Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Raul Herrera Jr.. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Raul thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
Hello. I’m Raul– Los Angeles native, foolish writer, and dedicated educator. I am honored to be featured again on VoyageLA. In my last interview, I shared the story of how my artistic journey began at the LA non-profit, Get Lit – Words Ignite. I’ve been a professional artist for over 10 years and have been fortunate enough to make my creativity into a career. I’d be more than happy to share some of the major steps and milestones I’ve experienced throughout that process.
There are a couple of pathways I’ve observed while pursuing art. 1) Find other people who do it i.e. performances, open mics, festivals, workshops, etc. See what other people are doing in your field, befriend them (in a genuine way) and learn from others. 2) Teach. Build an arsenal of workshops, strategies, techniques, and lessons that you can share with others. You can do this as one-offs for conventions and events, as a teaching artist for organizations, or as a privately ran artist development resource. There are more artists looking for ways to improve their art than there are artists with the ability to teach. Also, there are organizers looking to provide resources to communities, find them. They have money allocated to pay artists for their services.
3) Share your art online. Whether that’s on a social media profile, a website, Tik Tok etc. If you’re one of those people who are like, “I can’t put my art on platforms like that because I feel like it makes it inauthentic”… Get over it. Honestly and sincerely. It is a tool to help you connect, share, and find opportunities. Find ways you can use it to not only promote your art, but use the structure of the platform to see how it can inform and reprogram your perspective. As artists it’s always important to responded and be affected by changes brought about by time. I’ve been using IG to post videos I capture of my everyday life and I read my poems over it. Does this help advertise my art? Yes. Does it also encourage me to create more art? Yes. Seems like a win-win to me.
I feel like I’m ranting. Look, start with just doing your art and believing in it. Simple as that. Make sure you believe you’re the best artist to ever enter this world. The world will react to the facts you hold in your head. You are the best thing to happen to this Earth, because you are the only time YOU will ever happen in this form. If you’re trying to make a living go to the places where they are paying those other artists. Look up non profits and events. Make friends. How are you going to share your art without first sharing your time.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a spoken word artist, which means I write and share my poetry with components of acting, theatre, and dramatics. I currently serve as the Director of Programs for an art literacy non-profit that aims to equip young people with the tools to empower their voice and share their story. This includes mentoring, generating curriculum, lesson plans for our programming, and training school teachers and Get Lit teaching artists how to become better instructors in the classroom. Why poetry though? If we learned anything from the ‘pandora’ is that people need people. To feel accepted. To feel understood. To be listened to and held. When we feel connected, we feel motivated to take care of ourselves. And if you’re like, “what the hell is poetry”?, let me attempt to explain. Poetry is language that purposely stirs the heart and brain. Imagine those late night conversations with a friend; those songs that remind you of past loves and triumphs; the stories your grandmother shared about her homeland. How alive and in tune did you feel in those moments? That there was something bigger than you, and it included you. I think that’s what art can do for humans, remind us that we are not alone.
This is especially true for young people. Helping teenagers discover what they stand for, giving them space to share what they’re feeling. To help them process what they’ve gone through, in a beautiful but ever so confusing world, is vital for setting the foundation for self confidence and drive. If you don’t know how you feel or ashamed of how you feel, then others will do it for you. Feelings, feelings, feelings. They may be at times inconvenient but they are ultimately the engine we use to fight through life. Harnessing the answers that hide in them is what I’ve found to my greatest tool. That’s why it’s important to me and the people that I’ve seen be saved by it.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
If you would consider yourself non-creative, reconsider. How you interact with your life on a daily basis is a creative process. You are creative with what you decide to wear. You are creative with how you style your hair or how you decorate your house or how you fill up your schedule. You create what experiences you have in your life. To the words you say all the way to the actions you do, it is all part of the canvas of you. You do not have to call yourself creative to create, but acknowledging that part of you will allow more openness to things conducive to one’s emotional and spiritual growth.
I grew up pretty non-creative. I played baseball and football for 6 years even before reaching high school– varsity Track & Field, varsity Cross Country, and varsity Wrestling once I did. I wasn’t good at drawing. Definitely wasn’t good at singing. Instruments were complicated to learn. I didn’t care what I wore. I wasn’t aware of how my environment affected me. Being exposed to the ways people express themselves is a helpful reminder for us to do the same. It helps with adding to your perspective and perhaps identifying parts of yourself you didn’t know you had or enjoyed. To be honest, being a creative or non-creative is such a claustrophobic label, just do what you want, express they way you want, and consciously surround yourself with nouns that make you feel good.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Being an artist still feels like some posh way of telling people I’m cool– (or at least trying to be cool). However, I enjoy when people positively receive my work. When someone resonates with my story or my words. The ultimate win is someone sharing that they see or do things differently after reading or watching my art. I want people to feel inspired to express themselves, whether it be their shadow or their light. To drop down the walls for only a moment so that our neighbors can be inclined to do the same. Emotions can create arguments, but the expression of those emotions intentionally and beautifully can bring people together. “You feel that way, too?” Yes, we all do.
Contact Info:
- Website: getlit.org
- Instagram: writeawayraul
Image Credits
Unique Nicole – uniquenicole.com, [email protected]