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

Laura Lee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I’ve been honored to be part of many amazing projects & Artnerships I’d love to gush about! But I feel like what has the most meaning for us is always the one we’re working on right now, and the most personal…

My new body of art is inspired by my UNMASKING from Autism, a recent discovery that rather turned my life upside down. Previously confusing things about myself and my art finally make sense…but it also completely changed the story of who I thought I was to realize we’d been masking our true self for decades.

So I’m leaning into my art to help me process these experiences and figure out who unmasked me actually is. (Yeah I suppose I’m the real art project here, heh…) I’ve printed some of this art as a mini-book, and am developing it as a potential graphic novel.

For the more I relate with my peer support community and students about this the more I feel our shared story…as I am finding the meaning of my own. So I hope I can give you a graphic novel about this journey that many of us are on—for you don’t have to be Neurospicy to struggle from hiding your true self.

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’m a cartoonist & author known for my young adult graphic novels that explore mental health in the graphic medicine genre. My latest book “The Dark Matter of Mona Starr” focuses on healing from depression thru self care and supportive Artnership. My magical realism style is rooted in my personal self art therapy practice of visualizing my emotional experiences.

I love working with young people across diverse settings as a freelance teaching artist making comics, self care plans, and collaborative murals. I’m passionate about empowering young storytellers and holding space for authentic collaborative experiences. I also offer creative coaching for adults seeking support in managing their time & ideas. One workshop I offer is called “Coco School” where I share the organizational systems I’ve developed with my fictional assistant Coco.

I’ve been making comics, teaching kids, and painting murals since I was in high school. So in some ways I’ve always been doing this work! But the genres, intersections, and labels I fit into now just didn’t exist yet. Which I thought meant I was bad weird, not good weird…so I masked myself in real life, becoming a teacher instead of an artist. Of course the art eventually won me over, sweeping me away on Hero(ine)’s Journey! And now here I am belonging to the fields of graphic novels, teaching artists, and collaborative mural making.

I guess that’s something I would wish potential Artners to know…that I tend to operate at the edge of emerging and familiar. I’m constantly playing, inventing, reframing, exploring. I’m uniquely inimitable. I enjoy allowing information to organize itself. I love customizing & cocreating new things to meet our emerging needs. So if you’re interested in Artnering on a project, workshop, or coaching please reach out! #artnerlove

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The biggest mission driving my work has always been about ACCESSIBILITY, which has been three fold…

I want CREATIVITY to be accessible to everyone, hence I starting teaching other kids art when I was 15. I love breaking down concepts into metaphors, processes into rituals, and ideas into experiences.

I want BOOKS to be accessible to everyone, for I struggled with word books as a young person because of my more visual processing. Comics is super accessible allowing more voices like mine to participate in the conversation.

And I want SPACES to be accessible to everyone, especially Neurodivergent* folks with sensory needs and processing differences. But also through creative place making that transforms public spaces using art forms like mural making.

* Stay tuned for Calmer Con in NYC May 2025, my only big show on the calendar—because it’s a sensory friendly Comic Con, finally!

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

I think asking each other this question is a great place to start! If you have Artner crush on someone and admire the work they are doing, ask how you can support them or get involved.

Top 10 Ways to Support Artists

1) Connect us with opportunities, resources, leads
2) Be open to trade and barter (and flexible with payment)
3) Offer housing assistance + studio spaces
4) Give microgrants for projects
5) Become our patrons & buy our art
6) Give us walls for murals (and trust us with them)
7) Celebrate wins with compersion
8) Hold space for our ideas + creative Genius
9) Please don’t impose your agenda or advice onto us
10) Being Sensory Sensitive for us who get easily overwhelmed!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.whoislauralee.com/index.html
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraleegulledge/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauraleegulledge/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lauraleewashere
• Other: Weekly Blog: https://whoislauralee.blogspot.com/
  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/1223837728/playlists
  Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lauraleegulledge/albums/

Image Credits

Alisa Foytik, Ventiko