Why Art Matters: The Bearable Lightness of Being

A reference guide to living with art, written by a museum director and published by her own institution.

Chapters are organised by theme, among them perseverance, the unknown, imperfection and ritual. Each entry centres on a single work of art or artist and sets out different ways to approach it, with reflections on how to bring one's best self to life. The book was issued in 2024 by OCMA Books, the Orange County Museum of Art's reestablished publishing arm, and launched at readings and signings in Laguna Beach and at the FLAG Art Foundation in New York.

Heidi Zuckerman was CEO and director of the Orange County Museum of Art. She directed the Aspen Art Museum from 2005 to 2019 and joined OCMA in 2021. She has curated more than 200 exhibitions, hosts the podcast About Art and wrote the Conversations with Artists book series.