Art Art Art & Money Money Money

Andy Mouse - Keith Haring

The Museum of Modern Art helped raise me.

When I was young, my friends and I would take the F train from Queens to 53rd Street and go hang out at the Museum of Modern Art -or as we called it, "the Museum"--or we’d head all the way up to the the tip of Manhattan to hang out at the Cloisters - where we’d examine the Unicorn tapestries.

It is because I saw the big, soft, rumpled, fabric hamburger -  filed with foam rubber - at a Claus Oldenberg  exhibit at MoMA, ---and that my grandfather was in the fabric biz, that I’m an artist in business.

I seemed perfectly possible to pursue my dreams and make a living.

I’m here to urge you to go into business.

Small biz - micro biz, art biz is what makes capitalism fun! We are the verve meisters.

Go into business - become part of the world of commerce. Figure out how to make some money from your art.

Painting nudes

Us artist have it so good.

In art school, we live in creative hives.

We can follow sparks of imagination to see where they lead, which is always to something else. We can record traffic and make it music, print our own art money like Andy Warhol---invite an audience to the forest for an outdoor, nature symphony - like John Cage --and---we get to take classes where we stare at nudes and draw them. It’s a good life.

...and then we graduate and leave the paradise.

So many of us wonder what we’ll do with our degrees.

• Will we be able to get a job?
•  Make a living?
•  Are we destined to work in restaurants?
•  What will we do?

For people who want to be a doctor, lawyer, accountant, nurse ---it is indeed a good idea to pursue those professions.

For those of us who think putting paint on a canvas is heaven, composing a photo, writing a novel, making a movie or directing a play are the things that make a life meaningful ---don’t be swayed into becoming someone you aren’t don't go for plan B - don’t disrespect your own talents.



  Learn how to write a proposal, write an invoice and reel in the job. It’s exciting to be involved in the mainstream conversation.

As Andy Warhol said, “Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art."

©Jennifer Smith 2016 - Artist in the Material World

Go!

There are many meccas. For artists, it’s NYC.

On the strength of a nice, little grant from The National Endowment for the Arts, in the 70’s, I headed to NYC.

I had no job, but I knew a few people. I knew I could land and sleep on someone’s couch for awhile. That was enough. It was a good move. I could take in the art movements from around the world and found my little niche in that world. Thrilling!

The other day, I gave a talk to a bunch of business students at Morehead University - in a lovely, small town in the midst of Kentucky’s rolling hills.

In telling my story, my hope was it would give students courage to follow their heart - not just make rational decisions.

Rational decisions are over-rated. What’s rational to one person may be seen as totally crazy by another.

Say, someone wants to be an opera singer. That person will hear, from people who may never have listened to opera --- and really don’t know what they are talking about ---- that they will never make any money pursuing an opera career.

Don’t listen to them!

Instead, Go to Italy, Go to NYC, go to places where opera is valued.

Sing!

Want my advice to students?

Go! Follow your dreams. Want to work in the tech world - Go to Silicon Valley, or Houston, Boston or Hyerabad in India. Want to dance - Go to NYC. Is there a place you’ve always wanted to live? Go there. You will find work you love because you love the place.

Go to your Mecca. You will be rewarded and enriched.

In Praise of Foolish Decisions

Drawing by Anne Avery Dougans

I'm in favor of foolish decisions. We have this one precious life. Our time to make a mark, to have some fun, to set out on an adventure to make discoveries and to screw things up.

No life is perfect, nothing is guaranteed. It won't be a smooth ride. There will be bumps and crashes. Things will fall apart. Dreams will be dashed, we may not climb the highest mountain.

But we will have stories. We will know some fascinating people. We will be a fascinating person for going after the foolish ---the artistic moment, the vision, the move, the boyfriend, the husband, the babies.

For me, following the muse has lead me into a world of creation. Sometimes I look around the mascot studio where we might be making a rainbow bellied dinosaur, collecting fabric swatches for some imaginary critter and shaping foam for some buff, muscular mascot.

All of the foolish decisions have lead me to my very own little piece of heaven.

©Jennifer Smith 2015

Spreadsheets & Negotiating for Artists

Spreadsheets are sexy!

With a spreadsheet, I can estimate how long each part of the job will take and how much the materials will cost. It's exciting to get to the final number, the bottom line - the great reveal!

