Artists Supporting Artists

Last night I had a dream where I was a college professor in the 1950s or 1960s.

I think I’m watching too much of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. (It’s amazing, check it out on Prime, warning: strong language and some nudity)

Anyway, in my dream, I had just gotten a new job at a college working with Master of Arts students. At this college, the MA program was a joke, people just took it to get an easy master’s degree. Like, science students were going through to get their masters to fast-track their way to a doctorate (yes, I know this doesn’t make sense and getting an MA would not help getting a doctorate in anything else). I decided to change things up, make the MA worth something and of course I got push-back from everybody who didn’t want the MA program to be hard.

One of the programs I tried starting was Artists Supporting Artists. The basis of the program was to encourage art students to step out of their own area of expertise and support other artists. I woke up with the ASA program still dancing around in my head and the more I think about it, the more important I think it is.

I have always loved going to see plays/musicals, concerts, art shows, author/poetry readings, craft/makers shows, etc but this became more important to me when I became a writer.  I got first-hand experience with the struggles of an artist and I try to do whatever I can to help others who are going through the same things.

One thing I love about the writing community that I am a part of (and a lot of artist communities that I’ve come in contact with) is that it is very supportive. There’s not a ton of competition because if one of us succeeds, it doesn’t reduce other people's chances of also succeeding. 

It increases them. 

As societal focus shifts towards more STEM-based studies or the ever-present sports ball, it becomes more important for artists to support other artists. If you’re a writer, go to an art show. If you’re a sculptor, go to a play. If you’re a musician, volunteer to be a beta reader. It doesn’t have to be a huge commitment or cost what few spare pennies we have. Simply taking a few minutes out of your day to leave an amazon review, sending the creator a quick note on your social media platform of choice, or telling a friend about the awesome art you experienced will mean the world to the artist.

I taught my mom to blog today

I taught my mom to blog today.

This might be a terrible mistake or it could be the greatest thing every. Only time will tell.

My family used to start email threads that quickly devolved into madness and hilarity, something that disappeared when the last hold-out (me) got a smart phone, making family text messages possible for the first time and family emails a thing of the past.

I thought the blog would be a great way for the family to keep track of what my parents were up to, especially when they go out on the road in their camper, plus, my parents tend to stumble into the most ridiculous situations. Like the time their neighbors at the campgrounds had a pet pig tethered outside their camper on a harness and leash.

And I'm not taking about a teacup pig or even a potbelly pig. This thing was a full sized, make bacon out of it, pig.

You can even see some of my dad's writing on my guest blogger post View From the Cab that I posted back in 2016.

My dad didn't seem too enthused about the blog but he's recovering from surgery right now and all he wanted was a nap... something I can relate to wholeheartedly.

The wanting a nap part.

Not the surgery part. Never been under the knife. *knock on wood*