My interivew with Cara McCarty taught me how curiosity and exploring different forms of art can help shape someone’s path in the arts. By learning how she stayed determined to pursue art history and museum work, even when people told her there were no available jobs, it showed me the importance of following your passions and creating your own opportunities.
When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in art? And why?
I always made art growing up. My mother encouraged us to try all types of things. It was a well-rounded upbringing. I took art classes and I did a lot of sewing. When I was in fifth grade, I wanted to make my own clothes, so my mother enrolled me in a sewing class. They were all adult women but me, and I began making my own outfits.
Then in junior high, I became interested in weaving, and I made my own backstrap loom. My parents took us to a lot of museums. After traveling and studying abroad before starting college, I decided to major in art and art history.
My art history professors all said, “Don’t even think of museum work because there are no jobs.” But I was passionate and determined.
What did your high school or middle school do to cultivate your interest in art?
I went to terrific public schools in California which had wonderful classes beyond the traditional high school classes. They had a great art program in which they offered art, photography and an art history class. So I took art history and I took art.
Every year in the spring they offered electives, and you could choose a topic that was beyond your main area of interest. There was a lot of freedom. It was unusual at that time for a school to offer art history, even today.
I also found ways to pursue my interests on the weekends. As I mentioned, I was curious about weaving, so I made my own backstrap loom that I tied to a chair. I made pillows to give as gifts. I also took a weaving class on a big loom at the local community center.
So what’s not offered at your own school, you can supplement in other ways. If you’re really interested in learning something, use your imagination and keep looking for ways to learn.
Who or what had the most significant influence upon you along the way?
I have to credit my parents. Early on, my parents fostered independence. They wanted us to learn how to rely on ourselves and to be confident in ourselves, and not be dependent on validation from the outside.
So who cares if you’re popular or not in school? It’s more important to know who you are and be able to rely on yourself. You develop into a more interesting individual and follow your passions.
My parents exposed us to so much. They didn’t have a lot of money, but when we traveled, and it was not glamorous travel, we went to museums and learned history. They wanted to expose us to different cultures, to give us a bigger sense of the world and to appreciate what we had.
I had some excellent teachers along the way, but when I started as an intern at the Museum of Modern Art, I had a generous boss who was a mentor. I thank him every week. I couldn’t have gotten into that position without without the determination to pursue my passion and belief in myself.
What roles do you think schools should play in fostering art education and appreciation?
Art is really, really important, especially these days with so much emphasis on the digital, artificial intelligence and everybody holding their iPhones. We need to find ways to foster imagination and creative ways of thinking, and to learn how to think outside the box.
For instance, an artist I know never goes directly to a solution. If you are in a meeting with her and everybody thinks they’re about to decide on something, she’ll chime in from left field and shake up the discussion. It can take people out of their comfort zone, but it expands the thought process. She has made me a more insighful thinker, even at my age.
The artist learned this from Josef Albers. She would paint an abstract canvas thinking one side was the bottom and one the top. But Albers would say, “Turn it on its side. What does it look like? Turn it upside down. What does it look like?” Don’t always enter the house through the front door, go in through the side door or the back door.
Students sometimes think they’re bad at art because they are taught to think that way beginning in elementary school. Kids give up discouraged they’re not good artists. But most people are very creative, and schools sometimes shut that down.
Art is an enriching way of helping us look and observe the world more carefully.
How concerned are you about the impact from cuts in funding to the arts, particularly in schools?
Oh, I’m concerned. I’m very concerned.
What is your advice for people like me who want to study art in college and potentially build a career in the arts?
First of all, you already have an asset because you are very artistically talented, so play that up.
I encourage you to try to get internships and volunteer opportunities. Being a student is the best passport you can have. Use this summer, or even during the school year, to volunteer at art-related venues.
See if there are internships or volunteer opportunities working with a curator. Once you start college, there are more opportunities to do that.
Many schools have art museums. Whether it’s a famous museum or not, the important thing is to start getting experience. At some point, try to go abroad and engage with art. If you major in art history, spend at least a semester abroad looking at actual artwork (not digital reproductions) and learn a foreign language.
I spent two quarters in France when I was a junior in college, and I learned decent French that I continue to use. It is much easier to learn a foreign language when you are young.
You have to keep discovering ways to develop your interests, to differentiate yourself from others because there is a lot of competition to work in the arts.
But it's worth it!
Who is your favorite artist and why?
I don't have one. There are too many. The answer could change tomorrow or two weeks from now. The more I look, the more my favorites change.
Some artists who were my favorites many years ago I still like, but they are not necessarily my favorite artists today. I appreciate all types of art, time periods and architecture.
Artists like Picasso discovered African art in the early twentieth century and it had a huge influence on their artwork.
Try drawing African sculptures sometime, and try drawing reflective objects like glass bottles. They are not easy to draw, but they are good practice at expanding your skills.
