Metal Sculpting Is My Livelihood
Nic’s Story I was seven years old when I took my father’s drill apart to see how it worked, only to find that I couldn’t put it back together well enough to see it ever work again. He was upset of course, but his frustration was quickly turned when he found out I had used, or misused […]
Read MoreConnecting Is My Livelihood
Gabrielle’s Story “I am because you are, and because we are, I am.” -Ubuntu/Zulu Philosophy I came from parents who discovered in the mid-1960s that love transcends skin color. My mother and father, one from a small farming town in Iowa and the other from Cabrini-Green projects in Chicago, endured trials and tribulations together because of […]
Read MorePainting Is My Livelihood
Kelli’s Story Painting is my livelihood…and at one point I fought it tooth and nail. Now don’t get me wrong, art has resonated in me always. I remember spending hours as a little kid taking chunks of tree bark and whittling them into shapes on the rough surface of the sidewalk, my days punctuated by more cat […]
Read MoreCartoons Are My Livelihood
Jeff’s Story I first learned how to draw cartoons by studying the comics section of the Sunday World-Herald. I would spend hours on the living room floor, or in my bedroom, sheets of paper and pens and crayons spread around me, trying my best to recreate Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the many other characters that populated the Sunday Funnies. […]
Read MoreDesign Is My Livelihood
Brad’s Story When I was a kid my parents always said, “If you love what you do for a living you’ll never work a day in your life.” To me, a child only concerned with Spider-Man, G.I. Joe and who would win if they ever had to battle, that sounded wonderful. I was 12 when […]
Read MoreArts for Everyone Is My Livelihood
Suzanne’s Story The Decisive Moment (with apologies to Henri Cartier-Bresson.) As the daughter of an art teacher, I grew up surrounded by art books. My childhood summers were spent pouring through them, marveling at the velvet cushioned swing featured in Fragonard’s The Swing (which differed substantially from the splinter-inducing apparatus in Lincoln’s Pioneer Park) and staring in guilty fascination at […]
Read MoreArt Is My Livelihood
Bart’s Story Art is my life. It always has been, whether I knew it or not. According to my biological mother, I’ve been drawing ever since I could hold something in my hands, yet ironically; I was the only one out of my brothers that wasn’t drawing on the walls. Growing up I knew I could draw […]
Read MoreThe Guitar Is My Livelihood
Morgan’s Story Growing up, my brother Dylan played the guitar and bass and was in several bands. I went to all of his shows and was always excited to watch him and his friends perform. I soon realized that I wanted to do the same thing because it looked like so much fun. I started […]
Read MoreWriting Is My Livelihood
S.R.’s Story How many times have I thought, That’s not what I meant or I don’t know what you mean? I ask because I don’t know. I have such a hard time making sense of things. So I write, and I revise. What I mean: I grew up with books. They were my best friends—and […]
Read MoreArtistic Textiles Are My Livelihood
Deborah’s Story It all began while standing in line, with hundreds of others, outside the most beautiful pink building I had ever seen. I didn’t know where we were going or why we were there. I just knew it had to be very special since I was dressed in my pink mohair (Sunday!) coat and […]
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