We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kimberly Van Driel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kimberly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

When I was young, I never knew exactly what I was going to do to make a living. I was always a creative kid but I wasn’t good at being an artist. I went to a Kent Career Technical School in high school for Graphic Design and at the time, that seemed to be a high trend for creative people to make a living with their art. I didn’t particularly enjoy it but I didn’t know what else to do for a career. I ended up leaving Grand Rapids, MI after high school and going to the Art Institute of Colorado where I received an Associated in Graphic Design. I then transferred to the Art Institute of Tampa Florida to get a Bachelors of Arts in Advertising after realizing that was a better fit for me than graphic design. After graduating, I moved back to Grand Rapids and picked up contract graphic design and advertising jobs for a while until I got a full time graphic design job working for Valspar which I absolutely hated. This is when I realized I spent far too much money on college for a degree in a field that I hated and I did not want to do and during a recession. I ended up getting a job with the City of Grand Rapids working for the Police Departments Office of Special Events. This is inevitably what led me to where I am today, doing something I absolutely love. I started by permitting event organizers with street closures, park rentals and logistics for a few years until Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. was forming and I was hired to start producing my own events. I started with Movies in the Park that then lead to Movies on Monroe, Relax at Rosa, World of Winter and so many more events. I started as a Event Coordinator for the organization and now run my own team of creatives organizing public art, events, programming, education, community relations and public space design. Now, I can use my creativity and ideas to help build a city through placemaking and placekeeping efforts where I am able to hire artists, performers, and designers to use their creativity and expertise all in an effort to continue to make Downtown Grand Rapids a destination.

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

My background info is listed in the last question. Please refer to that.

My job is ultimately a curator for the Downtown. I do that through placemaking, public space, art and events. If we are gearing up for adding a new large future public park along the Grand River, my job is to get people excited about that project with temporary events, programs and installations before the large investment strategy comes in for us to test things out as a community. We have done with with Movies in the Park, skate park, 555 and many more projects. My job is to find out what is not there, what is missing and create an opportunity by filling in the gaps.

My favorite projects I have been able to work on are all about community building and community connections. I have worked to create the Rad American Women public art initiative which lead to the Women’s Way initiative. Both of those projects meant a great deal to me honoring women and creating unique placemaking efforts in our city. Moving Movies in the Park to a old vacant parking lot was another great project. We were able to take a dead space and turn it into a pop-up park that is now a gathering spot for artists, events and skateboarders within the community. One of the big focuses of the team has been to put on our two-month long winter art festival called World of Winter which brings in over 8million people to the Downtown during the colder months of the year by hosting over 150 events and installation by local, national and international artists. During our Downtown Master Plan, GR Forward, community input planning process, Grand Rapidians wanted to make sure we were a 4-season city. From May-September, Grand Rapids has a packed robust event calendar but in the dead of winter, there was nothing. That is where we come in. Now from after New Years up until LaughFest, our team programs the Downtown with all kinds of unique experiences for everyone to enjoy.

You can find more info on those projects here: https://downtowngr.org/announcements/2019/03/rad-american-women
https://www.womenswaygr.org/
https://worldofwintergr.com/

I love working to support new emerging projects and or installations. Something that makes us remember what is so special about Grand Rapids and that is its people. We need our community to come together and share their talents, culture and passions. Those special aspects and the people that they are made up by, are what creates community and makes Grand Rapids one of a kind. Supporting events is one way of doing that. We are constantly trying to support cultural and heritage organizations that showcase who we are as a community. That Downtown is for everyone.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Show up. Connect. Support.

Show up by showing up to what is going on in your community and what creatives are doing. There is are in everything and everyone. By being curious, trying new things, connecting with people and supporting them, you in return will receive support, connections and people showing up for you.

It truly is about who you know. Especially in a small town. By putting yourself out there and meeting new people, you are able to tap into so much more.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I spend months and maybe even years on one particular project but seeing it completed and taking a step back to see it is the reward. Something like an event. You plan it for months and months and sadly it is all over in a day or weekend however when you sit back and see thousands of people show up, happy, having a good time and creating memories, there truly is nothing more rewarding than that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.downtowngr.org
• Instagram: downtowngrinc
• Facebook: Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.

Image Credits
Bryan Esler