performance to remind graduates that art can communicate before explanation arrives.
Attention
The unusual opening changes the room and asks listeners to receive art on its own terms.
Frame
The speech treats the artist's presence as part of the lesson.
The address is remembered for opening with a stylized vocal gesture, making sound itself part of the message before the advice begins.
Love: Art carries love into public life
The central idea is direct: art is love, and what artists give society is a kind of love needed in the world.
Need
The address places love at the center of public and creative responsibility.
Gift
Artists are framed as people who give society feeling, attention, and care.
Purpose
Creative work matters because it can make love visible and shareable.
The central idea is direct: art is love, and what artists give society is a kind of love needed in the world.
Practice: Passion becomes real through continued making
Ono congratulates graduates for practicing their passion and asks them to keep expanding what art can hold.
Discipline
Passion is not only emotion; it is something practiced through repeated work.
Courage
Pushing the envelope requires staying with the work even when others push back.
Growth
The artist's task is to keep enlarging the possible.
Ono congratulates graduates for practicing their passion and asks them to keep expanding what art can hold.
• Key takeaways •
Art is love
Connects to art.
Performance can open meaning
Connects to love.
Passion needs practice
Connects to creativity.
Artists give society care
Connects to purpose.
Give the world your best
Connects to kindness.
Closing charge
The closing spirit joins light, kindness, and effort: graduates are asked to make art that brings more care into the world.
Give the world your best
Light
The speech links creative work with choosing light over fear.
Generosity
Giving the world your best becomes an artistic and ethical instruction.
Legacy
For the 84 graduates, art becomes a way to carry love forward.
The closing spirit joins light, kindness, and effort: graduates are asked to make art that brings more care into the world.
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Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked
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