I come from a family of 5 brothers, all scientist and engineers.

I hope this message finds you well. I'm emailing to let you know that I'm dropping out of my masters program in engineering to pursue a career as a full-time artist. All that I ask from you is not to worry about me.

replied, encouraging, skeptical

I wish you the best of luck, you're going to need it.

the worst mistake of your life

didn't even respond

skepticism, out of care and concern

they thought it would be difficult to make it as a full-time artist, they thought it would be a challenge.

I have so many friends who need to have a second job as a plan B in roder to pay for the bills, except that plan B sometimes becomes their plan A.

the US census bureau states tht only 10 per cent of the art school graduates end up working as a full-time artist, the other 90 per cent, they change careers, they work in marketing, sales, education and other fields.

this is not news

we almost expect the artist to be a struggling artist, but why should we expect that?

huffington post

European Union began the largest ever arts funding initiative, Creative Europe will give 2.4 billion dollars to over 300,000 artists.

In contrast, the US budget for the National Endowment for the Arts is merely 146 million dollars.

To put things into perspective, the US budget for the military marching bands alone is twice as much as the entire NEA.

capitalist society, profits matter a lot

financial angle

generate, employ, tax revenue

The arts brings meaning to life, it's the spirit of our culture. It brings people together and supports creativity and social cohesion.

contribute to

budget cuts

arts education programs

I believe the system is flawed and far from being fair, and I want to help change that.

corporate

sources of income

private foundations, grants patrons

on one side, on the other side

online platform

match artists with grants and funding opportunities

intimidating

We need to work collectively on multiple fronts, we need to reevaluate how we view arts, do we think of arts as a luxury or a necessity? Do we understand what goes on in the day-to-day life of an artist, or do we still believe that, artists, no matter how struggling they are, are happy simply because they're following their passions?

a few years ago, in a few years

I plan to send my brothers the following email

I appreciate all of your support,. couldn't have done it without you.