We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Beau McCall. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Beau below.

Hi Beau, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I am self-taught and so there was a lot of trial and error learning how to create wearable and visual art with buttons. There aren’t many people who use buttons in their practice so there wasn’t a blueprint or school for this medium.

For one of my first wearable art pieces, I decided to embellish a sweater with buttons. Before I applied the buttons, the sweater ended at my waist. Afterward, the sweater stretched down to my thighs because the buttons were so heavy and pulling on the yarn. So I had to eventually find a material that could sustain the weight of the buttons which is denim. I also learned that regular sewing thread was too weak. So I started using embroidery thread. Then when I began creating visual art with buttons I had to find the right needles that could be used on a range of objects from tubs to wine bottles. When I first started I didn’t have a technique. So over time I learned how to create a pattern when sewing buttons to really tell a story.

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?

Part of my upbringing was spent in public housing in Philadelphia. It was great because we had summer camp and after school programs and that’s where I was introduced to crafts such as weaving, macrame, and tie-dye. I experimented with a lot of different materials until I settled on the clothing button as my main medium. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a fashion designer or do something in visual art. I didn’t figure out what to do in the arts until I came to New York in the late 1980s and saw a fashion show produced by the Harlem Institute of Fashion (HIF) for HARLEM WEEK. Up until that point I had been creating wearable art just for myself. But seeing this show made me want to share it with the world. From around 1988 through 1995, I was in virtually all of the HIF fashion shows and exhibitions. That was the beginning of my professional career as a wearable artist. Eventually, I applied buttons to my visual art practice too.

For me, creating is very instinctive. I don’t always know where the energy is coming from. But when it comes I act on it. It’s almost as if I am channeling and having this spiritual force guide me as I create. That’s why I consider all my creations things that I birthed, so to speak.

With each work I am communicating something about myself and my experiences whether it’s dealing with racism, exploring my sexuality, or celebrating the things I find inspiring or joyous. Through that I am also trying to connect with others, bring awareness, and hopefully inspire people one button at a time.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing how my work impacts others. By working with buttons–a common object–people have an immediate connection to the work. They are familiar with the object and often surprised at how it’s been transformed into art. So I love seeing that look of amazement and inspiration on their faces. It’s also rewarding when they share with me their personal stories related to buttons. So many people come up and share how their mom collected buttons and how those jars of buttons were passed down through generations as family keepsakes. They are often so moved that they give me the jars of buttons because they want the materials to be put to good use and to live on.

In my work The Conversation, I invited people to record oral histories via StoryCorps about their experiences with race in America. During the recordings, we sat at a table I embellished with buttons to tell the story of how America was built on enslavement. In those conversations people were using the work as a catalyst for opening up about deeply personal experiences. It was so rewarding to see my work help facilitate such powerful dialogues. It’s moments like these that make being an artist all the more special.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn this idea that there is a blueprint to follow your dreams. We all have our own path to follow and that’s OK. In my youth, I thought there was a way you had to speak, look, or present yourself in order to find the success you were seeking in life. I think that’s why it took me so long to confidently call myself an artist. I don’t come from a typical artist background. I am self-taught. I work with a medium that is considered craft and not always taken seriously as art. I also had to find my creative voice which took an unconventional path of experimenting with different mediums, exploring the worlds of drag and punk rock through my short-lived band Strange Beauties, and presenting my work at fashion shows because I didn’t know where else my wearable art fit in. Then I took a nearly fifteen-year professional hiatus before I reinvented myself. So it’s been a wild and beautiful journey to get to this place where my dreams are being realized. And I truly can’t wait to share with the world my upcoming retrospective Beau McCall: Buttons On! at Fuller Craft Museum opening March 30, 2024.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beaumccall.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beau_mccall
• Other: https://bit.ly/buttonson

Image Credits
-Headshot: Beau McCall. Photo by Rohit Venkatraman. -Beau McCall, The Conversation, 2017-2023. Photo by Will Howcroft. -Beau McCall, World Spinnin’ on a 45 (B-Side), 2023. -Beau McCall, Strange Beauties XIII: Antoine aka DeeDee Somemore, Beau McCall, and Tracy Monroe, 2020. Courtesy of Artist. -Left to right: Beau McCall, Button Sneakers: Sunny, 2022. Beau McCall, Button Sneakers: All Sports, 2022. Beau McCall, Button Sneakers: Moonwalk, 2018. Photo by Will Howcroft.