Working Artist: Recent Episodes
Yixuan Pan
In this podcast, I ask other artists my favorite question—What do you do for money? I’m curious to know how creative people make things work for them. What is their lifestyle outside of the 9 to 5 working hour frame? How does their “day job” affect their identity as artists, and vice versa? Let’s demystify the concept of working artists by talking about those normal/boring/exciting/absurd/under-the-table/bad-ass day jobs!
After quitting her barista job, Tabitha Arnold (https://www.tabithaarnold.com/) became a full-time artist. Her artwork directly responds to her own experience as a member of the working class and the history of labor movements. “I started to make (my art) focused on labor because I was so angry…Art is one way that I can amplify my voice, and I want to amplify the perspective of someone who is working, someone who is on the unfair end of capitalism, where we don’t have a lot of rights and freedom. It feels nice to be able to vent some of those frustrations about the state of labor in America.”
Frances Cordelia Beaver (https://www.francescordeliabeaver.com/) experiments with storytelling through drawings, film, animation, songwriting, and theater. Recently, she published a graphic novel: On a Cute One. She has had jobs in many industries, such as the trades, service, retail, higher education, art, and performance. “Being in service is kinda fun. I like being looked at, I like talking to strangers, I go in and I get hyper-caffeinated and I just sail for the day … I go home, and it’s over… There are all the other things I can do, it’s so freeing! You know what, I did the thing where I try to have an institutionalized career, it sucked… I would not afford that, it was unsustainable. So this time, I leaned in to not treat the work at the cafe as a thing that’s temporary… I have shoes that are comfortable to wear, I dress nice and look good, I get as much sleep as I could, and I like my coworkers…”
Scott Kip(http://www.scottkip.com/index.html) is an installation artist, restoration woodworker for the Wanamaker Organ, and freelance fabricator, which he also makes clock movement. “I listened to the episode, Going off the Script with Teresa Cervantes, and her idea of the free school was really inspiring to me. I want to say to Teresa: ‘I will teach at your free school…in fact, I’ve got a big room, and I can even host it.’ What I actually want or what I think everyone needs is a healthy interdependence.”
Daniel Zentmeyer(http://www.danielzentmeyer.com/) describes himself as a worker bee with many hats: as an artist, educator, and construction worker. Fun fact: we used to clean an art museum together! He aims to make useful art, which includes utilitarian clay objects, framed drawings (where the frame is as important as the the drawing), and writings on the function of art. “I feel like the basic principle of our economic mode is that people are lazy, and I just fundamentally reject that. I don’t think people are lazy, and I don’t even know if laziness exists. I think people just need to rest…Instead of having a dream job, I dream of other things and knowing work will happen within them.“
Suso Phizer (https://www.susopomorphizer.org/) is interested in human relationships both as a performance-based artist and a mental health therapist.“Since becoming a therapist, I have really felt so healed by the experience of studying something, getting better at it, then doing it, and having it be received as a gift by people, in a way that’s very clear… That is also why I make art! I wanted to do it as a gift all along…but it was too scary and dangerous and (I was) sort of ashamed to own that. “
Teresa Cervantes (https://www.teresacervantes.com/) is currently an interdisciplinary artist and art educator; formerly, a housekeeper, and barista; and initially wanted to be an astronaut or fashion designer as a kid. “ I don’t regret anything (about choosing to be an artist). I think as a young person, one of the things I didn’t like about the other career paths…is they all felt like they had clear tracks to follow, like a script to follow. I’ve always been intrigued about going off the script, or improvising. I feel it is just energizing, and exciting, and unknown—It’s incredibly attractive! Even though, as I’m living in it…every now and then, I wish there was more of a track…”
Keenan Jackson (https://www.keenanjackson.com/) is a project-based artist, adjunct professor, and curriculum developer and the math design lead at an educational technology company for kindergarten to 8th-grade courses.“(I feel) I can’t give students anything, and I can’t give art-viewers anything through my art either…I’m more interested in the possibility of creating space for thoughts to run into each other, and maybe from that, we can wrest some takeaways. Maybe some of them will stick with us and have some effect on our lives, but if not, that’s okay too.”
Tony Miceli (https://www.tonymiceli.com/)is a jazz vibraphonist and music educator. With his interest in computers and his father’s financial support, Tony built a website to offer music classes, develop his audience body, as well as support a community for vibraphone players. “I have about five thousand vibe players around the world on it (the website)...It’s cool, it makes some money, it helps me with visibility...and I can use some of the money to pay other vibe players...and I got to travel all over the world because of the site, and I’m happy!”
Emmy Thelander (http://www.emmythelander.com/) is a multimedia artist. She has many jobs, but she mostly makes a living by teaching, as an adjunct professor.“I’m just more drawn to the things that feel humane, even if they pay a little less..Feeling being treated with respect and (having) flexibility is much more valuable than the prestige that came with whatever full-time, or corporate jobs...and the truth is, because my primary job is teaching, my other insecurities can fall away. I have that and I enjoy that.”
Oona Taper (https://www.oonataper.com/) is a multimedia artist and experimental animator. Besides working at coffee shops, doing freelance works, and being a studio assistant, she also made money from participating in a medical trial. Better off, she used it as an artist residency.
“I was so excited to have the time and space...These two weeks, I don’t have to cook, I don’t have to clean, I CAN’T go anywhere never mind I don’t have to go anywhere...hmmm, it felt really good.”
Maren Less (http://maren-less.squarespace.com/) is an artist & personal assistant and adjunct professor by day and a painter by night. Currently, she paints on her kitchen floor.
“Painting has been helping me a lot (to) exit a bit of slump...It really helps force joy upon you. That’s been very uplifting.”
Kelly Kuykendall is an interdisciplinary artist. To make money, her day job included but not limited to: props stylist and fabricator, farmers market vendor, barn hand, nanny, and art teacher.
“(It’s) like treading water, like you are in the pool, and you are just in the middle of the water...trying to keep your head up. All the time, no place to rest.”