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.

Rita Vicari

Unlike many other artists that I know, my artistic career didn’t start from a big desire to become an artist and it was never really what I had in mind for myself. When I met my husband and decided to move out of my country to be with him, I was left with no family and friends around me. I spoke no other language apart from my native and struggled to find what to do. It was really hard. I had a really successful career as a dancer and a choreographer prior to that and I left all of that and had to start my life from point zero. Read more>>

Jan Heaton

I grew up in Detroit. I have lived in Austin since 1975. As soon as I could hold a crayon I knew I would be an artist. My grandfather was a design engineer for Henry Ford. My father a display artist, calligrapher and sign painter. My mother an illustrator for General Motors, and an accomplished artist in multiple mediums. Every day they shared with me the tools of creating art. Mom set up still lifes on our dining room table to sketch from on snowy, housebound days. My brother and I learned from our parents how to observe, isolate, and find beauty in the smallest details. Read more>>

Ty Laramore

I first knew that I wanted to play music professionally when I was very young. I was raised around a love for live music, although none of my family members played I was constantly surrounded by music growing up. When I was in 4th grade I had an assignment to write an essay about what I wanted to be when I grew up, and wrote that I wanted to be a musician. From an early age I could see the effect musicians had on people’s feelings including my own, and knew I wanted to do the same thing one day. Read more>>

Jazz Kelley

The first time I really recognized that I wanted to pursue my creative path was around the end of my sophomore year entering into my junior year of high school. I was playing basketball at the time and I was discovering I wasn’t passionate anymore and that bothered me. I struggled internally with knowing that and whether I should stay to finish strong or go ahead and quit. I battled with completing what I started or being miserable because Im forcing myself to do something I don’t enjoy and potentially effect my teammates because of that. Read more>>

Juan Villegas

Since I was a kid there was nothing I wanted to do more than to create and make art. At age 5 my parents started buying me newsprint pads and color pencils, and it sparked in me an ongoing passion to make my mark in this world. I didn’t get into painting till I was in high school, but by then I had a very clear vision of becoming a professional artist. I enrolled in art school right after graduating and obtained my bachelors degree in fine arts, i’ve been practicing my craft ever since, and as a full time artist for the last 4 years. Read more>>

Brandon Redd

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a career artistically was actually when I was like 4 years old. I’m a huge comic nerd, so superheroes has always been my thing. I have a funny story from when I was a little kid, my grandma asked me what I wanted to be when I got older, and I responded, “I want to work for the Daily Bugle” LOL. For anyone who doesn’t already know, that’s the newspaper that spider-man worked for in the comics. Of course at that age, I couldn’t truly vocalize what I meant by that, but it boiled down to the fact that I was infatuated with what I was seeing on TV. Read more>>

Erik Martinez

For the longest time I thought being an Artist as a “job” would ruin it for me. Then I realized that was a ridiculous way of looking at it, and I need to make money somehow, why not doing something I Love.?? I’ve always made Art. It’s always made sense to me. It’s what I’m here to do. Why not get paid for it???? Read more>>

Maritza Lerma

I have always been told that I was really creative in the workplace and at home. I love making stuff, and get so into trying to perfect a skill. During the pandemic in 2020, I had more free time; it pushed me to do hands-on stuff at home. I began knitting, did some crocheting, and purchased a candle making kit. I was surprised at how quickly I fell in love with making candles. Working with the essential oils just made me so relaxed during all the noise 2020 had. Read more>>

Drayghun

The first time I realized the desire to pursue the arts was when I relocated to Miami, FL in 2001. My parents had recently separated and it was myself and 3 other siblings with my Mother. We were raised in religion and one day I had met a friend who attended the church we were all new to. We were hanging out shooting the breeze and he began singing. I never knew he could sing and the sound coming from him was beautiful and impacted me so much that I said within myself, “I am going to pursue music with the intention of giving listeners the same feeling I felt from hearing him sing.” Read more>>

Persiaa Tenai

My passion has always been Acting , Singing and creating music . My mom would tell you that as a newborn I was humming and dancing to Barney every time he came on. I can remember my very first vacation to Disney World and I was just amazed to see my favorite characters in person and to hear my favorite songs on the park speakers. I was six years old, and heard One of my favorite songs come on and immediately put on a show for all of the other guest. I can remember feeling free, happy and in my element. Growing up I would Study movies and shows that I would watch from ;That’s So Raven , The Cheetah Girls and so many more . Read more>>

Ken Cole.

