How can artists in a developing country be able to dedicate themselves to the laborious task of creating art when there are few resources? How can the government and intellectuals support artists without imposing a centralized idea of national culture? This book explores these questions and others, focusing on lived experience in the ABC region of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Beginning with two lectures by two renowned professors and activists of the Brazilian solidarity movement, Ladislau Dowbor and Celio Turino de Almeida, the book then opens up space for artists from diverse areas to speak about their experience in real life and real time. This work functions partly as a testimonial narrative and partly as an opportunity for those giving testimony to interact with culture managers, university professors, public intellectuals and other artists who struggle to ensure that their work reaches the most distant areas of the city. Because Sao Paulo is still considered a cultural center of Brazil, the experiences and reflections appearing in this book will serve as guide and inspiration to others - artists, culture managers, intellectuals - not just in Brazil, but throughout the world as well.