We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Nitka recently and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Most definitely my pop up galleries are among the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on.
In February 2021, I was still training kickboxing and jiu jitsu at my local MMA gym. We had slowly gotten back to our schedule with our small community coming out of the pandemic restrictions. Students had just returned to my elementary art classroom two weeks prior, after being virtual for almost a year. And my Wednesday night church group was starting to see new faces, people looking for community and healing after isolation. I was finally starting to feel like I had a grasp on my life after going through the whirlwind we had all felt in 2020, especially as a young teacher just out of college.
Realizing I had put my artwork and ambitions on hold during this season, I was talking with my coach and owner of the gym about the current limited show opportunities and my nerves diving back into submitting work. His next idea has had a profound and lasting impact on my business model: “Why don’t you just host your own pop-up show? Here?” Silly as it seemed, I was so used to the idea of waiting for someone else to notice my work, such as a gallery or juried exhibition, that it didn’t even cross my mind to create my own show.
August of 2021 we held our first pop up at Nova Gyms Martial Arts & Fitness in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Guests got to experience not only quality art from underrepresented artists in our local art scene, but also the full martial arts experience. We hung art all around the training mats, over our chalkboards filled with drills. Guests had to take off their shoes and walk on the mats to look at the art. In the middle of the space, Nova members helped me organize martial arts demonstrations, explaining how though these are sports, they truly are arts that evolve from creative athletes.
Friends, gym members, and individuals following us online came out to support us. This first event gave me the courage to go after my goals, display my work, and to bring other artists and small businesses with me along the way.
A few months later, the women’s coach had a fight night and our entire women’s Jiu Jitsu team went out to support him. A training partner of mine, Ronnie, brought her employer. Ronnie is the Chief Mixologist at Glassnote Candle Bar in Walker’s Point, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. How do I even begin to describe Glassnote? They are such a unique small business that creates experiences for Milwaukee. Essentially, they are a candle making studio for the general public. Like a sip-and-paint studio, Glassnote takes their space to the next level. Guests reserve a table, order phenomenal drinks from Ronnie, curate their own fragrance and create a candle. The owner, Kevin, asked me at the fight night if I would be interested in holding a pop up gallery at Glassnote.
And now, as of August 2023, we will be hosting our third pop up gallery at Glassnote Candle Bar. Let me try to paint a picture for you (pun intended) of the space. Nestled into a cream city brick, former factory building from the 1800s on 2nd street, there is a bright red door that leads you up a flight of stairs. An old metal door is pulled open, leading into you a space that feels as if you traveled both back in time and into a dream world. Cream city brick, exposed wood beams, ambient lighting, and of course — fragrances from their many hand poured candles. This is the perfect space for a pop up gallery.
Our first show was themed “Dreamscape” in April 2022. Our last show in November 2022 was themed “Hygge”, inspired by the Danish concept of the coziness of togetherness. We kicked off the 2022 holiday season. The shows featured established and emerging artists, new craft drinks, and now a VIP hour for paying guests to attend early to have the first look and an opportunity for more intimate talks with the featured artists. Next month in August 2023 we will have “Eden.” We will transform this already wonderland of a studio into a garden of paradise. I’ve been able to gather a following throughout the last two years for not only my art, my business, but also these pop up galleries and my selected artists.
One other area of the pop ups that I am extremely proud of is the graphic design. I do all the graphic design myself with a focus on typography. I provide Glassnote and all the artists everything they need for digital marketing, as well as flyers and posters, and of course — the drink menu! The title cards and artist statements are never the ordinary black text on a white background. The cards always fit the theme of the show with the fonts and colors. Creating these graphic elements then enables me to focus on marketing, which I’ve learned quite a bit over the last year. Shout out to Latasha James on Youtube — she’s the best for any entrepreneur to get started!
I do want to talk about the underlying spiritual beliefs that are behind my shows. God called me four years ago to follow Him and He has radically transformed my life through Christ. He has brought incredible people into my life that support me. We go into the world, connect with artists from all over, and are there to love everyone who walks through our doors. Some of the artists in my network are also followers of Christ, and I’ve seen how their work can move the hearts of guests who step through our doors. They display their work with the gifts God has blessed them with, but they are passionate about hearing the heart of each person they talk to and offer prayer when moved. Guests before leaving the evening shared this was exactly what they needed, that it was an unexpected healing evening for them.
My faith guides what I create and display — art that is God pleasing, encouraging, and loving. These are joyful nights and I want every guest to leave feeling moved. Ronnie creates not only craft cocktails, but luxurious non-alcoholic creations so that ALL guests, regardless of their drinking status, can enjoy all the evening offers. Lastly, I believe God has placed a heart of an entrepreneur in me, where not only do I enjoy growing my own small business, but I want to partner with other small businesses as well. Supporting local business is top of my priorities in both my career and personal life. I love transforming these unexpected local spaces into a gallery for just a night because there is nothing else like it. I can guarantee you will not find another pop up like this because we each offer something special that together is something new.
Lauren, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Currently I describe myself as an artist, curator, and educator. First and foremost, I create art. I usually work in collections of series of paintings, exploring common themes in my life, such as heritage and faith, created in oil and watercolors. I also design products to accompany my works of art, such as stickers, prints, pins, and candles. My goal is to make art accessible by offering a variety of creative works at any budget for a variety of areas in our lives.
