Artists Support Other Artists; Intro

Welcome to part 1 of my culminating task for my final art class of high school; Grade 12 arts.  Our culminating this year has been split into two different sections, to try to cover as much content with one culminating as possible.  In this section I will be focusing on the idea that artists support other artists.  I will be talking about what this means, what some examples of this are, and how this can help artists.

See this picture above?  I screen shotted this image from my teachers blog, this is the format that we were given this section of the culminating in.  Now it won’t work on here, but when you run your mouse over this image on the actual blog a bunch of little white dots pop up, when you run your mouse over the little dots, a link then pops up to a website or video.  My class was asked to review all of these links before we started our culminating to give us some background on the kinds of things we would be covering, and to get a general idea of what ‘artists support other artists’ mean.

What is this ‘artists support other artists’ concept I speak of?

It’s actually a pretty broad topic; there are many ways to go about what it means, and many different ways to interpret it.  I almost miss the days when I was given an assignment and there were no if, ands, or buts about it; it was just a straight forward question.  But, I guess when you get into grade 12 those days are done.  Okay, so I think that the concept ‘artists support other artists’ just means that if you really want to get anywhere in the art world, you have to open yourself up to new ideas, give credit where credit is due, and look to give support, as well as receive support.

Honestly, the art world is a cruel, unforgiving place if you try to take it on alone.  Unless you happen to know the right people and catch a huge break at the start of your career, being an artist can be a rather frustrating, and unrewarding job.  It is definitely better to have friends in the art world than enemies.  Climbing the artistic ladder to the top can be a slow process, but with the support of other artists it can seem faster, and it will definitely be a more enjoyable and less lonely journey.

Ever heard the saying ‘you catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar’?  How about ‘give credit where credit is due’? Or ‘good artists copy, but great artists steal’?  These are all great points to support my main idea!  Basically, you have to be nice.  You have to be willing to connect with other artists, and make a good name for yourself.  You must develop a safe environment around you filled with people who will share your work, and you will share there’s in return.  You have to be willing to put yourself out there, and you need to talk to people, reputation is key.  Seek artists out, bring artists in, find positive people and share your ideas with them.  

In order to support other artists, and be supported in return, you have to give credit.  Whether sharing a piece of art, borrowing a general idea, or ‘stealing’ a painting, it is absolutely crucial to give credit to the founding artist.  By doing this, you will gain the respect of your peers, and demand their respect in return.  Artists don’t mind having their ideas borrowed, but if it was there idea, they deserve to be credited for it.  This supports the original artist as it brings publicity back to the original piece of art.  When ‘stealing’ art, it is also important to be respectful of the original art work.  Instead of captioning your picture “The New and Improved ____”, a caption such as “Rendition of _____” is much more respectful.  This will shine a positive light on the new art piece, and support the original artist. 

Artists must also stay with the times; they will have to ‘steal’ some modern ideas, as art is changing so fast nowadays.  They must support new ideas, and take charge producing new art pieces.  They must be okay with stepping out of there comfort zones.  With technology being so advanced nowadays, it is impossible to ignore the change, a new kind of art is created, and it is all over social media within 1-2 days!  This generation is crazy these days!   In order to be a good successful artist one must be willing to go with the change, don’t fight it.  If a new piece of art come out, artists must challenge themselves to mimic this art, create something better, more brilliant, but don’t forget to give credit where credit is due!  

As much as art is a competitive business, it is so important not to let that competition take over your life.  Artists do have to try to be the best in the business; they do have to fight their way to the top, but in doing so they have to keep as many friends as they can.  As competitive as the art world is, everyone will tend toward nice, respectful people.  I mean, who would you rather do a group project with?  Someone who lies, cheats, and steals your ideas, and gets a 95?  Or someone who helps, is trustworthy, shares credit, and gets an 85?  Who would you rather hire as an employee?  Someone who stabbed his/her last boss in the back?  Or someone who comes with brilliant references?   The choice is clear. 

Anyone can be an artist, but good artists, artists that want to make it past the local art galleries, and past the confinement of their own home town must put themselves out there.  They must support other artists, and hope that other artists will return the favor.