Are artists born or made? To help answer this question, we asked some of the most artistic folks we know to tell us about how they knew they were going to pursue an artistic or creative path. We’ve shared highlights below.

Kori Joseph

The first time I truly knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path professionally came in an unexpected but powerful moment. I was in my home studio, just vibing with some beats, when I got a call from my brother Jason. Read more>>

Ajani Colvin

When I was just a kid, maybe 14 or 15, in messing around with beats in my bedroom. I was this young dude, no fancy gear, just a beat-up laptop and some free software FL Studio, and it was cracked, you know how it goes. Read more>>

Aya Iwakami

Since childhood, I was deeply fascinated by art and loved drawing and painting. I always dreamed of having a creative career. However, my family placed a strong emphasis on academics, which made it very difficult to convince them to let me pursue my artistic ambitions. Although I longed to attend an art college, my family’s opposition led me to a liberal arts university instead. Read more>>

Panzhen (Panpan) Wu

I would say, instead of a single moment, it was a series of events that led me to the path of screen scoring and narrative songwriting. Growing up, while I was always involved in the performing arts, I was passionate about the intellectual challenge of inquiring rationality. When I entered college, my plan was to research music technology or cognition. Read more>>

Luke Beekman

Like so many creatives, I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally since I was very young. In school, I was always writing stories and poetry, had a camera in my hand, started composing music, and illustrating comics. I was very independent and taught myself how to animate and edit video, and was interested in all things art and technology. Read more>>

Sana Kakumanu

I am very grateful for the opportunity to have tried everything. I think starting from when I was young, I tried on different identities to decide which combination felt the most true to myself. It was always art and creativity that fit best. Read more>>

Paole Calderon

I grew up in a small town in Peru, and my earliest memories are rooted in my father’s studio. I remember clearly how it was filled with books on history, architecture, and the lives of great artists. I’d spend hours there, especially when he was working out. Read more>>

Misuzu Hirano

I have loved singing since I was a child. My musical journey began when my grandmother took me to join a local music school’s children’s choir. Through many concerts and musical performances with the choir, I discovered the joy of being on stage and expressing myself through music. Read more>>

Tamara Warta

I’ve always had a huge imagination, and when I was a little girl I would spend hours ‘directing’ plays and sitcoms with my dolls or singing at the top of my lungs outside. My swingset was a Broadway stage! Read more>>

Binh Nguyen duc

I couldn’t think of a singular moment or influence that catalyzed my breadth of work, my specific focus, or in this case the passion for interdisciplinary art and design. Reflecting back, I suspect that this interest forms subtly, grass rooted, guided by art and design yearning to take material form in the physical world. Read more>>

Charlotte Treiber

taking a photography class and an astronomy class, both of which inspired me heavily. We were learning about simulation theory in astronomy, and when I think of a simulation I think of something 2 dimensional, like a computer screen. Read more>>

Laci Hector

Throughout my life, I’ve had the desire to share my work with others. From a young age, I wrote stories and drew to my heart’s content, and I always dreamed of becoming a writer (like many others). When I started college, I shied away from majoring in English because I was told it would be a dead-end unless I wanted to become a teacher, but an amazing advisor within the Olinde Career Center at LSU helped me realize that there were many different things I could do with my degree. Read more>>