Whether you are into Rock, Poetry, Rap, Painting, Acting, or any other means of creative expression, it is important to support your local artists. You never know, the artist you support in your small town or city may be the next Mozart or Britney Spears.

People who have the ability to create something from nothing are a special breed. Moreover, they are often misunderstood and overlooked. Being an artist is often a hard life to live. You make very little money, you often don’t fit it with the cool crowd, and people tend to think that if it isn’t what MTV says is cool, then it never will be. There are always exceptions to this, but generally speaking, being an artist is hard.

For those of you who do not know me personally, I am a drummer in a band. We are based in South New Jersey, needless to say, not the center of the music world. My band mates and I try very hard to get our collective voice heard. We have done pretty well and have even landed a recording contract with a mid level Indi record label. The only reason we have gotten this far is because our friends, families and fans have stuck with us. Most of the shows we play require us to sell tickets on our own, without the help of a promoter. In effect, we are the promotion. For example, we opened for Otep and Kittie, two big label metal bands who have platinum records under their belts. We had to sell a minimum of 100 tickets per band member. That is not an easy thing to do, and we know a lot of people. The only reason this was possible was that strangers were willing to take a chance on us and buy a $15 ticket to a show they may or may not enjoy. This is the greatest thing people can do for us, aside from buying our merch. Selling all the tickets we need to sell, shows the bigger bands, and promoters that we can do what is required to play the bigger shows. That is what it is all about, showing off your art to as many people as possible.

Here is what you can do; go to a show, find out when local painters are having an exhibition, go to a ballet with local dancers in it, donate time or money to help artists promote their art. Good with Photoshop? Have a MySpace account? Make your friends band a cool flier and post it everywhere you can online. Spent $10 and go to Kinko’s, print the flier and post it all over town the week of the show/ concert. That kid in English class is in a band? Just show up to one of his shows or parties when his band is playing. That one small gesture of just being there will mean the world to him. Trust me, it helps.

Art is one of the aspects that makes societies great. Without art in all its many forms, there can be no such thing as culture. Art is often the driving force for change, social revolution and drastic changes in society. To quote the writer Ernst Fischer;

“In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.”

So go out to a show, take in a play, see a ballet, listen to the philharmonic. Better yet, pick up a pencil, a guitar, put on your old tap shoes, and create something from nothing.

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