How Will You be Remembered as an Artist?

 

At what point in our lives as artists should we start thinking about our Legacy? When we first started, walking into our very first piano lesson at the age of 5, or our first ballet class, or our first art class in summer camp–whatever it was–it probably never occurred to any of us that this would be a significant part of our lives, or that our contribution to this craft would ever come into consideration. 

Then, growing up in these various arts worlds, we stood in awe of the great masters–the world-renowned performers, pedagogues, and prize winners, and looked at their body of work as their great legacy–the recordings, videos, novels, movies, Tonys, Emmys, Grammys, Academy Awards and Pulitzers. Possibly even a Nobel Prize or two. We watched The Kennedy Center Honors–an annual televised spectacular that honors the legacies of the greatest of the great American performing artists. 

 

But what about us mere mortals of the industry? 

 

 

Do our contributions count? Of course, we’d like them to. After spending decades of our lives in service to our art, it would be nice to feel as though those efforts mattered. As if they made some difference…to somebody…somewhere. 

And, my friend, I’m sure it has. 

It’s worth thinking about what, exactly, we want that legacy to be though. How DO we want to be remembered? 

I remember watching a Masterclass given by the violinist Midori at Tanglewood one summer. Someone in the audience asked her about her legacy, and she began talking passionately about her foundation, Midori & Friends, and their mission to provide tuition-free music lessons to students in New York City. 

“Oh!” interrupted the questioner “I meant your own legacy…as a violinist. As a child prodigy and world-class performer.” 

She smiled and responded something along the lines of, “Many people play the violin as well as I do. Many people have made recordings, and many people start quite young.  But this foundation? Providing these experiences to so many young people who might not ever have it otherwise? That is something unique that I can leave as my legacy.”

It was at that moment that I understood that the pursuit of excellence in my craft (in my case, as a cellist) was important, but perhaps it wasn’t the most important thing, and for certain, it was not unique–there are thousands of good cellists out there–and that when the time came, my legacy as an artist and a human would stem more from how I had helped to shape the world around me than how flawless my Dvorak Concerto was. 

But how does one create a legacy when you’re still in the middle of things? Do legends just sort of happen, or can you be intentional about it? 

 

 

 

A lot of us wonder if we’ll just go along, and after a long career of being good at what we do, earning the respect of our industry peers, and doing good work with good colleagues, we’ll just sort of fade out. Maybe we’ll have to stop performing at some point, maybe no one will really notice or care if we don’t publish one more novel, or paint one more canvas. 

 

After spending a lifetime looking up to the masters of past generations, what if no one is looking up to us? What if we Just. Fade. Away in a cloud of insignificance?

 

It seems a bit melodramatic, but I’ve had this come up in more conversations than I can count. One of the perks of being a coach is that I get the honest truth from everyone. So while maybe no one is talking about it backstage or after a performance, trust me when I say it’s on a lot of people’s minds! 

The good news is that truly, there is nothing to worry about. If leaving behind some kind of artistic legacy is important to you, then all you need to do is create one. 

It really is that easy. 

How? 

Let’s dive into it. 

 

 

Throughout my career, I have yet to meet a fellow artist–be they a writer, a dancer, a musician, or a cinematographer–who didn’t have an idea of something THEY wanted to do to shape the world around them. From educational opportunities to community and social justice initiatives to creating a new way of doing things, I think every one of us is tapped on the shoulder by our unique ideas. And that idea whispers to us “You should do this. I’ve chosen you.” 

Whether we take on that challenge or not is a different story, of course! There are so many reasons not to:

• You’re too busy
• You’re not fancy enough–not enough of an expert. 
• You don’t know how. 
• You just haven’t gotten around to it yet. 

 

And in “The Perfect Time to Start a New Project”, I talked about some of the times when it makes more sense to give that idea a hard pass, and also when perhaps you’re just making excuses. Check it out if you’re hesitating on an idea and unsure if it’s the right time to act on it. 

So maybe you know that you want to do something, but the specifics are a bit vague. It’s as if that idea was playing a game of “telephone” and by the time the whisper got to you it was a bit garbled and nonsensical. 

