We recently connected with Kia Lockhart and have shared our conversation below.

Kia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

It wasn’t until a few of years ago that I really began to think of art as a professional career. I recently graduated with my B.D.A. in Architecture, which some could argue is an art all on it’s own. However, during the summer of before my third year at college, I really began practicing my artistic skills. This began when I started creating greeting cards for my loved ones. Because I have very supportive loved ones, photos of these cards were shared across social media which then led to people buying my cards. The rush that I got from creating something that I was proud of, that my family was proud of, but also someone that I had never met before being in love enough with my product to pay for it, well that it was amazing. I was amazed and want to do more from that moment on.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started creating greeting cards for my loved ones, starting off with my mom. The year that I began making cards was the year that the negative impacts that the pandemic had on the economy had really started coming to the surface. Mother’s Day was fastly approaching and I was struggling financially, yet still wanted to gift my mother with something for the day. I began looking through my craft supplies to see if I could make something for her. One of the gifts that I crafted was a greeting card. She absolutely adored it and told me that I should sell the cards, yet I had not had the confidence enough to pursue that advice. Weeks later though, I began to seriously think about it and researched further into the cardmaking business. By the time that Father’s Day rolled around for that same year, I had begun making my first cards to be purchased.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

At this point in my creative journey, I am seeking to branch out. Within the last year and a half, I have been looking into animation techniques and skills. I have begun learning about 2D and 3D animation in order to create television shows for children of color. Although the industry has become more diverse since I was a child, I believe there are stories not being shared that I would like to have learned and want my young siblings, nieces and nephews to learn and relate to now.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

As a graduate with a B.D.A., one thing that I learned throughout my time in college is that there are many people that may appreciate the outcome or product of an artist’s work, yet there is still a disconnect between the appreciation in the product and taking artists seriously in their process. Acknowledging the impact that art, in any form, has on society and supporting more artists, whether financially or even emotionally, will not only create a thriving creative ecosystem, but also building up social and economic blocks that hold up or community.

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