We recently connected with Amanda Still and have shared our conversation below.
Amanda, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. But I also understood that it could be a difficult profession to make a good living in. So I decided early on that I would study interior design in college. I was already seeking out artistically designed magazine advertisements and art posters to cover my bedroom walls with…practically from floor to ceiling. I would even rotate out the “artwork” when I discovered new “pieces”. So it was a perfect fit during college when I found a job at an Austin art gallery while working toward my degree in interior design.
I loved the art scene. I loved hanging the artwork. I loved meeting the artists and hearing about their journeys and inspirations. I loved the artist demonstrations and how the activity engaged people with the work and the artist. So I also minored in art with a focus on drawing and architectural renderings. After I earned my State license in interior design a few years later, I opened my own interior design business. My journey eventually took me to Georgetown, TX where I opened an art gallery while still operating the interior design studio. My goal: to get as much artwork up on clients’ walls as possible!
I also discovered that Georgetown has an active artist community and is the perfect backdrop for a vibrant art scene.
However, the local target audience for investing in statement pieces of artwork was very underdeveloped, and many things needed to be accomplished to create such a market to financially sustain local artists. So I joined the community’s Arts and Culture Board, and alongside my fellow board members, I began to work toward advancing the arts in the community.
Amanda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
It’s definitely been a challenge to balance a career and be a mother of three! Sometimes it has been chaos, and sometimes I’ve wondered if I am even up to the challenge. But it helps to have a vision and mission to cling to! I’m passionate about how the arts can bring joy and healing to peoples’ lives. I also believe that the arts can be leveraged as a vehicle for economic development, and I envision artstists being empowered to make a living in the arts, design, and creative career fields. After my third child was born, I decided to close the gallery after operating joyously for 4 years. But I took the opportunity during my “downtime” to earn a masters in arts development and program management, which I felt would help further my vision for the arts in Georgetown.
After almost 20 years of working in the private sector in both residential and commericial design, as well as the private art gallery business, I joined the City of Georgetown in 2019 as the Arts and Culture Coordinator. I felt like this position was a way to bring more meaning to art and design by actually making a difference in my community, and my continued education in arts development helped prepare me for administering the City’s Public Art Program.
Georgetown’s Arts & Culture Program enhances the quality of life for the residents and visitors of Georgetown by promoting community engagement & cultural participation, fostering business development, and facilitating cultural tourism through public art programming & collaborative events. Public art in Georgetown has really taken off, and I’m very excited that some of our murals have received grant funding from both the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Preserving History mural by local artists Devon Clarkson and Norma Clark received grant funding from the TCA and was a collaboration between Georgetown Arts and Culture and the nonprofit that manages the African American Shotgun House Museum. Devon Clarkson’s portion of the mural is a realistic portrait of local education advocate Mary Smilth Bailey, who was the founder of the first preschool for non-white children during the period of segregation. Norma Clark’s portion of the mural features abstract shapes that reflect the community’s journey from segregation, integration, and changes to the neighborhood through urban renewal to the present day.
The K9 Heroes mural by J Muzacz and Jay Rivera was part of the Arts and Culture Program’s Healing Arts for Veterans and received funding from both the TCA and NEA, as well as sponsorship from local business Wag Heaven. There was a music component to the Healing Arts for Veterans program that involved taking the stories of veterans and composing them into song, and this was a collaboration between Georgetown Arts and Culture, Austin Classical Guitar, and country music artist Wynn Williams. The K9 Heroes mural was a tribute to service animals both civilian and military and was located on the local Wag Heaven business.
The GISD Student Mural Project is a collaboration with the Georgetown Independent School District and Georgetown Arts and Culture where one selected art class designs and installs a mural every year on a downtown building. There have been two mural installations so far.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
It’s definitely been a challenge to balance a career and be a mother of three! Sometimes it has been chaos, and sometimes I’ve wondered if I am even up to the challenge. But it helps to have a vision and mission to cling to! I’m passionate about how the arts can bring joy and healing to peoples’ lives. I also believe that the arts can be leveraged as a vehicle for economic development, and I envision artstists being empowered to make a living in the arts, design, and creative career fields. After my third child was born, I decided to close the gallery after operating joyously for 4 years. But I took the opportunity during my “downtime” to earn a masters in arts development and program management, which I felt would help further my vision for the arts in Georgetown.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Yes! During my masters courses, I read “Arts Marketing Insights” by Joanne Scheff Bernstein. It changed the way I looked at art and business.
Contact Info:
- Website: arts.georgetown.org
- Instagram: artsandculture_gtx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artsgeorgetown
- Other: I’d like to give credit to… 1. David Valdez, Chair of the Arts and Culture Board & former senior White House photographer for the George H.W. Bush administration certainly deserves credit for his contributions and service to the Georgetown arts and culture community. Mr. Valdez has taken all of the photos submitted for the interview, and he graciously captures photographs of all the program’s murals and sculptures, as well as the local arts events. 2. Muralist, Sarah Blankenship designed and painted the mural in my photograph, Greetings from Georgetown, TX. She was also the very first Arts and Culture Coordinator in Georgetown! 3. Members of the Arts and Culture Board have dedicated their time to the arts in Georgetown. Artists, musicians, business owners, and arts administrators have served on the board. 4. All the artists who have shared their gifts with the community in the form of murals and sculptures.
Image Credits
1. David Valdez, Chair of the Arts and Culture Board & former senior White House photographer for the George H.W. Bush administration certainly deserves credit for his contributions and service to the Georgetown arts and culture community. Mr. Valdez has taken all of the photos submitted for the interview, and he graciously captures photographs of all the program’s murals and sculptures, as well as the local arts events. 2. Muralist, Sarah Blankenship designed and painted the mural in my photograph, Greetings from Georgetown, TX. She was also the very first Arts and Culture Coordinator in Georgetown! 3. Members of the Arts and Culture Board have dedicated thier time to the arts in Georgetown. Artists, musicians, business owners, and arts administrators have served on the board. 4. All the artists who have shared their gifts with the community in the form of murals and sculptures.