Karen Werth

I’ve known I wanted to pursue a creative profession since I was 12 years old. One of my older brothers brought home an art metals project he was working on – a beautiful, silver rope chain he had assembled using hand made links. Until that moment, I had no idea you could make items like this with your hands. Read More>>

Behnaz Ghasempour

I don’t remember a single moment; it was more like a slow, steady unfolding. Growing up in Iran, I was always drawn to images, textures, and the quiet act of making. Even as a child, drawing and painting were how I made sense of the world; it was my way of processing emotion, memory, and all the things I couldn’t say out loud. Over time, it became clear that art was not just something I loved; it was something I needed to do. Read More>>

Delaney Pavell

After graduating as an art student in 2023, I checked myself into rehab with not only an extreme case of creative burnout, but a debilitating alcohol addiction. Finally stripped of distractions and chaos, I was left with one question. Who am I when everything else is gone? Read More>>

Manana Eloshvili

I’ve been painting since childhood and never considered any other career.
Later, as I gradually came to understand the essence of painting, I realized that it was not merely an aesthetic process; it was a spiritual necessity.
Each color, each movement of the line, much like every note in music, carries a certain frequency within the creative space. Read More>>

Marciano Ceballos

I’ve been artistic since childhood—creativity has always been in my blood. From an early age, I was drawn to music and visual art, eventually pursuing music at Golden West College. I later worked at an art warehouse, where I gained hands-on experience with professional tools and crossed paths with a wide array of inspiring artists throughout Southern California. Read More>>

Ryan Gilman

The moment I realized that I wanted to give the artistic path a try was after a show I played in March of 2024. I was lucky enough to join James Morse (really great musician by the way!) at Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta, Georgia, a more traditional music venue. The stage and music happening on it is really the main event, as opposed to shows I had played in the past where it’s been more “background” music. Read More>>

Bryan Rader

In truth, I’ve always wanted to be a performer. From singing Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls in the shower—mimicking their rainy set on repeat—to dreaming about people connecting with my own songs, it’s always been in me. I think it takes a little bit of narcissism to be an artist, because you really do have to picture yourself in those lights and believe you deserve to be there. Read More>>

Fawzia Khan

I was a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist for three years before I gave birth to my child. I wanted to quit working to stay home and be a mom. My employer recommended career counseling. One of our first homework assignments was to make a timeline of our lives to date. I struggled to get everything on an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper in pen. In my small group, there was an artist. Read More>>

Michelle Goodson

I’ve always been creative. I studied interior design in college. I designed my own clothing in High school. I crafted with my mom as a child. But the lightbulb came on when my daughter turned 3. I planned a Birthday Party and trained a young lady for the part of the princess entertainer. I created costumes, games, and activities for our party. My daughter was amazed by the Princess and the feedback from family and friends was all so positive. I knew I would love doing this for other people as well. Read More>>

Chester Baxter

I have been suffering from severe Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration for many years. I had been a professional heavy transport driver for decades, since I was 15yrs old. My eyesight has continued to deteriorate and then in December of 2022 my eye specialist said “for my safety and the safety of others” I need to get out of the truck. The career that I spent the majority of my life dedicated to had come to an end. Read More>>

Meagan Ortiz

I was always interested in perusing a career in the arts as far back as I can remember- I have always been a creative since childhood, and ended up attending a specialized High School in Queens, NY called Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, where I majored in fine arts. I was flirting with the idea of being a tattooer for most of my attending high school- I would collect tattoo magazines and try to emulate the designs from there. Read More>>

Kristen Case

I first knew that I wanted to pursue a creative/ artistic path professionally was that my mom put in acting class growing up and done a little bit of improv . She always says it helped my public speaking but I believe that while I made a decision to not pursue that professionally was the best decision . I was always curious about the process and there are ups and downs with this business. Read More>>

Kisha Smith

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a creative. I grew up in a family of musicians, unfortunately I did not inherit any musical talent, but I always had a burning desire to create. I wanted to be an artist but I had societal rules/mental rules about what an artist was supposed to create to be considered an “artist”. I wasn’t skilled at painting, drawing or sculpting so I gave up on that dream and went into a sales career in my 20’s but I was miserable working in a cubical. Read More>>

Colleen Colombo

I have always been artistic. As a child, everyone in my family thought that I would grow up to be an artist, because I would draw and was always very creative, all through my younger years, earning awards here and there for artistic creations. But never anything that I would consider exceptional beyond the school age creative. As I grew older, I still loved being artistic, but I did not pursue that path. Read More>>

Chelsea Bible

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always known I wanted to pursue a creative path. I’ve been sewing and crafting things from a very young age. Growing up less fortunate I had no choice but to customize or create the cool things I wanted. I would walk around the neighborhood looking for items I could recycle. Read More>>

Virginia Primozic

The idea of pursuing a creative/artistic path professionally has grown over time, so it is difficult to pin down a specific date, or even a specific age. My mother was a professional artist, so my siblings and I grew up with a lot of gallery and museum visits, and lots of discussion about art. Her medium was primarily oils. It was in her work that I first saw paper combined with paint, but she only used it for texture, applying various papers over and under the paint on the canvas. Read More>>

Christopher Rayson

I have always loved drawing and art since a child in kindergarten. I took art classes all through middle school and high school. I painted murals in my friends homes and did some local businesses like barbershop windows and the movie theater in my hometown of Lancaster Texas in the 90s. I knew then I would have a future in art professionally. I ended up getting a scholarship to the Art Institute of Dallas where I received my degree in Visual Communications and Applied Arts. Read More>>

