FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Aiko Tanaka - 

2) Where are you from?
- Japan - 

3) What do you do?
- content development, marketing etc. - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- my interests in media x culture -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- unlimited -

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Michael Lindgren - 

2) Where are you from?
- New York City - 

3) What do you do?
- Freelance writer, poet, and musician - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- I have always felt the need to express myself with words and music, and have been fortunate to be shown how to attempt to do so by parents, friends, teachers, and co-workers. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- I have faith that artists will always find a way to get their work done; but there are many factors today that make it hard to feel optimistic. The current political trend towards cutting support for arts, education, schools, libraries, and so on, is disastrous, and very angering. -

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Iris Huey - 

2) Where are you from?
- Phoenix, AZ - 

3) What do you do?
- Live life and grow spiritually. And I bring what I learn to my creative outlets like filmmaking and acting. I also enjoy performing spoken word. - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- The fulfillment I experience from making films and acting impels me to work in these areas. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- It is ever expanding. More and more people seem committed to creating opportunities to share their art with the world. Great things are happening. Beautiful art is everywhere. -

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Dawnn Mahulawde - 

2) Where are you from?
- Cleveland, Ohio - 

3) What do you do?
- Model and Jewelry Design - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- I've always been expressive in the arts. I graduated from the Cleveland School of the Arts majoring in Voice and Creative Writing in highschool. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- Art is being guided by the consumer and what the consumer wants to buy at that time. This shapes the art that is created by the artists creating limitations for their outlet. -

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Kimberly Townes - 

2) Where are you from?
- Virginia - 

3) What do you do?
- Filmmaker - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- I never perceived of doing anything else. Maybe I thought of being an anthropologist. But the two closely relate if you think about it. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- I think the art scene is bursting, maybe not flourishing. Everyday a new tool is created making them abundant and cheap. There is no excuse to not create something. There is no reason to not tell your story. -

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Ann LePore - 

2) Where are you from?
- Saratoga County, New York - 

3) What do you do?
- I'm an artist and educator. I like to build, hack, break, edit, project and animate. - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- Delmer Herrick, my high school art teacher believed in me. If it weren't for him, I never would have pushed myself creatively, or gone to art school. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- The state of the arts in this state is not great- in terms of official NJ support, or American arts support for that matter. However, as artists, we create our own communities and our own support networks- and while we have very few monetary resources, we support each other better than any government ever could. -

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Michelle Zada - 

2) Where are you from?
- Columbus, Ohio - 

3) What do you do?
- Professional Dancer with Dallas Black Dance Theatre - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- Fell in love with dance as a young girl and decided I was going to follow my heart. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- I feel the arts and particularly dance is flourishing, but there is always room to grow! -

The Question

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Araia Patrick Tesfamariam - 

2) Where are you from?
- I live in Chicago but I am originally from Dayton, OH - 

3) What do you do?
- I am a copywriter and commercial producer - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- My father bought a camcorder when I was 13 years old and he used to let me make little movies with it. I loved the idea that I could make people see what I wanted them to see, to have a vision in my own mind and be able to impress that image on another person. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- I believe that technological advances will continue to make it easier for people to create and distribute their projects. But if all this access isn't paired with real talent, all we have is noise. -

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE ARTIST

1) What is your name?
- Karol - 

2) Where are you from?
- Wisconsin (near Green Bay) - 

3) What do you do?
- Game Artist - 

4) What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
- At age 5, I saw a Disney cartoon and decided I wanted to be an animator. In high school I saw Toy Story then decided I wanted to be a computer animator. I got pretty hardcore into gaming in the 90s when I first noticed story-telling become an important part the gaming experience (ie. Tomb Raider and Metal Gear Solid: The twin snakes). That's when I decided I'll do games. -

5) What is your view on the state of the arts?
- A career in the art and entertainment industry has historically been a risky endeavor to pursue. I'm sure the hardships involved in trying to get an opprotunity might have been magnified by the rough economy. I'm working full-time as an artist so I have no complaints about my life as an artist per se. The main thing that worry's me are lay-offs. Once you find a job you hold on to it for dear life because it could be months to over a year or so until you find full-time work again. Its pretty scary out there. -