 

 

Step 1: Identify as much about that idea as you can.

Maybe you already have a highly detailed Google doc, and maybe you know that it has something to do with a massive field and….I don’t know…baseball? 

Whatever. 

Write it all out and focus on what you DO know. As I’ve said before, that is an excellent question that will get your out of many of rut. 

 

Step 2:  Think about the overall legacy you want to leave.

What do you want people to say about you at your funeral? How do you want to be remembered as a person?  Were you kind? Always prepared? A bit messy but always a lot of fun? Supportive? Loyal? Fiercely Motivated? Quiet and calm? or the life of the party? Always striving for excellence?

What about the people you worked with: did you collaborate? Were you a lone wolf? What projects were you a part of? Which groups or organizations did you align yourself with?  Who did you help? Who benefitted from your work? A specific group of people? A community? The industry? 

 

Step 3: Combine Your Initial Idea and Your Legacy Ideals: 

 

Now you have the What and the Why. If the idea was to run a workshop for students, your legacy ideals will help you figure out what is going to be most important about that workshop. 

Is it to raise the standards of performance? Is it to create a sense of community? Is it to change the way the learn? 

Because while a thousand artists might have the idea to run a workshop, everyone’s WHY will be different. Each one will have a unique purpose, and each one will be part of a unique legacy. 

What will you do? Will you set up a competition of some kind? Or help make some industry-wide changes around equal pay? Safer work environments? Fairness in standard practices?  

What is important to you? And what do you want to leave behind? It could be a scholarship in your name at your alma mater. It could be an international art festival, it could be a legacy of going into one school every month for years–helping the students to discover their own love of craft. It could be anything. 

And while there are as many possibilities as there are people in the world, one thing holds true for them all.  Thinking about this today gives you the gift of purpose and intentionality. You will find that you start to spend less time doing things that don’t matter to you, and you’ll waste less time reaching out toward the kind of work that does matter to you. You’ll find yourself working towards your projects with a sense of importance and urgency that propels your momentum, and you’ll be surprised at how much you can accomplish–and how much joy and fulfillment it brings you. 

Can you imagine what life would be like if artists around the globe started acting on their ideas, putting their why and their purpose behind them, and getting them out into the world? I’m borderline obsessed with how much good would come from it. In fact, I’ve made it my Why, and my Purpose to help my fellow creatives out there do just that. 

 

An Invitation

If this idea of Legacy Curation resonates with you, then I have something very exciting for you. I want to invite you to join me next week, from Monday, February 5th until Friday, February 9th,  for a 5-Day Challenge I’m hosting called “Launch Your Legacy”.  It’s totally free, and I promise, it’s not a huge time commitment–your time is precious, after all–! I’m going to pack a lot of useful info into short, easy-to-digest bits, all of which you can take in according to your own schedule. 

When you register, you’ll find an email from me waiting in your inbox when you wake up each of the 5 days, with a small task or writing exercise that you can do at any time. Each day’s task will get you one step closer to identifying a project, program or event that aligns with the kind of legacy you want to leave. 

I’ll be going live in the TFTL FB group each day at 1pm ET for a little discussion/Q&A about that day’s task and topic. Join us live or watch it when you’re free. The videos will remain up for the week. 

By Friday, you’ll have significant clarity around the kind of project you’d like to take on, a plan for how to accomplish it, a clear timeline of how long you’ll need to put it together, confidence in the skills you already have in place to make it happen, and the knowledge of which skills you’re going to need to learn or outsource, and the confidence to pull it all together.  So that you can start moving forward with building your artistic legacy. 

Again, it’s called Launch Your Legacy, and this 5-Day Challenge is totally free. It begins on Monday, February 5th, and Ends on Friday, February 9th. I do these things periodically for my audience because I believe so strongly that artists truly make the world a better place–not only through their craft but because of the creativity they bring to solving the problems we face. 

I sincerely hope you’ll join us, and I cannot wait to meet you! 

Register right now (HERE) and recruit your friends and colleagues to join in as well. 

Cheers!

Kate