#arts workers

Are you (or have you ever been) a graduate student/academic or arts worker (theatre, performance, music, visual arts, etc) while also holding down a minimum wage job?

If so, I need your stories!

A friend and I are doing a performance chat (part performance art, part informal discussion) entitled "Would You Like Some Coffee?" Both of us work at the same coffee shop; also, I am a graduate student and she works in the arts. We are interested in exploring how our 'separate lives' work, how they affect each other, etc.

We want to share stories from anyone who has experienced dividing their time between graduate studies, scholarship, arts creation and a minimum wage, service industry job. Traditionally, the former fields are seen as involving higher levels of critical thinking and creativity, while the latter is seen more thankless and involving less thought and intelligence. We want to explore and challenge that distinction.

We are seeking stories/rants/anecdotes/personal statements of 300 words or less that explore one or more of the following questions:

1) What different types of validation did you find in graduate studies/arts work vs. minimum wage job? Which gave you the greater level of job satisfaction?

2) Were your colleagues in both working spheres supportive of your endeavours in the other sphere? 

3) Did most of your colleagues in your studies/arts work also need to work a second job? If so, was there a sense of camaraderie in this? If not, how did you feel about your own need for a second job?

4) How did the extra time commitment needed for both jobs affect your personal life?

5) Do you agree with the traditional notion that academia and the arts/humanities offer a greater chance for critical thinking and creativity than did your minimum wage job? 

We will likely accept any stories based on our main theme, as long as they are interesting and/or unique.

Stories will be presented anonymously, unless you specify that you would like your name attached to your story.

To submit, you can either respond to the ask below, or email me at cilantro [email protected].