The Mind Takeaway ’s Post

This year has been turbulent, and we have seen a massive reduction in art funding, especially in Europe. My city of Berlin has seen art funding reduced to nearly zero for 2025. Although I am a leadership coach, what I do not share so often here, and I was requested to do more of, is mention stories of challenges and successes here for my work coaching artists. Ten years ago, Ivana was going through a particularly challenging time, and she started painting as a form of mental healthcare. Mira Culic and I received one of her paintings as a wedding present. Her challenge was to continue painting when her time, attention and focus were needed elsewhere. She is a stay-at-home mum of three wonderful children, one of whom has a developmental disability. One of the challenges was making time for herself and painting; the other was the guilt of doing it. She knew that to make her dreams come true and become a professional artist, she needed to change her limiting beliefs and behaviour. She was used to putting everyone first and leaving little to no time for her inspiration and painting. Ivana's first big step towards her development as an artist was in 2022 when she joined Mira and me for an artist's retreat and spent two weeks in Berlin with us for coaching and visiting art spaces. Ever since, she has had our support, growing as an artist and becoming more visible and confident, even though, like most artists, there are times of doubt. I am beyond excited to share the opening of her first solo art exhibition, from 3rd to 20th December 2024, in Culture Center "Vlada Divljan" in Belgrade, Serbia. 👀 Keep an eye out early next year for our podcast episodes where we share this and other stories of challenges and successes.