I Just Recently Received a Grant to Do My Project TalkTalkConvo!!!!

Grants Make the (Art) World Go Round.

I remember when I was in college. I honestly knew nothing about the world of being a professional fine/exhibiting artist.

When I truly began to understand that talking to others about my work as well as talking to other artists about their work, was the true path to being a working artist. Then, if you choose to talk to those who fund work about your work, well, it opens doors…in this case grant funding doors. I just recently received the good news that I’ve been awarded a Community Foundation Art Ventures Grant for my project TalkTalkConvo. Yaaaayyyy!!!! I love my work and believe in it and it is also an amazing feeling when you’ve convinced someone else of it’s value. I’m so excited to get started.

4th Times the Charm.

So this year was my 4th time applying for the Art Ventures grant.

Thinking back, I didn’t really believe being an exhibiting artist would be part of my personal journey. I went into the Peace Corps after college and when I finished I thought I’d be working primarily as a graphic designer. I then decided to at least dip my toe into things a little. After hearing that a friend from college received a grant and fellowship,I was fascinated. I asked her how do you do it? How do you enter this wondrous world where people will give you money to do the work you’re simply passionate about that isn’t client based. How do you begin? I asked. She simply said: '‘Just answer the questions.” Ha! What an oversimplified evasive maneuver of a question answer. Over the years I found out she was kind of right but mostly wrong. Answering questions about your artwork is mostly about leaving the fear of talking about your work in the past and being in the present to write about future work you want to create. Simple right? That’s why it took me four times. If there is any advice I’d give someone about grant writing at this point, it would be to give your proposal to someone who knows no details about what you plan to do and see if they get it. Because I so badly want to complete this project I, myself, had to move beyond my fear of allowing someone to help me help others fully understand my vision. It helped.

So What Is TalkTalkConvo About Anyway? And What’s This With You Repeating Words In Your Titles?

My in progress project TalkTalkConvo put simply is about my passion for talking an connecting with others. I read once that to read a book is like connecting to someone else’s dreams, just imagine how I feel talking to people. I truly believe that each of us has these deliciously interesting and invigorating idiosyncrasies just waiting to be discovered. Who doesn’t want to be discovered and understood?

So someone asked me recently why I repeat words in my titles. I swear I didn’t think anyone else had noticed. My last traditional show, PlayPlay, uses a phrase that I and other kids used to indicate that if something wasn’t real, (meaning not having real world consequences) it was playplay. For me the phrasing, just as it is with TalkTalkConvo is about the music and rhythm of conversation and communication, call and response, a refrain, and another opportunity. These words strung together are interacting. Interaction is required for talking as well as for play.

All of that being said, I’m so excited to embark upon this new adventure and new facet to my work. I’m also excited for you to join me. Let’s talk :)

TalkTalkConvo Proposal

We communicate at every moment. Whether or not we say a word. The bigger question: what arewe saying? Take a look at the proposal for my upcoming project.

Read the Proposal

Abandoned Places (and Things) + Overwhelmed Spaces

I took a walk in Orlando not too long ago. I was near the entrance to Disney. On one thoroughfare less than a mile long I came across these spaces:

• About 50 abandoned bikes in front of an apartment complex all locked up and chained together. Bike spokes intertwined and overgrown with plants. How or why this many bikes would be left here is a mystery to me. An art project? Statement regarding expensive bikes?

• A restaurant victim of the pandemic. I love the branding. The vintage signage gas pump and light. There was a time these type of things were so appreciated for their…I don’t know…innate coolness and history, someone would have stolen them. Yes. Theft does imply value. Weird to say but true. Right now I don’t know if society is in a place of not valuing history, not wanting to acknowledge it, wanting to erase it, being ashamed of it or some limbo place of all four that’s ripping us apart. It may also be that people in Orlando just don’t steal things…

• The last place I came upon was a parking lot so crammed with cars and people I was overwhelmed and I remember my one wish was to get photos of the space with no people. Almost got hit by a car twice. The parking lot was shared with an IHOP, huge Florida tourist shop and hot pot restaurant with a Buddha sculpture.

Art Changes Things...

An Art Endeavor

The Aesop Project started as an art endeavor I was working on with a group of artists I’d worked with in the past. The Republican National Convention was on its way to Jacksonville. One of the artists I’d worked with previously called me up and said she felt like we needed to do something; something to present Jacksonville artists to the world. She was hoping to use the spotlight that would be shined on Jacksonville to showcase us as artists. I agreed but added that the political nature of the timing couldn’t be escaped. I didn’t want us to squander an opportunity to speak up on several important cultural, civil rights, and human rights moments that had taken place over not just the past year but spanning the entirety of the Trump administration (and further back honestly). I felt we should speak on these issues specifically and not generalize and coalesce into a unity/kumbaya moment. Not that there is no place for it, but it is simply wasn’t the right time. It is because America has eschewed discussing the difficult things, talking around race and other important topics, I believe that we are where we are right now.

