Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cortney McConnell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Cortney , appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I am the daughter of a long time hair dresser and elevator inspector/repairman. Growing up I saw my parents constantly problem solving and undertaking creative projects. They aren’t artists, but they built their own home and made all repairs themselves. As a kid, I hated being dragged to Lowe’s and I dreaded when my parents would take over the television after Saturday morning cartoons to watch “This Old House”. I thought it was so boring! However, now that I am renovating my own home studio, and managing a creative career as an artist and professor, I carry a confidence in figuring out how to do new things.

They have always encouraged my creative pursuits. Another thing that has influenced me is that they are wildly independent and allowed me to be as well.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an interdisciplinary artist, art professor, and small business owner living and working in Oklahoma. In my artwork, I explore themes of familial trauma and motherhood of adoptive children. In my process, I utilize practices that help me to connect to my body and the house my mother grew up in, witnessing abuse. The goal of the work is to access inherited trauma that needs healing through acts such as frottage, writing, drawing, performance, and photography. Artwork made indoors is taken out into nature and surrendered to the land and to God. It is the hope that these acts release the hold of familial trauma. I received my BFA from the University of Central Oklahoma and my MFA from the Oregon College of Art and Craft. My work has been exhibited in galleries across the nation.

In my small business, Artsy Farmer, I create handmade gifts such as soy wax candles, prints, and ceramics. However, I will soon be offering small community classes as well. I created my business out of a love for both farming and artistic communities. In my small town in central Oklahoma, there is not much access to art, and the local population here loves hands on work! While I have noticed that the small farming communities and the art and craft communities I am so passionate about are similar, they are often pitted against one another politically. Often both groups do not realize how much overlap exists between the two. To the farmer, the artist’s work can seem pretentious or pointless. To the artist, the farmer can seem unrelatable or old fashioned. These classes and my small business as a whole aim to bring both groups to the table. We are more powerful together than apart, and art is an incredible tool for unity.

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

While I was attending the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2019 pursuing my MFA, the school abruptly closed at the end of the school year. Also around this time, my husband and I took in three teenage foster children (whom we would later adopt). My peers and I were to resume study under the umbrella of the Pacific Northwest College of Art. My new children had severe behavioral needs, and it was frequent that we would have police at our home as well as DHS workers and certifiers to help us de-escalate one of our children. My husband and I made a quick decision to move back to our home state of Oklahoma to be nearer to family, so that our children could have a community to help rally around them and create the safest, most consistent home possible.

The MFA program worked with me so that I could join seminars and other courses digitally, and once a month I would travel from Oklahoma to Portland to critique my artwork and participate in necessary presentations and requirements. In the spring of 2020, just months before my classmates and I were set to present our thesis artwork, COVID-19 shut down all travel and most gathering. Finishing my degree amongst the throws of new motherhood and a global pandemic is one of my proudest achievements.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As an art professor and teacher of community courses, I instruct a variety of folks from differing experience levels. My goal is to illustrate that art is a true skill that anyone can learn with the proper tools and determination! Some of my absolute best students are those who come in adamant that they have no experience. They are more open to criticism and learning new things and tend to have a little more grace with themselves when they aren’t perfect. Some of the more difficult students to teach are those who already have a certain level of skill and confidence. There is a humility that is necessary to receive constructive criticism and be flexible enough to grow and change. My goal as an instructor is to find more unexperienced students and encourage them to broaden their horizons! Seeing pride in what you make is truly priceless, and teaching another person to have newfound pride in something they never thought they were capable of creating is profound.

Contact Info:

• Website: cortneymcconnell.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cortneymcconnell/