At AvantGarb, my little mascot biz, there are many different jobs---designers, pattern drafters, stitchers, sales people, painters, IT people, web gurus, the HR department, the benefit package, accountants. estimators, and oh-my-goodness-this floor-needs-to-be-swept people. At one time or other, all of those people were me. Sometimes, they still are.

When deciding how much to charge attach a cost to each job. Some jobs may be $35/hr, some may have a set $2500 cost, some may be $225/hour, some $75/hour. Even if one person does all of the jobs, attach a cost to each specialty.

Put together a spreadsheet to get a sense for the real cost and extent of the project. Attached is a sample spread sheet that AvantGarb uses. It's for making mascots ---yours will certainly be different labor titles and headings --- this is merely a sample.

It's simple, yet it gives us a handle on costs and time. A spread sheet is for the business's information. It is not a document to share with clients.



When negotiating, it's good to have what you propose in writing. People hear what they want to hear. Put it in writing.

We put together a pretty specific proposal when we're going after a mascot job. We have a description of each part, fabric choices, a bit about mascot engineering, some photos of relevant mascot, a select list of clients and projects.

We have a separate costs page where everything is listed. 

We list all the parts of the mascot - head, body, mascot clothing, etc and put one cost for those items. It's not a menu. We don't separate cost for materials and labor. That might or might not work for everyone.

There is also a heading for Additional/Optional item. Something the client might want, but hasn't thought of.

I always use a spreadsheet to keep me based in reality.

You may have clients that want a fabulous production with fabulous clothes, a mural in their restaurant, a commissioned installation. Give them a cost. You may be surprised to learn how much wiggle room there is in the client's budget.

Under-pricing creative work is too expensive for the artist and practically guarantees tension between the artist/designer and the client. 

Why are spreadsheets sexy? 

They let you know what your work is worth, and with a good number in hand, the relationship with the client might be as much fun as dancing the waltz of the booga-loo.
 
xo Jennifer - An Artist in the Material World

©Jennifer Smith 2015

Flirting is Marketing / Marketing is Flirting

Putting on the lipstick & the heels!

When I start complaining to my, sometimes exasperated, staff that we will have no work after we finish whatever mascot we are working on....

....and we will be absolutely out of money,
.....nobody will ever want a mascot again
......we are finished, kaput, done
.......and we will have to auction everything off for a mere pittance

They all roll their eyes and get back to what ever they were doing. They have heard my sad refrain before.

Then someone says, "Start flirting!"

Heels and lipstick

There was a woman who worked for me many, many years ago. She, too, had heard my sad refrain one time too many. She finally said, "Put on your heels and bring in some work!" I did. That's when I realized, marketing is like flirting. 

If I've worn some sensible shoes to work, I take them off and put on my emergency, cowgirl boots w/ heels, put some color on my lips and get down to the business flirting ---really marketing, but aren't both pretty much the same?

In marketing you want to:

• Attract clients.
• Present your best self for the business.
• Inspire trust and be trustworthy
• Put forth a proposal
• Work on the relationship
• Close the deal

Kinda like flirting.

The Mascot Studio - Favorite photos - Artists in the Material World

Some mascot makers at AvantGarb Mascots - Kristin, Megan and Anne and the Loudmouth Fish

Laura shows off her muscles!

I bought a "Boss Lady" tee shirt & it inspired a whole outfit - complete w/ my aunt's pearls and a fake, turquoise Rolex

Mike is wearing shades made for a tiger  - as well as a stylish tee.

Mike wearing Floyd the Monster's back legs - w/ Peter, out male mannequin

Anne w/ and awfully nice tail

Dave with Tivo inner structures

A very small part of the Mascot Wall of Fame

The wall of lost mascot parts - a moose tail - moose don't really have tails, a hand w/ too many fingers, a penguin crotch, a too short jaguar tail.....

Art Biz & Hiring

When first started AvantGarb (we're a custom, mascot making company),  I was the only employee. I did everything, designed, made the mascots, shipped them, did the marketing ---everything.

Quickly, I realized I was going to have to hire people. Just as employees have a learning curve at a new job, I had a learning curve as a boss. I'm still learning.

Hiring people is a puzzle. In a an arty biz like mine, creative decisions and problem solving are constant. Intuitive, improvisational communication is the lifeblood of the business.

