We recently connected with Cara Spencer and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Cara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Yes! I’ve been making a living from primarily creative work since finishing college. Part of that time was freelancing, and when I was first starting out I would supplement that with flexible jobs such as substitute teaching and lifeguarding/teaching swim lessons. As time went on I spent less time with those jobs and more time working strictly painting/creative gigs. For over a decade now I’ve been able to bounce around and work creative jobs ranging from running paint decks for various theatres to painting murals to teaching art to all ages from Kindergarten through Grad Students. Painting and teaching are my two favorite things and it’s been incredible seeing all the ways I have been able to do both.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up in a small town with very few chances to do theatre or art in high school. I managed to get a work-study job in the scene shop when I got to college and ended up doing most of the painting for our productions. I absolutely fell in love with that part of the theatre world. My first mentor was Rachel Downs, who had gone to my college about 10 years before I did. I learned so much from her and she helped me get started working around Wichita at some different theatres. I spent several years working there, including summers at Music Theatre Wichita, where I met and worked with more incredible artists and gained crazy amount of knowledge and skills in short amounts of time. I eventually ended up in North Carolina at UNCSA where I earned my MFA and fell in love with murals and street art. When Kansas City Rep Theatre was hiring a Charge Scenic Artist I jumped at the chance to get back to Kansas. My plan was to work at the theatre full-time, teach scenic painting at UMKC, and hopefully find some freelance mural work. That’s exactly what I did until Covid. Long story short, when everything was shifting and weird I ended up with job teaching K-12 Art in Bird City, KS (a town of 500 people 20 miles south of Nebraska and 20 miles east of Colorado). I spent a year driving back to KC occasionally to paint at the Rep for another season. After a year of driving way too much I decided to teach during the school year and spend my summers in the theatre world. That decision also gave me the chance to slip back into the Opera World. I landed in Iowa at Des Moines Metro Opera this past summer and absolutely loved it. I’m excited to see what pops up as I continue teaching and finding mural/painting projects whenever I can.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Get to know them as individuals. Everyone communicates differently, learns differently, is motivated differently, and works differently. You need to understand that and use that knowledge to set your crew up for success. Don’t be afraid of people who are better than you at some things. I love having people who are stronger painters than me on my crew! It makes my job as a charge so much easier and sets everyone up for the most success. Plus, getting to work with people who are better than you make you better. Never stop learning new things and getting better at skills you have already gained.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Making dreams come true! It sounds silly but I love bringing designer’s visions to life onstage, giving a story to a wall that will make people stop while they walk by, creating a piece for someone’s home. Making people stop and smile or pause and have a break from their busy lives and get off their phone.
Contact Info:
- Website: caraspencerpaint.com
- Instagram: caraspencerpaint