If there are two things that the world at large is absolutely convinced about, it's that artists are eccentric because they don’t know about the real world, and that they are poor because they are not good at money management. By "the world", I mean societies that are complacent and infantile.
In reality, artists are eccentric because they know too much, both on empathetic and analytical levels, and because their creative process and funky outlooks are the last possible hope of making sense of their personal reaction to the world.
And they don’t have enough money because they are underpaid for the scope of work they provide. In fact, artists know how to manage cash flow imbalances with invention and tenacity, an ability that big business leaders should envy. Do you know any artist who is late on mortgage payments, especially those who can qualify to have a mortgage in the first place?
It takes an evolved society to not be afraid of the friendly disruption, the magical surprise and the radical thought that artists are so good at manifesting. As free individuals, I am not sure why we rush to throw away all ability to think and exist independently at a grass-roots level, like an artist would, and still believe that the institution of success is worth the price of an individual freedom.
But during times of corporate growth and takeovers, everything becomes institutionalized. In the theatre world itself, thanks to the earlier belief by the funders and supporters that everything had to grow–exist forever as principal evidence of success, and, as a result get hopelessly stuck in the most rigid structure possible–artists are left to follow misaligned directions handed to them and only very few develop the strength to truly rise in shaping the future.
But meanwhile successful leaders, including those in business, social work or in politics, are shaped by artists or works of art. Or, their own past career in the arts equipped them with the strength and vision of unique convictions and divergent thinking. Yes, anyone can sing at the mall–I do agree that there is nothing overly special about that. But a gifted artist can change the world and help us all see in new ways.
