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It is possible to do what you love, and earn a living out of it. This is the philosophy behind the Art Career Expo, which is targeting talented students.
THE image of the starving artist, kept alive only by the generosity of a rich patron – and going on to earn a fortune posthumously – is an enduring one. But it need not be so; in the modern world, art can be a viable career option for creative individuals.
 Art with HeArt inspires leaners to choose art as a careerNoticing the number of passionate youths expressing themselves through art, Atiyya Karodia and Molefi Moloantoa decided to highlight the industry at high schools and sell it to students as a career opportunity. Their Art Career Expo was taken to Wendywood High School in Wendywood, near Sandton, on 1 June, giving schoolchildren guidance from those who have prospered in the art world.
At the school, the founder of Art with HeArt Africa, Vivienne Abrahams-Aliveriotis, showed students how to make bangles with beads. She said she learnt the art from Ndebele grannies at Imbali, a visual literacy project in Newtown.
Abrahams-Aliveriotis explained the many paths an artist could take to further their career. She touched on prominent artists and what they had done, and illustrated that artists could do anything from making advertisements to helping children heal.
Karodia said: “Being only a year out of high school, I know how intimidating the world can seem. We recognised the need to at the very least put a range of career choices out there and hopefully inspire talented kids.
“It all starts with education. The youth of South Africa need to be able to make their own decisions, but also to make informed ones,” she added. “That’s what we hope we can accomplish with both our expos as well as our upcoming youth forums.”
 Artistic learners have created interesting art using their lockersAbout the germination of the idea, Karodia explained: “The idea of taking the arts ‘back to school’ took form recently, after we had the pleasure of meeting Vivienne Abrahams-Aliveriotis and talking about the state of the art industry, with regards to the youth especially.”
The primary aim of the Art Career Expo is to educate young people about the industry, expose them to it as a viable career sector and to nurture talent.
“We’re urged in school to ‘find ourselves’ and embrace our individuality but our parents, teachers and even tertiary institutions push us to the same fields of study,” she said. “We strongly feel that this mind-set needs to evolve somewhat. Our focus on art is simply to show the students that they can do what they love, do it well, and furthermore, make a living out of it.”
Karodia and Moloantoa decided to work in conjunction with Art with HeArt Africa to push art. They have also built up a close relationship with the Realogile Alumni Committee, which is dedicated to ploughing resources back into Realogile High School in Alexandra.
“The more kids we can impact with our initiative, the better,” she added.
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