Don't worry about the arts, the future is bright!

It's 2026 and there's never been a better time to be a creative! Let me tell you why.

The creative industries are off to a strong start this year with lots of innovative and new ways to share art, create community, and enjoy the experience as both a consumer and a maker.

With the rise of AI generated visuals, writing and audio, there has been growing fear among creatives and their audience alike as to whether there really is a future for artists and the arts as a whole. 

Well from what I have seen, it appears there is!

 Our galleries and museums stay filled, pencil and paper still flies of the shelves, the uptake of art education is still high.There's millions if not billions of people out there who love the arts in their purest form. Our galleries and museums stay filled, pencil and paper still flies of the shelves, the uptake of art education across GCSE Art, music, drama and beyond is still high.

And why? Because there is a vast number of people who live for the arts. They love the the authenticity and humanity behind it all: the struggle, the story, the failures and successes. Indeed, it is the creators and audience members among this number which prove that the arts are here to stay. And because of that we have much to celebrate and to build upon.

Snail mail clubs are the most recent evidence of this. Since the beginning of the year, we've seen people fall in love with sending and recieving physical mail again, and not just any mail, but carefully crafted mail, personally designed, prepared, and shipped with stickers, artwork, personal messages and more!

 In a world where the only thing that seems to come through the letter box is restaurant fliers, political leaflets, or bills, the snail mail phenomenon is a breath of fresh air, and proof that humans are yearning for analogue, for community, for authenticity - for human made art.

It is our joy as artists, writers, musicians and more to be part of this.

Here at Hawthornearts, we've even started our own venture into this territory by means of the Skylark Club, a fantasy themed snail mail club which features a high quality prints, a letter written by an in-universe journalist (in reality myself), and a set of stickers. And it's been a blast creating the artwork, preparing the individual letters and posting them by hand.

And it's given me hope again. Hope in a future where human creativity and skill is still championed and where we as artists can continue to connect with the people around us in innovative (and also old fashioned) ways!

I look forward to seeing what the rest of this year holds, and continue to write with great anticipation for all of you who join the Skylark Club and enter this marvelous fantastical world of ours!