ArtGalleree

What does it take to deem oneself an “artist”? Are there specific qualifications one must meet to earn the title? Or is there a negative stigma associated with “artist”? I recently spoke with a friend who is going into performance art. He spoke with me about his hesitation to say “performance artist” because his experience telling people had taught him not to say it. People would always follow up with the question, “Oh, well what do you really do?” Sorry to obstruct your limited view of a career, narrow-minded folks, but art is a career. Art does not normally fall in the guidelines of a 9 to 5 but it can be one’s profession. No amount of talent or money or a degree declares one an artist. Of course, some artists are trained and attend hours of rigorous classes, a decision in how they would become the kind of artist they desired to be. I do bet that they called themselves artists before they were academically trained though. Do you paint, draw, photograph, or create visual art? Do not be intimidated by being or not being an “artist.” Challenge yourself, post a visual piece of art you created on ArtGalleree.com. Go ahead; call yourself an artist despite others’ eye rolls. Let’s overcome the negative connotation associated with art as a career because we know it is one. We have history to support this belief. Cindy Sherman, a living artist, sold a photograph through Christie’s Auction House for $3,890,500 last year , pretty good proof that stating oneself an “artist” is a substantial and respectable answer to the question “What do you do for a living?”

Not to be cliché but here is Dictionary.com’s definition of Career

ca•reer 
noun
1.an occupation or profession, especially one requiring special training, followed as one’s lifework: He sought a career as a lawyer.
2.a person’s progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking: His career as a soldier ended with the armistice.
3.success in a profession, occupation, etc.

1. http://www.popphoto.com/news/2011/05/cindy-sherman-print-sells-39-million-auction-highest-ever-photograp