We asked some of the city’s leading artists and creatives to tell us about how they decided to pursue an artistic or creative career. We’ve shared some highlights below.

BG Boyd | Software Developer & Photographer

I’ve always been interested in photography and around 2009 I decided to take an intro class at Pima to learn how to use my Sony Alpha 200 in manual mode. Among all the things I learned In that class were the exposure triangle, depth of field, focal distances, and how to edit digital negative files. After that, I just started going out capturing nature and wildlife photos and I have been since. Read more>>

Alejandra Alanis Ortiz | Screenwriter, a manager for film festival circuits, an actress, and a director for independent films.

Being an artist was the last thing I chose because they told me that that hobby would never give me the money to pay the rent. I graduated and got my degree in Business Administration, I worked in a bank for a period of time but I started realizing that life felt empty, I was counting the hours to leave before I arrived at work, and I was unhappy at 23. Read more>>

Breanna Rose Skoon | Designer & Beauty Brand Founder

Being creative is an innate part of who I am. Who we all are… creativity is what distinguishes humans from all other species. However, I have always honed-in on my artistic abilities since I was a child. I chose fashion and beauty at 7 yrs old when I put on lipstick from my grandmother and cut-up her bedsheets to create a dress pattern then stapled the pieces together to complete my look. I’ve been designing and creating beauty products ever since. Read more>>

Ahchipaptunhe | Artist

My decision to pursue a creative career came much later in my life. However, during my youth, I always leaned toward the arts. Photography, old English poetry, and drafting were the only classes my teachers could help direct my creative outbursts. My parents both served and retired from the United States Military, a lifestyle that caused frequent moving, uncertainties, and fears of parents being called to combat zones. Read more>>

CJ Paschke | Designer-Builder-Artist

I’ve always been creative, even as a kid I was building and tinkering with things. As a young boy I aspired to be a structural engineer and design bridges. I could see things in my mind in three dimensions and at the same time solve problems. College was not a priority in the house I grew up in. Read more>>

Roger Naylor | Arizona author and travel writer

I knew I was going to be a writer when I was 13 and read Mark Twain for the first time. That’s when I began to understand the power of the language. It was just a collection of Twain’s essays so there was no plot or story or characters. But those words leaped off the page and grabbed me. He made me feel things. Mostly I laughed because he was profoundly funny. Read more>>

Gabby Canario | Profesional Portrait Photographer

Landing on this career was a happy accident. While I was attending college to become a nurse, I decided I would fill my elective with “Photography 101”. Turns out I loved it more than I did taking so many math classes. I continued to study photograph all the way through. But it wasn’t the “pretty flowers” or visual images themselves that made my continue this path, it was the way I made people feel. Read more>>