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

Laura, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I will share how to balance creative projects, money management, and earning while staying focused on one’s work.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a textile artist of humanitarian messages. I produce banners that talk about larger global and societal issues, and debt is a theme that I’m tackling in this current moment. I’m so proud to have $104k in student debt forgiven after working for 15 years at arts nonprofits and certifying my employment. I paid over $50k, and I became my dent manager and advocate in the process. To have part of my student debt forgiven, I wrote President Biden’s Education Program twice, filled out 100 forms, made 100 follow-up phone calls, and I resubmitted over 50 forms. It’s one of those accomplishments that no one congratulates you for, which makes me so proud of my perseverance and dedication to my practice and family.

As an artist, I saw every step of the long-term process as content for embroideries. Embroidery is slow and mindful, and I also approach it digitally and use Adobe, vinyl cutters, and digital sewing machines as well. I like to produce my own content to share my experiences with an art form that both calls upon traditions and functions as a contemporary tool to communicate.

With all of the grant and fundraising knowledge that I’ve gained in the art industry, I fund my projects and provide grant consulting services to artists to help close the funding gap. I branded my company, Artnezs, which is a grant consulting company that offers funding strategies and grant preparation to art institutions and artists in project specific ways. There are many gatekeepers in this field, and rather than complain about paperwork or portals, I prefer to master them and teach others how to compete on their terms. My clients and I grow together upward rather than accept a top-down approach.

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

The arts are a largely philathropic and unregulated field, which are nuances that shape the type of work that becomes largely collected and supported. Philanthropists can promote and support their talent on staff and advocate for thriving wages, build teams that celebrate individuality, and build lasting partnerships. Often I find that nonprofits model their businesses using corporate rather than creative strategies, and I see young people working 10-12 hour days and sacrificing having a life outside of work. Creative life after work hours should be celebrated and can help businesses grow and connect with more diverse audiences. Artists going into business for themselves and adapting new models to serve their communities can shift part of this paradigm, and generally supporting other artists that you admire can go a long way. I also collaborate with other artists to produce projects where we share the labor to round out the overall experience. I have a collaborative project, Weird Sisters, on view at the Deering Estate through March 24 that reinterprets Shakespeare’s Macbeth as an Ecofeminist tale with two Raliegh-based artists originally from South Florida, Annie Blazejack and Geddes Levenson, which is supported by another local arts nonprofit, Bas Fisher Invitational (BFI). I’m offering a debt embroidery workshop from 11 am-4 pm on March 10 at the Estate followed by a tour and refreshments supported by BFI and Locust Projects Wavemaker Series. I’m also in a group show, Mommyhood, that opens on February 18 from 11 am-4 pm at Dot Fiftyone Gallery that responds to the moment when maternal essence descends upon loved ones, whether they are family, friends, or even a state. Every exhibition that I participate in takes on larger societal topics and self-reflections. It’s these collaborative experiences that keep us actively engaged. Join us!

Have you ever had to pivot?

The master pivot in art and life is absolutely everything for staying in your field! Rejection is part of my growth as an artist, and if something’s not worth my time, I form a new strategy. A quote that I lean into when fear arrives is, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. I quote advocates in my work since every great vision carries a narrative of sacrifice with it. Believing in my vision of making work that is affirming and reflective and that it is meanifully collected and acquired is part of my practice. Motivating other artists along the way and helping to build grant writing skills and impactful projects is continually inspiring.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lauramarsh.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laura__marsh/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Laura%20Marsh
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-marsh-b36a15114
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHHLeNnXjZg

Image Credits
Images courtesy of Laura Marsh, Monica McGivern, and Naomi Fisher (BFI)