To give you a little personal background, I’d always been drawn to the performing arts – whether it was theater or music or sketch comedy. Many times through high school and college I considered pursuing studies in filmmaking or performance. However, my family strongly advised me to get a “hard degree.” So I chose meteorology because I also loved weather and extreme phenomena. Read more>>

Jazz Inc.

Our first professional gig together was the defining moment when we wanted to take our craft to the next level. We had been practicing the setlist constantly every single day, to make sure we were putting our best foot forward. Although we had practiced like madmen the days before, there were still imperfections, such as trouble with the sound systems, and a last minute trumpet malfunction. Despite the imperfections, our energy onstage was unmatched, and we all agreed that we wanted to take our creativity to a higher level of professionalism. We didn’t let the small mistakes get to us, and pushed forward to an amazing result. Read more>>

Detroit YB

Well, since 5th grade I have always been into “art” or creating. I used to draw people in my school and make funny memes of them before memes was even a thing lol. So it was mainly which exact path would I be pursuing professionally. Nonetheless I chose rapping oppose to what i been doing since 5th grade which was sketching. Rapping came a little later in my life but I was always tied into music creatively as my (step)father at the time was a very good drummer. So beatboxing while my friends freestyled or even creating amateur beats on this machine my (step)father had, I was always creating or recreating art in its purest form. Read more>>

Sabrina M

I am a very reserved person. At times I can be social butterfly but, I have my boundaries and limits on what I share. With fashion there are no limits, boundaries, or even rules. You can choose your story, be who or anything you want to be. I knew that I wanted to pursue this industry when I was 20 working my first job at Forever 21. Forever 21 taught me how to be fashionable without breaking the bank. I knew if I could put together a fire outfit with only $30 just imagine If I had $30,000 or my very own couture line. From there that’s when I knew. Read more>>

Irma Guzman

I have always loved jewelry especially bold, colorful, eye-catching pieces. I had a couple of necklaces that I bought in Colombia many years ago, and they were really striking, the colors were bright and vivid, they were made with mixed materials including seeds and tagua nuts, in general an outstanding piece handcrafted by Colombian artisans. So every time I wore them I got lots of compliments, and they asked me: “where did you get that necklace?” “how can I get the necklace you have on?”. Read more>>

David Dorman

I’ve always been creative and loved all types of art. I guess you can say I started my “art career” later in life. I had dabbled in oil painting in the 80’s and received some very nice response from people in regards to those early works. I spent twenty years in law enforcement, raising two daughters with my wife and enjoying life. Unfortunately I suffered an injury and had to retire early. That sent me into a tailspin of recovery and healing I wasn’t prepared for. Read more>>

Craig McInnis

As a child who was a bit of a loner and relatively terrible at most sports it became evident quite early that art and music would be my path. Both sides of my family have creatives throughout, but my Mother’s side specifically has artists and musicians that followed the path. I started drawing very early like most kids and spent a good amount of time watching my Mom draw beside me. She is quite talented and encouraged me since those early days. Read more>>

Didda Joe

When I was about 9 years old, I had started writing my own songs, and since I had no access to producers or any studios at that age, I decided well I can play instruments so it can’t be too hard to produce a beat. So, after some time figuring out how to make a song on my own, I noticed how many people gravitated to the music I was making, people would be so amazed at what I was doing. After some time seeing that, that’s when I knew. I wanted to be famous and one of the best in the world at what I can do! Read more>>

Christian Wardlow

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was during the pandemic. I knew that a lot of other people were doing the same thing I wanted to but in a local space I always wanted to branch out to the masses to build in a mainstream space. I manifested it and then put in the work and I haven’t looked back sense. Read more>>

Pia Stern

When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally? Compared to many of my cohorts, I came to painting rather late. Like my parents, I felt certain that I would find a subject and career that captured my interest and passion. However, by my second year at UC Berkeley, I found myself thinking that this might not happen. I was intensely curious about many subjects, but hadn’t fallen in love with any one discipline. Read more>>

Chanira McKinney

Watching the show “That’s So Raven” as a kid, I was always fascinated by her style and confidence. In the TV series, she was a fashion designer, made her own clothing, and wore the things she made at school. At that moment, I knew that I wanted to be a fashion designer. I loved the idea of making my own clothing and defining my own style. What further confirmed my dream of becoming a fashion designer, was “Jade”, a character from the Bratz Dolls. Read more>>

Christiann D’Angelo

For me I was around 18-19 years old I had moved away from my hometown DC to pursue a culinary degree. After I ended up in Florida I just met a couple people and just kind of really starting to recording and learning how to make beats off of FL studio and after that I can just ran with it! and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. I come from a very musical family background so I knew that this maybe would have been my calling one day so I’m glad I didn’t shy away from it. Read more>>