I know what it means to make a living from art. I used to work as a choreografer, dance teacher and director. For many years I lived in a creative bubble, not very interested in the outside world. I loved my bubble, but sometimes it was a lonely place.
It wasn’t always easy to find inspiration.
It was very hard work.
It was emotionally challenging to share and inspire others every day.
It was lonely.
Until the premier of a show, of course. Then I was in the middle of everyones attention for one evening! All the cheek-kissers stepped forward, showered me with praise and was SO glad that I had done whatever it was for the moment.
Usually, I was to worn out to feel joy. And sometimes I wanted to scream:
Where were you last week when I couldn’t sleep over this play?
Where were you last month, when I wanted to quit this line of work all together?
And where are you every Thursday, when I am so tired that I think I won’t make it to Sunday?
I figure every single person who contributes to the world of Art feel like I did at some point in their life.
But I want to thank you who are a creative person.
I want to thank all of you, because what you’re doing is important.
I think what you are doing is making us all LIVE.
When we are done surviving, we need to LIVE, and I think art helps us with that.
Just look at any native people. As soon as they are fed and have a roof over their head, what do they do? They create. They sing, dance, paint, craft and make up stories to tell each other at the fire.
And why?
Because art creates context.
Through art, we understand our world.
Art helps us to see how things fit together, who we are, and why.
Not everyone in our society takes creating art seriously.
When you say your a musician, I suppose you sometimes get the question: ”But what do you do for a living?”
And have you ever gone to a party which you’ve been invited to as a guest, and been asked to ”perform a few songs, since you like singing?”
Or got this thrown in your face: ”It must be FUN to make a living from your hobby!”
But I think creating art it is a very serious business.
It makes us human.
Did you know that we are the only species that creates art for art’s sake?
Bird sing to find a partner and cranes dance for the same reason, but we create art because we need it.
We need it to question phenomena, to feel connected, to enjoy life.
This is quite important business!
And every single person who creates some kind of art is a part of this.
Since I feel that you don’t always get enough attention for this, I have written an ODE to you all:
ODE to the creater of Art
You
who create art,
who dare to dream,
who find the time to think,
who express your emotions,
– thank you.
You
who bring us joy,
who let us escape,
who make us question things,
who evoke our emotions,
- thank you.
You are needed.
You are important.
And you might not have
an impressive title
or the largest car
or the best pension plan
But what you do counts
It counts in other ways:
Number of hearts lifted
and spirits enlightened
Sum of joy spread
and of thoughts given wings
Your work bind us together
The audience for a day
The fans for years
And sometimes the collective minds
of entire nations
for generations
Noone ever heard of
art huligans.
Nor do we read about
art hate crimes.
Why?
Because art is kind
Art is loving
Art is understanding
Art is caring
For every song
every poem or book
every play,
every handicrafted item,
and every painting
there is a real person
who grows a bit more
kind, loving, understanding and caring
This is what counts for real.
And this is what you create.
So thank you
for creating
a better us
/Karin Leoson, Visby, Sweden
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