Artistic and creative careers are among the most rewarding, but they also come with unique challenges. We asked some of the city’s best creatives to tell us why they choose to pursue a creative career.

Nancy Dale Alterman | Artist and Community connector

I came to realize I had artist talent in a most interesting way. Growing up in Denver in an athletic family art was never on my radar. I was followed my passions for tennis, skiing, golf, running, hiking. You name it, I did it. Also in my family was bipolar illness. Sadly we lost our sister, Judy, to her illness when she was 27 and I was 23. I, too, started realizing that things had shifted in the way I felt when I was 14 and was diagnosed with bipolar illness when I was 18. Living with bipolar illness had it’s extreme challenges. I was mostly able to f*ke it so my friends and family didn’t realize how uncomfortable I truly was being in social settings. My identity was all about my athletic endeavors which I excelled at. Fast forward through too many ups and downs, too many hospitalizations, too many drug combinations to write about at this time, 15 years ago I found myself in a year of deep depression that was not lifting. Read more>>

Wes Barnett | Digital Creator & Influncer

All my life I have had a creative mindset; My earliest childhood memories are flashbacks to when I started expressing my creative mind. Some of these early creative expressions included: crafting handmade books about things I was interested in or making home films about music. When I found social media it only blossomed my creative mind further. I was able to have a vision of how I wanted a photo or video to look and then I was able to transform it into reality. Flash forward to present day, I am now able to fully satisfy my creative mind by creating videos and pictures for social media. Looking back there was no other option than to pursue a creative career, because being creative is just me and always has been me. Read more>>

Gavin Lamp | Artist, Performer, Acoustician, Speaker Designer

I got a lot of experience in large commercial environments and learned a lot about what worked and didn’t work from a “marketable” perspective. My main problem with that environment though, was the pain of watching the artistic expressions be rushed and half baked. I wanted to do something where I could show my skills and do something I was actually super proud of at the end of the day. Read more>>

Witto Goom | Musician

I’ve just always had a fixation with music and art. I can’t say for sure when or how it started, but as far back as elementary school I remember begging my mom for a guitar. I wanted to be in a band more than anything. I did vocals in a death metal band in high school for a few years and discovered my love for writing original music and being on stage. I decided I was going to make music for the rest of my life, with or without career success, even if no one else listened to it. Read more>>

Tim Meegan Jr. | Musician

I realized it was therapeutic for me. I was doing it for myself and what was coming out in my poetry and songs was me working through things. I then put those songs to music. Next thing I knew I was playing on a stage. Read more>>