Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Peterson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Laura, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

As artists – everything we do is a risk.

When you make something and put it into the world to be seen or shared you are going to be judged. Sometimes that’s ok. It takes so much courage though to continually do this. The risk of failure, however you define that, the risk of ridicule or the risk of simply being dismissed or ignored – these are huge. As I write this I am starting to question why I am compelled to make art at all.

I think when people think of taking a risk they think of money, but that isn’t the scariest thing to me. Putting my work into the world is the risk. Committing to being a professional artist is a risk. But I am choosing the risk of opening a studio during a pandemic.

In 2021 I took every dime I had and started Open Arts Studio, Inc. We are a small nonprofit arts organization that creates opportunities for people to participate in live art in our studio at a low cost or free. There are sliding scale dance classes, affordable rehearsal space, a free teen dance company, and Open Arts Studio is a home for my company Laura Peterson Choreography.

During the Covid-19 pandemic I realized that if I wanted to be happy, I would have to make my own world. I read an article by Arundhati Roy called ‘The Pandemic is a Portal’. that has been a sort of Northstar for me. This quote changed my life:

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.

“We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”

In my artistic life a few things were becoming, all having to do with limitations. I realized that my work doesn’t fit into the categories that dance has created for itself, which in my opinion, are actually pretty restrictive (that’s another discussion). Also, I had been frustrated that participation in the arts is limited to those who can afford it. Tickets to see theater, dance and music are exorbitant. Admission to museums are often beyond what people can spend. My work involves large set installations that have includes thousand of feet of paper, large scale paintings, 12 foot talI sculptures and other giant things. Although I have received commissions and residencies for more than a decade and I still found myself dragging materials from rehearsal space to rehearsal space. It was exhausting. All of these elements contributed to my decision to create Open Arts Studio.

In 2021, the commercial real estate landscape changed – people worked from home and many moved out of NYC. I found a space in the DUMBO neighborhood in Brooklyn for a lower rent than would have existed before the pandemic and took advantage. I opened a studio.

The risks aren’t ever over. As a young organization we have financial ups and downs, this is VERY stressful, of course. If we miss an opportunity to fundraiser, it is costly. But I make my own choices. I don’t have to participate in the same barriers. I feel good and proud of what I have created.

AND I am grateful for my Board of Directors for believing in my visions.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have been making dances. my entire life. I feel absolutely compelled. Always. It’s how my brain works. I see patterns of human movement. I see the gaps between people. I see opportunities to re-organize people to change the sense of crowdedness and density, or create a sense of sparseness in a space. All spaces. My work doesn’t have specific narratives or characters, but rather symbolism and imagery that I like to leave up to the viewer to intuit. Audiences are smart.

Sometimes I think of myself as a visual artist working in dance. I define myself as an interdisciplinary artist working in choreography and installation art. My pieces address the intersection of the materiality of the body and the physical world. These dances and tactile environments are in constant flux throughout each work and are concerned with matter, disintegration, duration, and the elegant exhaustion of each performer.

I am a choreographer, performer and Artistic Director of Open Arts Studio in Brooklyn, NY. I started out with ballet classes as a kid in Syracuse, NY, and later graduating with a BFA from University of the Arts and an MFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Professionally, my dances have toured nationally and internationally and have been performed at venues including The Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. My work was presented as part of MoMA’s exhibit “Judson Dance Theater, The Work Is Never Done”.

The nonprofit organization I started – Open Arts Studio rents space for rehearsals, video and photoshoots. We have intimate studio performances. I love being in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Our studio is in a building with lots of artists, both visual and performing. There is a kind of synergy that happens in these kinds of spaces. If you’re a landlord reading this: Keep studios affordable

I also teach dance and have created pieces for universities and dance programs, videos, and theater throughout the United States. I didn’t see myself teaching but I ended up really liking it. It’s something I have gotten really good at and I am proud of that skill.

Come see us, take a class, rehearse, teach dance.. We are open for ALL.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Although, money is not the primary goal for artists. And I have to say this: We are better with money than most people.
Who else can make a large scale theater piece for almost nothing?
How is it that we remain living in one of the most expensive cities in the world and look good doing it?

For my work my skills have to be broad. I don’t just create dance. I make paintings, set designs and costumes, I know accounting and constantly deal with budgets. I create marketing. I edit video. I organize schedules. I write grants. I produce concerts. I have to create social media content.

Artists do so much more than make art.
I say to everyone out there struggling – do not compromise. Make you work.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

See live art! It is very moving to see dance. The bodies, the effort, the beauty and sweat. Exhaustion and elegance. There is so much to being in-person. I think that COVID really damaged us. Fear became a habit. I love the internet but there is nothing like seeing live art.

Buy art from living artists! I notice that we are willing to buy extremely expensive coffee-maker.s. Why not put that towards an the purchase of original art work? I love to see the hand of the artist in the work. By noticing the brushstrokes of a painting. and Imagining the artist making choices and refining their concept we enter their world. This is special. It’s a tactile representation of thought, imagination and reactions to our current world.

Pay attention to the world around you. Look longer.
Without art society would collapse. Sounds extreme, I know, but imagine – no songs for a year. What would happen to us with blank walls and silent evenings. Film is art, Graffiti. Wallpaper, Fashion. What would happen if it was suddenly and permanently gone?

Artists create time capsules. We know about a culture through the art that remains. Music, dances, visual art and architecture all tell us what that past culture valued, felt glorious about and reviled.

When a country send a cultural ambassador to an international destination – they choose artists. A symphony orchestra, or a dance company. These are wordless, visceral, important exchanges. When we want to share the best of our culture we send artists.

Art is necessary.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.openartsstudio.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/open_arts_studio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OpenArtsStudioLauraPetersonChoreography/
• Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/channels/laurapeterson

Image Credits
Jackie Fugere Peter Yeasley