We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lyssa Nowakowski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lyssa below.
Lyssa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Creating Artists Unite Collective has been, and continues to be, an incredibly meaningful project. It came to life in 2024 when we evaluated the need for more comprehensive growth, community connection, and reliable resources during our early career development in the performing arts world (and in general). Even more importantly, we saw an increasing call for this among generations growing up today.
We built AUC with the mission to create a safe space for young performing artists to collaborate and build relationships while laying an educational foundation, honing their current skill sets, and learning new tools to better understand themselves and their craft. At our live events, professional leaders in their respective fields guide artists through an integrative combination of interactive talk workshops, movement workshops, and other onsite experiences. Our goal is to foster their growth, creativity, and wellness by evolving personal artistic voices, enhancing health literacy, and introducing professional methods.
I firmly believe this next generation can push the limits of what we deem imaginable in so many ways…and the more baseline knowledge they have from the start, frees them to have more malleability to explore possibility. When I was growing up, I wanted a place that saw me as an artist, athlete, technician, and innovative soul wrapped into one. So having the opportunity to provide a space like that for others has been personally very significant. It is our job as professionals to help elevate the next generation of artists.
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.
Professionally, I have run the gamut across a few different industries and ventured down diverse paths. I’ve worked for many years as a muralist and photographer in NY, Tour Manager and Development Director in live production, art and dance educator, MICU and oncology nurse, and a few other various roles. I suppose my nature is to explore, collect, and pivot, but my mission and the common thread among these hats worn has been to innovate and help others in whatever way that looks like. Last year I began collaborating and developing perhaps my favorite project that is a combination platter of my past education, training, and experiences (and joys) – Artists Unite Collective.
As the Artistic Director and Co-Founder, we built AUC with the mission to create a safe space for young performing artists to collaborate and build relationships while laying an educational foundation, honing their current skill sets, and learning new tools to better understand themselves and their craft. At our live events, professional leaders in their respective fields guide artists through an integrative combination of interactive talk workshops, movement workshops, and other onsite experiences. Our goal is to foster their growth, creativity, and wellness by evolving personal artistic voices, enhancing health literacy, and introducing professional methods. We have weekend-long events in different locations around the US to try and make these opportunities as accessible as possible.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
For a long time, like many people, I struggled with defining ‘my purpose’ or what I was ‘meant to do’. I would always equate the answer to a career or mode of activism or global platform or creative vision or even method of creative expression. Until a friend, who is also a mindset and leadership guru, helped me zoom out, reframe the concept, and find a single word to encompass everything I’ve done, hold dear, and strive to produce – love. In both my personal life and professionally, I realized underneath each action, direction change, and experience has had an underlying purpose and mission of love. Loving others for who they are, providing it when others may not feel it, helping people discover and nurture what they love…it looks different in each situation, but connecting this web of dots has been very meaningful.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Working and living amongst a diverse yet like-minded culture of exploration and support is very rewarding. Seeing peers and the next generation do what they love, speak up for those that struggle to express their own voices, think out-of-the-box to innovate, and share what they’ve learned is beautiful. Also, it’s important to recognize that being creative and the arts are not mutually exclusive. Creativity is born and thrives in STEM, invention, nature…everything. And seeing it encouraged in different circumstances is one of my favorite things to clock.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artistsunitecollective.com
- Instagram: @artistsunitecollectiveofficial
- Facebook: @artistsunitecollectiveofficial
