Society - particularly American society - loves to demonize or to “other” art and artists.

We deride people who create:

• “Oh, you’re an artist? You’re one of those.”

• “Oh, you’re a writer? I wish I could sit at home all day.”

• “Oh, you’re an actor? You must love starving.”

These are of course specific examples using common ideas and tropes, but these kinds of reactions are common and probably sound familiar to you.

We tell people who want to go into the arts:

• “Why would you to throw your life away?”

• “But you have so much potential!”

• “But there’s no money in the arts!”

Being a creator is clearly seen as being *less than,* but why? Less than what? Why would we consider becoming an artist or writer or performer or designer a path that is throwing your life away or not using your skills and talents?

Well, Capitalism.

But this type of thinking and behavior not only can be unlearned, but it needs to be unlearned. Art and the products of creation are everywhere, but we’ve been conditioned to have a blind spot for most of it, and what we do see we are told to feel contempt for. Let’s just see how pervasive art is, shall we?