I have been thinking a lot lately about art, the arts, fine arts, performing arts… their place in society, culture, humanity.

While I’m sure I’ll flesh out these ideas one by one, here is a summary of my latest thoughts and considerations:

Necessary:

art
access to art
making art

Privilege:

Making a living by making art

Do not misunderstand me. Artists and art of all kinds are important and incredibly valuable in so many ways. But you don’t have to be paid or make your primary living creating art to be important or create important and necessary work.  If you are able to make money, any money great or small, to create art, then you are privileged.

What I’m not saying (short version):
You shouldn’t get paid to make art.
Art is not valuable.

What I am saying (long version):
Be willing to sometimes make art for free or cheap. When it is for the benefit of a cause or a group that is forgotten or under-served especially.

Art is incredibly valuable in many forms. So expand your idea of what making art is. To me, arts teachers and administrators are all making art.

Find ways to incorporate your art into other work that might make more money. This is awesome, and you are still making art, and may even find ways to make more art. If this method is good enough for Da Vinci, it’s good enough for you.

Remember that life is about trade-offs. If something is important to you, do it, but know that you might have to give up something else to do it. If you’re not willing to give something up (time or money in most cases) to make art, that’s fine, but don’t complain about it. Realize that you made a valid and honorable choice. Some people don’t have those choices. They have families to provide for. They are ill. They were born into poverty. You are probably not one of those people, and so you are privileged. Do not complain that you can’t make enough money making art. Change something (your expectations probably) so that you can make “enough.” And you must NOT complain that non-artists or other types of artists make more money than you do. That was their choice, and they have made it. Our battle is to show the value of art and to be able to create it. You can do both without being concerned about how much money other people make.

If you ONLY want to make art directly (you want to compose music, choreograph, perform, act, sing, write plays and novels, make movies, etc.) then just start doing it- but there may be a difference between the type of art that expresses your soul  and the type of art that will make money. Make things and offer services that people will pay for. Then use that money to make your soul art. Also, be willing to ask for money. If it’s important enough, you will ask. Find ways to lessen your living expenses (ideas: move to a cheaper area, have roommates, say no to cable, set up camp in areas that have free wifi, buy things used, join co-op groups to get cheap food, consider communal living, share a car with someone else) so that you can do this art-making for your living. Hint: you won’t make a lot of money, but most of us can live on way less money than we think.

There is more, but I’d love to hear your thoughts first.