Part 1

1. Article 1, “What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Artists” highlights twelve key points of artists and how entrepreneurs can embody these traits to become more successful. The idea in this article that its becoming all the more common in business to “think like an artist” in order to be successful. Article 2, on the other hand, entitled “Are Artists Entrepreneurs?” looks at the situation in reverse. Rather than telling entrepreneurs to think like artists, the article suggests artists think like entrepreneurs.

2. Artists can learn from their “entrepreneurial cousins” about building a network of experts to help build their artistic vision. Article 2 states that fulfilling a dream requires a “team effort” because it’s easier to row upstream when you have lots of people helping to row the boat. The article also calls for artists to start their career by appealing to the current trend in order to build up to their real dream, much like entrepreneurs do in order to achieve theirs.

3. I wholeheartedly agree that artists are entrepreneurs. While entrepreneurs are selling a product, artists are selling themselves as a label. Building up a successful body of works entails marketing yourself adequately, taking risks, and working with passion to achieve what many may call a “pipe dream.” Only the most dedicated entrepreneurs and artists will live to see their dreams accomplished.

4. I agree with most of the 12 points listed in Article 1. The points that most stuck to me personally were those numbered 1, 3, and 11. As a hopeful artist myself, I can most relate to the ideas of artists being inventors and reinventors, as I’m constantly doing that myself. And as stated in #3, it is indeed easiest for me to think and express ideas physically, whether through drawing or moodboard. Finally, number 11 descibes artists as being passionate about their work, to the point where it is inseparable from life. This is a statement that resonates with me the most fully when I think about art. It doesn’t feel like something that I have to do, rather it’s something that I need to do.

5. To this list, I would add “thinking outside the box.” As an art student, I often feel isolated from my peers in other disciplines, at times ostracized for my decision to be a working creative. This is no new phenomenon to me–and I’ve in fact found comfort in my emotional isolation from others as a way of benefitting my work. By not caring so much about what others are saying and/or thinking, it has become easier for me to pave my own path in art and create what hasn’t been created before. As a result, I am innovative in this way. This is an important skill for entrepreneurs to develop as well, because being brave enough to “think outside the box” and to do something totally new and drastic is what it takes to attract others to the new, the recent, the developing.

6. I thoroughly enjoyed reading both of these articles–it brought to my attention ideas about success as an artist that I had not considered. “Thinking like an entrepreneur” is a relatively new idea to me, and one that I will most certainly employ going forward both academically and professionally as an artist.

Part 2

1. I got a “grit score” of 4.75, which puts me in 90-99th percentile of test-takers. I find this not too surprising, given that I’ve never wanted to anything besides art. Ever. I’ve known since preschool that art was my life, it was what I was meant to do, despite how much it can drive me crazy at times.

2. Despite receiving a high score, there are some things I could do to raise my grit to a “5.” Putting my resume out there is a major must, and it is something I think hard about, get excited about, and then put off indefinitely due to some fear of rejection. Another idea that comes to mind is working every day on my art–not just a couple times a week in class. Both of these things will help me to become grittier.