Dear Wells Fargo,

On September 3, 2016, you released an advertisement showcasing two young people, probably just a few years younger than I, whose minds suddenly had been changed from wanting to pursue careers in the arts to careers in STEM fields. I have a problem with this.

Now, I do not have a problem in the sense that these two young people supposedly changed their minds. That happens. People do, in fact, change their minds about careers fairly frequently. I also do not have a problem with these kids now desiring jobs in the STEM fields. Jobs in science, technology, engineering and math are incredibly important and needed in our world. I have a problem with the fact that you thought it fitting for the hook line of this advertisement to be the statement, “Let’s get them ready for tomorrow.” I am sure, Wells Fargo, you understand the meaning behind that statement. You have not only implied that the young people pursuing some form of the arts are unprepared for adulthood but you have also invalidated those of us who are working towards or already have a career in the arts.

Yes, I say “us.” You see, I am an artist. I am a young artist much like the two people in your ads. I recognize that both of the teens in your advertisements were actors (ironically), but taking them at their face value, I could have been in the shoes of either of those actors a few years ago. Since I was twelve, I knew I wanted to pursue my dream of becoming an actress, but that did not come without its opposition. Like them, I could have changed my mind because I know exactly how it feels to have the rest of the world telling you that a job in the theatre is impractical. I had family members, teachers and friends tell me it was too difficult, instead of saying it was achievable with hard work (like most career paths). It is a very discouraging thing to hear. We have enough people telling us we should give up on our artistic aspirations; we don’t need a banking company telling us we should divest from them too.

As a young artist, I take particular offense to the statement noted earlier, “Let’s get them ready for tomorrow.” In high school, I enrolled in AP and honors courses, participated in too many extracurricular activities to name and graduated with distinction. In college, I am an active theatre major and community leader on campus and consistently make the Dean’s List. Not only am I an artist, I am a strong academic and engaged citizen. In addition to leading in my college theatre's plays and organization, I mentor first-year students and serve on my sorority’s leadership council. Not all artists confine themselves to a single field, as my interdisciplinary liberal arts education shows. Many of us learn and try as much as we can so we can bring in our experience and enrich our craft with it. Explain to me, then, how we are not “ready for tomorrow."

Going back to my second point, I feel Connor Sheridan (YouTube) sums it up well when he says, “This was a stab at the credibility of the arts and the many people who have made the arts their careers or have found salvation and release in their creative outlets.” Wells Fargo, you have overlooked both the arts' and artists’ importance to the individual and society. Without artists, who would entertain you? Without artists, who would create music, television, movies, theatre? Without artists, who would paint, draw, sculpt? Without artists, who would take your photographs and make your portraits? Without artists, what would fill our museums and enliven our town walls and sidewalks? Without artists, who would express the human condition using song and script? Without artists, who would provide safe environments for people to express themselves? Without artists, who would find innovative ways to educate our world? Without artists, who would remind us of the importance of the human spirit?

Without artists, who would design the rest of your advertisements?

Riddle me that, and then we can talk.

My dreams and the dreams of other people are valid, whether they wish to be a musician or a lawyer. It is not your place or your right to tell anybody, especially an impressionable young person, that their goals of becoming an artist make them unfit for or incapable of a working life.

Sincerely,

A young, and very proud, artist