Articles by: Hanna Brooks Olsen

[caption id="attachment_5432" align="alignnone" width="620"] Image: Alan Welner[/caption] Is breaking the law a creative pursuit? Philippe Petit, the street performer, magician, and wire-walking subject of the documentary Man on Wire, says it absolutely is.

[caption id="attachment_5402" align="alignnone" width="620"] Image: Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Humorist Mark Twain is widely beloved for his many contributions to American literature. Socialite Paris Hilton used to make headlines in the tabloids with regularity, but has largely faded from the spotlight.

If you're a working artist, you probably take photos or make things or draw things or write words for the same reason most people put on a tie and go into the office: To pay the bills. But what happened before that?