How to Raise an Art Star
A literary novel for adults about art, ambition, and identity — exploring how creativity challenges who we are, who we become, and what we dare to build.
When Vabeh’s rise meets betrayal and a rival gallery’s ambition, the family must decide what success is worth—and what it costs.
How to Raise an Art Star follows a family navigating the collision of art, ambition, and belonging. Set in the contemporary art world, it explores what happens when the drive to create — and the pressure to succeed — forces people to confront who they are and what they value.
Written with sharp insight and empathy, the novel asks what we risk — and what we gain — when we build a life around creativity.
Author’s Note: My creative roots are in visual storytelling. I studied Art History and Visual Arts at Princeton University, where I deepened my video, photography, and documentary practice — a practice that began in childhood. That early fascination with how images shape identity continues to inform my fiction, coaching, and leadership work today.
Related Work: Themes explored in How to Raise an Art Star also appear in the I’m Here Too podcast, where I speak with artists and leaders about identity, ambition, and becoming.
Praise
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyed it!
Audible listener
“Witty and insightful look at family and art world politics. Can’t wait for the next Bennett family take.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jonathan Swift, move over!
Audible listener
“What an original and witty send-up of the art world. The carefully drawn details make the characters and situations completely real. Brilliant concept for kids to mirror this specific cultural milieu and its machinations. High art satire!”