Today we’d like to introduce you to Raziah Roushan

Hi Raziah, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?

Being a professional visual artist is all about accepting the circuitous path toward goals and achievements. As a creative, it’s never a straight ‘point A to B’. It’s more like a ‘start at E, travel comfortably through F, G, H, then see something shiny and jet off to B again’.

My journey started out under entrepreneurs in specialized businesses of engineering, welding, and stenography. My mom taught me the perseverance needed to work for yourself and assigning a reasonable value to one’s work product. By the time I was in high school my drawing skills excelled from fellow classmates so I did like any aspiring teenager would have done – I started monetizing my craft! Micro commissions for $15+ helped pay for my summer adventures from Southern California to Florida. Then, when I decided to drop out of the 4-year path to graduate early, my mom helped me get my business registered, order my first batch of business cards, and continued to take me to museums and art exhibitions to stay inspired.

After earning my degree at age 16, I immediately started community college-level art and political science courses. Simultaneously, I was selling my own canvas paintings out of my home driveway, hustling to the local galleries and alternative spaces that hung artwork such as coffee shops, book stores, and street fairs. It was an exciting way to be seen, engage in dialog, and build collectors while my subject matter still had the raw energy of an angry, curious teenager.

When I started art college for a BFA, first at the Laguna School of Art & Design then at Pacific Northwest College of Art, my style began to coalesce around social and political commentary through visual genre collage and text juxtapositions. It has been this narrative-making that has continued to inspire my work over the last two decades.

Throughout my career path, I have maintained my own studio work and exhibitions, but also started to lean into doing larger commission works including murals, large-scale chalk art, pop-up event artwork, and production work for contemporary theatres.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

There have been a number of bumps along the way; mostly just being lonely as a solo studio artist. So when I do start to feel isolated, I’ll seek out mural groups to contract with or festivals to participate in. I’ll also travel with fellow artists for inspiration adventures.

At this point I have a pretty good annual rotation with chalk art festivals across the USA. Every one of them, from the Chalktober Fest in Marietta, GA to the Art Along the Rogue in Grants Pass, OR provides a surge of energy. I especially enjoy performing large-scale chalk art for the thousands of attendees, young and old. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow caliber artists has helped me to learn new techniques as we all collectively advance the art form.

Unlike some of the visual artists I’ve known along the way, income has never been a road bump. I can balance external client load factors and downed economies, with arts administration services. This has included grant writing, public art coordination, event management, and other contract-based work with municipalities and developers. I guess this is what folks would call being both right and left brained.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?

My business went from a sole proprietorship to an S-Corporation in 2017 after moving to Oregon. This was mostly due to the erroneous income tax burden here. There was really only a shift on the backend, with no affect to my services.

I offer custom, professional fine art including painting commissions, indoor and outdoor murals, large-scale chalk art for events, commercial productions and/or annual festivals. I also offer administrative services, including one-on-one consulting for rising artists and nonprofits, grant writing, event management, and public art coordination from beginning to installation. Many of my clients today include municipalities and regional developers across the Portland Metro area.

What sets me apart is that everything I do, from my written contract to the materials I use, are to the utmost quality. I use contracts to protect both the client and myself. I also offer competitive bids based on time and materials when the job seeks to be accomplished. In this way I do not pigeonhole my rates, but rather flex with changing economic environments and project specifics.

I’m also willing to work within a client’s budget. If they can’t afford a $6,000-15,000 mural, that’s totally understandable as most new clients don’t know the work involved and value of an outdoor mural. That said, I’m not going to discount a $6,000 job to a $400 budget, because that invalidates the sector and ultimately harms artists across my region, but we can discuss simplifying the design or seeking local grant funding to bring the cost closer in-line with their budget. It’s this kind of handholding that I find is different than my local competitors.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?

For artists or nonprofit leaders just starting out, allow yourself time to learn and be curious. This will foster more joy in your work product and experiences. No one starts out with all the answers; we all grow together as conditions and environments change. There really is no conclusion to the ‘point A to B’ concept. Rather, it is all about the road itself, and the exploration of the sights and scenes in between. There is a whole alphabet available to you. Let your hair blow in the wind and enjoy it!

Pricing:

• Large-Scale Chalk Art Fee start at $550/day, plus design time and travel
• Custom Murals bill at time and materials. Free estimates.
• Original artwork can be put on layaway to help clients space out the cost
• Public Art Coordination starting at $95/hour

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.raziahroushan.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raziahroushanartist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaziahRoushanArtist/

Image Credits

Raziah Roushan headshot, photo by Full Swoon Photography.
Raziah Roushan chalking at Days of Art, Oceanside, CA. Photo by Cliff Serna.
Raziah Roushan chalking at Chalktober Fest, Marietta, GA. Photo by Wayne Renshaw.
Raziah Roushan chalking at Arts Alive, Mission Viejo, CA. Photo by Paul Woods.
Mural at Hagg Lake, Gaston, OR. Photo provided by artist, Raziah Roushan.
Raziah Roushan chalking new brewery sign at Bulldog Brewery, Marietta, CA.