Has this ever happened to you: you’re a plucky aspiring artist in the classical space. You’ve done a summer program or two or ten. Maybe you’ve gotten roles. Maybe you haven’t. You’ve spent a significant portion of your meager muggle income on audition fees, coachings, collaborative artist fees, airfare, audition attire, that pesky degree(s). you spent 4-8 years getting, and oh yeah, a place to live and food to eat. The financial pressure, competitive atmosphere, emotional and physical strain, etc. is starting to weigh on you, especially after all your artistic plans for 2020 were either reduced, postponed, or canceled. The pressure to stay “on” and keep pressing in the hopes that one day you land a coveted season position with a company or whatever your ambition is starting to weigh on you. Maybe you had some unpleasant YAP experiences sprinkled amongst the good. Maybe they were all pretty unpleasant. You start to wonder, “Will this ever work out? Am I wasting my potential? Am I good enough? Can I sustain this? Should I give up?...”
As a young artist, going through the process can often be draining, and it can feel like the passion you once had for the art is straining under the stress of an unforgiving industry.
I think it’s time we talk openly about there life and struggles of the next generation of artists. I want to unearth a conversation that is too often dismissed. Let’s go deep and examine the taxing (and often exploitative) world of young artist programs and the classist, ableist, and racist experiences which can occur within them. Join me in what is essentially a group therapy sesh for our community.