Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melinda Steffy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Melinda, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I’ve been making art and music for as long as I can remember. My childhood was filled with drawing, painting, crafting, singing, playing piano. Most people who knew me as a teenager assumed I’d go on to some art-related career.
But at that time, the arts weren’t a career path I understood or saw as viable. I didn’t really have examples of people who made a career in the arts outside of teaching. So when I went to college, I majored in religious studies and ended up being interested in social work.
After I graduated, I signed up for a two-month volunteer position with a social services agency in South Africa, where I worked in a day shelter for unhoused adults. I was trying to figure out how to contribute meaningfully to the program during this short time period. I had this wake-up-at-5-am brainstorm to create a large-scale artwork out of found materials with the program participants. It started very slowly, with initially just me bringing in discarded plastic bags and scraps of cardboard. But as the image took shape, more and more people joined in. People who used to sit silently in a chair all day were now collaborating on ideas and finding new materials to add. Eventually, almost everyone at the day shelter was involved, and we even had people from other parts of the agency coming to help work on it.
For me, it was a really beautiful example of how creative practices can strengthen us as individuals and as communities. The arts can be so deeply humanizing and connecting. I realized that I wanted to lead with art first, as the means by which I engaged with other people.
From there, I went on to get an MFA in painting, and soon after that I “accidentally” fell into a career in arts administration. I now maintain my own creative practice AND I help support the creative practices of others. It’s a good balance.
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 visual artist who works at the intersection of geometric abstraction, information painting, and folk art. A lot of my work focuses on translation and systems, and I nearly always embed other content or meaning into my paintings. Right now, I’m working with the 55 Greetings that were recorded and sent into space on the Voyager Golden Record in 1977. I’m encoding the greetings into star-based quilt patterns, creating these untranslatable translations of good wishes to the unknown.
I’m also a nonprofit executive. I serve as a Co-Executive Director of CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia, which provides nonprofit management services for artists and cultural practitioners. I oversee our fiscal sponsorship program, which supports 85+ projects doing really incredible community-based work across almost all art disciplines. In addition, I have my own consulting practice, Concentric Strategy, where I facilitate strategic planning and communications projects for nonprofits.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I saw a meme recently (and I’m probably paraphrasing badly here) that was about how often kids from wealthy families go into the arts, and how that isn’t a sign that art is for the elite. Instead, it shows that when people’s practical needs are met, they naturally choose more creative paths. I think the more our society ensures basic quality of life for everyone — housing, health care, food security, safe communities, etc. — the more people are going to be able to engage in creative practices that create a truly vibrant society.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I deeply believe that creative practices are part of our core human expression and experiences. That we need to engage in creative practices to nurture our wellbeing, both individually and collectively. I see that people connect with different aspects of creativity: whether it’s fine art or design or gardening or building a sandcastle or whatever. In my life, I hope to open up as much space for this essential creativity as possible, both for myself and for others around me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.melindasteffy.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/melindasteffy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melindasteffy/
Image Credits
Margo Reed for Avi Fox Photography