what is
the nuance?
The Nuance is a series of interviews by curator and host Kim Montelibano Heil with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) artists of different disciplines about their experience with money. Interviews are currently archived in Instagram under @thenuance2020 (click on the IGTV button!).
what is
the mission of the nuance?
The Nuance endeavors to dispel the myth of the “Starving Artist” through a BIPOC and Feminist lens, one conversation at a time. We do this by sharing the experiences and wisdom of professional artists who have built sustainable and successful careers. By understanding how money can impact one’s choices and opportunities, an artist can empower themselves to pursue the creative freedom they desire.
Why did you create the nuance?
I believe that there’s a significant percentage of BIPOC folks who wanted to pursue the arts and had the talent to become successful artists but were discouraged from doing so by well-meaning family and friends. There’s a pervasive narrative among BIPOC communities – particularly immigrant communities – that the only way to succeed in the U.S.A. is to pursue one of three visibly lucrative careers: Engineering, Medicine, or Business. Stability is a key part of this narrative, and given the experience of systemic oppression and the denial of opportunity endemic to BIPOC communities, it makes sense that our elders simply wanted their young people to find consistent and viable work. They thought they had their best interests at heart.
My theory is that the artist’s life can be stable, viable, and financially rewarding. But the way to achieve that will not look the same as the traditional route to stability and success. It won’t even be the same from one artist to another. We need to engage our own capacity for seeing a life design that is out of the proverbial box.
So through The Nuance I offer multiple perspectives from artists who have done it; artists who have figured out their own nuanced ways to do the work they want to do, and lead the lives that fulfill them. Financial literacy is certainly a part of it, but The Nuance shares more than that. These interviews offer a glimpse into a wider experience of lives led by passion, purpose, and service.
I hope you’ll enjoy listening to these incredible people. I know I did!
about the curator
kim MONTELIBANO heil
Kim Montelibano Heil has been in the professional performing arts industry as an artist, administrator, educator, producer, and content creator for over 20+ years. In addition, she is a dedicated advocate of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and places those values at the forefront of all her work. She is especially interested in the intersection of the performing arts and financial literacy, and has sought to dispel the myth of the “Starving Artist” through her Instagram Live Channel, @thenuance2020.
Kim was raised in Manila, Philippines and Jakarta, Indonesia, and is a self-proclaimed “Third Culture Kid.” (Look it up!) She immigrated to the United States in 1992 and became a naturalized citizen in 1999. She has never taken her citizenship for granted, and is grateful for the life she’s been able to build with her family in the U.S.
For more information about Kim and her work as a Casting Director, Producer, and Consultant, please go here.
Check out VoyageLA’s interview with Kim here.