A FUTURE WRITTEN IN CRAYON (issue 001)

By Arthur Johnson

Raising a young creative in a world that moves as fast as ours is both a blessing and a responsibility. The entertainment industry is constantly shifting and the appetite for fresh ideas grows every day. Yet even with all this change, the heart of creativity remains the same. Artists bring joy, imagination and new ways of seeing the world. If you are fortunate enough to raise one, your job is simple in theory and challenging in practice. Do not block their light. Give them space to grow, guide them with love and trust the gifts that are already living inside them.

For us, it all truly began before our daughter was even conceived. I was meditating and praying, asking God to send my wife, Ann, and I a child and show me what we should place in that child’s path to help them reach their destiny with certainty. In my spirit I understood that the child coming to us would be gifted in the arts. That meant she would have dominion over beauty, creativity and things that are unique. When the pregnancy was confirmed, Ann and I began researching names. I wanted a name that carried the energy of her destiny. Ann wanted it to be cute and under five syllables. That took out some African names I had considered, but one name fit everything we had prayed for: Jazmin.

We chose that name because jazz itself is an art form that broke the mold in this country. It was the first music genre truly free from anything imported, something born out of the soul and imagination. Jazz is about uniqueness, rhythm and emotional truth. We wanted our daughter’s name to carry that same freedom and originality. Ceremoniously, we named her Jazmin. And from the moment she arrived, she lived up to every part of it.

As a toddler, the signs were already there. She manipulated toys and even regular household items with a cleverness that made us pause. She found ways to defeat boredom using nothing but her imagination. We learned early not to interrupt that creative space. Our job was to keep a loving and productive home, expose her to a variety of artistic expressions and let God do the rest. The beauty that came out of her was all Jazz and God.

Nap Ford Community School was one of the greatest blessings in her early life. It was a true village. Parents volunteered, supported each other and formed friendships that lasted well beyond the school walls. Every time we ran into families from Nap Ford around Orlando, we ended up having long conversations about our children. Those were joyful years. Jazmin was always making something new and her classmates were just as expressive. It was a breeding ground for creativity.

Around third grade, her class kept daily journals, and that is when her natural storytelling, sketching and visual imagination began to shine. Then came one of the most important experiences of her childhood, when The University of Central Florida partnered with Nap Ford to host its first C.R.E.A.T.E. Camp. They taught the children media arts, scriptwriting, graphics creation, video editing and how to build a full project from start to finish. That camp was life-changing for her, as early exposure can expand a child’s worldview and give them the first real understanding of the career they may want to pursue. In Jazmin’s case, she became certain about film at only 9 years old, inspired by seeing Keke Palmer on the big screen. That kind of clarity is a blessing.

Her creativity kept growing from there, but this story is not about listing accolades. It is about the environment that helped shape her. Parents love to say their child is special, but raising an artist is a different kind of experience. Artists are sensitive. They feel everything. They learn by absorbing the world, not just studying it. Their imagination wakes up before the rest of them does. As parents, we were not perfect. We were simply committed. We paid attention. We showed up for her interests. We balanced her imagination with structure. We valued mentors. We believed creativity was not a hobby but a discipline. Most importantly, we let her lead and we followed with support.

And you cannot do it alone. Raising an artist takes a village. Teachers, mentors, grandparents, older cousins, neighbors, coaches, aunties, church folks—all of them play a role. A young artist needs mirrors, and parents are only one mirror. The village confirmed what Ann and I already felt. This child was being shaped for something creative, something expressive, something that would require courage and faith.

Supporting a creative child does not mean pushing them. It means preparing the ground. It means keeping the house peaceful enough for ideas to grow. It means archiving the little drawings and poems so that one day they can look back and see the thread of who they have always been. It means teaching them that art is joy, but art is also discipline. It means reminding them that their imagination is not accidental. It is a calling.

Artists need confidence, but they also need humility. They need encouragement, but they also need structure. They need freedom, but they also need accountability. And they need someone in their corner who believes in the possibility inside them even before they understand it themselves.

To the parents reading this, know that you are raising more than a child. You may be raising a world changer, a storyteller, a healer, a creative spirit who will one day touch people you will never meet. Your job is not to design them. Your job is to support the person God already designed.

To the artists reading this, trust your wildness. Trust your sensitivity. Trust the ideas that will not leave you alone. They were given to you for a reason.

And to anyone raising a young creative, here is what helped us:

Keep the artwork and journals. Find mentors who speak your child’s language. Teach them that passion and discipline are cousins. Celebrate their originality. Let your excitement feed their confidence. Remind them that their talent is a gift, and their work ethic is the offering they give back.

Raising an artist is one of life’s greatest adventures. It takes faith. It takes patience. And it takes a village. But the beauty they bring into the world makes every moment worth it.