We make mascots, which are like costumes and also like really, really big props. There is a huge amount of something I call, "non-specific engineering" that goes into them. We're engineering with foam, zippers and quick release buckles. It's a type of construction that requires whims of imagination and flights of fancy. 

Those with the most experience may not be the best ones for the job. 

Yup, it's true. We can teach someone to sew ---after all, sewing machines are really just power tools, and power tools are fun! It's hard to teach someone to take courageous, creative leaps
 - creative leaps and courage are so much harder than learning to sew.

When I started hiring people, I was interested in experience in making costumes and education. My hiring requirements have evolved over time. Education is nice, but I also want to know that there is something behind the education---like the habit of work. 
I hire from a wide range of sources. Currently we have some puppet/performance art people, theater prop people, a philosophy major who really understands interior, mascot structures, a cosplay person, a fashion person ---who always wears great clothes, a 2D artist who has a real knack for mascot shoes and accessories (in mascotdom, tails are accessories) and a former bartender who is totally charming on the phone and online, and understands quickbooks and social media.

It is a magical group. I look forward to working with them every day

 

Art Workers

Carlos & Jennifer "talking design"

 "How satisfied are we with our jobs? Gallup regularly polls workers around the world to find out. Its survey last year found that almost 90 percent of workers were either “not engaged” with or “actively disengaged” from their jobs."  This from Rethinking Work by Barry Swartz, an excellent, New York Times article.

The article goes on to tell that us humans don't like to feel like we're just cogs in the machine "we want work that is meaningful — that makes a difference to other people and thus ennobles us in at least some small way."

NanoBanano

As an art worker running a small, arty biz, I live in the same material world that all of us live in, I struggle to keep the art and income in balance. I know that I work for the challenge, the problem solving, the camaraderie in the studio, the relationship with our clients and for the joy I take in the materials we use.   

Mine is really a material world in that I make mascot costumes, which involves an awful lot of materials, foam and fake fur.

Us art workers follow our hearts, our muse, our bliss. Sometimes we strike it rich. Most of the time, though, we are making a living. I believe we are blessed. Striving solely for efficiency and compensation, for the cash is a losing game.

The people who work with me at AvantGarb are thoroughly involved in the art of making mascots. We sculpt, engineer, paint, design, market and send out proposals and invoices and we sew, sew, sew. How can that not be a compelling?

I believe the mascots we make bring Joy to the World ---and that's a pretty gratifying outcome.

 ©Jennifer Smith 2015

Artist in the Material World

Good Exposure for Your Art? Really?

Most of us have been there. Someone has flattered us by asking if we would be willing to display our work at their business - a restaurant or a lobby, maybe a snazzy spa.

When a business comes by and says they would like to hang your art on their walls, claiming it will be good exposure, approach their offer as the beginning of a negotiation.

Free is too expensive for the artist. 

Have a monthly rental cost sheet - maybe $500/painting/month - whatever cost you feel comfortable with. If people are spending money for something, they pay attention to it. If they live with it long enough, they may buy it.

Make demands, as well like: 

• The art must be hung by an expert under your supervision. 
• The business is responsible for and carries insurance that will cover any damage that might occur to artwork while in their workplace. 
• Get a deposit before releasing your artwork for display.

Don't give art away for free. 

Art is a calling. It is also a business.

©Jennifer Smith 2015

The Rules for Creative Cohabitation in the Studio

I had the good fortune to hire a wonderful, red-headed, Baptist, southern woman and a totally out-of-the-closet, really funny, gay man. They were both hugely talented. They had a great 3-D sense and an intuitive understanding of interior, mascot engineering.

....and they really, really liked each other and I adored both of them. They kept me laughing.

To keep the peace, at AvantGarb, I knew I was going to have to set some boundaries. 

These guidelines are good ones for every workplace. Well, you might not be that interested in new ways to knot a piece of thread ---but you'll get the picture. 

The Rules for Creative Cohabitation 

in the Mascot Studio

When making mascots, we have to communicate clearly with each other. Ask questions often and you must have courage. Keep communication open and transparent.

