A Jack Interview with Leslie Barlow

Have you always been an artist or is this a career change?

Ever since I went to college for art I knew that being a full time artist was something I really wanted to pursue.

Art programs are being cut all over the nation in schools - what's your opinion on this?

It's pretty unfortunate and definitely hits home for me. I went to an elementary school that focused on the arts (visual and performing) and incorporated it into every day curriculum. It was closed a few short years after I moved on to middle school and turned into apartments. It's a very sad thing because so many talented, amazing artists emerged from that school who might have otherwise not known that they had a gift for art or interest at such an early age. Art in schools gives you the variety to really explore what you are capable of, and without it I may not have chosen the path that I am on today. And sometimes kids just need to let out some steam in a crazy crayola drawing- really!