Ryan Terpstra

Back in 2014, I was a high school sophomore while living in Texas and my father got a better job. I was told we only had a few weeks until we had to pack up and leave. I was devastated that I had to leave my whole world behind to start anew. Little did I know, this would turn out to be a pivotal moment for my journey in music. Read More>>

Alexis Marie

Art has been my safe haven for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was 7 years old or younger, art has always been the bridge between emotions I knew I wanted to express but didn’t have the words for, and the unexplainable joy in how art brings us all together. My earliest memory of being an artist was a bonding moment I shared with my painter grandfather. Read More>>

Katama Murray

In full transparency, I cannot trace back the first moment I knew because I truly think that I always knew that I wanted to purse a creative path professionally. From a young age I engaged with artistic processes and continued to learn through natural growth and sheer curiosity. Both sides of my family is full of artists and teachers, and even a few who became art educators, like myself. I am fortunate to have a supportive family, friends, and communities who have always encouraged this path, and looking back, Read More>>

Kae Bae

I’ve wanted to be famous since I was a kid, but I never really had the chance to chase it seriously. When I started live streaming, it quickly became more than just something fun to do. It felt like my own little stage. You have to be entertaining to keep people watching, and that pushed me to tap into that creative side I always loved. Read More>>

T.J. London

I always wrote, even as a child. My first published work was actually when I was in first grade. I wrote a Christmas poem and submitted it to a children’s poetry contest, and it was subsequently published in a magazine. After that, I wrote story ideas in a binder from when I was 16 all the way until I was in my twenties, but I never did anything with them. When I was in my thirties, two catastrophic events happened in my life simultaneously, one in my professional career, and the other, my father was in a serious accident that led to him having health issues. Read More>>

Howard Harris

I was born to be an artist. I can’t think of a time when art was not part of my
life. From as early as I can remember, art of some type – painting, sculpture,
photography, theater, etc. – has always been a part of my life. It is only a foggy memory, but I took my first formal drawing class when I was 8 or 10. I still have two vivid memories of that class; One was that the class was held Read More>>

Daniel Cantrell

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was in 2022, right in the heart of Las Vegas, New Mexico. That year was heavy. We had just come out of the worst of COVID, and people in my community were still feeling the weight of it—loss, isolation, uncertainty. On top of that, the Calf Canyon fire hit hard. It burned dangerously close to home, and for a while, it felt like everything familiar was either at risk or already gone. Read More>>

Oldren Romero

I discovered that I was an Artist at the age of 4, My mother took me to Painting classes and that was it, I loved it, and after that History, I start doing and appreciating Art in general. Read More>>

ELIXIR

The moment I walked to fashion district, a few weeks into moving to LA about 8 years ago I seen this glossy faux croc grey fabric and i just knew i could bring a wicked piece to life. I saved enough money to buy my first industrial sewing machine. Read More>>

Lisa Loudin

My artistic path began at a young age. When given pen and paper, I would entertain myself for hours drawing. Read More>>

Missy Andria

I was always pursing some form of artistic career path. I did music for 13 years and acting for about 3 years. I always knew I wanted to be in the arts and entertainment field. But I think my true awakening for this specific career was when I was six and saw Freddy vs. Jason. There’s a scene where (sorry to those who are squeamish) someone is cut completely in half with Jason’s machete and I got caught with that scene paused and my tiny face being super close to the TV. Read More>>

Dariyah Scott

Most of my life before college was focused in working in medicine. After getting into art school and finding out that I can impact people just as much through art I was convinced that this was my path all along. I fell in love with it even more in undergrad, where it wasn’t just an outlet for creative expression, but a way to tell other marginalized people’s experience in conjunction with my own. I couldn’t stop making art once I started and I saw through trying out other paths that it all led back to art. Read More>>

Mitchell McCain

When I was around 13, I heard Electric Relaxation by A Tribe Called Quest and I was hooked! I was already growing up in the golden era of hip-hop, but had never heard it done quite like that before. Around that same time, I saw the video Jump by Kriss Kross and thought “oh kids can do this too?” From that point on, I began writing my own wraps and looking for ways to record them. Before long, I was making pause tapes on my karaoke machine, and taking the BART train to a friend’s house to record my music in his studio. Read More>>

Ember Rice

Usually when people ask me this question I don’t really know the answer. I honestly can’t remember when I first realized that I wanted to be a performer. I genuinely just always remember knowing that I was meant to be a performer. When I was younger, my mom would take me out to the ballet, and I always had feeling that I was supposed to be up there with them. I have a specific memory when my mom took me to see Read More>>

Emily Silver

I’ve been an artist since I was very little. The summer I turned 5 years old my family was vacationing in Cape Cod when the Swedish ship “Stockholm” ran into the Italian “Andrea Doria” just off Nantucket, and, after witnessing people being brought to shore on lifeboats, I collaged an artwork describing the scene. I think it was obvious to everyone but me that I was already an artist, and luckily my parents constantly rewarded and encouraged me. Read More>>

MAJOR MAYES

I started my journey young at the age of 2 years old, my first inspiration was playing the drums. I wanted to play the drums because I saw other musicians playing at church and concerts and I was inspired by the way it made me feel happy. Read More>>