What’s in a Name? The Meaning Behind Hickory Arts
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare had a point.
A name is only a name. What matters is what stands behind it.
Hickory Arts is a boutique music, acting, Artist Development, and Creative Services studio in Hickory, North Carolina, offering private training and professional creative services for students, artists, and working creatives.
Hickory Arts began as a name rooted in where we are and what we do, but over the years, it also became a pretty good description of why we do it.
“Home is where the art is” has long been our byline. But HICKORY ARTS itself has come to represent the kind of creative home we want this to be and what students, artists, and collaborators should be able to expect when they walk through the door.
What Does Hickory Arts Stand For?
HICKORY
Home — Home is where the art is. A place where artists can learn, work, rehearse, create, experiment, collaborate, and belong.
Initiative — We want students to take ownership. Ask questions. Seek opportunities. Start projects. Make things happen rather than waiting for somebody else to make them happen.
Collaboration — Art rarely thrives in isolation. We encourage students to work with other musicians, actors, directors, teachers, organizations, and artists throughout the community and beyond.
Kinetic — Creative development should move. Lessons should lead somewhere. A new skill should open another door, create another possibility, or change what you’re capable of doing.
Original — Your goal isn’t to become a smaller copy of your teacher. Technique gives you tools. Eventually, you have to make something of your own with them.
Real — Real experience. Real expectations. Real professional information. Real opportunities. No manufactured fame. No pretending that finishing a book or receiving a certificate automatically makes someone an artist.
You — The most important word in the whole thing. Your goals. Your interests. Your work. Your identity. Your success.
ARTS
Autonomy — Good training should make you increasingly capable of working without us. We want to build artists, not dependence.
Relationships — Fewer students. More attention. Teaching is personal, and some of the most important things exchanged in a lesson have nothing to do with the page sitting on the music stand.
Trust — Students have to trust that a teacher is giving them informed, candid guidance. Teachers have to trust students to take increasing responsibility for their own development. That relationship has to work both ways.
Support — Sometimes support is a lesson. Sometimes it’s advice, rehearsal space, an introduction, a recommendation, a recording session, a House Concert, a push, or simply showing up when somebody needs somebody in their corner.
Home. Initiative. Collaboration. Kinetic. Original. Real. You.
Autonomy. Relationships. Trust. Support.
Those aren’t just words. They’re a pretty good description of what we’ve been trying to build all along.
Maybe Shakespeare was right that the name itself isn’t what matters.
What you do with it does.
And, conveniently, all of that spells Hickory Arts.
