Artistic and creative careers are among the most rewarding, but they also come with unique challenges. We asked some of the city’s best creatives to tell us why they choose to pursue a creative career.

Scott Harper | Artist and Painter

I decided to pursue an artistic and creative career as a painter because of my deep passion for self-expression and the power of art to evoke emotions and provoke thought.I found solace in drawing and painting, using these mediums as a way to communicate and interpret the world around me. The ability to convey complex ideas and feelings through colors, shapes, and strokes fascinated me. Read more>>

Annemarie Picerno | Entertainer: Songwriter, Composer, Actress, & Comedian

As a Grammy member and entertainer in Nashville, I look back on many years of exploring art, music, performing, and writing. I don’t think anyone chooses life in entertainment, but it chooses them! I was a creative child, and definitely loved piano, guitar, and singing. I was shy as well, but on a stage I loved expressing myself. Read more>>

M Pettee Olsen | Artist – Painter

In many ways a career as an artist chose me. I grew up in a creative and multicultural family. While both of my parents were scientists by day – my dad was a neurologist born in New York City, of French and English extraction, and my mother was a first-generation Greco-Albanian-American, and a bacteriologist – my parents met singing opera in the evenings. Read more>>

Francisco Samuel | Producer/DJ

Music has always been a part of my life since childhood, Bu the time, I heard my first house track (Todd Terry – Bango to the Batmobile) I was already growing up with roots in Colombia and Dominican Republic. As I started honing my craft as a DJ throwing parties & making mixes, I also, got into Mashups, and production as an Artist. Read more>>