We were lucky to catch up with Cass Penegor recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cass, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I’ve always been a very creative person, and my family and friends have always been very supportive and encouraging, and I’m grateful to them for that. I grew up with a mother who is a music director and has a background in theater, and a father who was always tinkering with things, building weird things in our basement, making huge messes at our kitchen table with eater egg dye and chocolate syrup, things like that. My childhood was filled with music, play, experimentation—I was singing Phantom of the Opera while cutting apart old boxes and trying to build new things with them, or drawing nonstop while watching Ginger Rogers dance with Fred Astaire on our TV. I never thought I would grow up to be an artist though, the thought never once crossed my mind. I knew I loved art, I loved to make things and to be creative, but I always thought I would be a teacher or a librarian, and so did all of my classmates. When I wasn’t drawing or singing, or helping my dad with any of his weird experiments, I was reading. I think that’s what I loved most back then. When I was around middle school I started going to a Fine Arts camp in Michigan during the summers where I took art classes in drawing and painting, fiber, and sculpture, with the addition of a choir class. I did this all the way through high school, and each summer I went I knew I wasn’t very good, but I knew I got a little bit better each time I went, and it was so much fun.
It wasn’t until I was in high school, maybe junior year, that I realized that I might want to pursue art seriously.
I was taking a drawing and painting course with everyones favorite art teacher at the high school, and he had assigned some projects throughout the semester that really challenged me, but I really enjoyed them, and had done surprisingly well. In that same semester, I was also taking a ceramics class with another really wonderful art teacher, and she was the first one to introduce me to The Cleveland Institute of Art, the school that I would later attend for my BFA. After that year I took AP Studio Art, and dove head first into the idea of becoming an artist and studying art with the support of the AP Studio art instructor. In that same year I also joined my high schools show choir, I was in the women’s ensemble, I participated in the school musical, helped direct the Shakespeare Clubs play, and watched the local theater that I had been working at since 2011 shut down. I was very much split between my two loves and which one I would study: art and theater, and I had to make a choice.
Ultimately, when I was accepted to CIA, my dream school, I chose art. I graduated from CIA with a BFA in Drawing and Printmaking, and recently graduated from Cranbrook Academy of Art with my MFA in Print Media; if it hadn’t been for that one semester my junior year of high school where I took that drawing and painting class and found my confidence and passion, and that ceramics class where I found someone who saw something in me that I couldn’t see before that moment, who set me on this path, I don’t know where I would be today, and I am so grateful!
I will say, all of these years later though, I am now deeply involved in both art and theater again, so my having to pick a path was only temporary. These are two things that make me who I am as a person, but also as a creator.
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?
My name is Cass Penegor and I am a non-binary artist (They/Them) based in Cleveland, Ohio. My work has been featured in various online exhibitions, and I have shown work in galleries across Northeast Ohio and Michigan. I love theatre, coffee, mini muffins, and my favorite color is yellow (no matter what anyone else says)—This, this is your Artist Bio, it’s what they teach you in Art School: it’s who I am, where I am located/working from currently (that feels safe), a little bit about where I’ve shown (as if to say, yes, I promise, I am an Artist!), and some Fun Facts about me thrown in at the end (they don’t teach you that part in Art School when you’re writing your Artist Bios, that one I added myself). Now, I excluded the part of the Formula where I mention my schooling, that’s because I mention it elsewhere, and I’m going to talk about it again, and I just feel like saying it Sooo many times is unnecessary (but never forget, it’s part of the Artist Bio Formula). You might be thinking, wow, this is incredibly casual for an Interview, and to that I would say, yeah, that is fair, that’s probably correct. I would also say, however, that to know me, and to know my studio practice, and the way I approach my work, is to write in such a voice, and so now, thank you, CanvasRebel, for, allowing me to access my voice again for the first time since I—wait for it—graduated from Cranbrook Academy of Art in May with my MFA in Print Media (There it is, I told you it was coming). Alright, so, before I went to Cranbrook for grad school, I went to the Cleveland Institute of Art where I studied Drawing and Printmaking, and that is where I originally found my love for writing and it became such a large part of my studio practice.
There are many things I love though, besides Art and Writing, and the color Yellow (I feel the need to keep saying this because, seriously, people don’t believe me, but I guess that’s what happens when your entire masters research and thesis project are about the color Blue…). I also love Teaching, and that is what I do most days, when I am not making art, spending time with loved ones, or pursuing new hobbies. I also work at the Great Lakes Science Center, and so there might be days where I will teach a punch needle course at a local arts organization, but there are also days where I am teaching owl pellet dissections, or pre-k engineering workshops, or lots of other really wonderful workshops we offer! I do other things at the science center, but it’s the teaching that I love, and that’s true whether it is Art, Theater, or Science.
