He said, "People like you have destroyed art."

He said, “People like you have destroyed art. Art is not a career, it’s a calling."

An absolutely fascinating gauntlet has been tossed!

Continuing on from, “Art is not a career, it’s a calling.” he said “Its not a game, the game is the illusion that makes everybody want to make money instead of connecting with their ‘true nature’ which has nothing to do with money. I say any ‘artist’ that wants to make money should go get a job & work for a living.”

Having been the proverbial fly-on-the-wall during this recent actual conversation, I want to know what you, dear Reader, think? Would Martha Graham have been a greater dancer had she performed in obscurity and poverty? Does the amount of money a scientist makes somehow degrade her discoveries? Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Picasso, Peter Max – is their work lessened because they experienced financial success during their lifetimes?

Why do I want to know what you think? Because I feel these comments define the very heart of why the Starving Artist archetype has such devastating power over us. I see no reason why making art and simultaneously making a decent or even a stellar living are at odds.

The idea that, “artists that want to make money should go get a job & work for a living” is also puzzling to me. Is making art somehow not a job? True, making art for a living is more entrepreneurial than working a “9-5”. Successful entrepreneurs, in any field, work harder & longer hours, they take on more risk and in return often times make better a living than their salaried counterparts. Why should this not also be true for artists?

The Starving Artist archetype has a powerful hold over Creatives and as long as we allow this kind of opinion to go unchallenged it will continue to thwart our financial success. So here’s your chance to speak out against such out dated and reactionary opinion. Let me hear from you.

Does making a living from making art automatically disqualify the maker from artist status? Does remaining poor while creating automatically make the creator a “legitimate” artist? Is being an artist, creating everyday, showing and selling your art not a job?