Based out of the national capital of Delhi, Dr. Meenu Kumar, Director, Cosmo Arts (India) is one of the most vibrant and dynamic personalities in the field of art. She possesses a discerning eye for art in different genres and is a well-renowned art curator, artist, social activist & art critic. She founder of Cosmo Arts India Gallery and NGO Cos We Care and is also Vice President for Indian region ot Oisca International, a Japanese NGO with consultative status with United Nations. Dr. Meenu Kumar holds a doctorate in Multimedia & has authored many books on the subject.
“An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.”
Art is a form of communication and an act of communicating feelings, thoughts, and observations, which means whatever the artist proposes has some significance to circulate among the audience.
With the emerging trends and increasing professional opportunities in today’s era, an art career is also stepping towards a great height. The beauty of art as a profession is its diversity, presenting an assembly of potential career paths in many areas such as photography, fine art, digital media graphic design, fashion, writing, make-up artist, dancer, musician, actor and many more.
Artists are the mirror of the society and bring revolutionary changes in the fabric of society. Every artist plays a different and essential part in contributing to our society’s overall health, development, and well-being. Artists provide their communities with joy, interaction, and inspiration. Still, they also give thoughtful analysis to our political, economic and social systems — pushing communities to engage thoughtfully and make steps toward social progress. All cultures and all societies flourish on art. Unfortunately, many people are discouraged from following their dreams by misleading rumours that wrongfully describe art as a profession with no financial prospects.
Society looks at renowned names in art with outstanding and worships them but looks at other familiar budding artists as starving artists. The concept of starving artists is entirely a stubborn myth, especially among parents who entreat their creative child to choose a more “practical” central than the fields of arts and creativity. Our society defines a ‘Starving artist’ as someone who gives up an average career in pursuit of creativity, which ultimately leads them down a path and shows them inferiority in the eye of society.
Even though society today looks at the career as an artist with immense pride and respect, still there are people in our community who think a career as an artist is a lousy option. It’s time to ditch this starving artist mentality.
Below are some myths and their explanation about starving artists
One of the top myths about a career as an artist is that You have to starve as an Artist. People think making a career as an artist will be financially unstable and will make the person die. But this thought is limited. Yes, a career as an artist requires a considerable investment and might be economically unstable initially, but this happens in every field. An artist need not be poor or starving, and they can be financially stable and prosperous. People also think that artists should not care about marketing. Artists have always had to worry about getting their work to spread. That’s part of the job, and the good ones embrace this. But best work does not come as a result of giving the market exactly what it wants, but by sometimes overthrowing their expectations in exchange for something better. Our society also believes that creating money for making art is terrible. No, creating money for making art is not wrong. Don’t give Income too much importance in creative work, but give it its due. We need money to keep the lights on and buy supplies, but it’s not everything. Don’t make art to make money. Make money to make more art. Use business to create meaning in the world and to help that work spread.
A deeper understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of a career as an artist is needed to help the person make wise decisions. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of the “Career as an Artist”.
Being an artist, you can become a better problem solver. Obstacles and challenges in the course of life are unavoidable. However, when we make creativity a regular habit, we research new, resourceful ways of fixing troubles in our professional and private lives. With the flow of time, our work as an artist will make us better problem solvers. An artist can connect with the community. When we create, we join different people doing the same things, forming an immediate sense of connection whether we’re swapping ideas, listening to comments of our peers, or simply developing after each other. An artist has strong influencing power and can influence clients with ease. Art is influential because it can potentially affect our culture, politics and economy. An artist can influence the audience with creative ideas and a catchy approach to benefit the organisation or business.
Creativity is the route to legitimacy. As we create, we upright the depths of our being, getting access to what we suppose and believe. When we take the time and strength to work on our very own ideas, we admire our core powers and can direct ourselves to the world more clearly. Social Media is ruling during this digitally developing time. The social media act as a boon for the career of artists. Currently, Social Media is one of the most significant sources of building jobs for artists.
One of the major cons of choosing a career as an artist is inconsistent Income. Being an artist, a person usually suffers from inconsistency in Income. One can face many obstacles in the initial days of their career as starting trade is the most crucial phase. But with hard work and practical creativity, one can indeed have a financially successful career. An artist career is all about an irregular schedule. Those attempting to make a living solely off the sale of their art have to put in a lot of time and effort to attract potential buyers and build a reputation. Artists who similarly work from home often endure 50-hour weeks to keep up with client demand and maintain their creative and dependable reputations.
Artist life is not easy and, one needs to identify and grab all the possible opportunities as and when possible. Maximum of the time, the privileged ones quickly get career opportunities, whereas the more talented ones keep struggling.