The Arts: An Outlet, a Career Path or Both?

Turning What You Love into What You Do
By Patrick O’Connor

The arts have always been important in all cultures performing essential roles for everyone. A basic definition of the arts is they are specific activities that produce sensitivity in humans. The arts have value as a career path as well as an outlet for personal enjoyment. Each Road Less Traveled (RLT) subject has engaged the arts in both roles. This blog segment examines how the arts are interwoven in the lives of people who have turned what they love into what they do. 

Personal Enjoyment
The arts can be relaxing, relieve stress and a positive response to daily difficulties. Many people use the arts to deal with personal struggles as a form of personal therapy. Anything from watercolor painting to playing the guitar around the campfire provide personal enjoyment. Linda Ferguson likes to sing in choirs as she loves to “be the harmony” for others. 

A career in the arts
People who study the arts are often asked ,“What are you going to do with that?” The answer is actually, “Anything I want.” You just need to know what you want to do and follow a path to get there. There are numerous career paths/opportunities within the wide array of the arts. The RLT series featured professional artists from different aspects of the arts; Tom Fulton – theater, Joan Meggitt and Kara Cea – dance, Rachel Brown – music and George Miller II – visual art. All are proof that you can make a living through the arts. 

The arts also serve as an important source for therapy careers. Music and art are two excellent examples. There is science behind the therapy role the arts perform. Hospitals have music and art therapists on staff. Ann Kent completed a degree in music therapy and worked as music therapist in a recovery clinic for teenagers. George Miller II commented that his art is as much therapy for him as it for those who view it.

“Anything I want.”
Tom Fulton – Award-winning actors often thank their high school drama teachers for providing them the foundation for their success. At a future awards program, we may watch an actor thank Tom Fulton of the Chagrin Falls Performing Arts academy for his or her success. Tom has guided dozens of students to successful theater careers after his own 40 years in the industry. 

Joan Meggitt – Joan has blended her talents for dance, music and singing in her RLT as a dance professor. She has also started and directed dance schools and done choreography for theater and films.

Kara Cea – Kara leveraged her years of training and experience as a ballet performer to lay the foundation for a career as a dance professor. She also uses her administrative skills to direct a dance group that provides dance programs for elementary students.

Rachel Brown – Rachel started touring in high school. At age 25, she took a break to study for a bachelor’s degree in music. She also earned a music education license. She followed that with a master’s degree in music. She continues to perform part-time while her day job is choir/music director at a local middle school.

George Miller II – George shifted gears from a post office position to launch his career as a professional artist, which is no easy task. For the last 20 years, he has modified his artwork and services to keep up with his expanding artistic vision. He is in constant motion (and demand), traveling the country, displaying his artwork and doing murals with elementary special education students. 

Transferable Skills – Work Ethic
Transferable skills are those that can be used in more than one career area. Many of these were identified in the last Blog, “Hard Soft Skills.” The arts require extensive discipline and foster a strong work ethic, which is “the principle that hard work is intrinsically virtuous and worthy of reward.” 

Somewhat like athletics, art includes practice, lessons, growth, goal setting, constant learning and continuous improvement. Teamwork is also developed in the arts, as in marching band, choirs, orchestra, dance teams and theater troupes. 

A Lifetime Activity
In addition to career opportunities, the beauty of the arts is they can be enjoyed for a lifetime. They have no time clock. You can start, stop, re-start or expand artistic interests as often as you wish. Most RLT subjects continue to play a musical instrument they learned during middle school. There are many stories of retirees who decide to learn (and perform) a musical instrument. Some retirees join local theater groups or sing in a choir. Some take up painting, pottery, or sculpture. Some just keep playing the guitar and singing around the campfire. 

The next segment of this blog will address the importance of “adaptability” to turning what you love into what you do.

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” 
~Fr. Thomas Merton (Volume 3).