Alex Cook Shares Art, Music, and Inspiration at the Lower School

“Birds are for  . . . flying free,
Monkeys are for . . . eating bananas,
Monster trucks are for . . . being really, really awesome, and
People are for feeling love.”

Lower schoolers were captivated by this playful, audience-participation song led by musician and artist Alex Cook, who recently visited Principia School and College to share his unique spiritual message. In the final verses of the song, the children were invited to shout out “anything in the universe” (including birds, monkeys, and monster trucks), and Cook would improvise a response, concluding with the song’s deceptively simple message that people are created by Love, or God, in order to love.

After launching his artistic career as a painter, Cook became deeply interested in the power of murals to spiritually impact large numbers of people. He has worked with youth and community groups of all types to produce public murals that express the beauty and richness of life. In 2008, he directed a public mural project for the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, entitled “Consider the Lilies.” As described on his Web site, “the project involved painting with hundreds of community members and passersby over a one week period” during which 14 murals were created to enhance subway stations, youth centers, and other community spaces throughout Boston.

An artist who transcends the boundaries of a single discipline or style, Cook also writes and composes music, has recorded five CDs, and two years ago, dedicated himself to creating music that “expresses what it feels like to be loved by God, living, exploring, and growing powerfully as His child.” He explained this simply and beautifully to the young students as “God is singing a song, and we are the notes.”

For a week in April—in the midst of his second music tour—Lower School students benefited from having Cook as a visiting artist-teacher. Each class participated in creating a school mural with two intertwining themes developed by the students themselves—the joy of childlikeness and love for the environment. They were also treated to a concert of energetic, joy-filled music including Cook’s first rap song, “Walk on the Water.” Cook also gave a concert at the College and a talk about creativity as an expression of spirituality.

You can listen to Cook’s music including his new CD, The Tree of Life, and explore his paintings, drawings, murals, and writings at his Web site www.stonebalancer.com.