Looking for hope and possibility? Look to creatives.
When I meet people and they find out I’m an artist, I often hear the same responses:
“I don’t have any artistic talent.”
“Why do/did you choose a creative profession, or this work in particular?”
“How did you get to where you are?”
The answers are never simple. I’ve learned that the journeys of creatives rarely are. I believe that, like everyone, we were told when we were young that our art was poor, self-centered, and/or pointless. Those of us who think of ourselves as creatives simply chose not to believe that. We chose to keep making. We chose to believe in hope and possibility.
As a social practice artist and creative entrepreneur, I’ve made all sorts of things and traveled all sorts of roads. I’ve worked in or with countless industries, organizations, and teams. Most of the time I’ve machete-ed my way through the wilderness.
What the cuts and bruises I’ve earned have taught me is that no matter what path we take, creative work always requires dedication, discipline, and above all courage. Our paths are fraught with challenges, and they also present ample opportunities.
I will describe here how artists carry their faith and courage into the world, inspiring hope and possibility in at least three distinct ways.
Art for art’s sake imparts joy, in spite of pain
Creatives making art for art’s sake create what most people think of as art: paintings, novels, musical compositions, plays, sculptures, performances. Their art provides pleasure and inspiration for all who witness it, and may serve as a financial investment for some patrons.
These artists exercise an expressive freedom that I believe everyone longs to. They pay for this freedom through an often tumultuous journey of sheer faith. The audiences for this art are somewhat small, increasing artists’ competition with one another and subsequently the criticism they are all bound to face.
Art for economy’s sake creates abundance, undeterred by constraints
These artists are often thought of as commercial. In addition to creating countless jobs, they are the source of innovation and problem solving in a wide range of industries, from architecture to cuisine to fashion to technology.
For these creators, their audiences remain at the epicenter of all they create, especially those who reap the most economic benefit from these creations. They regularly face how others interpret their work and must become accustomed to compromise, to not having complete control over the final product or even the co-creative process itself. Furthermore, they are accountable to some degree for the return on investment made by those who fund their activities.
While these artists may experience less financial stress, they may also experience a different kind of stress. Creative work consumes a great amount of energy, so there is less available for one’s personal practice. Further, when one is making art to make money, the strain on energy may be even more acute, something that is easy and painful to underestimate.
Art for society’s sake inspires change, even without certainty
These artists are certainly the lesser known. They may be artists who create art about social issues, or they may be art educators or therapists, or they may be part of an organization that uses the arts to provide some sort of social service. They may simply be artists who serve on a nonprofit board or government council. Their creativity sparks social transformation.
As this is the road less taken, they may struggle to find adequate direction and support, making their creative journey one of high risk. The trade-off here is that there is also immense opportunity not only to trail-blaze, but to influence others, to make a lasting mark on their community.
As much as I’ve tried here to simplify the twists and turns of the creative life, I imagine there are only more questions:
“Is one of these artists more talented or valuable than another?”
“Is one of these creative paths the right one to follow and another the wrong one?”
“Are these paths mutually exclusive?”
My personal belief is simple here too: No.
All that matters is that despite the obstacles, we creatives have learned how to stay on the path of generosity, perseverance, and optimism. To do so, we must believe that our work in the world is not only enough — it is important and it’s value extends far beyond ourselves.
No matter what our road looks or feels like, no matter whether we think we do our work for our own sake or for the sake of others, we keep going. We keep choosing to keep making.
Since many already live life on a gamble, artists and creatives are experiencing intense vulnerability right now. Still, we know we are the ones helping people stay sane with online concerts and classes and TV shows. We know we are the ones who will continue to grant permission to everyone to laugh or cry when it is called for, to imagine something better, to remember the resilience of the human spirit. We know we will be the ones to help our economy and our society rebuild — rebuild identity, rebuild community, perhaps even rebuild politically.
We sk that you take inspiration and run with it. We ask that you too, when you are told your contributions are useless or pointless, choose to not believe that, to instead keep making, keep going. We ask that you keep believing in hope and possibility, despite the odds.
And we ask that you include us in the journey. We ask that where you find joy in our offerings, you try to lessen our pain. We ask that where we create abundance, you try to expand our freedoms. We ask that as you find yourself changed by our contributions, you try to let us know you are certain that we belong. We ask that when you look to us for sanity, or permission, for the passion to carry on, that you let us know we can look to you for support.
A previous version of this article was originally published at odessadenver.com.
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