Why the Arts?

It seems I’ve spent a lot of my life justifying for those around me why I have chosen to make the arts and creativity my life’s work.  The struggle is real, carving out a life in the arts is very challenging and I get that those who love me would love to ease that struggle.  Maybe this has been the case for you too?  I know I could use my skills and talents in any number of other industries and probably make a hell of a lot more money a hell of a lot more easily than persisting with a career in the arts.  I know I could contribute to the world positively in any manner of ways.  I could create in the privacy of my bedroom for personal therapy.  But on dark days when life, society and the world seem out of odds with kindness, love, egalitarianism and care for our miraculous planet I always return to the cure I know, the arts.  This is why I persist in doing what I can to support myself and other artists to thrive.

This is our job as artists.

To make sense of this human experience. 

To explore moments in time and moments in the human condition that are hard to explain, complex and tangled.

To create pockets of hope and love and joy on dark days. 

To connect the unconnectable. 

To dive into the dark and contradictory and messy places and communicate them through words and songs and pictures and stories. 

Right now we have a lot of work to do. 

If this is your calling in life, your special skill on this planet, your way of making sense of life then it’s your time to shine.

The world needs your contribution. 

Let’s colour this world, lets sing out our pain and our joys, lets speak about the unspeakable, let’s use our creative minds to reframe and recontextualise where we need to and to celebrate and revere where we can. 

This is our time.