Helen Keller once said, "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."
Like many people who move to a new city where they do not know anyone, I found it difficult to meet and befriend new people when I moved to Jackson. In the past, I have always been part of a program or school that helped me make new friends with similar interests. After two years, I realized that the calvary was not coming, and I was going to have to do something to change that. So, I decided to take a class.
This past summer, I took a small business incubator course called COstarters at theCO. For nine weeks I learned about the business side of being an artist, and began working toward the goal of being a working artist. https://www.attheco.com/
At the first COstarters meeting one of the founders of theCO, William, came to speak to us. During introductions I described my textile artwork, and he gave me contact information for an artist and art professor named Melissa Vandenberg. http://www.melissavandenberg.com/ The next day, I did a little research into Melissa's work online, and quickly understood what William meant when he said that I definitely needed to talk to her.
Later that week, I mustered up the courage to call Melissa. For nearly an hour we talked about quilts, and what I wanted to do with COstarters. She was, and has increasingly been, so generous with knowledge and kindness; her advice has already proven truly powerful in my life. Aside from practical advice about how to achieve my goals, Melissa has taught me how important it is to listen to other peoples' dreams and visions, and the beauty that can grow from a little bit of encouragement and willingness to help.
The major takeaway from my first conversation with Melissa is that the two most important steps to breaking into the art world are: 1. showing artwork and 2. building a network. She said that those things build credibility with galleries and collectors, and give you more opportunities to sell art when starting out.
During the 9 week COstarters program, I got a chance to befriend a handful of other creative people in the program. Without realizing it, working alongside my COstarters cohorts was actually building a network. It wasn't a stuffy, superficial kind of networking-- in the process of discussing problems and developing business solutions together, we were building authentic and mutually beneficial relationships. That network helped me gain confidence and brainstorm goals and ideas, and the whole program was invigorating. As COstarters came to an end, I felt very strongly that I did not want those relationships to end. This was my first very good big problem.
The heart of business is offering goods and services to help people solve a problem. Whether you start a home improvement business, design a product that fixes pool liners, or make art, people choose to buy from you because you offer something that meets a need that they have. So I decided that in addition to making art, I wanted to create a permanent network of artists dedicated to collectively identifying and serving the needs of its members and the Jackson community at large. I called it "Art Collective."
At COstarters pitch night, I presented about my artwork and Art Collective. This was my second very good big problem. I was terrified, visibly shaking. My husband was beaming in the front row. My friends were smiling beside him. My legal pad of bullet points kept me anchored to the main points; and I said what I needed to say. When I was finished people responded enthusiastically and asked for more information. So, what was fear and vulnerability became an opportunity for courage, strength, and victory, and I am glad I took that opportunity. I could not have done that without my husband and friends cheering me onward in the front rows.
After the excitement of Pitch Night passed, I talked with other CO members about next steps to get it started. The CO agreed to let us use the event space. One CO member, Austin, recommended setting up a Facebook account, so I did that. Then, I designed a lo-fidelity logo and flier for Art Collective, using sharpies, Microsoft Word, the bottom of a mug, and coffee grounds. I made 50 copies, and posted and distributed it to creative-friendly businesses around town; coffee shops, craft stores, boutiques, colleges, and restaurants. In the process, I met some amazing people who would eventually become friends and Art Collective members.
Taking the lead on this project, I had to draw on my experiences from organizations that have lead me throughout my life. I wanted to "think big" about Art Collective, where it is not just a club, but it is a mobilized, strategized, focused, and successful group of people working on goals. I thought back to other programs and leadership training from my past, mainly: Teach for America, I.D.E.A.L.S. (Inspiring and Developing Emerging Artists for Lifelong Success), and the Girl Scouts of America.
Teach for America's framework for closing the achievement gap is empowering people to 1. set a big goal and 2. work backwards to achieve it. So, long before the first meeting, I spent time envisioning the long-term goal of what a permanent network of artists could look like. I researched art movements from Art History like Impressionism and Jean Michel Basquiat's SAMO and Andy Warhol collaborations. I looked at the art community and studio/gallery districts in Asheville, N.C. I traveled with my husband to art crawls and The Arcade in Nashville, T.N. I remembered the improv jazz musicians of Frenchmen Street and the painters, B-Boys, and school-aged tap dancers (with tin can tops on the bottoms of their shoes) performing around the gates of Jackson Square in NOLA. All of these communities inspired the vision of what artists can do when they work together.
