We were lucky to catch up with Adam Brouillette recently and have shared our conversation below.
Adam , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
For the last 20 years, I’ve been self employed as an artist. It hasn’t always been easy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. In the middle of that time, for a few weeks when money was tight, I decided I needed to get a job. I went and applied, got the job, and started working. Within the first few hours of being at the job, I felt like bugs were crawling all over me. The boss had no idea what he was doing running his own business and I realized that despite being broke at the time, that I couldn’t take direction from someone else in a field where I knew well what I was doing. I left the job after about two weeks, I politely left and went back to being self-employed. From that point on, I’ve decided I was unemployable and that I should just live and die by the sword of working for myself.
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 an artist, a muralist, a designer, and small business owner. I grew up in the midwest, watching cartoons, skateboarding, playing in punk bands, and constantly drawing. I had little to no idea what to do with myself. I found myself in Columbus for art school and struggled with what I thought art school wanted me to do. Eventually it all circled back around to me making cartoons, but in a way that felt authentic to me. I was painting. I was printing. I was making murals. This became my primary career.
At the same time my art was developing, I started running studio spaces and getting involved with non-profit arts organizations. I managed a warehouse of 80 artists in 44 studio spaces and fell in love with the grassroots arts community organization. I ran large art events and even larger festivals. I worked with non-profits to help build their organizations. During those times I did volunteer design work that turned into a side job of doing design projects for companies I loved, often using my artistic style as a base for the design projects.
After getting married, my wife and I started Blockfort, a gallery and studio building that has been running since 2016. I continue to make my artwork, showing in galleries and museums, creating murals just about anywhere I can, and working in the community to organize art related events.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I’ve known now for a while that my purpose in life is to help people create things. I want to provide opportunities for people to create. I want to provide space for them to create. I want to provide resources for them to create. I want to create things myself. That is my goal in life, to create and help people create.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Going back to art school, I had a real preconceived notion of what art was and how it worked. I had “fine art” professors telling me they wanted me to do things a certain way. I tried to make work that way and it all felt fake. Eventually, I started drawing things I enjoyed growing up. My style developed into a more cartoon based imagery, but using fine art techniques. I started being inspired by other artists working in similar methodologies. I unlearned what art was and taught myself that the best art is authentic to the person creating it. It has also helped me appreciate a wider variety of artists around me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adambrouillette.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/adambrouillette
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/adam.brouillette.5