…art changes things is my point. It not only changes spaces and surfaces but it also changes perspectives, mindsets, and relationships.

To make a very long and overly dramatic story short, the rest of the group disagreed and in the most disrespectful of ways. I thought it ironic considering they wanted a show of unity. Sad. Considering at that point I’d already shared a number of my project ideas with the group.

Still Compelled

Though a little salty, I still felt compelled to continue forward to complete a project that spoke to current events. I still wanted to work collaboratively with an art crew, so I reached out to other art friends whose work and ideas I’d loved over the years but hadn’t had or created the opportunity to work together and a few folks said yes. Some felt, I’m guessing, that to create artwork in this way would be too political, polarizing, or negative. I didn’t take their desire to not participate personally, simply a manifestation of the culture we live in. People are so often ostracized for their personal opinions; right, wrong, or indifferent. I understood. None of those designations really matter though. To stand up and use your voice for what is right is never a comfortable position. This election is like no other I’ve ever seen. There is no sitting on a fence this time. There is no decision not to participate. We are in a fight for our democracy. This isn’t about politics at all.

My biggest reason for facilitating this collaborative project is because I truly believe that art changes things. I believe that when artists approach a problem or concern they see things from such a unique perspective.

This project to me and the way I have chosen to disseminate the message isn’t about speaking in an echo chamber with those I know who already agree with me, it is about reaching out to those who may be looking at things with an obscured viewpoint.

Dissemination Is The Way

The ways I’ve chosen to share what Aesop has created:

• Asking people to share the first video of a video diptych, I Can’t Believe This Is Happening with their friends, family, and network.

• Projecting I Can’t Believe This Is Happening on abandoned and dilapidated structures (intentionally symbolic of how we’ve abandoned who we say we are as Americans) also changing these spaces where we project the video with art. Which is also kind of my thing.

• Live-streaming I Can’t Believe This Is Happening on Facebook and Instagram

• Asking others to join the movement to not only vote in this election but to be more engaged civically and as humans.

There are other things I’m doing as well, but I digress, art changes things is my point. It not only changes spaces and surfaces but it also changes perspectives, mindsets, and relationships.

See for Yourself

Take a look at “I Can’t Believe This Is Happening”

Storyteller Story #5: I Talk to the Spirits

This may be the last time,

This may be the last time,

This may be the last time. It may be the last time, I don’t know…

Ohhhhh, I remember when I was a little girl in church in the middle pew. Smack dab in the middle. Hair in pig tails. “All rise.” Fellowship time. Sister Washington bangin’ away on that old piano. Time to sing: This May Be The Last Time. My favorite. Our voices come together as one. Mostly off key but still one. The Lord hears our cry. Better when we raise our voices together. The Lord hears my prayers. Oh I know what people say about me. The Lord hears me and I hear him right back. I got the gift. Just like my mama and her mama before her. “Those Francois women…witches all of em…” Kids would tell the teacher I was giving them the evil eye in school. That’s all it took for the teacher to give me the strap. But the nasty stuff folks say don’t change nothin’: the dead talk and they talk to me. There’s nothin’ wrong with bein’ dead jus’ like there’s nothin’ wrong with bein’ alive. Both sides want to be heard. I’m just one of the ones that can hear ev’rybody. Even if what they sayin’ ain’t worth half a penny.

Storyteller Story #4: Red Is My Power Color

If you want something you’ve got to get it yourself. Just take it. You can’t sit around waiting on someone to give it to you. I keep telling Jenny: “Stop waiting on Bob. He’s a selfish asshole. A loser.” I keep telling her he’s not worth her time, but she won’t listen. Not my problem. I’ve got my own problems to deal with. Plus I’m busy. Work. Gym. More work. Repeat. Work. Gym. More work. Repeat. Then I’m always having to clean up someone else’s mess. I learned how to take care of myself early. That’s the problem with most people they don’t take responsibility. They make stupid mistakes and want other people to clean it up. You’ve got to take control of the situation or you’ll drown. I tell Jenny all of the time: “Bob will drag you down. He’s dead weight.” But she won’t let go. She just won’t let go.

Storyteller Story #3: Wind & Leaves

“I like long walks on the beach, horseback riding, and deep conversation…” No. Scratch that. “Stimulating conversation.” Crap. I hate writing these stupid things. You can’t sound too smart you’ll scare someone off. You can sound like an idiot and you might get a date. Then they are disappointed when they find out you are smart. If you are physically attractive and smart, well…then their head might just explode. Ok. Let’s try this: “Multi-faceted individual. Looking for someone to grow with…” That sounds like a resume. Ok. “Must love nature. Must love hiking or at least walking. I love seeing the emerald green of my surroundings and feeling a cool breeze on my skin after working up a good sweat…” Hmmm. No. Too cheesy. Well…wait. I don’t want to sound all ‘hippy dippy’ but that’s kind of who I am. Right? I’ll leave it. Oh, who am I kidding? “I love horseback riding and long walks on the beach. Looking for someone to be my ‘plus one’…”