It is not so often that one encounters an individual creative in almost all they do. In an increasingly mechanized and technical world, the power of creating, especially in the field of social and community life, appears as a healing balm and inspiration to do better. Carlo Pietzner was one such individual.

Pietzner was born in 1915, in Vienna, Austria. As a young art student he was introduced to anthroposophy and to Dr Karl König, a Viennese pediatrician, who later founded the international Camphill movement for children and adults in need of special care in Scotland in 1939. Pietzner was a member of the founding group and pioneered the work of Camphill in Northern Ireland, and from 1961 to 1986 further developed the work of Camphill in North America. His artistic activities were far-reaching – in stained glass windows, paintings, essays, novels, plays and several volumes of poetry. He served on the National Council of the Anthroposophical Society of America for many years and was known internationally as a lecturer and consultant. Carlo Pietzner was the founding President of the Camphill Association of North America. He died in April, 1986, in Camphill Village, Copake, New York.

While some of Carlo Pietzner’s writings and artistic works have been published before, Living Social Art is the first book to gather the full range of his creative and cultural contributions in one volume. Included are family photographs, reproductions of artwork and stained glass, selected plays and poems, writings for children, and several of his most compelling lectures.

This book is a resource for anyone who values the transformative power of art in community life. It speaks to those who knew Carlo, to those touched by the Camphill movement, to seekers within the anthroposophical world, and to readers who simply wish to encounter the unfolding of a singular, artistic and deeply human life.