We often think of failure as the end. Disaster. Catastrophe. The inability to move forward with a dream. Yet, most artists who persist over the years come to learn the essential lesson of artistic practice, which happens to be a good lesson for living: Failure is an essential part of the process of creation.

If you think about a setback in your life that turned into a surprising opportunity, that’s another version of the same. It’s more, though, than the (very real) power of positive thinking. For an artist, it’s tied to the act of always ‘doing.’

The first article Kelly and Davis wrote together was in 1996 for Penn State’s student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, our undergraduate alma mater. And now a million years later, we are writing this column together, which we think is definitely better than that 1996 one.

We’re writing this month’s column together not only because we’ve been together more than 30 years, but because so much of our lives as artists is tied to our mutual encouragement to make art even in the face of failure. Last year, with the support of the Illinois Arts Council, we wrote and staged a play in Chicago about artificial intelligence, through a theatrical satire that connects myth, pop culture, and current technological anxieties. This would not have been possible without many years of getting things wrong.

Davis is fond of this passage from Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” To fail better is to succeed.

During these first few months in Sarasota, we’ve been endlessly impressed with the students at Ringling College of Art and Design. Their passion for creating art is wildly inspirational. Recently, we had the good fortune to attend the Motion Design department’s start-of-the-year student mixer, where the costumed faculty and students cheered some of their recent accomplishments, including, but certainly not limited to, two consecutive years of ranking as the No. 1 program in the world by The Rookies, as well as 16 students being named finalists for Rookie of the Year out of 36 worldwide! What is Motion Design? Motion Design students learn how to create stories through animation for any kind of screen using 2D and 3D animation, graphic design, visual effects, stop-motion, interactivity, storytelling, and sound design.

Recently, we took a campus tour with a Ringling senior guide. When we asked her why she chose Ringling College, she answered immediately: She told us she wants to leave a critique with real feedback—not a symbolic trophy for participation—and that’s what will make her a better artist. That’s the “Failbetter” mindset in action.

And we know firsthand that creating art isn’t easy; it takes time, patience, and fine-tuning your craft. Sometimes it takes more than you have to give. Davis has created art through writing and performance and spending hours hunched over a keyboard or typewriter. Sometimes he travels nowhere, over and over again. As an actor and writer, Kelly has written scripts, performed in plays, and, as a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, spent years honing her improv skills so that every time she steps on stage, she can create something new by really listening to the other actors.

We both know that the first attempt is rarely a masterpiece, but if we don’t try—even to fall flat—we have no art at all. Each time a Ringling student puts their pen to drawing pad, script to screen, or concept to design, they are taking the risk necessary to grow. Look at the work of our Computer Animation grads. They work at places like Pixar, DreamWorks, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Sony Pictures Animation, and Blizzard, and 66 alumni contributed to five 2026 Oscar-nominated animated films. The program is consistently ranked among the best in the world by The Rookies Global School Rankings, The Hollywood Reporter, Animation Magazine, and Animation Career Review. Our alums didn’t start with the skills to do this work, but they kept working, and failing, and trying again.

Taking chances with your art form is the best way to create. An acting teacher once told Kelly that the only actors who don’t make it are the ones who quit or die. And “make it” doesn’t necessarily mean “becoming famous;” rather, it means continuing to make art even when you don’t quite know what you are trying to create. Or if it will work.

Ringling College students are not only taking chances every day, but they also dedicate themselves to their art and it shows. Back to the Motion Design mixer: We were cheering along with the roomful of students as they celebrated Rookie awards, ADDYs, Tellys, and Promax Student Spark Awards.

Our advice to Ringling College students is to keep trying, and to never be afraid to fail better.

Written by President Davis Schneiderman and his wife Kelly Haramis, parents of two Gen-Zers: Colorado State University junior Athena and USC sophomore Kallista. 

Dr. Davis Schneiderman is the President of Ringling College of Art and Design.