BY ROSIE (TOUMANIAN) NISANYAN THE ARMENIAN WEEKLY In 2025, we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing countless Armenian artists — writers, actors, musicians, filmmakers and more — who inspire us daily through their work and dedication to the Armenian community. Across most of these interviews, we asked a recurring question: Do you have any advice for aspiring Armenian creatives? With the new year upon us — a time for past reflection and future planning — we revisited their advice and found a few key themes rising to the top. No matter where you are in your artistic journey or career, here’s to making 2026 a year of creative exploration and accomplishment! Interview responses have been edited for length and clarity. Find your niche Ara Dabandjian: Stick to Armenian music and take it to another level. (Cel- ebrating 20 years of Element Band: An interview with Ara Dabandjian) Tonee Marino: Be true to yourself and let your uniqueness set you apart. (Meet Tonee Marino, the artist behind “Im Hamar Es”) Talene Monahon: For a long time, I felt like my identity as an Armenian was too niche to really own and explore as part of my artistic practice. I now under- stand that was a fallacy and that, in stories, there is always universality in the specific. (This fall, you can “Meet the Cartozians”: An interview with playwright Talene Monahon) Mary Basmadjian: Make something you want to see, and people will gravi- tate to it. Like with Vartoush, I wanted to see a progressive older Armenian wom- an; I wanted my mom to be a progressive Armenian woman; I wanted her to be supportive and nice. I wanted to see a sex-positive Armenian woman — so, that’s what I did. (Comedian Mary Basmadjian gets vulnerable in new one-woman show) Gabriel Kadian: Find the thing that you can’t stop thinking about or the prob- lem you can’t figure out how to solve and write. Find something you want to articulate or a puzzle you want to solve and write something about it; share it. It’s all about creating a dialogue. What is the dialogue that you want to be a part of? Do the self-reflection to figure out what is meaningful to you. (Get to know the writer and producer of “Anahid: An Armenian Musical”) Make it, share it and keep going Michael Goorjian: Make stuff and be willing to be bad. (Catching up with filmmaker Michael Goorjian) Travis Murad Leland: Just make the damn thing. Don’t sit on it, just make it and throw it out there because you’re only going to figure it out once it’s done and in front of people. (Get to know the writer and producer of “Anahid: An Ar- menian Musical”) Emily Simonian: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to share your work with other people. “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron has been im- mensely helpful for me, because it helps me get in touch with the fact that I just want to create. Even if my music never goes anywhere, or people don’t hear it, I just want to create. (Meet Emily Simonian, creator of the Armenian-American musical “When Two of Us Meet”) Armand Assante: If you have an instinct, a feeling, if you want to express between the two brothers was about. “It’s hard to put logic to these things. Gun violence between family members … it’s an unspeakable tragedy,” Haderlein said. The motive and details of the shooting are still under investigation, the LAPD said. The suspect was arrested at the scene.