Post Panel Thoughts

Last Wednesday evening I attended a panal discussion at Hagedorn Gallery. The panelists were Sheila Pree Bright, Ed Garnes, Erin Harper, & Fahamu Pecou and they were discussing ideas of conflicted racial and identity issues using Michael Jackson as a platform for topics. The work featured in the gallery right now is that of Todd Gray who was Michael Jackson's personal photographer from 1974-1984. The discussion was interesting but one topic that stood out to me is how much a person is willing to sacrifice in order to be a successful artist. This got me thinking. How much am I willing to sacrifice? Before starting art school, I never thought it would be possible for me to be a fine artist. For me, art school was a way to change my life an embark on a new path. However, after now being an art student for over a year, I am learning that I am not only expected to produce quality work, I am also expected to be competitive. I am supposed to network and market myself. This is not what I had in mind. I can say that I honestly decided to go back to school and be a student of photography in order to have better artistic tools to express myself with. Before attending school, I was learning from a friend and teaching myself what I could. I was at a place on my life where my career was not challenging me and quite frankly, bringing me down. I knew that I needed to make a change. So now that I am here, I feel like one of the few who are actually here to better express themselves. Everyone seems so work driven. "What internships have you applied for? Y What type of work do you do? Where would you like to see yourself working in 5 years?" these are all questions I have recently been asked and I just don't have the answers to. I am new to the idea of calling myself an artist and to be honest, I need more time to figure out where this path is leading me. Until then, I'm just going to continue to learn and grow. Hopefully, soon I will know what to say when I am confronted with the opportunity to promote myself.