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.

Manuela Horn

Honestly, the signs were there early — I was that kid who turned every family gathering into a full-blown variety show. When I look back at childhood videos, I’m usually in the background (or, let’s be honest, the foreground) clowning around, singing, yodeling, or demanding an audience for whatever “production” I just invented. Read more >>>

Sian Barnett 

Musics always been part of the furniture growing up. I had family members who’d get up and sing in the local pub, no big fuss about it, just pure joy and a bit of heart. Singing was always a big thing in our household. Read more >>>

Annika Wahlstedt

I was just about to graduate high school, and I was trying to decide what to do with my life and my career. I didn’t know what I was good at, or what I loved doing enough to do it as a career. Read more >>>

Zoei Tippy

I’ve always known that I wanted to build my life around music. Even though singing didn’t come as naturally to me at first, I was determined to improve because I love(d) it so deeply. From an early age, I was drawn to the way music made me feel — how it could express emotions and connect people and build a community. Read more >>>

Mary Zeran

I can still remember the hum of fluorescent lights and the smell of fresh paint in the department store where I worked as a display artist. On the surface, it was a creative job—I got to design windows, arrange colors, and make things look beautiful. But over time, the boundaries started to close in. Every decision had to fit within someone else’s palette. Read more >>>

Pat Whelan

My hoop dreams disappeared my freshman year of college at Western Carolina University. I made the basketball team as a walk on, then two months into triple sessions with the team, the athletic director advised me that I was ineligible to play (by nine tenths of a point). It was devastating. I was shocked, upset, broken, and discouraged. Read more >>>

Sewali Deka

Here’s a possible response based on your story: The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was when I was a child, playing with clay and learning traditional crafts from my grandfather and uncle in our village, Bongaon. Those early experiences shaped my connection to art and the rural lifestyle. Read more >>>

Luke Karmo

I had recently moved back home to Michigan after living in New York before the pandemic. While I was in New York, I took some improv classes, not as a professional pursuit, but simply as something new to explore. I remember loving those classes and feeling more alive than I ever had before. Read more >>>

Paul Fabozzi

I always loved to draw and was encouraged by my family. But it was not until I was ready to go to college that I thought about becoming an artist. The idea of art being my life took time to develop. Read more >>>

Anna Abramzon

I always joke that I started drawing before I could walk — and that may not be too much of an exaggeration. My earliest memories involve hours spent drawing every morning before anyone else in my family woke up. From a young age art was obviously my passion and my obsession. Read more >>>

Samantha Red

Growing up on the border in Brownsville, Texas, in a family full of musicians, sparked my love for music and set me on the path I’m on today. My dad, an incredible musician, played in a Tejano band with his brothers for years. Read more >>>

Saffara Melissa

My creative journey started when I was in elementary school. I had always loved the idea of documenting meaningful moments in my life as a way for me to look back and remember those memories. Once I was in high school, I started my social media journey by posting pictures with my friends, going out to social events, seeing live concerts, workouts, and healthy recipes. Read more >>>

Hannah Franco

I was ten years old when I announced to my mother that I was going to be an artist. Not that I wanted to be—that I was going to be. That certainty came from somewhere deep and unshakeable. It was encouraged by an extraordinary fourth-grade teacher who introduced me to Georgia O’Keeffe, Cy Twombly, and Rothko. Read more >>>

Kira Mesi

I remember being 7 years old, and I was always singing, especially in the shower. I know a lot of people can relate to that! I remember one night after a particularly incredible rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls just wanna have fun”, and dancing around my room with a hairbrush as a microphone, my parents walked by and said , “Wow, you really can sing! Do you want to take singing lessons?” I thought why not that sounds amazing! Music was always just inherently in me, and I always felt this great love to perform. Read more >>>