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.

Volvexzshawa

My Teenage years I was not Musically inclined until when I lost my closet friend Tommy to a gunfight, this opened my eyes that violence was not the way forward and decided to change my ankle of view ,since I had spent most of my evening at studio, I decided to give it a shot as a rapper and develop my craft as a professional rapper and Songwriter Read more>>

Byron Harvey

I was introduced to the arts to by my grandmother, Louella Harvey and my local church . She and I would regularly attend performances at TPAC and the Grand Ole Opry. I was wowed by many amazing performances of the Lion King, Fisk Jubilee Singers, and so many more. Read more>>

Alessandra Bautze

Growing up in the Boston area, I always knew I wanted to be a writer. I have wonderful memories of seeing live theatre and attending cultural events with my mother from a young age. My father was always going to the library and read voraciously. Read more>>

Isabella Björkman

Acting has been in the back of my mind since I was a kid. I have always been fascinated with how movies and TV shows are made and I remember I could sit and watch behind the scene footage for hours. I used to pretend the bathroom mirror was a camera and give monologues. So my passion for acting has always been there. Read more>>

William Grosse

There were a few moments that lead me down this path: – Watching The Magic Flute as a kid Read more>>

Levi Wilson

So, interestingly enough, the first time I thought about really going into the arts was when I was in 4th grade and the movie The Princess Bride came out. I loved the entire thing. Read more>>

Tim Bachman

Pursuing my creative path was not something that was always planned out and decided from an earlier date, rather an itch that grew more over the years. It wasn’t until i was bite by the entrepreneurial bug at a street fair that i realized what i did that weekend was a business model for some, and even though it would be tough, it would be very gratifying. Read more>>

Adin Rudd

I’ve always been kind of the impressionist in my friends group, and when I first graduated high school, I didn’t know what to do, so I went to community college with an undeclared major (Citrus College in Glendora). I was also in the anime club there, and every year, the club would go to Anime Expo here in LA. Read more>>

Mellasenah Edwards

I was eight years old watching Tarzan with my dad for the thousandth time and it was the scene in the beginning of the movie where the leopard is chasing after the baby. There is a moment where the leopard bursts up through the wooden floorboards and it’s a gorgeous bit of animation: the unique splintering of the wood coupled with the musculature of the leopard and all of it’s spots coming together in one shot. It’s magnificent. Read more>>

Jasmyn Carter

I guess I kind of always knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally. I remember being a little girl and being envious of my big sister who could draw, rap, paint, play the piano and etc. I thought I didn’t have any talent. I started creating comedy content when I was in high school and I never stopped. Read more>>

Donny Kash

When I performed at skullys here in Columbus for the first time in 2018 the experience was very much a educational success bad and good but it made me want to go full throttle for what I believe Read more>>

Im-Sun Song

The arts played a significant role in shaping my upbringing, whether it was visiting museums or attending the theater to watch films. During my teenage years, television shows became an additional avenue for artistic exploration. Read more>>

Barry J Neely

My path in film music composition started fairly early on. I would sit for hours at my piano way back in middle school and come up with these long song arrangements that in my mind, told stories about my life. Read more>>

Nicholas Schmid

In my third year of university back in Canada, I wrote my faculty’s musical. I helped with the early stages of production and attended rehearsals, but halfway through, I left for my study abroad in Tokyo. I had been in Japan a couple months by the time the show was put on. Read more>>

Aviva Jaye

I loved being involved in the arts from a young age, informally and formally. I would make up harmonies to songs around the house, rewind dance scenes from old movie musicals to get the choreography down in the living room, things like that. Read more>>

Crystal Barron

I can’t remember my life without singing. From the time I was a very young child I would sit and play the piano and sing for hours at a time. There was never a question of if I would be a singer, it was just a matter of how it would manifest. Read more>>

Sabria Sparrow

Like many creatives, I’ve been a creative for as long as I could remember. I’ve gone to college, even have gotten my Master’s, but I’ve never intended to anything else than to be creative and I don’t see my life in any other way than to create for the rest of it. Read more>>

Nathan N8.” Butler”

Originally, I didn’t know I was going to pursue anything in the creative or artistic path professionally. I didn’t even view that as an option growing up because none of the people around me took that route. The plan all throughout grade school was to graduate high school, major in one of the STEM categories in college, and maybe get a career in finance. Read more>>

Matias Perez

I knew that first time I went out to a club with my friends in my 13th years old! I got in the club and I said: I want to be that guy in the booth… Read more>>

Robin Adler

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a career in art was in college. My freshman year, I enrolled in art along with other foundational classes. Art class was my favorite and I couldn’t wait to continue my art education. Unfortunately, once I had to declare a major, I abandoned my true calling and chose a field that I felt offered more financial security. Read more>>

Brittany Vadnais

I tell this story all the time. I was just a little kid, six years old and I asked my mom if I could audition for Barney. She said no because we didn’t live in Texas where Barney was filming, and I joke to this day that I still haven’t forgiven her…it’s just a joke though. I have. Read more>>

Nimisha Doongarwal

My passion for art developed at an early age, where painting, drawing, and sculpting became natural outlets for my creativity. As a teenager, I discovered the power of art to connect and communicate with others. Inspired by my artistically trained mother, I would emulate her paintings and express my interpretations. Read more>>

MJ Chen

Looking back, my journey towards a creative and artistic career began long before my professional stint in the banking sector. As early as middle school, I was drawn to the world of fashion design, spending countless hours sketching clothing designs. Read more>>

Jin Chong

Being a tattoo artist had always been a dream job of mine. Towards the end of high school, when it was time to apply for colleges and think about which major to pursue, I really wanted to tattoo. However, I deemed it unrealistic at the time, and ended up getting a BS in Construction Management (and a Minor in Business Administration). Read more>>

Mark Atteberry

It’s an interesting question. Most artist can remember a particular inciting incident that spurred on their desire to do art as a career. I don’t know that any particular incident sticks out for me. Read more>>

Ruqone

When I was in 7th grade. A classmate gave me a Parliament live album. I took it home listened to it and fell in love with music. It was around this time that I started really noticing hip hop culture. Read more>>

Omar Cook

I believe I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be in the entertainment industry because I always had an artistic way of living, from singing and rapping around the house to acting out my favorite superheroes. Read more>>

Aria Johnson

I was just five when I confidently announced to my kindergarten teacher, ‘I’m going to be a singer and tour the world!’ She chuckled, as did my parents, but I meant every word. Read more>>

Shelby Morgan

I’ve known that I was destined to be a performer and creative since I can remember. I was performing in my room, for my parents, brothers end-of-year baseball team parties, talent shows and any karaoke I could be a part of. Read more>>

Bella Kaye

I’ve known from a young age I wanted to pursue music professionally. Music has always been my souls calling. For as long as I can remember I grew up putting on shows for my family, singing around the house, writing pretend songs, etc. Read more>>

Nahla Bee

I have always loved singing! I love to inspire and uplift others through singing and rapping but I didn’t know how to make it a profession. I performed really well in school academically from receiving a 4.0 GPA in graduate school, to numerous president’s awards and honors for academic excellence through out my school career. Read more>>

Fanny Reynaud

I’ve known since I was around 12 years old that I wanted to work in cinema. I’ve been a huge movie enthusiast since I was very young. My father, himself a passionate cinephile (though he had a completely ordinary profession, working as an artist painter in his spare time), used to rent DVDs for me during his work-related absences. Read more>>

Katerina Kestemont

When I was 12 years old I knew that I wanted to be an artist. My dream was to go to art school but unfortunately my parents didn’t allow me to pursue that dream. Read more>>