Fabric, foam and fuzz are endlessly fascinating in a mascot shop. As are:

• New ways to knot a piece of thread,
• Interior mascot engineering
• Sturdy ways to secure a helmet in a mascot head.
• Really corny jokes.
• Funny, buoyant stories,
• Mascot videos at lunch
• Favorite illustrations in the ULine catalog
• ...you get the picture

Not endlessly fascinating and creative inhibitors are:

• Personal politics and personal sex life.
• Any words you wouldn’t say in front of a 4 year old - we want to keep the mascot spirits sweet - even the ones with the Game Face.
• Anything disgusting. If it’s a story you really love, but think it might possibly be disgusting to some --- don’t tell it --- it’s the thing about keeping the mascot souls sweet.

Last but Certainly not Least, Dress Code & Hygiene:

There is no back room. We’re all on stage at AvantGarb so….

• We have to look good AND, have clothes we can work in - it's a delicate balance.
• Stylishly distressed clothes are fine - no worn-out clothes with holes, tears, weird stains, inappropriate words or images.
• It can be a dirty job. We get sharpie marker on our hands, adhesive in our hair - let's give ourselves the best chance we can at looking pretty good - start out clean.
• ...you get the picture

"We're Closed" = RFRA Bill in Indiana

Yes I live in Indianapolis,

My business is in Indianapolis.

Right now, all businesses in Indianapolis are in shock.

A Religious Freedom (RFRA) bill found it's way to Governor Pence's desk, and he foolishly signed it.

The bill allows businesses to refuse to do biz with people with whom they disagree. It seems to be aimed at the gay communitee.

When I started AvantGarb, my plan was to make costumes for avant-garde theater - thus the name. And I have certainly designed costumes for some fascinating performances. However, pretty early on, I got calls from companies and corporations that wanted mascots.

Rather than say "no" to customers I perceived as the wrong customers for me, I sad "yes". I have never regretted that first, "yes".

It turns out, I was born to make mascots! I love mascots! I believe mascot could bring world peace!

My customers defined my business for me. They knew better than I.

A bill like RFRA promotes the "no". It discourages the revelation. It puts the kabosh on the party. It is bad for all businesses in Indiana, large and small.

Business wants to grow and thrive - to stretch out in exciting, new directions.

With RFRA, Indiana tells the world that we aren't interested in the new. That we don't want to innovate and thrive. RFRA is like hanging out a "We're closed" sign.

Some Thoughts on Marketing an Arty Biz

At AvantGarb, we make big, dynamic, extroverted mascots.

In my weaker moments, I have this delusional idea, that people will somehow find AvantGarb and recognize our talent & vision.

Sometimes magical thinking works. But really, If you want your arty biz to flourish, I have 3 words for you:

Market. Market. Market.

These times are great for the introverted artists. Much communication is done in online via e-mail and in social media - tweeting, pinning, facebooking and blogging. However, actually connecting people in real time - having a conversation - that's when things get exciting - when the idea becomes real - that's when the passion for the project comes through

At AvantGarb, we use HootSuite to schedule posts on social media sites.

...but it's not all social media - what the point in being a creative business that makes stuff, if you don't also include something real. We send out funny fuzzy & googlie-eyed things, now & then.

Why not? We love to spread the joy!

Now, I almost, completely, most-of-the-time, adore marketing---I get a kick outta the pull and push of the relationships, the ins and outs of negotiations.

Marketing has always been social.

Be Generous

It is tempting in a teensy business to keep all of the cash in the business ---to keep investing in the business to make it sustainable. 

Let me argue in favor of generosity. 

This has been a good year for my little business, AvantGarb. Besides giving a few raises, and paying myself just about every payday, we have been able to give money away. 

We make wonderful big mascot heads and bodies. It's a joyous business. We try to spread the joy by donating to some cool, do-good orgs. 

Some cool, do-good orgs we support 

We give to the Heifer Project, one of the coolest organizations I know. They give animals to people for whom an animal makes an economic difference. If you're at a loss for what to give the person who has everything, may I suggest the Heifer Project. You can give a hive of bees, a bunch of chicks and even an ox in their name, to support people around the world for whom a bunch of fluffy chicks is a big deal.

I'm an artist in business. In the interest of promoting the arts and entrepreneurship, AvantGarb is an ardent supporter of CreativeCapital, an organization that promotes innovative and adventuresome artists with funding, counsel and career development. 

Sometimes I even get on a plane & fly to NYC go to their wonderful parties where I get filled to the brim with art, conversation and pure delight.

