1. What is your name?
Shirah Neumann
2. Where are you from?
Buffalo, NY via Los Angeles, CA
3. What do you do?
Artist/Painter and Non-Profit Arts Administrator
4. What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
I have been painting since I was a kid. It has always been an important part of my life such that I don't ever remember not painting. Eventually I learned how to push my work beyond a boundary to arrive somewhere new. I like connecting with other people who can do this in their lives. These are artists, writers, philosophers, creative problem solvers, etc. This is a big part of why I also enjoy working for arts non-profits. I like having my own solitary practice and also engaging in the community and supporting the work and ideas of others.
5. What is your view on the state of the arts?
It is difficult to be an artist and make a living solely from one's art. I think that this has always been the case. I know many people who do it in very good and meaningful ways and I admire them. The state of the arts is a big phrase. What does it mean? Is it the state of the art market? I read a lot of frustration in peoples' opinions of the current climate. I can't imagine it any different. There are many ways to be successful as an artist. There is also the state of how the arts are successfully or unsuccessfully providing for culture. I read something recently about how the arts may be lacking in their coverage of the contemporary political climate. I have a hard time knowing if this is true because isn't if often that we don't understand an era or an art movement until it has passed? I think that there are many artists who are heavily invested in their participation in culture and politics. There are others who are heavily invested in esoteric and aesthetic studies. Then many who argue that all art is political.
Shirah Neumann
2. Where are you from?
Buffalo, NY via Los Angeles, CA
3. What do you do?
Artist/Painter and Non-Profit Arts Administrator
4. What inspired you to pursue your creative career?
I have been painting since I was a kid. It has always been an important part of my life such that I don't ever remember not painting. Eventually I learned how to push my work beyond a boundary to arrive somewhere new. I like connecting with other people who can do this in their lives. These are artists, writers, philosophers, creative problem solvers, etc. This is a big part of why I also enjoy working for arts non-profits. I like having my own solitary practice and also engaging in the community and supporting the work and ideas of others.
5. What is your view on the state of the arts?
It is difficult to be an artist and make a living solely from one's art. I think that this has always been the case. I know many people who do it in very good and meaningful ways and I admire them. The state of the arts is a big phrase. What does it mean? Is it the state of the art market? I read a lot of frustration in peoples' opinions of the current climate. I can't imagine it any different. There are many ways to be successful as an artist. There is also the state of how the arts are successfully or unsuccessfully providing for culture. I read something recently about how the arts may be lacking in their coverage of the contemporary political climate. I have a hard time knowing if this is true because isn't if often that we don't understand an era or an art movement until it has passed? I think that there are many artists who are heavily invested in their participation in culture and politics. There are others who are heavily invested in esoteric and aesthetic studies. Then many who argue that all art is political.
