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

Kristin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I’ve worked as a journalist for more than 20 years, and my husband Scott and I have always traveled widely, both for our careers as writers but also out of sheer curiosity about the world around us. To date, I’ve traveled through all 50 U.S. states and more than 130 countries.

About 15 years ago, we started noticing a common thread across many of the cities that really captured our interest: The majority were driven by strong citizen-led revitalization efforts that almost always had a prominent public art component. As storytellers who appreciate all forms of creativity, we started photographing these murals and sculptures and interviewing the minds behind them when we had the opportunity.

Fast forward to 2018, and we had moved our base from metro areas to a small town in Tennessee just 20 minutes from where I grew up. We deeply wanted to improve the community in which we were living, and one relatively quick way we thought we could do that was through public art.

So we started our own 501(c)(3), DMA (for Do More Art), with the sole intention of bringing more arts access to rural communities in the South.

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

I went to journalism school at the University of Tennessee, then immediately jumped into the world of consumer magazines in New York after graduating. While working at Conde Nast, I started a blog, CamelsAndChocolate.com, focused on long-form storytelling and my personal travels; pretty soon, in addition to my freelance work as a writer, Scott and I were also juggling brand partnerships and content marketing deals, which would come in handy down the road.

I have no formal art background, but 20 years of working in just about every communication role possible taught me the skills necessary to run a successful nonprofit. So much of what our nonprofit does is serve as the conduit between a city/county government or private business and the artist. We build and maintain strong relationships with the state and other key funding bodies, we assist city and county governments with grant-writing, and we handle contracts between property owners and contractors, liaise with the artists, prepare and paint the buildings prior to the mural being applied, schedule all necessary equipment needed for install, market the project upon completion and so much more in between.

Artists can be their own worst enemies; many prioritize the creative part of running their own business (i.e. the fun part!) and neglect all the business stuff (the not-so-sexy side). After producing more than 60 large-scale murals in communities across Tennessee, I’ve learned that the most successful artists are equal parts creative and business-savvy. They know how to respond to emails or inquiries in a timely manner, they are shrewd with contracts, they can produce on a deadline and—perhaps, most importantly—they are flexible to work within the parameters of a project. So if I could give aspiring artists any tips, it would be: Be communicative, have a professional portfolio through which others can easily find you and be willing to collaborate.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Running a nonprofit is all about pivoting. In March 2020, we had just announced our most ambitious project—Walls for Women, a month-long, state-wide mural fest in Tennessee celebrating the centennial of the 19th Amendment—when the world shut down.

Rather than canceling this passion project we’d poured so much time into building, we changed directions: We would still use Walls for Women as a platform to employ female creatives—and arguably in a time when many artists needed it most with so many being without work in the early months of the pandemic—and implement contactless voter education messages through our marketing. After all, painting outdoors is a solitary activity that allows for all the social distancing in the world.

In the end, we hired 14 artists that summer to paint in seven cities and brought a whole lot of joy to Tennesseans in a time when many needed it the most. Walls for Women became so popular that we incorporated it as one of DMA’s banner initiatives.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

Any successful creative knows they need multiple pillars of income to support their business; that way if one collapses, the others will support their livelihood. For artists, selling products or prints or licensing artwork often can prove lucrative and, eventually, serve as a passive income stream that affords the opportunity to be choosier when it comes to taking on public art projects.

As far as Scott’s and my pillars go, in addition to running a nonprofit, we have a production company, Odinn Media, that provides writing, photography and other marketing services to tourism boards and other adjacent brands. I continue to take on freelance work as my time allows. We’ve collected a small number of investment properties over the past 13 years in hopes that they will be our retirement plan someday. And we’re always following trends and threads of interest—while learning that staying flexible is key.

One example: We bought a building in our town two years ago with the intention to turn it into a coworking space. Two main factors proved a hindrance in what we thought would be a slam-dunk concept: 1) We’re in a rural market where the potential customer base is much smaller than metro areas and 2) we opened post-pandemic after many remote workers had already set up their own home offices and were comfortable with their current situations.

After operating for nearly a year, we revisited our business plan and realized that in order to hold onto the building and business long-term, we had to pivot to a model that was more financially stable, so we reconfigured the building into private salon suites for beauty and wellness professionals. A month after announcing our new direction, CoSalon Tullahoma was full, and we continue to have a waiting list today with the intentions of possibly opening a second location in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dma-events.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/lunaticatlarge/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoMoreArtEvents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinluna/

Image Credits

All photographer credit goes to Odinn media, but here are the artists who painted the work so you can add them to the captions, as well. Thank you!

Saya Woolfalk for ArtWorks Cincinnati, Ohio
Britt Flood for DMA in Palmer, Tennessee
Mobe for DMA in Tullahoma, Tennessee
JUURI for DMA in Tullahoma, Tennessee
Cymone Wilder and Sara Painter for DMA in Nashville, Tennessee
Nathan Brown for DMA in Tullahoma, Tennessee
Dasic Fernandez in St. Petersburg, Florida
Whitney Herrington for DMA in Centerville, Tennessee
forbecks for DMA in Tullahoma, Tennessee
Jenny Ustick for DMA in Sweetwater, Tennessee