You, CanvasRebel, ask: “What are you most proud of”, and I’m proud of the creative person I am today, that I have found a way to connect all of the things that interest me (art, science, theater, writing) into my studio practice, but honestly, I never could have done that alone. There were so many people along the way who helped me make connections when I couldn’t see them, who inspired me, who challenged me, supported me. Sometimes being a studio artist, especially one just out of school, can feel really lonely, but then I remember all of those people, and how much they mean to me, and I feel proud of where I am, and all that I’ve done, and I know that it’s because of them and their help. I do what I do as much for them as I do for myself, and for those that I have yet to meet.
This life, studio, classroom—all of it, it’s about people, community, and growing together, learning together and from one another, and it’s so beautiful—and that’s why I love teaching, and I write the way I write, and yellow is my favorite color, and I probably drink too much coffee, and I might be too scared to talk to the girl at the front desk of the climbing gym I just started going to—but if I have a good cup of coffee, and teach a good class, think about my blue aunt, send my mom and email telling her I love her, smile at that girl, send a hard problem at the gym, make a new painting that’s maybe a little green And blue, get a good night’s sleep—that’s the formula I’m trying out These days, and that’s also really all I can say about my practice at this point too.
You can find my work @perhapsacrylicart on Instagram.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
The answer is literally in the question, right?! The way society can support artists and creatives is to Literally support artists and creatives. Art is Everywhere around us, there is no way to escape it, not even in nature. Artists made the TV show/movie you just watched, they made the app you just used, they made the painting you just walked by, they made the frame that painting is in. An artist designed your toothbrush, your shoes, your car, the building your dentist works out of, and nature is an artist too—So, there is a really good chance that at Some point, you’ve met an artist, if you are not related to one, or good friends with one. Buy that persons work. If their work isn’t your taste, that’s fine, tell them what you do like and chances are they know another artist who makes whatever it is you like, and then buy That persons work. Help artists survive (pay rent, buy groceries, buy supplies to make new work) by not questioning their prices either, because there is a 90% chance that person undervalued their work already because they are worried if someone will buy it. If you work for a company/institution/organization, commission local artists to make work for your offices and public spaces. Basically, help create opportunities for artists in your community. Don’t know how to do that? Reach out to nearby art schools or galleries, they’ll be able to help or find you artists to work with, and then pay them what they deserve. Follow artists on social media, share their work, like it, bookmark it, go to their gallery openings, their book launches, and concerts. All we need to do is pay attention to and listen to artists, they will tell you what they need, we just have to listen to and respect them.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I believe I started my Instagram for my art when I was in high school in my AP Studio Art class. It was just a separate place from my personal account to share the work I was doing and to keep track of it, and it wasn’t meant to be anything serious. Fast forward to today where I now use my account as my go-to spot for sharing my work in place of a website, connecting with other artists, finding inspiration, learning new techniques, learning about artist opportunities, and looking at funny printmaking memes. In those early days it was just friends and family following the account, but as I started using it more once I got to college, I began following my new artist classmates and professors, and they followed me back. Sometimes they would even share other artist accounts with me that they thought I would like, so I would follow them, and if I was lucky they would follow back. There was a period of time where I was pretty shy with my account though. I was posting quite a bit with what I was working on at CIA, but I was nervous to follow anyone outside of school, nervous that they would look at my account and see the work I was making, and it took maybe a year (?) to work myself out of. I never really thought of it as “growing my audience”, I always thought of it (still do) as growing my artist community—people I can look back on, contact/reach out to, or reference later, and That is what helped push me past my anxiety, and That is when I started following other artists, galleries, and museums like Mad. I followed anyone that made work that interested me or inspired me in any sort of way, and then I started sharing their work on my story, or I left a comment, or if I was feeling really brave, I sent a DM about their work/a specific piece and what I liked about it/how it inspired me. Artists supporting artists, it’s a really special thing. When you support other artists, other artists will support you, but do it genuinely. Don’t do it for numbers or because you are worried your “audience isn’t large enough”, that will come in time, with the work, being active, but also by being genuine. Support other artists, share their work, buy their work if you can, send/leave an encouraging note, be making as Much as you are able in Your studio, and share that on your page, and just try to have fun—don’t put too much pressure on yourself!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perhapsacrylicart/
Image Credits
Tryst Red, Katie McGowan, Cat Duda