“I want to believe in people again. to believe strangers can be kind. and a voice can be heard”

Have you ever found yourself confronted with, or even worse, uttering such dreaded phrases as “so what are you gonna do next?”, “what’s next for you?”, “what do you plan to do with that?”. O’Malley detests young artists having to grapple with such capitalist phrases. Especially amidst a global pandemic. Young Artists deserve support. Not “hustle culture” questions. 

O’Malley is collecting stories across the country to showcase how young artists have been coping and innovating over the past year. Through a series of interviews with artists between the ages of 18 and 28 years old--“so what are you gonna do next?” seeks to actually give young artists the time and space to openly and honestly discuss their work, hopes, failures, successes, and what they wish you’d ask instead. 

How are young artists coping when it feels like fields have disappeared? What do young artists need from the elders and patrons of their respective fields? What do they wish you knew? What do they really wanna do? What do they wish they could change? How are they going to do it? And most importantly--How can you support them?