We were lucky to catch up with Christine Smith-Atkins recently and have shared our conversation below.

Christine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

It’s interesting to look back on past projects and see how they move you to new directions and heights. In that sense they are all meaningful. Changes in mindsets as we get older undeniably change the motivations for us as creatives. So the most meaningful projects to me are what I am doing now! But more importantly is how I ended up where I am now, and how that brought me to my current projects..

As a young artist making that ever crucial decision of what to do with your talents or more so, how can I make a living with these talents?’ It was a fairly easy decision for me that was paved with career advice from teachers, family and the obvious career paths available at the time. Mind you, this was the 80s – before computers had become a mainstay in every household, before cell phones, and certainly before the readily available internet. In the world of Art my limited choices included Illustration, Advertising Art or Photography as the obvious career choices. Fine art as a career was never even a consideration as the likelihood of success in it was about the same as becoming a rock star from being in a garage band…and choosing to be the starving artist living off ramen noodles was not that appealing. I made the decision to take an Advertising Art degree program though my lack of passion for being a visual sales person greatly deterred my attention away from that field of interest. I didn’t want to use art to convince people they needed stuff to not smell or to feel better…it just wasn’t me.
After a couple years of going to college part-time, I made the decision to abandon the Advertising Art career choice and moved up to Dallas to start a fresh new life with a newly acquired boyfriend, who would later become my husband.
I had always dreamed of attending The Art Institute but the price and acceptance always seemed like an insurmountable barrier to entry. I decided to visit the school anyway after moving to Dallas, just to see what might be involved…low and behold with the help of an exceptional advisor at the Art Institute, I was accepted in and had most of my previous college credit transferable, making my out of pocket costs to attend $0. This was somewhat of a dream come true for me, and I knew that this opportunity would lead me to my true calling in life. I enrolled in one of the very first programs offered through the Art Institute for Computer Animation and Multimedia. I didn’t really know where this would take me, but I was excited about using computers to create art, as I was fascinated with technology having had a small taste of programming, pixel art and CAD in my prior studies. I worked extremely hard over the next two years, working 2 jobs while attending college full-time and completed the program and graduation with honors.

I was set on my new career path to create 3D Models and Animation for applications and video games. At this point I felt I had won the proverbial lottery, doing a job I loved and making a decent living at it to boot. What could be better? This whole part of my life was such a whirlwind and pleasure that I could write a book about…but despite the excitement there was a sacrifice for this career …a life outside of work. The industry demanded long hours and those lucky enough to have a job in the gaming industry just sucked it up and made our work our lives. It was the cost to do business at that time in the entertainment industry.

It wasn’t until I had my first child, that I realized something is missing…juggling a demanding work schedule while trying to be a good mother to my daughter was a feat, ESPECIALLY in a predominantly male dominated industry(this was the late 1990’s-2003). I found myself becoming less and less enthusiastic about work as I wondered what my daughter was doing during the day… By the time my second daughter was born roughly 3 yrs later, My husband and I made the decision for me to take some time off from my career and be a full-time mommy. Being the career driven person I was, I never would have expected to enjoy that time exclusively with my kids as much as I did. It changed me and what my idea of true purpose was. I always knew my children were my greatest creations, but my shift in mindset set me on a course greater than I could have imagined. It was a great project.

Once both kids were in school, I set out to find a new career or project that satiated both my techy brain, my artistic soul and my newfound love as a nurturer. This road took me many places but ultimately it took me back to the beginning…to my roots in fine art. It’s there that I’ve found my calling and my most meaningful work yet as an Artist, Educator and Promoter of the Arts.

I teach animation classes as an Adjunct professor, and work as a Program Director for a local non-profit Arts organization and I’m a full-time professional Artist. I co-founded a visual arts organization(Visual Arts League of Allen) that’s mission is to support local artists and promote the arts in our community. Through this organization and through teaching, I’ve found my purpose and meaningful work that has been rewarding in different ways constantly. In pondering with my husband the other day, I realized I have directly taught art to over 1000+ people and have supported and promoted art from 100’s of artists over the past 10yrs…all while doing what I love the most…creating fine art!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started my professional Artist career out of The Art Institute of Dallas straight into the video game industry, creating 3D art and animation and am accredited on seven published titles over a decade long span in the entertainment industry. While being a working mom I freelanced as a graphic designer, photographer and web developer. As I was ready to re-enter workforce I found that the video game industry had become flooded with job seekers, so rather than try to compete with the young single guys, hungry for entry into the industry, as a middle-aged woman with children, I decided to move into a tech position and began working for a start-up company as a biz dev/marketing manager. That startup started an incubator within the Cotton Mill of McKinney that I found myself managing within a year. Long story short, with financial backing from the City of McKinney’s EDC, I co-founded a non-profit technology incubator called the WERX Foundation, and served as President/Executive Director, assisting nearly 100 start-up tech companies and acquiring a federal grant that funded the creation of 4 maker-spaces on Collin College campuses, and 1 at the WERX facility.

