We were lucky to catch up with Kellie Peach recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kellie , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When I was 21 years old, I ended up in the Mission District of San Francisco. I ended up living in a mixed use building that was purchased by a wild woman. The bottom of the building was empty at the time. She approached me and said “Would you like to help me open a cafe” to which I said yes.
A week later she said “Let’s open a gallery instead?” to which I said – “I have no idea how to do that, but I would love to learn..” Needless to say, I quickly figured out that being an art curator and running a gallery was far, FAR MORE than hanging pretty pictures on a wall.
18 years later, I am still obsessed and my goal is to keep evolving my process and how I work with others.

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?

It was honestly blind faith and the pleasure of basking in the creations of others that lead me into the art world when all the way back in 2005. The thriving street art scene and contemporary galleries in the early 2000’s in The Bay Area really lit my fire as a art curator. I have been driven by my passion for so long and have carried on producing art events and repping artists for 18 years. I have produced shows in San Francisco, Oakland, New Orleans and now Bogota, COL.
My goal is to be constantly evolving in the art world, and taking others with me.

What type of products/services/creative works you provide ::
My work as The Maven (aka Agent Peach) currently revolves around pop up galleries and artist representation. I will be formally launching the consulting side of my art career in the next 6 months. I can’t wait to be of service to creative folks in a deeper way!

What problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others ::
My mission is to bring encouragement and Joy to people in the art world. This goes for artists, gallerists and buyers alike. I want to disarm people from this idea that art is only for a specific group of people – That effects they ways people both CREATE, PARTICIPATE and INVEST in art.

Art is for EVERYONE. And I want to help this be the very clear truth. Everyone can participate and enjoy the world of the arts. I love to work with new artists, venues and collectors to empower them to explore their own creativity.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I believe in the spirit of collaboration. I always have, I always will. I built my audience simply by COLLABORATING on IG with other folks. I use TikTok as well, but I am still learning more about that platform for sure!
I know creative people mostly can’t stand this advice, but it is CRITICAL to market yourself. I believe in the 80/20 rule. If you really wanna soar more quuckly – Make it 70/30 – For the amount of time you put in for your marketing efforts.
Part of marketing your creations is to BOOST the folks who are supporting you as well… I cannot express how much the spirit of collaboration (and actually COLLABORATING on IG) will signal boost what you are up to!

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

Can you imagine a world without the creative vision of people and artists? Really think about how art in some form ouches almost everything in our lives that we enjoy. Art work is exactly that, WORK. It is extremely valuable. It is something that evokes happiness, wonder and the whole spectrum of human emotions. Don’t under cut people that are creatives. Don’t offer “exposure” unless it is certain to bring in abundance for folks in tangible ways. BELIEVE IN ART. SUPPORT IT. BUY IT. CREATE IT. And if you’re not sure how to become an art collector, ask folks like me, gallerists and artists how to work something out! You can almost ALWAYS believe we are here to see you obtain the creative works you desire.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @TheMavenArts
• Tiktok: agent.peach

Image Credits
Travis Burke Austin Sullivan