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

Julie, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I have never been risk adverse, as a kid I was always the first one to jump, climb to the highest branch, leave the highway to venture on backroads and into quiet places, this has been no different with my professional life. During the height of the pandemic in 2020 I had just lost my restaurant job and was working out of a tiny shared studio space with another maker. The space was expensive and we were squished into a tiny corner of a mostly unused warehouse. As the pandemic raged on it quickly became clear that if we were both going to be making full time we needed to open our own space, where we could dictate the rules and requirements and create space for more makers like us who were transitioning into full time creation. It was with that thought that in November of 2020 we signed a lease on a small space downtown. With no financial or institutional backing we opened Outer Loop Arts. We both knew that if this didn’t work we would be deeply in debt and without space to craft our livings. We relied on the help of friends and family and mostly local swap and trade groups to transform our space, swapping mugs and soaps for book shelves to create walls and paint to brighten the space. We created a space that could house three artist studios in addition to our own making spaces, and soon began to attract artists to rent our space and join our little community. In the three years since we unlocked the door on the dusty, cockroach infested, dirty blank space we have turned it into a thriving arts community where we have hosted everything from drag shows, to makers meet-ups, markets and gallery openings and provided a space for makers of all sorts to have a place to gather and sell their wares, to network and test out market viability, and most importantly to be around other makers. Outer Loop Arts was a huge risk, but with the largest reward possible.

Julie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve been making my whole life, creating murals and collages, fiber and land arts before I had the vocabulary to describe them. Raised in the country, playing with mud has followed me through life, as a potter I find my days filled with craft, weaving my history and the earth with clay. I am a teaching artist, sharing the love of clay with students every day and most evenings while also working full time on my own clay practice. I began formally working with clay seven years ago as an apprentice in Seagrove, NC “Pottery Town USA”, I was immersed in a whole town of artists, mostly focusing on clay and wood-firing. In my three years there I built huge wood kilns, fired ones the size of school busses, dug wild clay, made pots as big as myself and became a part of a vibrant community. This sparked my passion for teaching and sharing clay love. After Seagrove I moved to Durham, NC, my hometown. I began teaching and soon opened ups small arts studio with another maker I had befriended. We now run Outer Loop Arts, a community studio that houses five rotating artists including ourselves. This is where I spend my days running the studio and making my clay art. I mostly wheel throw, with a focus on the female form and dining ware. My practice is a form of healing and community building, creating opportunities to bring joy, peace, knowledge and camaraderie to my community and myself.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think a huge issue in our society is the way the general public views art and artists. This is a conversation that could be approached from so many angles but one that must be discussed. There are often biases about artists, or ideas from institutions and monied folks of artists as petulant children, people who chose to make art can’t hack it in the “real world” or are flighty and too emotional. These stereotypes of makers are quietly upheld in media and institutional conversations without crediting makers as people who not only are doing the creative work but also running their own businesses from the bottom up. To be better supported and understood I think the view of makers needs to shift from the “wild and crazy artist” to the smart and dedicated business person who creates not only the business but the thing being sold as well. We need to remember that making art is not easy, it is soul wrenching and hard and always questioned, but it is so important, because without art and without artists we risk moving into a dystopian world of ai generated art and faceless capitalism.

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

For me making art is a constant form of healing. My goal in making is always to learn more about myself and the world around me, to more deeply investigate myself and the world I am living in. When I teach art to folks this is what I try to focus on, on how to look inward and listen to what your body is telling you, how to look at your clay and see your soul.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.piedmontclayworks.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/piedmontclayworks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/piedmontclayworks

Image Credits
Alexandria Lassiter (all photos)