We recently connected with Madison Pope and have shared our conversation below.

Madison, 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.

One thing that I’ve learned as a creative is how important it is to do meaningful projects. We often spend a lot of time helping other people’s visions come to life, but it’s always good to pause and listen to what kind of work you feel yourself being called to do. I learned this lesson for myself when I embraced a passion project that changed everything for me. In 2019 I was working as a photographer and videographer, but I kept having this nagging idea that I wanted to create an art installation. I kept it in the back of my head for a long time, and finally – when an opportunity presented itself, I took it! At the time I was involved with a film festival that encouraged independent film, music and art. I asked if I could make a monochromatic interactive art installation to display at the festival and I was given full support to go ahead with it. I spend the next few weeks gathering old furniture, finding tacky decorations, building fake walls, and painting all of it the same shade of pink. I ended up with a sort of pink faux living room. We set it up in an alleyway along main street and it was a surprising pop of color and the perfect photo backdrop. It took a lot of work to make it, but I felt totally happy and energized from doing it. I loved watching people interact with it at the festival, and they even made the festival t-shirts the same shade of pink for that year! After sharing this project on instagram I started getting asked to make similar type sets for photo and video shoots, and from there it launched a whole new trajectory to my career. I stepped into a new role as a prop stylist and set designer for myself and for others. I started doing more of what I loved and got more opportunities to do it.

This experience solidified a one of the best pieces of advice that I had heard – “create the work you want to get paid for.” In my head I knew this was something I could do, but it wasn’t until I carried out the project that I got any results. Once other people where able to see what I was capable of, they were able to trust me and hire me for my services. I’m so glad I listened to my artistic inspiration and followed through with my passion project! Creating meaningful projects has continued to keep me aligned with my passions and my strengths and in turn has enabled me to better serve my clients.

Madison, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an artist and set designer, and I also shoot photo and video. I specialize in creating artful visuals to help brands, businesses, and people express themselves and their message. I have a degree in fine arts from Utah State University and I also studied art at the Art Institute of Boston and Hongik University in South Korea. Since graduation I have worked in the film, photography, and most recently in set design and styling. I mainly focus on commercial branding shoots.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I have felt misunderstood by many non-creatives, and I think a lot of it has to do with how the creative path is simply non-linear. On the outside it can seem hard to connect the dots, but to me I can see how my wandering experiences build and build on each other. Creative detours have been an essential part of getting me closer to where I want to be. Following my intuition has paid the most dividends in my work, and that’s not really something they teach you in school.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think that it will continually be important to keep a place for the arts in our world, and I think it often takes a deliberate effort from ourselves to do it- but it doesn’t have to be some giant or hard thing to do. Whatever type of art you find yourself enjoying – weather it’s music, reading books, looking at paintings…simply find a way to do more of it. The more we let ourselves enjoy the art that makes us happy, the more we will share it with others and keep it alive in our society.     

Contact Info:

• Website: https://madisonpopecreative.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madisonpope.creative/

Image Credits
main image (of myself): Ann Healey all other images shot by me