We recently connected with Ardele Monk and have shared our conversation below.

Ardele, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I had always been an artist, even as a young child I knew this was who I am. Unlike many of my friends who attended colleges and universities straight out of high school, I decided to work and attended community college. I did this for many years, but at 30, I decided to take the leap and finish my BFA. I was “running out of time” in my mind and needed to get things going. That’s not how I see it now. Now that I have earned my BFA and am currently working on getting my MFA, I look back and realize that everything worked out for the best when it came to my educational journey in the creative arts By the time I had decided to go back to school full time, I knew what I wanted from the experience and was able to view things in a different lens. I learned so much from my colleagues and mentors in both a community college and a university setting. The connections I have made are lifelong. As long as you are putting in the work, the timing will work itself out.

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

Ardele Monk is an interdisciplinary artist, born and raised in Washington DC. She received a Bachelor in Fine Arts from College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan with a concentration in Art Practice in 2021. That same year she was chosen as a finalist in the juried Detroit Artist Market annual scholarship. Ardele has exhibited in Michigan, Washington DC, Maryland, and Florida. Monk utilizes many materials and methods of making in her work. Much like an archeologist discovering treasures from the past, the work unearths multilayered narratives and chronicles that exist in contemporary pop culture and historical accounts. By drawing inspiration from found objects and using fiber-based techniques, Ardele creates installation, sculpture, and time-based media that blur notions of high and low, fact and fiction.
Monk is currently an MFA candidate at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in the Fiber department.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Asking for help and outside opinion. As an artist, many times it can be hard to ask for help. I have learned that ideas grow and cultivate when you seek outside advice.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Aside from doing what I love, which is creating, the friendships that I have made over the years have been the most rewarding aspect of my practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ardele.com
• Instagram: @ardele.art