Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joyanna Rose Gittings. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Joyanna Rose, appreciate you joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?
Not exactly a job, but when I was in school studying Set Design and Costume Design, throughout the course of the program we were required to spend the course of each stage production working in a different capacity, so we could experience about every job there was to work; everything from lighting crew to wig making to stage management to rigging and tech direction. It was pressed hard into us that if each member of the crew didn’t perform at peak, the entire production suffered. No one task or position was more important than another, and excellence was demanded. The beauty and synchronicity of many individuals giving their best elevated the experience as a whole to a higher plane that no individual could reach on their own. I carry that with me in two ways, the first being that delivering an excellent, professional product is a very high priority. But the second is that sense of working together; it drives my involvement in my community. A key part of my practice is being a part of one team that teaches art to youth, one that serves professional artists helping them to connect with the public, and another group of business owners, advocating for creatives in our downtown Creative District. To me, being a practicing artist means being an advocate and being involved.
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 bilingual artist, mother, business owner, and activist. Each of those titles effects the art that I make in a different way. Speaking, reading, and writing in more than one language, and having lived in a place where I could not easily communicate, leads me to make pictures that tell the feeling of a moment without words. The mother in me wants to make images that share and show the awe and wonder that I see in people and in the world, so that my kids can see splendid possibilities. As a business owner, I’m driven to make each piece a little better than the last and to share a little Art Magic with people who stop in. Activism comes out in my subject matter of quiet moments; people pausing in an embrace or lying on a tree branch is my antidote to never-enough consumer culture, and painting silhouettes instead of specific detailed features and using unconventional color is a way to reach all people regardless of their physical attributes, so that it is unifying. I’m interested in using Art as a balm, both in the making and the viewing of it.
My Studio, Obra Arts, has been in a retail space for over five years, and is open to passersby to stop in and observe when I’m working. It has evolved into a hub for creatives in the community for meeting and collaborating or floating ideas or getting feedback. This is my fourth year teaching the bilingual kids’ art program, ‘Art Attack,’ for the Firehouse Art Center. I’m an active member of the Longmont Creative District committee, and help organize and participate in many downtown events. I also serve as Board President of East Boulder County Artists, a professional, juried artist’s non- profit that promotes education and enrichment through annual Studio Tours and art markets. (www.ebcacolorado.org for more info)
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The thing that drives my practice in painting is the desire to make something a little bit better each time, to communicate a little more clearly, to use materials in ways they haven’t been before, perhaps, and to convey emotions that I’m feeling.
The thing that drives my work as an artist in my community is the notion that in this country, perhaps more than any other, we find ourselves making arguments for why Art is important, and not just a frivolous pastime for the privileged. Throughout history, in almost every culture, art has been cherished as vital to living and held in high esteem. The message we working artists hear constantly, at present in the US, is that you will be valued when your work sells for lots of money. Then the residencies will want you, and the gallerists will want you, and the collectors will seek you out. In order to achieve that, most of us are spending a lot of money applying to shows and entering competitions, trying to grow a Social Media following, and paying advisors who promise visibility and connections to the gatekeepers. If we are dedicated to our practice every day, creating and teaching and working toward excellence, even the IRS considers us ‘hobbyists’ unless we are raking in profits. It drives me to advocate for what we all knew when we were little but many have forgotten; that creating is essential to health and vitality for everyone. I would like to see financially sustainable entities in our communities that support our artists, or at least do not feed off of them by asking for donations of work and time and presence in exchange for ‘exposure’. I’m working toward making that a reality. I will be launching a new facet of my business soon called Joy’s Art Bodega. It will be a corner store for Art Supplies, stocked to carry essential materials that the artists in my community need most, with the mission of reasonable prices, convenience, and accessibility to quality materials for all.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I don’t think it is ‘society’s’ job, Years ago I was on vacation, sitting in a lounge chair on the beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. All day vendors approach the tourists with cobijas and sombreros and rosaries for sale. I was painting a watercolor of the rocks off the coast in the distance when a woman approached to ask me to buy something, but when she saw I was painting, she immediately stopped and said, ‘Oh, you are working. I’m so sorry to bother you.’ As individuals, we feel innate respect for art being made. Society can go on bickering about whether there is enough parking or what to do about gluten; it just needs to stay out of our way. Each of us, individually, just needs to be curious about what the people around us are manifesting in our basement studios, we need to model for our young people that taking time to do nothing but think isn’t anti-productive, and we need to be a lot more mindful about what we consume and from whom we consume it, and I already see this shift starting to happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joyannarose.com
- Instagram: @joyannarose
- Facebook: facebook/joyannaroseartist
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKrFQHP8Upo&t=202s
Image Credits
Joyanna Rose Gittings