Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Noelle

As a black woman in Classical music, I have simultaneously been supported and criticized. I have had people tell me “no one cares about Classical music,” “I’m on the wrong side of 25,” and that “I should just sing R&B or Gospel music.” I am proud of who I am and I am not changing my genre or my personal style to fit into a stereotype of what people think a black woman should be. Read more>>

Dominique Demming

In a world that tells you to catch someone’s eye and makes their thumb stop while they are scrolling the algorithm in 5 seconds—for me, it felt debilitating to create because you sliver your art for what’s trendy, digestible and in turn becomes for everyone vs allowing yourself to be for someone even if that someone is your own self who gets it. I couldn’t avoid being misunderstood. You can’t avoid being misunderstood, it’s like the honorary badge of self expression even though it doesn’t feel like that at first or at all. Read more>>

Amah Dongo

I think as an artist there is this visual representation of themselves with their artworks which is a very fascinating concept to look at. I love to work in duality which is this juxtaposition of opposites but in abstract form. So there’s a lot of subconscious elements that intertwine with our own consciousness. This came to be when I had a few artworks that were seen as politically charged when in fact the backstory was not the case. Read more>>

NoChillSaint

All throughout my life I feel as though I have been misunderstood by people I came in contact with. Being misunderstood about my name was a challenge because my legal first name is “Jesus” and I pronounce it as “Geez-us” (like in the bible), so just imagine being 4 years old and being called a liar by adults for something you had no control over. Children are impressionable as well, so when they saw adults making a big deal about my name or accusing me of lying they mimicked the behavior. Read more>>

Marie Claire Macadar

When I tell people that I am a puppeteer, a common reply is “oh, for kids, right?” in a slightly demeaning voice. Read more>>

Jason Roberts and Julie Roberts N/A

When we first told our friends a little over 3 years ago that we had decided to sell everything and become Fulltime RVers, they thought we had lost our minds. They thought we were broke and destitute and we had no choice but to do this. They thought we would be homeless. They were SO wrong! We were offered places to stay and help but we didn’t need anything of that. We chose to do this. Read more>>

Psilo Sage

Being an artist of multiple mediums, I often deal with this issue of being misunderstood or mischaracterized. Understandably, humans tend to want to put other people into an organized group or label them as one particular thing. The truth is, however; that most of us are complex and tend to have more than one way of expressing ourselves. Read more>>

Richard Page

For the most part, people mean well. Read more>>

Angelina Elle Melendez

As a woman in the military, I’ve had to prove myself against many stereotypes over the years. I’m either too masculine to the public perception or too feminine inside the ranks. Finding a balance between who I am and who they wanted me to be had always been difficult for me. I struggled with being my authentic self for years throughout my career, because I felt I had to change myself in order to fit the mold and advance. Read more>>

Tom Everhart

From the beginning of my 35 year, body of painting work, I have used the vehicle of camouflage. My immediate visual content and each work is actually nothing more than to entertain the viewer and capture their seeing. The actual subject matter of the work is somewhat buried and hinted to in the titles and the imagery. Read more>>

Elise Chenoweth

Being a Drag Story Hour director can fill my day with joy and love for our amazing community. There are also days where I have to consider if the program is worth the threats, to both the organization and myself. Read more>>

Taidyn

Like every creative I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to or befriending, I have never felt like I fit in anywhere. From the age of 2 I was a true creative. For the first 16 years of my life I dreamed of being an actress, and got some incredible opportunities in that field from ages 11-15. I had a red carpet talk show called Talk With Taydyn on ToonGoggles, I was a commercial girl for Sinclair Broadcasting on KidsClick, and I got to be in a variety of fun kids commercials for brands like Mattel, and MGA Entertainment. Read more>>

Monet Allen

Most of my life I have been misunderstood. I guess I’ve always been a bit strange in the eyes of society. Read more>>

Vicky Rattanavipapong

I think something people don’t understand about being a cinematographer is how much of the work happens before you even get on set. I do as much as prep work I can before we shoot because I feel like I’m more prepared for something unexpected. I love storyboarding because I can see the entire movie visualized and give ideas form. Read more>>

Mary Hrbacek

Being misunderstood/mischaracterized is never expected. I came to study in an art school in NY that perpetrates images and concepts about what an artist is. They imagine every artist must be a starving artist, who traverses the City in paint stained closes with little money in their pocket. Read more>>

Noah Lerner

A challenge of mine is adequately conveying what it is exactly that I “do.” Often, people with whom I’ve worked have observed me in a specific job, and they only know me as someone for that specific job. That might be as a cinematographer, an actor, a lighting designer, a lab technician, or an audio engineer among other titles. Read more>>