Last post I looked at some headline findings released in April 2024 of the SNAAP 2022 survey of 54K arts, design and related graduates from American universities[1]. Here are some other interesting findings that give a good portrait of the working lives of creative graduates: For creative graduates work – 87% of the alumni between 18-64 […]
Allegretto, ma non troppo
This blog post title is inspired by a Beethoven piano concert I recently attended. The pianist presented several of the Beethoven piano concertos, all multi-movement works, with descriptive titles such as the one above. If your knowledge of musical nomenclature and/or Italian is rusty, it means ‘quickly, but not too much’. Allegro/allegretto also has a […]
Post-Colonial Voices
At the moment I feel like a lot of my time as a teacher is railing against young voices that have been colonized by western elitist forms of vocalism. They have been taught rigid boundaries of what is acceptable vocalism which leaves students stuck in a narrow band of polite and cultivated sounds. They lose […]
We Can’t Let Fear Win
This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the Canadian Theatre Educators’ Conference where I met a number of really great people who all teach theatre at different institutions in Ontario. For two days we talked about teaching acting, voice, dance etc – largely, but not exclusively, at the post-secondary level. Something I heard […]
Putting it on the back burner is not the same as forgetting about it
I’ve been burnt. It’s my fault that it happened, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. You see, as you might be aware, I kinda put The Thriving Creative on the back burner 3 years ago when I got a full-time academic job. Between the job, 3 hours a day of commuting, and trying […]
Old Posts Are Like Old Photos
So you may have noticed that I have not been blogging much over the past few years. Or maybe you didn’t. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I find myself once again being drawn to putting some of my thoughts down on a page and out into the world. This is scary… and it’s […]
Supply & Demand – Are There Too Many Artists?
As I continue my research into sustainability of creative careers, one thing keeps coming up: the subtle balance between supply and demand and the effect that has on opportunities for artists to be paid for their creative work. Historically, artists have done very well when Guilds and Unions have been allowed to control the flow […]
Why ‘art for arts sake’ goes hand in hand with ‘starving artist’
Are you a starving artist? Are you putting your artistic ideals above your responsibility for looking after your body and soul? Are you clinging to romantic notions of ‘art for arts sake?’ That art is only sullied if you let it mingle with the world of commerce? I’m afraid if you are clinging to these […]
Idols, Mentors, Colleagues and Fans – Build a Team in 2015
I have two professional colleagues who are always talking about ‘their team.’ How ‘their team’ advises they do this, or ‘their team’ has plans to do this, etc. Every time I hear it I experience a pang of jealousy. I don’t have a team. It’s me. My computer. My ‘cup of joe.’ And that’s it. […]
Season’s Greetings
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