Summer is arriving in Winnipeg; festival season is about
to bloom. Winnipeople will soon flock to the many festivals that fill this
city’s sweet, sunny months, enjoying our town’s neighbourhoods, cultures and
arts. It’s rich living for the Heart of the Continent – especially for
Winnipeg’s artists.
Because even if they aren’t the sole focus (they often
are), artists make up a huge chunk of a summer festivals’ programming. They’ll
be strutting the stages, painting the buildings, playing music in the parks
with the blessings and backings of established, branded events.
And audiences will come. Not just the season subscribers,
culture vultures, and die-hard enthusiasts who attend the arts all through the
year (If there is a god, may she richly bless each and every one of you). But crowds
of people. Masses. Sometimes the whole city shows up. That’s what festival
season is for artists: a chance to bite into the sweet fruit of all out, balls-to-the-wall
support. It’s not guaranteed, but festival season is the best chance to be
celebrated – really
celebrated – as
an artist.
I’m looking forward to festival season, even as I plan a
career change away from ‘artist.’
Almost seven years ago, I cofounded Theatre by the River
with a number of young actors, mostly new graduates from U of W. We looked at
Winnipeg’s theatre scene and saw (rightly) that there wasn’t much work for
young, local actors. So we made our own, showcasing our talents in the hopes of
eventually moving from occasional gigs to full time careers. We’ve produced
some fantastic shows in seven years (he said so himself) with deeply relevant
messages for Winnipeg audiences. I have a treasure chest of memories from each
production and I’m hoping to gather some more this summer (TBTR is presenting a
staged reading of
Transit of Venus at
U of W on June 5 and 6 – shameless plug!).
But I haven’t snagged the career I hoped at. Which I’m
willing to chalk up to lack of talent or effort. But I look around at the
undeniably talented dancers, painters, musicians and actors I know and see very
few wearing the title of full time, professional artist. Winnipeg only has a
handful of people under that banner (most working in arts admin). That’s the
reality. And now, approaching my 30
th birthday, it’s hard to pretend
otherwise.
There is a window of opportunity for self-exploitation; a
handful of years when the sleepless nights can be shrugged off, the small
turn-outs celebrated for their intimacy, and your empty wallet made into a
useful prop. You’ll work yourself hard and outrun the consequences. Throttle
the living daylights out of this time.
Because the window narrows, then shuts. You will,
eventually, get tired of working hard for few material rewards. Your inability
to make a living solely doing what you love (your ‘calling’ you’ll say among
sympathetic friends) will become frustrating. You won’t want money, but the
nice things money buys...
There are ways of propping that window open, however, and
the real point of writing this piece is sharing that advice. That treasure
chest of memories you fill as you go about your business? Go through it, not
just once or twice, but often. The young boy, the teen goth and the senior,
laughing together at a Shakespearean joke; the friend who references your play
as he copes with a new group home opening on his street; the normally quiet
kids shouting down the bullies as you hold an extended kiss with a man – these
are victories. They’re worth remembering.
And when summer comes, bite into it. Happy festival season.
This piece first appeared in The Uniter.
