We recently connected with Cole NeSmith and have shared our conversation below.

Cole, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Earning a full time living from a creative career can be tough. For me, the toughest part of being a full time artist is coming to terms with all the other stuff required to make it happen. I think the best example of what it takes to have a creative career is a chef who wants to open a restaurant. When we think about a chef opening a restaurant, even those of us not in the industry understand that there are a lot of additional things that come along with that desire. Yes, the chef wants to make great food for people. That’s the end goal. But in order to do that, they have to buy a bunch of cooking equipment, get permits, find a space, hire staff, design the interiors, buy tables and chairs, name the restaurant, design a menu, create and manage a budget… there’s a lot that surrounds the desire to make great food and get it in the mouths of people.

This seems to all make sense when we’re talking about a chef. But, for some reason, most other artists seem to neglect the fact that making the art is about 5% of having a full time career as an artist. I think the most helpful thing for me has been accepting the fact that I have to do a ton of other work beyond just creating.

My artistic outlet is creating large-scale immersive art and performances. I’ve been part of suspending acrobats from cranes; a 130 piece orchestral collab with a DJ and live drummer on a 50′ long multi-level scaffolding structure; large-scale outdoor theatrical experiences along a mile-long walking path; and a starting a festival called IMMERSE which platforms 1,000 artists for an audience of more than 75,000 people.

I LOVE dreaming up those experiences and bringing them to life alongside really talented people. There is a lot of fun in the dreaming. But then, there is a TON of work in making it all happen – finding the money, finding the collaborators, getting permits, organizing the meetings, coming to a consensus, finding a crane company that will let us suspend someone from the end of their crane, finding a scaffolding company that is willing to think differently and build what we’re asking for.

Every little element is a hurdle that has to be jumped over. And whether it’s a single, giant hurdle like finding a million dollars or a ton of small hurdles that all add up… creating stuff is hard, and the creative work is like 5% of the time invested to bring it all to life.

Of course, it’s okay to not want to do all of that. But I think we peace when we face the reality that doing creative work full time requires a bunch of other, seemingly non-creative work. Once we come to terms with that, then we can make a decision about whether we want to do this thing called “art” full time… or if we love the ability for it to be a lovely thing we engage in when we want to. Both are wonderful. Neither is right. Neither is wrong.

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 am a passionate creator of unique, live experiences. Sometimes that’s in a theater. Sometimes, it’s in outdoor spaces. I do it through a non-profit called Creative City Project as well as through my company, Memoir Agency.

One of my favorite projects is a performing and interactive arts festival called IMMERSE. The outdoor festival covers 10 city blocks of Downtown Orlando, platforms 1,000 artists and welcomes an audience of about 75,000 people. The thing we love most is cultivating experiences audiences can’t have anywhere else in the world.

We’ve suspended Cirque du Soleil Artists from cranes. We created a performance on a 60′ tall scaffolding structure with trampoline artists, aerialists, a live band and pyro. We platformed Blue Man Group on a stage in the middle of the city. But the magic comes from the uniqueness of each guest’s unique experience. When hundreds of performances and activations are taking place, it’s inevitable that every guest will have a one-of-a-kind – yet equally compelling – experience.

We also produce large-scale Halloween and Holiday events around the country. Happy Frights and Haunting Nights are our Halloween offerings. They are artful events that aren’t just like the traditional fall festival or haunted house. We love to have fun creating immersive worlds that offer guests the opportunity to visit a land of dragons, encounter bigfoot in a humid swamp, enjoy a magic show or hip-hop dancing aliens, have a bubble dance party with a giant crab or play on a giant hay pyramid. We love dreaming about the fun and creativity of Halloween and inviting guests into that.

Dazzling Nights is our holiday show. And again, it’s not just about a bunch of Christmas lights. We love dreaming about how we can invite people into the wonder of the holidays by creating unique light installations that inspire wonder.

No matter what we create, my passion is facilitating unique artistic experiences that bring people together to make memories that last a lifetime.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My very first attempt at creating large-scale, public art experiences we a disaster. It led me to tears. My friend, Josh, and I decided to build this giant tree. The goal was to make it interactive, where people could come up, pull a string and make the tree light up. We had a metal-working company build the internal framework, and then we clad it with recycled and reclaimed wood. We got permission to put it up in a business plaza, so we gathered some friends and worked feverishly through the night to get it all set up. We were tired. The sun was coming up. I was sitting on the pavement with my eyes closed. That’s when I heard a snap and a crash. I looked up and saw one of the branches laying on the ground with one of our techs laying on top of it. We had to call an ambulance, and he went to the hospital – thankfully everything was okay.

But it was clear, we were going to have to take the tree down. We were going to have to call the all the people who had been invited and tell them that the opening party was cancelled. I was embarrassed. I was sad. I was disappointed. It was a super rough way to start. But I learned a lot of lessons that day.

I learned that making things is hard. I learned that it’s essential to find fabrication partners who understand the project and make it to spec. I learned that failure made me feel really really bad. And I learned it’s important to not give up – even when everything feels so bad.

That tree sat in pieces in my yard for a year. Eventually, I had the metal working company fix it and support it properly. And it went up in a park near my house. It stood there for years and became a visual and artistic staple of the neighborhood.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I think the lesson I’ve had to unlearn the most is the idea of “should.” I had an acting coach who used to say, “don’t ‘should’ on me.” She’d say it any time one of us students would say something “should” or “should not” have happened of that we “should” or “should not” have done one thing or another.

All of it was meant to combat this belief that things are concrete. The idea that there is a set way that things should or should not be.

The more rigid we are in shoulds and should nots, the more pain we’re going to feel. The more disappointment we’ll encounter in life.

Embracing the unknown, releasing the tight grip… those things keep me open. They allow me to change course. And ultimately, they allow me to be resilient – which is essential for anyone pursuing a creative endeavor.

Contact Info:

• Website: memoiragency.com creativecityproject.com
• Instagram: @colenesmith, @creativecityproject, @memoiragency
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colenesmith/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MemoirAgency