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.

Carly Marie DeMento

I should have known I was a writer sooner. As soon as I could pick up a pencil, I was writing stories and running around with empty reams of paper pretending they were my book. I wrote a lot of poetry between the ages of 13 and 23. Read More>>

Damani Patmon

I first realized I wanted to be in the arts when I was 16. I didn’t get to do it at that time because I was in sports, still in school, and I was also working a couple of jobs. I graduated high school at 18 and went straight to the military. Read More>>

Winnie Weiyun Szu

I can’t point to a single moment when I “decided” to pursue art — it never felt like a decision. I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember, and for me it was simply the most natural way to move through the world. Read More>>

Aryaman Minocha

I did not grow up thinking of myself as a future designer. I just knew that the traditional academic world never felt like the right place for me. I could complete the work, but nothing about that environment felt imaginative or energizing. What felt natural was making things. Read More>>

Sandra Yagi

I loved drawing from a very young age. I drew pictures on the margins of books and any blank paper I could get my hands on, including the cover page of my mother’s Buddhist Hymn book. My mother is very artistic, plays classical piano and draws and paints as a hobby. She showed me how to draw cats and encouraged creative activities. Read More>>

Manuela Oliveira

“It really started back in 2004 when I walked into a dance studio in Sydney, Australia, felt something shift inside me from that moment, everything changed. Read More>>

Melissa Mendes

Six years ago I wrote a tiny fashion film in my bedroom. It was one of those late night, post production coordinator shifts where your brain is tired but some feral creative instinct insists on staying up anyway. Read More>>

Joseph Meyers

So originally when I started creating music it helped me process feelings I felt emotionally at a time when I didn’t have any other healthy ways of doing so, and the music was tied very personally to my overall growth. Read More>>

Florida Palmore

At the young age of six I was intrigued by all the characters I saw on television. My Grandmother told me they weren’t really policemen or lawyers or whatever it was I was watching, but that they were actors. Once I understood that Actors could be all those things I saw on television, I knew it was the career for me. Read More>>

Kevin Holliday

It started off around 2015. What people don’t know is that I started being a editor before picking up and camera. I didn’t physically touch a real camera until the following year and that was because I was just going around and taking little photos of plants and buildings. Once 2018 came around I realize that sports wasn’t really me anymore. Read More>>

Consuelo Alondra

Ever since I was a child, music and dance have guided me. Although I understood the importance of having a backup plan, which led me to study Graphic Design and Marketing, my true passion was always dance. I found myself spending much more time dancing than focusing on my coursework. Read more>>

Keri White

I knew when I was in kindergarten, I wanted to be a commercial artist. It was 1985, the concept was new back then. My kindergarten teacher didn’t know what I was talking about. I spent weekends at my grandma‘s house, scouring her magazines and somehow got my hands on Rolling Stone. Read More>>

calvin williams

I realized Freedomtainment could become real the day it hit me how deeply storytelling could bring a community together — not just entertain, but heal, uplift, and unite. I was watching an older-community pickup baseball game, listening to older folks talk about what the game meant to them when they were young: the pride, the struggle, the joy, the memories. Read More>>

 Jennifer Kostuck

Like many creatives, I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. Even as I studied different subjects in school, I would find myself drawing much of the material for any project I could. I had so much encouragement all through elementary school and enjoyed pushing the boundaries of every medium I could get my hands on. Read More>>

 Janisa Garry

At age 16! It was November 2009 and I just purchased all my favorite magazines like Teen Vogue, as I’m standing in book aisle of Shopritelooking for the latest issue my mouth dropped. I finally saw a models with features like mine and I felt a rush of adrenaline. Read More>>

Lyaná Rose

The first time I knew for sure I wanted to sing I think I was maybe 5 years old. I always loved to sing around the house, I remember dancing around the living room to Beyoncè videos and singing her songs. Though I was a big fan of many artists she was the first person I saw on tv that made me know I wanted to be a superstar. Read More>>

Christian Williams

In My Senior year of college @Georgia Southern University I suffered my 4th concussion on the football field. I was on full scholarship there to play and I was living a dream I’d been hoping for my entire life, playing division 1 football. My concussion stopped everything. Read More>>

Sitch

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally kind of happened twice for me. I went to college for Graphic Design, and that choice I made my senior year of high school. Read More>>