 Other do-good, feel-good things we do 

During the summer, we spend some time working with children, in something we call the Handmade Parade. 

The children make big critters with cardboard and paint, tune up the kazoo band, practice some moves and parade through the neighborhood.

 Our Awfully Big Puppets have been making yearly appearances at the PRIDE Parade.

Our holiday balls and shiny, holiday trees appear in community parades

Generosity is good for the heart and soul.


©Jennifer Smith 2014

Biz, blessings & a martini

AvantGarb has been a growing, productive business for a really long time.

I started AvantGarb in my Berkeley, California garage when my youngest daughter was about 3 months old.

Month after month I have made money, and those dollars have increased through the years.

AvantGarb is a real, ongoing operation.

Even though we have been making money, and I've been paying my mortgage, buying shoes, clothing my children, sending them to college & helping them buy cars, getting my hair done and my eyebrows tamed, I still think, it could be over tomorrow.

This is crazy thinking.

When I am sitting with a curved needle, stitching yellow muppet fleece to green muppet fleece, I have taken to counting my blessing.

Here are some of them:

• I have a really grand family. They keep me involved and interested in their lives. My husband is funny, handsome and sexy. My daughters are gorgeous, glorious adults.
  
• I  love my biz - making fuzzy critters that add a great dollop of fun to the landscape.
• I've traveled everywhere--okay, not everywhere, but a lot of places - Kenya, India, China, Mexico, Mexico, Mexico, Taiwan, Egypt, and oh yeah, Europe. I feel fluent in the world. I like to be places where I can't speak the language.
• ... however, I can speak Spanish, stutter through French and be polite in Swahili
• Every Monday I look forward to the week ahead.
• Every Friday I come home to a really good martini.
  
• I love going to church on Sundays, singing hymns w/ the congregation, listening to the sermon and being blessed for the coming week with the benediction.
• I love reading the New York Times and napping on couch on Sunday afternoons.
• I have gotten bit of fame for doing what I do.
• ...and I have friends, friends, friends and ohmygoodness, a huge, ever-growing & always fascinating family.

There are more blessings than I can count.

I have imagined my life, and it became real.

I suspect the story of other small biz people is similar.

How to keep your soul, make art, do biz and tell a story

How to keep your soul, make art, do biz and tell a story.

...of course, that's the kicker. I read recently that truly successful people don't have a Plan B.

I never had a plan A. 

When I was young, this is what I knew:

I knew art made me swoon, and made me stand up straight and pay attention.

I liked cool clothes, big cities, funky apartments, meals with friends, and boys.

I liked stumbling through foreign countries and foreign languages.

It's a recipe for a rich life. 

...and a life filled with stories. I feel like a historian for my generation. I protested the war in Vietnam in DC & got maced. I met my first big deal boyfriend at a "Peace-in" at Cornell University.

I lived in Seattle when it was cheap and full of artists and punks. I made costumes with a costume performance group, Friends of the Rag. I was an artist in NYC (with a studio at P.S.1) during the disco years  and before AIDS broke our hearts. 

I celebrated my 19th birthday on top of the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico.

I can start sentences with phrases like, "When I was in Mumbai" ....or "compared to Shanghai, NYC looks like Colonial Williamsburg" 

However, not to seem too exotic, Thirty-four years ago, I married the handsomest of the boys. I have 2 fascinating, twenty-something/30 something daughters, and a funny, arty business that keeps my fingers and my brain nimble. I live in Indianapolis, Indiana and I'm a church lady.

After a couple decades making mascots as the Queen of Fuzz at AvantGarb, my soul is intact, art makes me swoon, biz is good, and ohmygoodness do I have stories to tell.

Get a Payroll Service

Most art students dream of making their mark through their art, and that often means they are going to step into the small business world.

When there is too much work for one person to handle, the hiring begins. It's an exciting time for a small, art biz.

When people are hired, they have to be paid.

Anyone who works in my little mascot-making business, AvantGarb, is put on the payroll immediately. This mean we're taking out taxes, Social Security and whatever else is required.

Here's an easy little tidbit to save on time-consuming calculator or Quickbooks time  - Get a payroll service!

When you start hiring people with some regularity to work in your arty biz, it's time to get a payroll service. At AvantGarb we use Prime Pay.

