Filmmaker Christopher Cook’s art educates people through the stories he tells in such documentaries as “We are Superman: The Transformation of 31st and Troost,” which depicts underground racism in Kansas City and community efforts to overcome it.

Cook moved from Iowa to Kansas City to start his video-production company, Brainroot Light and Sound. But not being able to do truly creative work led to the departure of his business partner in 2010.

The partner wanted to make inspiring videos and tell interesting stories, Cook said, “rather than just focus all the time on finding clients, going to the networking meetings, going to all these different chamber events, worrying about the bookkeeping, trying to get employees in, trying to train people, trying to build an operations manual—all the time-sucks of trying to start a business.”

For a while, Cook pressed on as before, but something had to give.

“I sat down one day and realized that I’d created a job for myself that I didn’t like,” he said. “That seemed like a very silly spot to be in, to go to work for yourself and hate The Man, when you’re The Man.”

Cook decided to reinvent Brainroot Light and Sound as more of an artistic undertaking. He still takes on some commercial video production work, but strives to emphasize his own documentary filmmaking.

“I’m a fan of selling your work, not necessarily selling out,” Cook said. “But you can’t keep making your work if you can’t pay the rent. So I’m a proponent of doing what you have to do in order to pay the bills, as long as it’s not entirely against what you want to do.”

Multimedia visual artist Dick Daniels can relate to Cook’s efforts at entrepreneurial transformation. After a 25-year career creating popular images at Hallmark, Daniels exited the greeting card company late last year. The 62-year-old illustrator is now devoted to monetizing his own cartoony work, populated by very silly people and animals that are oddly amusing and occasionally a bit shocking.

Daniels’ artwork is available through his website and at several retailers in the Kansas City area and Lawrence. He also sets up at art shows, including the recent Spectrum Fantastic Art Live at

Bartle Hall, where more than 200 fantasy artists gathered from around the world.

Daniels follows his playful muse, but he doesn’t mind trying to give the people what they want, either— up to a point.

“If I come up with an idea, I stop and think, ‘Is this anything that people would really want?’” he said. “What I’ve learned is that I’m trying to entertain the consumer and come up with some fresh stuff that they’re not going to see anywhere else.

“Although sometimes I’ve done pieces, like the KU Jayhawk or the MU Tiger, and they sell well,” he said. “And then people say, ‘Oh, you ought to do,’ and they start rattling off all these sports teams. And I go, ‘No, no, no,’ and I kind of draw the line.”

Ultimately, Daniels would like to maintain his artistic individuality in a mainstream art world.

“It’s a real balancing act, trying to stay true to your vision,” he said. “And yet you can’t be stupid about it. You’ve got to keep in mind that you want to sell something.”