We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Koller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.

John, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Earlier this year, I was invited to the Viewpoint School in Calabasas as a resident artist. I was honored to work on a collaborative art project with some incredible second and third graders. Over two days, we made a 6-foot “community quilt” for each class. Each student was given their own 12-inch canvas piece with a set of colors and design elements. Then, each student’s hand-painted contribution was attached to a blank 6-foot wall-hanging canvas. The creativity and unique personality of each student exceeded all my expectations! It’s a project and experience I’ll never forget.

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

I currently call Los Angeles my home, but I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. Both cities have greatly influenced my appreciation for diverse styles of visual art, music and culture. I am interested in a wide range of subjects, including archeology, physics and mysticism.
My “melting pot” approach has definitely inspired me along my career path and my ongoing love affair with mixed media. My goal is to push the boundaries of painting and hopefully create a body of work that inspires others.

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

While living in the Bay Area and spending a lot of time in San Francisco, I had a short list of graduate schools I wanted to attend. I had a great network of friends and family. I had an amazing (affordable) loft, a good job, and I was living comfortably. It was hard to imagine making any lifestyle changes unless I was going to one of my dream schools. So, I kept applying to the same schools and was denied year after year. Every year, I would collect my denial letters and set about making new work for the following year. I made appointments for tours of the colleges and met with faculty for advice. The denial letters kept coming.
There are a lot of “what ifs” that could have changed the course of my life during that time. But I hung in there and did my best to keep things moving. Finally, after some helpful advice and a certain amount of grit, I got my acceptance letter. Hey, it only took eight years (laughs).

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Every society needs its storytellers, craftsmen and outside-the-box thinkers. It would be great if artists and creatives in general could be seen as more than just dreamers. It’s all about messaging and recognizing the diverse skill sets most artists practice every day. Business, engineering, communication, critical thinking and innovation are assets to any society. Artists can do all these things and more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.johnkollerart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kollerjohn/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkoller1/

Image Credits
M. Koller J. Koller