We recently connected with Mike Leavitt and have shared our conversation below.
Mike, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I was a Freshman in art school at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY about 28 years ago. I thought I wanted to be an art teacher, or maybe a graphic designer when I entered school. But I realized neither of these fields would allow me the freedom and flexibility I wanted in my life and career. So I left school, took a year off, traveled and self-produced my own art shows at the age of 19. After that year “off”, I realized I wanted to try making a career of it, found a college that suited my ambitions, and went for it.
Mike, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a visual artist and sculptor from Seattle, WA USA. I practice a variety of disciplines, including painting and design. But my favorite way to work is carving wood. I make about half my living selling my sculptures to clients. I also sculpt clay prototypes for action figures made by a small toy company in New York. People who buy and collect my work don’t just want decorations for their homes and walls. I provide a kind of thought-provoking genre of pop art that’s fun and easy to enjoy, yet also inspiring and dabbles in politics.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I think there’s plenty of money out there to support artists but it doesn’t happen readily enough. I think there needs to be a change in the educational system to restructure society in a way that has a much deeper appreciation for the arts as cultural capital. We shouldn’t be investing so much money in tech, start ups and AI. These things feed off of one source: art and artists.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I wish NFTs delivered on their potential. Unfortunately, as a creative human person – not a bot generating iterations – you can’t make money on NFTs unless you spend money, or have viral content. NFTs value quantity over quality. This is never a good situation for a creative person. If you’re a “creative” design programing AI to generate images, NFTs can be great.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mikeleavittart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeleavitt/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-leavitt-14714a103/
Image Credits
All photos by Michael Leavitt