We recently connected with Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Claudia “Aziza” thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

I think the largest problem I faced was that my education did not give me a notion of an art ecosystem, how it was organized, the various roles within it, how to engage it or how to leverage oneself within it. When I graduated from my MFA program, I felt as if I was wondering around in a desert. What made it even more frustrating was that I was meeting other artists from various colleges, art schools and programs that were in the very same situation. Many took on teaching to formulate some type of financial stability, others took all sorts of jobs while attempting to continue their creative lives. Too many did not return to their intended profession. I found it to be so very sad that after years of learning skills, here we were in situations where we were not actively engaged with our skill base. For me it elicited years of unnecessary confusion and depression. There are artists even today wondering in those deserts, or chasing their perceptions of how to gain a foothold as a professional artist because there is still a lack of understanding of the “art world” , and its many tributaries. Becoming an artist is in many ways an blind process leading to an opaque world. Things seem to be improving a bit today. What I have seen is a push in the other direction, where the artist can become a businessperson first, subjugating their skills, concepts and aesthetic concerns to the whim of a “market”. There is a gentle balance that is needed here.

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?

I understand myself as a mixed media artist. I combine painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, papermaking and at times assemblage. As a life learner, I am always looking to stretch, and add to my toolbox of skills. I make work to express my understanding of the world I live in , sharing
contradictions , insights as well as beauty and joy. My work has moved from figurative to abstract, opening new ways to share narratives and ideas. Personal and collective agency is important to me, as I am a Black female in America, a place that both acknowledges my strength and continually works to undermine the incredible legacy of my kind. There are two projects that I am quite proud of. One is helping to establish Black Artists of DC, an organization that seeks to help black artists to negotiate the various aspects of the art world that we have gained entrance to. We offer exhibition opportunities, classes, workshops, and a sense of community that is safe and sharing. We meet monthly and invite speakers to share information about facets of the profession that are not clearly defined, services offered to artists, or even products that may be an asset to us. We have had appraisers, world renowned artists, gallerists, framers, curators, archivists and more to visit our meetings over our 24 years. We give young curators the opportunity to develop exhibitions and write essays. What has been most pleasurable, is to see our artists gain recognition here in DC, and nationally. I think the second project is a public art piece created for the Ron Brown College Repertory High School, titled Wall of Unity and located in Washington DC. It was my first opportunity to work in iron and, when completed it weighed over 800 pounds. The experience of working with a fabricator, installer, and project manager was incredible as well as the opportunity to solve problems that were met along the way. I learned business issues such as acquiring insurance for the art as well as having to learn more about iron, and the materials that it can or cannot bond to it. Watching my design move from concept to an actual piece of monumental art was something new and inspiring to me. It took eight men to get the piece into place, and days of sanding and refining to get it to its final state. Speaking to the young students about the work was electrifying. I listened as they discussed the African proverb that inspired the piece and saw the spark of comprehension in their eyes. It does not get any better than that.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I am a Black female artist that has ideas, concepts, thoughts, ways of seeing, knowing, and being that I want to share in this era and after I have gone to dust. Art gives me the ability to share with the future, views that many times are left to live on the periphery of a paternalistic whitewashed society. What I and my colleagues have experienced in our lives is important. Art offers me/us the opportunity to open dialogues, which opens an opportunity for all to grow. I want this opportunity for myself and my fellow artists. I am concerned with helping artists to better understand the documentation, care, distribution and conservation of Black visual culture. This and the creation of Black visual culture is my life.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

What can be done to support artists?

Give professional artists the ability to purchase their supplies wholesale. Royalty fees applied to the resale of art could be paid to the artist or family if deceased. This would go a long way in helping to financially stabilize those that create visual culture.

Some form of tax break for ordinary people that purchase art (wealthy people have many such tax breaks). This would encourage people to engage in art and the purchase of art.

The ability for artists to write off the “market value” of their work from their taxes when donating work to non-profit and other institutions would be very helpful. Currently artists can only write off materials, and the fees from paid labor such as framing (https://hyperallergic.com/285128/why-cant-artists-deduct-donated-artworks-from-their-taxes/)

I think these policy changes could help to stabilize art as a profession, creating a more robust art ecosystem.

Contact Info:

• Website: gibsonhunterstudio.com