We recently connected with Emily McQueen and have shared our conversation below.

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

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a full time artist and run a small rural gallery in Malvern, Iowa. My joy is found in creating art and showing the work of other “advanced hobbyist” artists. I work in oil, watercolor, acrylic and linocut printmaking. My subject matter varies from the Iowa landscape to florals to figures. The medium and subject vary, but one theme that continues through my work is connection. I seek every day to connect more thoroughly to my own body, my surroundings, the people around me, and loved ones I have lost.

I have always been an artist. As a child I would pull out pencil and paper during church, or school, or bored moments at home. During my college years, I broke my back and became a paraplegic – changing how I viewed my future life and career. I ended up getting a degree in elementary education, got married, and started a family. The following decade was full to the brim with chasing kids and changing diapers. We followed my husband’s job to Idaho, Michigan, California, and now Iowa. I pivoted to full time art when our youngest of 5 boys started school a few years ago.

After working at my kitchen table for a year, I met a fellow artist and gallery owner who offered me the opportunity to take over her gallery space. I gratefully accepted and turned it into a gallery, studio, and teaching space. This is where I come every day – a small brick building with murals painted up and down the alley, a cozy studio space, and walls full of work by other rural artists.

I am most proud of this space because it represents artists who are “in progress” but still engaging publicly in our process. Many of us didn’t go to art school, don’t have gallery representation, and break even most years in our art business. There is still a place for us. We are the late-in-life learners, the kitchen table creators, the ones who are still finding our voice.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

A rural art space has to do all the things. To generate revenue I sell my own work, do commissions, teach painting classes, jury art shows, offer an open studio for kids every Saturday, and sell the work of other Iowa/Nebraska artists.

I support the local art community in unpaid ways that connect me with other artists and collectors. Last year, I started a non-profit mural painting club. I lead volunteer painters using donated paint supplies to install murals in public spaces, adding beauty and life to our small town. I work with my church to put on an annual sacred art show around the Easter holiday, engaging artists from all over the country.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Being resilient means being strong and also flexible. Like a bridge or a building that can withstand strong winds and earthquakes, resilience through trials requires both stubborn strength and the insight to know when to pivot.

One night during my freshman year of college I was climbing a tree with a friend. We were having a good time until I slipped and fell 30 feet, breaking back and severing my spinal cord. That moment, and the millions of moments that follow, require me to be strong. But strong only takes me so far, being flexible is what keeps me moving forward. Being strong got me through rehabilitation, being flexible got me back to college to finish my degree. Being strong got me through 5 pregnancies, being flexible allows me to navigate all the stages of motherhood. In my business, being strong means I work long hours and show up – always show up. Flexibility is how I remain connected to the art, to others, and myself. Most days it looks like just remembering to listen – always listen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.emilymcqueen.com
• Instagram: @emilysart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyMcQueenArt