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.

Bea Naud

When I was in high school, my older sister started collecting nail lacquers as a hobby. I was a chronic nail biter so I didn’t have much to work with, but I started painting them and experimenting with nail art. I found pretty quickly that the more time and effort I put into making something fun or intricate on my nails, the more I would hesitate to bite them and ruin all my hard work. Read more>>

Lily Mueller

I’ve always loved to make things. I don’t remember a time in my life where I didn’t love to make. I didn’t know what kind of career I wanted to pursue but I knew it had to be something creative. When it came time to make a decision about college I felt so clueless. I knew I really wanted to pursue art but didn’t think of it as a sustainable career. My parents knew I felt this way but still convinced me to apply to the Kansas City Art Institute. Read more>>

Larry Rhem

I’ve always been a fan of movies and television shows. As a kid, my mom used to take my brother and I to the video store on Fridays for movie night. It was always the highlight of my week. I enjoyed storytelling so much that in the fifth grade I started writing my own. I would write my classmates in my stories and share it with them. During that time I only looked at it as just something fun to do. Read more>>

Kalen Dion

It was probably COVID and the subsequent lock down that drove me to pursue my writing full-time. I worked dead-end jobs at restaurants and on construction sites for most of my life. And it was a living, but nothing about it excited my soul. I had been meticulously building my brand for a few years before the pandemic, investing thirty to forty hours a week, Read more>>

chiara magni

Chiara Magni’s journey as a professional painter is one of passion, creativity, and dedication. Growing up in Italy, she was always surrounded by beautiful art and architecture, which inspired her to express herself through painting. From a young age, Chiara knew that she wanted to pursue a career in the arts. She was constantly experimenting with different mediums and techniques, and when she discovered the joy of painting with her fingers using oil on canvas, she knew she had found her unique style. Read more>>

Melissa Muganzo

My name is Melissa Muganzo and I am a proud Queer Black (Kenyan/West-Indian) entertainer and business owner. I began my journey as an entertainer, dancer, actor, showrunner, and filmmaker at the age of eight (8) years old through the performing arts program at my local church. By the age of 13 I was asked to become one of three (3) lead choreographers of my dance company and transitioned into production and leadership alongside my two co-choreographers. Read more>>

Loni Lilley

I was lucky enough to grow up in a very artistic household. My mom was a self taught artist who would teach art lessons out of our home during the summer time and my dad had once been a carpenter who always had a woodshop where he built anything my mom could dream up. My older sister is one of the most talented watercolor artists I have ever met, and growing up in her shadow was a difficult task. Read more>>

Tony Hankerson JR

Since childhood, I always loved creating stories and sharing them with others, through art. Whether through doodles, small comic strips or full-blown graphic novels, I always loved capturing my ideas on the page or canvas, and watching other people experience them. Read more>>

Dennis Kleinman

I was very blessed to have grown up in an artistic home surrounded by many creatives. I grew up in Cape Town South Africa during the apartheid era. Both of my parents were liberal and progressive and hated the ideology of apartheid, and worked against it politically, as did I. My mother was an abstract artist and ‘arty’ and thus I was surrounded from a very early age by people from the art world, music, and theatre. Read more>>

Astraea Chaumette

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally when I felt how meaningful it was to help others feel good about expressing themselves. I love seeing people who never thought they could write or read poetry open up to the possibility and share. Read more>>

Raafe-Ahmaad Purnsley

I grew up black southern and Christian, those traditions emphasized being the best one could and celebrating my thankfulness for the blessings and goodness God put in my life. A lot of that looked like learning, performing, and if anything celebrating through music, verse, and dance. It started with church choir and liturgical dance, then band, and of course learning and reciting scripture, the church is one of the ways in which black people taught, learned, Read more>>

Allyssa Yamaguchi-Juárez

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was in my third year at university. From computer science to chemistry nothing felt right. I would dread coursework and would calm myself by drawing. I was going to change my major… again, this time to biology but I needed an art credit so I took Drawing alongside my Biology course. That Drawing class changed my life! I had a professor who was passionate about teaching and making art. Read more>>

Lora Qiu

I started learning drawing when I was a child. Like most Asian kids, I worked hard on my drawing just want to get good grades. I met a friend in 2019, who said some things that made me think about art. At that time, I was thinking about what major I needed to choose, fashion or illustration. And she said that in her opinion, different majors are different artistic expressions, Read more>>

Odunayo Majekodunmi

I’ve always known I wanted to pursue a Creative and Artistic Path Professionally starting at a very young age. I was about 10 years old when I started using my imagination and creating characters and scenarios. I would pretend I was a different person and imagine I was having a conversation with other Characters. At around 12 to 17 years Old, I also had a fascination with Television Shows and Movies. I wanted to be on Television and was obsessed with Storytelling. Read more>>

Amanda May Moore

For as long as I can remember I always enjoyed drawing and painting. I also came from a family of artists. It is a surprise I did not go into art after high school but I did not have the most supportive art teacher in high school. I have since worked on that artist wound. After studying Spanish for my BA at Michigan State, I moved to Florida City, south of Miami, FL. I worked there for 4 years as an AmeriCorps Volunteer. Read more>>

Fian Arroyo

As far back as I can remember, I always new I would pursue a creative/artistic path professionally. When I was 5 years old I made my first dollar making a clay dog for our neighbor, a veterinarian, and created paper puppets for a kids show on the military base we were living on in Japan at the time. It really kicked into gear when I discovered the artwork of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta in high school which really motivated me to study illustration at Southwest Texas State (now Texas State). Read more>>

Lucas Farlow

Besides as a little kid, dreaming of being an artist, I believe the first time I thought about making my creativity into a professional career was sometime in early 2016. I had taken an acrylic painting class at a local art studio to get out and more interactive in social settings. I attended many lessons there over about a year. It was not my first time using acrylic paint on canvas, I did have some prior experience in college. Read more>>

Autumn Ellis

I grew up before social media was a thing; so despite being artistically talented, I was never aware that it was something I could turn into a career. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized not only could I make it a career, but I could make it a personal business venture; without the help of a traditional gallery or art agent. I came across artist on Instagram who were not only selling canvases, but making their own prints and other products. Read more>>

Francisco Claudio

When turning 12 years old something magical was awaken on me, wanting to create, explorer, learn and wishing to someday be able to impact and communicate through singing and rapping Spanish lyrics. Read more>>

Myde Glover

To be very honest, I’ve always known I wanted to be an actor and filmmaker since I was a little boy. That’s all that made sense. It’s always been that for me. When other children my age said they wanted to become doctors, lawyers and the likes, It was always acting and filmmaking for me. And so I pursued that from the onset, studying theatre in college and starting professionally in film after that. Read more>>

Kaylee Corey

I’ve been in love with creating and expressing myself artistically since I was a little kid, but my awakening to take my passion further came to me during my second semester of junior college. Science was my favorite subject in high school and I excelled academically, so it made sense in my mind to pursue a career in the medical field. I can understand it and make good money right? After graduation I started at Tyler Junior College in the direction of radiology. Read more>>

Sean Mahan

I think I’ve always had that bug. I’ve been using my voice to entertain people since I was a kid, and I’ve also been great at imitating people. Of course, that could sometimes get me in a little trouble in school and in the Army, but it was always fun. When I was a kid watching Bugs Bunny cartoons, the thought of being able to do what Mel Blanc did for a living – bringing life to all those different characters – was something I often dreamed of. Read more>>

Faith Goldstein

When I was in First Grade, an author came to our school for an “author visit.” She shared her book and discussed the whole writing/publishing process and I was hooked! I thought writing a book and getting it published sounded like the neatest thing ever, and it was that day that I decided that I wanted to be an author when I grew up. Read more>>

Hosanna Rubio

I was raised around the arts. I remember spending long afternoons fascinated by the languid strokes of my grandmother’s paintbrush as she sculpted color into fields and flowers, and the soft rasp of my mother’s fingers on the paper as she diffused charcoal into soft shadow and light. In school I thrived in the arts, and went on to study Art Education in college, hoping to share my love for the creative process with others. Read more>>

Osmeli Delgado

I was born in Venezuela and at the age of 5 I used to spend the day with my mother in her art gallery, surrounded by artists and where my toys were canvases and brushes. This was a blessing for my mother because as a a little girl, I was restless and very curious. It was difficult for me to stay put and the only way to do so was by having me sit down and paint, I could spend hours doing it. At that moment, my deep love for art began. Read more>>

Habibi

Making music and just overall creating was something I always did. I used to write stories and ideas constantly when I was younger. It usually didn’t matter what I wrote, I just loved telling stories and bringing that idea into the real world. I think due to that, my passion for just being creative began to grow. Yet, it wasn’t until I applied my ideas to piano keys or just overall instrumentals is really where I found that click. From there I was just going. Read more>>

jermaine browne

As a child, my mother introduced me to dance by putting me on her feet and teaching me how to slow dance. It was a beautiful bonding moment. When I came to America, was fascinated with the music videos and the art channels that showed dance. But everything happened when I auditioned with a friend for an MTV tv show, and I got it. If was such an amazing time; I felt a part of something great. Read more>>

Ben Cantwell

I started drawing tattoos for friends when I was enlisted in the Marine Corps. Eventually, I went from charging nothing to charging a six pack, a six pack turned into a bottle of Jamison and before I knew it, people are interested in purchasing copies of my artwork for cash. fast forward to present day I’ve been able to create thousands of pieces of art including logos, tattoo designs, portraits and unit emblems for the people I love. Now I am able to continue creating art for other veterans, firefighters, and the community that supports us. Read more>>

Simone Feroci

I always looked at music as a profession rather than just an hobby: unfortunately where I come from such choices are discouraged, so I’ve been judged a lot because of this choice, but I was never meant for a sedentary life, and music took me in so many different countries, so I never regretted pursuing this path! Read more>>

Dawn Taylor

At a very young age i was a storyteller and that expressed itself by writing, I would have these vivid amazing adventures in my sleep and wanted to share them with others. So, as soon as i could write i knew i was going to be a writer. Expressing myself as a visual artist came much later. Read more>>