In my first two years in Jackson, I taught community art education classes at the Memphis College of Art. The majority of my classes were part of the IDEALS program, which helped to provide income-based scholarships to middle and high school students to develop strong foundational art skills and leadership skills. Every level of the program-- students, teaching assistants, teachers, and the director all worked toward common goals. We taught each other, learned from each other, and made beautiful things together, bridging age stages and life experiences along the way. You can see some of the IDEALS projects on the "Teaching" page of this website.
Another big influence for the vision of Art Collective, is the Girl Scouts. One of my first art projects that I remember was when I was a Brownie Girl Scout. I can remember a volunteer helping me stamp my little thumb on an ink pad, and gently lifting it to delicately make an impression on a clean sheet of white paper. We made "thumbkin thumprint animals," and you can see it here. It still hangs in my house. As a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts, service has been a driving and connecting part of my life. The principle of service is the driving force behind Art Collective, because if we serve each other and serve the community we will have more fun, positively influence others' lives, and make our community better.
Art Collective will have it's fifth meeting next Tuesday night. The first Tuesday of every month is dedicating to community building within Art Collective with a potluck dinner and no formal agenda. The other Art Collective meetings have been centered around establishing culture within our organization, brainstorming essential questions together, and planning initiatives in the community.
Out of the gate many of the members of Art Collective expressed a desire to have shared studio and gallery space, and I am delighted to report that we are making this happen together. Cynthia Sipes, Wendy Hailey Kim, and Amy Only have partnered with Matt Marshall to create two gallery spaces on two properties that he owns. They plan to have group shows as early as this fall, so watch out for that.
Last week, after having lunch with artist Lendon Noe (who I mentioned in the Blog post "Mending the Broken Parts") at Community Cafe, downtown, we walked down the street to see her show at "the Ned" gallery. On our way to see her work in the gallery, she took me along to meet a friend of hers, Diann Robinson, who is the Administrator of Cultural Arts ad the Ned R. McWherter West TN Cultural Arts Center. Lendon mentioned the Art Collective, and our interest in finding studio space. Diann told me that she had studio space that had just recently become available, and took me upstairs to see it. I immediately called my husband, and without hesitation he told me to go for it. I asked her to send me a lease for the space, and I reached out to Cynthia, Wendy (by proxy), and Amy so that they could reserve studios next door to mine.
Yesterday, I signed the lease and started moving into my studio. This never would have happened without:
1. My husband believing in and supporting this dream to be an artist.
2. William telling me to call Melissa.
3. Melissa telling me to show art work and meet people.
4. Lisa leading me through my COstarters journey.
5. Felicia, Brittany, and Trista helping me think through and smile through my pitch.
6. Cynthia, Wendy, and Amy showing up to Art Collective with enthusiasm and ready to work.
7. And most certainly, Lendon joining Art Collective, showing her artwork at the Ned, inviting me to lunch, telling me about her show and walking over to the Ned with me, and introducing me to Diann.
Every good story, like every good business, begins with a problem to be solved. The very good big problems at the beginning of my story were unpleasant, uncomfortable, and uncertain. But so far, the solution to those problems has been simple, straightforward, and much easier. For me, the solution has been community and collaboration. Whales do that. Ants do that. And the world looks more beautiful to me and I feel more alive the more I do that.
My hope is that every member of Art Collective sees the world changing power of working together. Every artist, composer, and writer is a visionary. They all have the ability to see something that does not exist yet, and turn it into reality. We call that art. And for most people, making art is not magic, it is a skill that is developed over time.
Before Art Collective, I viewed movements in Art and History as magical events of superhero-geniuses who singlehandedly changed the world. Reading, research, and experience working with Art Collective is showing me overwhelming evidence that this is not the case. Every movement begins with a problem, an uncomfortable catalyst, one person talking to another person, setting up a meeting, inviting more people, pushing past the fear of failure, seizing opportunities for courage, resolving that they cannot be stopped, and helping each other make ideas into something real.
Art Collective is showing me that any dream or vision can be real, if you get the artists working together on the project.