Blog 1: High Concept,High Touch

When one decides that they wish to study art, they are almost immediately met with ridicule such as:

“Good luck finding a job.”

“Isn’t that just career suicide?”

and my favorite, “I guess you’ll just have to marry rich!”…yeah

Personally, my anxiety over the notion that artist are good for nothing peasants with their head in the clouds has peaked over the summer.

Daniel Pink’s work really caught my attention, because it eased this heavy load of anxiety that accompanied me to college. I also enjoyed Amy Tan, a favorite author of mine, talk of creativity, but I’m going to fixate on Pink’s work for now.

I was going to begin college as a biology major. I felt as if I should because I could land a “good career” with it, aka a job that makes you money, yet doesn’t always make you happy. Reading Pink’s work eased that heavy load of anxiety for me. Hearing that major companies, like GM, actually search for artistic talent, thoroughly surprised me. From an early age, we are taught that prime employers want young thinkers with impeccable empirical knowledge. In fact, I’m exhausted of hearing about what employers want and how I should be “desirable.” What about what I want? What I desire?

This shift towards artistic appreciation is something that I’m truly thankful for. I don’t have to fit in a restricting mold just to make a livable wage. I’m going to be an artist, I’m going to be successful, and I’m going to be happy.

-C.Halstead

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