For most of human history, musicians, artists, they've been part of the community — connectors and openers, not untouchable stars.

Palmer contrasts an older, community-embedded model of art-making with the modern celebrity system. The quote argues that artists historically functioned as social infrastructure: they helped people gather, communicate, ritualize experience, and imagine alternatives—“connectors and openers.” By rejecting the idea of the artist as an “untouchable star,” she critiques distance, hierarchy, and passive fandom, implying that art thrives when it is reciprocal and relational. The statement aligns with Palmer’s broader advocacy for direct artist–audience connection, mutual support, and a view of creativity as a shared civic practice rather than a product delivered by remote idols.