A payroll service: 

• makes out the checks - real or virtual - 
• pays all the taxes, social security and whatever else gets deducted---ok they don't pay the taxes, they swoop the money out of your account and send it to wherever it needs to go.
• sends all of the end of the year W-2s
• understands all of the quarterly reports that have to be done
• keeps you sane
• ...and it doesn't cost much

A payroll service keeps everything neat and clean, so you can pay attention to getting the work done and bringing in more work.

I love my payroll service. You'll love yours too!

The Policy

  20 somethings

AvantGarb used to be populated by 40 something and 50 something women ----but, the times they are a'changing. Now there are very talented, really attractive and very funny 20 somethings bringing the mascots to life.

...and the 20 somethings have a following of other very talented and really attractive and very funny 20 somethings. There has been an uptick of visitors coming through our door. They come to see their friends, check out the scene at AvantGarb or sometimes they come just to be near an object of affection.

 Anne's sketch of the 20 somethings and me at AvantGarb

Which is what happened a few days ago. A young woman came by to check out the place ---but really to stare and swoon at the object of her affection. The woman wasn't leaving.

I realized I was going to have to make a policy. 

The Policy

So bless the young woman with a huge crush on one of the GarbGangGuys. Because of her, AvantGarb now has a policy - drop-by visits are 5 or 10 minutes.  We've written a script to ease visitors out of the door. It goes something like this:

"Oh sweetie, I'm delighted you stopped by. Here, have some magnetic googlie eyes. I have to get back to the serious business of making mascots. See you later. Bye"

The Swoon

Each day, we are busy falling in love with the character we are bringing to life.

We make real objects in the real world. We sculpt and form and plan and sew all the facets of a character so that in can walk and wiggle and move through the world - or at least a stadium or community gathering. It is consuming. We are swooning for the mascot - we are in our day, and that day is one of creative collaboration.

 Matt makes a Soybean

 Laura makes a muscle

 Wren makes a kangaroo tail

Katie gets carried away by a Jazzy Bear in Utah

Julia Child, the Spider's Web & WGBH

 

When stored, the stage set for Julia Child's television cooking show was about 3 feet wide.

It was 1970. I was 18. I was clueless.

My adviser at Friends World College had connected me with Paula Apsell. Paula had started a children's radio show, The Spider's Web at WGBH-FM in Boston. During the day she scheduled programming for WGBH TV and on the side, in the evening, she produced this wonderful radio show for children.

For 3 months in Boston, I was there when actors read "Wind in the Willows" and "Pippi Longstockings", word for word (well, more or less). I was there when the same pair of wonderful actor read, screwed up, cursed colorfully and loudly, and calmly continued the reading.

I was the one to edit out the non-child-friendly words and leave the words, words, words of great literature, read by great voices for the radio.

 During my tenure as the radio tape editor for the Spiders Web, there was a TV show being taped at WGBH-TV. It was called, Jean Shepard's America. I grew up listening to Jean Shepard's  musings and ramblings on WOR in NYC. His were a grown-up, city guys memories of childhood. He mixed the memories with Robert Service poems and ...oh yeah...this-is-what-I'm-thinking-about-now stuff. Pre-Prairie Home Companion with a beat - as in beatnik - sensibility.

...this reads a bit like a Jean Shepard radio show on WOR. There is the opening line, and then a diversion, followed by another diversion, and then a return to the opening sentence - more or less.

One day, there appeared towers of pizza boxes. In each box was a pizza. The next day there was something called, head cheese. More and more food was shuttled the the WGBH lunchroom. Jean Shepard talked about food in America and Julia Child's cook prepared the food he mentioned. Us lunch eaters were served an american feast.

Well, this was food that had been cooked and preened to look good on television. It was room temperature and a few hours old. However. Julia Child and her cooks had prepared it.

In those 3 months in Boston I learned how to edit radio tapes. Like so many actual skills, the cutting and splicing of actual audio tapes is an extinct skill. It was acool thing to do - listening to all of those words, cutting out the ummms and errrs and coughs and curses and keeping the real, solid, words together. the slicing and the taping.

Working on the Spider's Web under Paula Apsell's guidance gave me a sense of the right in words and radio drama. I have been able to carry that first lesson with me into everything I do. Into art, performance, theater, costume, mascots. 

Three months in Boston set my course.