Response to “Avoiding the Begging Cup”

This post is in response to a post by Linda Essig, original posted here:

Now, more than ever, it's time.

Should we be leading our students towards not for-profit business creation (501c3) or for-profits?

For me, this is a no-brainer. With benefits such as fiscal sponsorship (check with your local accountant), one can receive some of the benefits of not for profit status, but maintain a greater control over their creative process, something many artists desire.

Well, the way this question above is worded is simply a matter of tax status. I urge people to choose for profit entities, as I want them to want to profit and as much as they can. Artists, like any other business people, deserve to do well and to have nice lifestyles and to be able to provide well for their families. But there is a sick schism in the thinking of our general populace that believes art and money (meaning the creation of art) should not have a motivation of profit.

This is why so many people, I would guess Linda too, might expect artists to only create not for profit companies. That is the typical path and a standard, general belief. The typical generates the typical. We need to think via a wider directional perspective and invest in the unconventional–not simply to be unconventional, but because this way generates unconventional results and will shape the artists in unconventional ways. How exciting. Let´s throw our cookie cutters away. They are all worn out, after all, from too much use.