profile / alumni / illustration
March 21, 2018
BY JAMIE WETHERBE

Creativity Crusader: Meet Author-Artist Simón Silva

ArtCenter: How do you define your current project Cultivating a Creative Mind?
Simón Silva (BFA 86 Illustration) author, speaker, artist: I define it as regaining what we lost over the years: our genius, confidence, self-esteem and more importantly our understanding of all of our abilities.

AC: What inspired this project?
SS: I’ve always felt that the arts have been misunderstood and disrespected by society at large. I believe that most people feel that the arts are either a highly sophisticated form of learning or a fun distraction. I wanted to clear up what the arts offer and why they are the most important subject matter in the 21st century.

AC: What’s the first site you look at when you open your computer in the morning?
SS: NPR.

AC: What do you do to detox from media and screens?
SS: I read, I read a lot and try to engage in stimulating conversations.

AC: What books are on your bedside table?
SS: The Distracted Mind, Moby Dick, The Shallows, Bible, The Artist Way, A More Beautiful Question...

AC: If you could trade jobs for a day with anyone, who would it be?
SS: Anthony Bourdain.

AC: If you had superpowers, what would they be?
SS: I would be able to eliminate the existence of evil and bad tattoos.

AC: What is your prized possession?
SS: My vintage jazz collection.

AC: What is your happy place?
SS: Starbucks, The Coffee Bean.

AC: What’s the one tool you can’t do without?
SS: French press coffeemaker.

AC: Do you have a piece of advice for an ArtCenter student interested in following your career path?

SS: I hear many students tell me they want to go into the arts because they love art. A better reason would be because they have something to say or something they would like to explore.