Stephen Gracia and Michael LoPorto  were the guest speakers for last week’s class and they gave creative insights into the realm of theatre. I appreciated their honesty about how creative arts people can have passion for art as a side hustle and still be considered professional artists. In fact, the ability to be financially stable and somewhat independent of earnings in art frees their creative expression, or as Lisa phrased it in class ‘trading hands with money doesn’t taint the artwork and message.’ The guests discussed about the art of expression, the role of a director in a play, and the relationship between director and sponsor. Michael and Stephen added that sometimes a good play could be ruined by a bad performance, and they addressed their differing perspectives on what defines art. With each week’s guest speaker, I come to understand more that being an artist doesn’t mean to live, breath, and sleep art while feeding on stale bread. Creative people have lives of their own, and not every artist is a ‘Patti Smith’. I like the more realistic version of an artist as a person that has a way to support themselves and can also work on their passion. In this way, you don’t have to say no to art if you choose to be a computer science major.