Self awareness is important. When a leader of well respected, well resourced arts organization speaks about the "industry", they have to be aware of the privilege they live in.
For every 1 person making a living in the "professional" arts there are 15 other people who would like to make a living but, for a variety of reasons, are not able to do so.
This matters. It's a source of real pain and concern for a lot of people. It's important to show awareness of that when discussing the field.
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On the other hand, most people with privilege don't really FEEL privileged.
I've talked to a ton of people who make a living in the arts. When they described their lives and the challenges they have to navigate on a daily basis, I don't envy them at all.
I wouldn't want their six figure paycheck. I wouldn't want to have to deal with the things they have to deal with.
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I find myself thinking about empathy more and more. It's so easy for us to jump into our perspective corners:
Bloated, ego filled administrators versus underpaid, long suffering artists.
Overwhelmed adminstrators versus spoiled, naive artists.
It can get ugly fast.
The key to avoiding that is developing an ability to see and respect the point of view of others . . . even if you really disagree with that view.
More empathy. More compassion. We need that in this industry.
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