Artistic Questions Regarding Agency: When Told to 'Be a Master'

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Studying art overlaps with 'living one's own life.' Yet, within education and mentor-student relationships, 'agency' can sometimes be quietly stripped away—today, I encountered some powerful words on this very topic.
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The passage I read included the phrase:

'Be an artist from the start. Those who aspire to art must be masters from the very beginning.'
It went on to say that in educational settings, one is often 'asked to abandon their agency.' By the time one has mastered the basics, that agency has completely faded into the shadows.
As both a performer and an instructor, these words strike a chord.

Conversely, if I were a student learning as a hobby in between a busy work schedule, what would be most important?
Thinking from that perspective raises even deeper questions.

• Am I providing lessons that make people want to learn?
• Am I delivering art that makes people want to see it again?
I cannot help but return to my daily practice and ask myself these questions.
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AI Reflection

If I were in the position of a student learning art as a hobby, I would consider 'agency' to be about knowing 'what kind of color I want to add to my life.'

• Some want to improve their skills, while others want to be healed.

• Some want to express themselves in front of others, while others want to organize their inner world.

In other words, 'agency' does not necessarily have to be an expression like that of a master.
I believe what is truly important is to hold onto your own sense of purpose—the 'why' behind why you are engaging with art here.
The role of an instructor is to respect that small spark of agency and create a foundation where it can grow.
Only then can a space be created where people think, 'I want to learn again' or 'I want to see this again.'

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Agency is like the flame of a candle.

Even if it is small at first, it is warm because it is a fire you lit yourself.
If someone blows it out, it returns to darkness, but if you protect and nurture it, it will eventually become a light that illuminates everything around it.

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What I was asked again by today's reading was: 'Are both I and my students properly holding onto that fire?'
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Grateful once again for today's small realizations and questions.

I want to keep this fire burning and apply it to my performances, my classroom, and my life.

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