In a country that feels increasingly unstable, it can feel strange to spend your days in a studio. At times, it can feel disconnected or even indulgent to focus on art when so many people are focused on survival. Regardless, these circumstances remind us that creative industries exist to escape and act resistant in tough times. While art is relevantly important, pursuing it in today’s climate is still an undeniable privilege.
By definition, privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. Acknowledging privilege is a step toward empathy and helps to build a more inclusive culture. In today’s society, awareness of privilege is essential to avoiding microaggressions that create harm. It also calls individuals to take responsibility — not as bystanders, but as advocates and allies.
So, how can COPA students better address their privilege? It begins with understanding that the ability to devote time, energy and tuition dollars into a potentially “unstable” career path is not universally accessible.
To my knowledge, most students in some capacity have financial support, whether from family, scholarships, loans or our own labor, that has allowed us to remain enrolled here at Point Park. Being here, in this amazing but expensive program, is a privilege alone.
It is also a privilege to be encouraged to dream. Not every student grows up hearing that art is a valid pursuit. Some are told to be practical, to choose stability over passion. Even having the permission from your home environment to chase something creative is an advantage.
And perhaps most invisibly, the body itself is not guaranteed. To move, to sing, to type, to design and to rehearse for hours requires physical and mental capacity that many people do not have but might crave.
The ability to create through our bodies is not permanent. It is temporary and therefore precious.
Even within a privileged community, layers of privilege still exist. Being cast in a production when others are not, affording private voice lessons, or accessing additional training are advantages not every student shares. Recognizing that perspective makes everyday complaints feel smaller and even pathetic.
Privilege in the arts should push us to be mindful of the spaces we take up, the voices we amplify and the stories we tell. We must cultivate empathy and advocacy by questioning who is missing from the rooms we are in and why.
In a time marked by uncertainty, creative forces can be a constant. We may have landed ourselves in the conservatory through personal ambition, but what we do with that privilege is what matters. Create with awareness. Advocate through your craft. Let your access to the arts expand opportunity for others, not just yourself.