I created my first collection, The Greendale Collection, in 2018 as a quick architectural study of the planned “Original” homes in the Village of Greendale, where I am from. This led to commissions for business logos since it was a very graphic look, being frontal elevations of the homes as if from a blueprint. My next main collection was The Folk Flora Collection inspired by the tradition of paper cutting in Poland called Wycinanki. I grew up in our local Polish American community, participating in folk dance and attending our cultural center’s events. I was familiar with Wycinanki, and while partnering with the Polish Center of Wisconsin, I launched The Folk Flora Collection as a series of paintings at Polish Fest in 2022. I have an ongoing collection of worship art, which is prayer based, that I add to from live painting sessions. My next collection will be focused on portraits of brothers and sisters in Christ.
I attended Wisconsin Lutheran College, receiving my degree and Wisconsin teaching licenses in K-12 Art Education and 1-8 General Education. Currently I am teaching a public elementary school in the Milwaukee area as the K-5 art teacher. I am so grateful to have this experience as a teacher, not only because kids are awesome and blessings to us all, but because I get to help build a creative foundation for all of my hundreds of young students, which they will hopefully carry through their lives. Who knows which child will become an artist as an adult? And I get to be part of that process!!
In 2020, through a church friend, I was connected with City on a Hill, a missionary in Milwaukee. This is an incredible, Jesus centered organization that serves families, combating poverty through a variety of programs. I was hired as a guest artist to teach a summer art class during that first pandemic summer. Parents needed to return to their essential jobs, and the children needed their summer program more than ever. The pandemic was exceptionally difficult on elementary age children, but that is a whole other article I could write!
Lisa Gonzalez, the Family Mobility Director, shared that the reason I stood out to them as a candidate as a guest teacher was several fold: 1) I love Jesus. 2) I have a professional teaching license, which gives me the skills to build a lesson plan scope for the entire summer with the supplies list. 3) I teach from an art history perspective, so we focus on Black artists from around the world for my art courses. 4) I’m a working professional artist who has her own clients, business, portfolio, and passion for both art and entrepreneurship. City on a Hill focuses on raising up disciples that will go out into the world, with skills taught in character education, literacy, entrepreneurship, and creativity.
Teaching in an elementary school (especially through Covid’s first year) and at City on a Hill has provided me with stability and confidence in my ability leading workshops, public speaking, and organization. It was time to explore more opportunities, now with my own creation.
At the encouragement of my brothers and sisters in Christ, at outdoor Bible studies in summer of 2020, I began live painting while my friends played worship music. I’ve had the opportunity to paint all over Milwaukee, and even to travel to other parts of Wisconsin, to paint with different churches, ministries, bands, and more. Nearly all my worship paintings have found their forever homes so I rarely have any in my inventory.
One of my favorite moments to tell to others is about a time I was painting and I wasn’t sure where I was going with my brush. I started to critique myself, question my calling as an artist, and I was just flooded with negativity about my work. I felt the peace of God come over me and remind me that He didn’t call me to paint like anyone else; He called me to paint like me. This is my top advice to any artist — don’t worry about negatively comparing your work or spend time in jealousy or doubt; you are meant to create like you!
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Books: -“The Business of Being an Artist” by Daniel Grant for all things business set up
-“Art-Write: The Writing Guide for Visual Artists” by Vicki Krohn Amorose for writing artist statements for your target audience (academia, galleries, collectors, general public, etc.)
Youtube:
-Latasha James focuses on social media management, going through the importance of digital marketing via social media, how to get started, and deep dives into different platforms
-Lauren Marie Nitka on Youtube “The Podcast for Artists as Entrepreneurs” is my small Youtube channel. I have a small checklist for starting your own art business and I have a small series of videos that goes along with the checklist. I’m hoping to add more videos soon!
Online Resources
-Squarespace has tons of free articles for building your online presence
-Check your state’s online business resources through their department of revenues. Wisconsin has great resources for establishing a legitimate business and sending in taxes as well people you can talk to for further assistance.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
We should strive to build our social platforms as organically as possible. I have a small number of official followers on Instagram, but I have high engagement from those followers because most of them I’ve met in person at events or are artists I make an effort to interact with as well.
This year I began adding a QR code to my business card where people are taken to a bio site of mine that has all my social media on it. I’ve gathered quite a few followers in person from just scanning the code.
Also, make sure to build your email list! After each sale, I ask someone if they want to join my mailing list (always ask first!). I send out about 1-3 emails per month with new works of art, events, products, and the occasional discount code on merchandise.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.laurenmarienitka.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmarienitka/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurenmarienitka
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenmarienitka/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenmnitka
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurenmarienitka
- Tik Tok: @laurenmarienitka
Image Credits
1. Lauren Marie Nitka 2. Arbor Opportunities 3. Adedamola Adeniyi 4. Glassnote Candle Bar 5. Lauren Marie Nitka 6. Image by Arbor Opportunities, graphic elements by Lauren Marie Nitka 7. Personal friend, Kaitlyn 8. Lauren Marie Nitka