We were lucky to catch up with Leah Brown recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was a child, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, because I love animals, and vegetarianism is basically the closest thing I have to religion. But then I did a middle-school internship with a vet where we had to declaw a cat, and I just remember the feeling of being completely disillusioned. I wanted to help animals, not remove their body parts unnecessarily. It was then I realized I wanted a path in the arts, where the decision making would be up to me, and I could express myself freely. I just wasn’t sure what direction to take. I’d been taking violin lessons since I was 5, and had risen up through the ranks of the local youth orchestra. I loved the escape of reading and creative writing. And I really loved making art and building with my hands. Music, writing or art. It was the career choice that used to keep me up at night.

One Tuesday evening, the orchestra conductor’s wife stayed to watch the rehearsal. She was a painter, I knew. I’d been to their house, and it was filled with paintings in a Pre Raphaelite style of women in nature with magical elements. She surprised me after practice by asking if I would ever considering posing for a painting. As an awkward teenager, I was completely flattered, and she made arrangements with my parents to come to our house, where I would sit in on our back patio while she painted me over the course of many sessions. I was fascinated with the process. She used oil paints, which I’d never been exposed to before, and as she painted, she described what she was doing, and why. How the colors would mix and layer, how the layers had to dry before our next session. I couldn’t believe it when my mother pulled a dusty old box of art supplies out of the basement. It had been hers in college, and it was filled with vine charcoal, pastels, and dozens of tubes of oil paint that still squished when I squeezed them. I started painting every day, emulating the styles of my favorite artists, and trying to come up with my unique voice. I started attending art openings at local galleries with my friends, and I loved the atmosphere of celebration. With the violin, my nerves were so bad while performing, the anxiety hardly felt worth it. And as a very shy person by nature, I thought if I were to become a writer, that I would probably never leave my house or get out of my pajamas. But the lifestyle of an artist really appealed to me as well as the satisfaction of the creative process. In my junior year, I applied exclusively to art schools, and ended up choosing to attend RISD, where I learned how to think and see as an artist, met my future husband, and committed to the path that has led me to where I am today.

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.

My career as an artist is multifaceted. My Fine Art practice is a visual exploration of shared narratives of figments from dreams and waking. I use these themes and imagery to inform my Public Art and murals that I make through the company Art+Light+Space. I curate exhibitions and public art interventions for FATVillage from the wonderful community of artists that I have come to know over the years. And most recently, I’ve begun using my creative visioning process to contribute to the development of art-related Metaverses for the company IMX3.

After I graduated from RISD, I had a number of experiences that led me down the rocky road of trying to make a living and be a professional artist, which I found to be difficult things to merge, although the goal was always to be a self-sustaining professional artist. I did a year-long residency at Hub-Bub in Spartanburg, SC (which is where I currently live). This was a year of growth and productivity that grew my portfolio and opened many doors. I moved to New York, where I worked as an art fabricator, really honing my practical skills and getting valuable insight into the art world. I got married and moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL, where my husband taught college. It was in Florida that I began curating, and got involved with the FATVillage Art District. My husband, Peter Symons, and I eventually became business partners with Doug McCraw and Lutz Hofbauer (the owners and developers of FATVillage), and started a Public Art and Design company with them called Art+Light+Space. 2010 – 2019 were very busy years for us in FATVillage. I curated over 60 exhibitions in the warehouse exhibition spaces. I attended graduate school at University of Miami and got my MFA in sculpture. I had my first solo museum exhibition at the Young At Art Museum. We received numerous awards and grants for our work in FATVillage and our Public Art projects. We had 2 children, who became my little studio buddies, always around art making and exhibiting. When Covid hit in 2020, we made the decision to move to South Carolina to be closer to family, but we continued working remotely with Doug and Lutz and our South Florida community. We are currently working on Public Art projects, as well as a new company called IMX3 where we are building Metaverses for art institutions, including FATVillage.

Recent Projects: ]

Art+Light+Space was commissioned by Aimco to create the murals on the construction fencing outside the historic Seartown campus in Fort Lauderdale at the corner of Sunrise and Federal Hwy. For this project, I invited 7 other mural artists to create original murals for the site, and I created one as well.

For FATVillage, I’m working with a team to recreate the original buildings in the Metaverse as an Art District of limitless proportions where Artists, Galleries, Museums, and Creatives from all over the globe can gather to share their unique talents and visions through explorable miniverses that function as person studios, galleries, installations, and worlds.

For IMX3, I’m working with a team to turn art museums and institutions into explorable Metaverses.

In my personal practice, I’ve been working on a series of layered, laser-cut, wooden paintings based on the Tarot.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

My view on NFTs is that they can be a great way for artists to retain a stake in their own work. When an NFT is created, there is the option to build royalties into the future resale of the work. Many artists find that their most iconic works are ones that are sold early on in their career for a fraction of their future worth. They may never reap the benefits of having created work that will outlive them, work that will be sold privately or at auction, increasing the wealth of everyone except for the creator. How many artists throughout history were considered masters of their craft, but incurred the stereotype of dying impoverished? Minting one’s work as an NFT at the point of creation ensures that for any future sales of the work, the artist will be automatically credited with a percentage of the sale. It also ensures a history of ownership as all previous sales are recorded in its metadata.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the freedom that comes along with it. I get to create a lifestyle where I can choose what projects to work on, how to spend my time, where to work, and what to think about. I don’t have a boss telling me what to do. I feel that my time is spent meaningfully and full of intention. I can work from home, where I have the freedom to laser-cut and do laundry at the same time. And I can be present for my kids in a way that ensures they eat home grown food, have access to nature and culture, and can grow up with untraditional role models and the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.leahbrownart.com
• Instagram: @leahbrownart