PAA Artist Summit – Day 1

Day 1 was about “What does success mean to you?”

There were five wonderful speakers from very diverse backgrounds. Each session was about an hour long, and each speaker gave extremely valuable information for all artists no matter where they are in their career. I want to summarize the main points from some of the speakers that resonated with me the most:

Alyssa Monks

• Artists need to find their “why,” which can change over time;
• Artists can either make art for art’s sake or art for galleries. A decision needs to be made as to which path to take, but you need to be happy with it (artists can do both, but it is a hard one to do);
• You must define success by something you can control;
• Cheer on other artists instead of competing with them;
• Be sincere, honest, and human when creating your work – not a robot.

DonChristian Jones

• Find your people/community;
• Hone in on your interests and define your message;
• Don’t create work to be successful, but discover what pours out of you naturally.

Andrea Jacobsen

• It’s harder to grow creativity if there’s a lack of margins;
• Don’t paint because you have to (the art industry, and the art itself, will become too hard, and you will stop);
• Things that only our hearts and souls understand, artists try to bring that to life.

Victoria Rose Park

• Find significance, inspiration, and curiosity in everyday moments