We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Addison-Vincent Pfeiffer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Addison-Vincent, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
Am I happy as a creative? Yes. I always say everything happens for a reason, and my current career in the arts was no accident. In 2011, art was my side hustle and I was working in a warehouse. I was making good money and had great benefits, but money does not buy happiness. I was miserable, and knew that I was not moving up the ladder at my job.
I asked myself, “Is this what I want to do until I retire?” I would spend my day at work thinking about my next creative project, or my next creative move so that I could leave my soul crushing job. I had a steady stream of commissions, curating pop up exhibitions, exhibiting wherever I could and even started an art collective with a few like-minded artists that I knew.
I found Artworks Trenton in the summer of 2011, and admired the mission of the organization. “Connecting Community Culture and Creativity through the Arts”. I started entering and exhibiting at their open calls. I began networking with the artists and people that worked for the organization.
In January of 2012, I was let go from my job at the warehouse. This was my opportunity to really focus on my art career. I submitted a proposal to Artworks Trenton in July of 2012 for a group exhibition for my art collective. Our proposal was accepted and the show was slated for 2013. I couldn’t have been happier!
January 2013 rolled around and I caught word from the Exhibits Coordinator at the time that he was leaving, and hinted that I should apply for the job. It was part-time, and the pay wasn’t nearly what I was making at my former employer, but I knew it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I expressed my interest in the position, even though I didn’t have any formal schooling or training for coordinating or curating exhibitions, other than curating pop-up exhibitions for a few years. I interviewed with the Executive Director Lynn Lemyre, who must have seen something in me, because I was hired for the position. I remember saying to myself, ” Don’t f*ck this up, this is the opportunity you have wanted!”. I had an eye for well thought out exhibitions, and being a naturally organized person, I knew this was my path.
Fast forward 10 years, I went from doubting myself, to becoming the Artist Director of Artworks Trenton, where I get to help grow the organization to what it is today and what it will be in the future. I’ve been fortunate enough to curate over 100 exhibitions in the greater Trenton, NJ area as well as for the NJSCA (New Jersey State Council on the Arts). I have received two Governor’s Awards in Arts Ed for my work with the AENJ ( Arts Educators of NJ ) for their Youth Art Month of Mercer County, lecturing students at the local universities, jurying exhibitions, overseeing 10 years of special programming, and most important making an impact within the community by moulding the next generation of artists.
My creativity also led me into new territories. During the pandemic, I purchased a VR headset, and found a community of individuals that I just clicked with. Utilizing my love of tech and creative thinking, I helped launch Failed To Render, a VR comedy and entertainment company, where I handle graphic design and music for shows and events within the metaverse. If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would be involved in something as cutting edge as that, I would have laughed.
Happiness as a creative can take on many meanings and push you in many directions. You can have aspirations of just being creative as a hobby or being shown at the Guggenheim and everything inbetween, but for me it is the joy of awakening the creativity in others or helping the amateur artist get their first break and seeing them succeed in their career. I like to say that I don’t work, I’m just living my best life as a creative. Oh! I still have time to paint and create too!
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?
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Addison Vincent is a freelance artist and curator from Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He studied art history and business administration at the University of Hartford and began his art career shortly after graduating with honors in Visual Communications from The Katharine Gibbs School in 2000. He worked as a commercial graphic designer and signmaker for a few years, further developing his skills in design and various artistic methods, before committing to his Visual Arts career.
The media in Addison’s work ranges from photography, digital art and mixed media to more classical art methods such as graphite drawing, acrylic and oil painting.
Addison has completed many works on a commission basis for both private parties and businesses, stage productions and short stories, while presenting his original works in galleries across PA, NJ, and NY.
Addison is the Artistic Director at ARTWORKS TRENTON; Trenton, NJ’s Downtown Visual Arts Center, promoting artistic diversity by fostering creativity, learning, and appreciation of the arts. In his role as Artistic Director, he selects and coordinates all exhibitions in the ARTWORKS TRENTON galleries, including gallery programming at the annual Art All Night and Art All Day events, as well as helping steer the organization’s creative direction.
Addison is the recipient of the Art Educators of NJ John J. Pappas Recognition Award, and the New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education for 2020 and 2021, for his work with AENJ and Youth Art Month.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“My works tend to focus on what I call, “the nature of things”, the musings of the human condition and the natural world. My works generally start as a single, broad thought, which I let manifest while I create organically, letting the thoughts and emotions guide my hand. The theme of my work usually reveals itself as I near the end of the process, showing me what my subconscious mind was focused on.”
— Addison Vincent
Contact:
267-520-0540
[email protected]
Website: www.addisonvincentart.com
Socials: linktr.ee/AddisonVincent
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the conversation with a patron about a piece. I work mainly on a commission basis. When I speak with a client about a project, I like to get to know them, and then the subject of the work. I dive deep into the the history, relationship, and purpose of the subject. I guess you could say the most rewarding aspect is the learning. I walk away from each commission knowing something I didn’t know before. I grow along with the piece as it is being created. Switching hats, as Artistic Director of Artworks Trenton, the most rewarding aspect of my work is seeing the reaction of not only the patrons, but the artist who is being shown in the gallery when they see an exhibition for the first time. It’s especially rewarding when it’s the artist’s first exhibition of their work. It can be quite emotional as well as rewarding.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I don’t necassarily agree with the term non-creatives. I think everyone is creative, it’s a matter of finding your medium. Your medium doesn’t have to be something tangible, it can be in everyday life or your chosen career. Creativity is whatever consumes your mind, keeps you up at night, gives you that eureka moment. Everyone’s journey is about self expression and the process of fulfilling that need to express. Creativity is primal, some of us just express it through the visual arts, dance or music. For me, my creativity goes through long ebbs and flows. I can go through periods of inactivity where I sit in my studio and spin in my chair starring at the the ceiling while listening to music, and not one idea will pop into my head. I start to get restless, wondering if I had lost my creative ability. Then I will be doing something completely mundane, like washing dishes, or mowing the lawn, and something will pop into my head and I will go into the studio for 6 months, with each piece leading into the next until I create a whole series of work. Once that happens, my brain is quiet again, and I will sink into a period of rest and start the whole process over.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.addisonvincentart.com
- Instagram: @addison_vincent_art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/addisonvincentart
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/addison-vincent-pfeiffer/
- Other: https://www.threads.net/@addison_vincent_art