Though all of this work was important and fulfilling, I was getting further and further away from my artist roots, and though I regularly hung art throughout the WERX co-working space, I was still not producing art like I wanted to be. In 2017, I left the WERX Foundation and at the same time met a group of fantastic artists in Allen TX. Together we established the non-profit organization the “Visual Arts League of Allen”(VALA). I began working on my fine art full-time and began instructing Art and Animation classes at Collin College.

The Visual Arts League of Allen serves the art community by supporting local artists and promoting art in the community.In the first two years of operations, we built a solid membership base, held fundraising events, offered art workshops through the Allen Arts Alliance Blue House Too Gallery and curated numerous shows and exhibits. Over the past 4 yrs we partnered with various organizations such as Allen Community Outreach for Empty Bowls, and Make-A-Wish by pairing professional artists with wish kids to collaborate on artwork to be auctioned to raise money to grant wishes. We’ve also partnered with the Cotton Mill of McKinney to build and curate a Gallery inside the event venue’s Grand Hallway where we curate exhibits year round. Most recently, we entered a partnership with Collin College Tech Center to rotate art through displays on the campus. VALA also provides scholarships for HS students pursuing art careers, and opportunities for young emerging artists to have their work displayed and recognized. I’m currently teaching animation classes as an Adjunct Professor at Collin College, serve as Chairman of the Visual Arts League of Allen, and work as the Program Director of the Allen Arts Alliance, and of course I am creating fine art in my spare time. I am very proud of the accomplishments of VALA and my personal successes for efforts in education and supporting local art and artists.

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

We are in strange times filled with uncertainty, and the creative journey has historically documented current events through an amazing display of art and the human spirit. To artists it’s so incredibly important to be able to express our thoughts and emotions through our artwork…some artists are unable to create in times of stress and uncertainty, while others thrive during these times. By supporting and sharing art and building community around the Arts which is so crucial during these times especially, connections and emotional support serves not only in preserving the artist’s well-being and the continuation of art creation, but also to document these periods of time in history through art. From Di Vinci’s intricate designs of war machines to Picasso’s famous Guernica, and countless other historical representations in art history, we sometimes forget that history is written out visually as well. I would encourage people to look to art for connection and healing, and I would encourage society to appreciate and value the art history being created along with the aesthetic beauty of art.

So I would encourage people to look deeper and buy that piece of art you saw in a gallery. That one that stayed with you in your mind well after you left…there is life and love and healing in an original work of art, so be a patron of the Arts and value the beauty artists bring to the world!

We are seeing a lot of digital AI art being generated now algorithmically that is interesting and appealing, yet lacks a soul…it’s important to understand why art is created and not to remove the heart and soul out of the process, Fine art will always hold a place in society for this reason, as long as people want to feel an emotional connection.

I’m reminded of a quote… “A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.” Paul Cezanne

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The goal and mission as an Artist for me has always been the same….it’s not to make money, though that was the driving force in the early years, but for me it has always been about connection and a legacy. It’s not difficult to make ‘living room’ art that matches a décor in a room or fits a motif…but true art to me ‘meaningful art’ is about injecting personal emotion in artwork that can be felt by others. This is a much more difficult assignment, but when achieved means everything.

Art that is felt, lives on forever in the hearts and minds of man and can move thoughts or create curiosity….it is art that will be preserved and shared through generations and throughout history. It is what creates a legacy in true artists. Vincent Van Gogh only sold one piece of art in his entire lifetime, and yet he is arguably one of the most renowned artists of all time, whose legacy lives on to inspire generations of artists past, present and still to come.

• Website: http://CSAtkinsArt.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artistunderground/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtistChristineSmith
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-smith-atkins-a921b01/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/VALA_TX
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/valatx https://www.valatx.org/