We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Missy Reitner-cameron. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Missy below.

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

In January of 2020 I decided to let go of the graphic design studio I owned for 15 years. At the time I was planning on painting full time and maybe taking this old warehouse I had as an artist co-op/working space and making it into something bigger. I ended up putting all my efforts into the remodeling and refurbishing of this artist space which is now called The Bunker SLO. The Bunker SLO is an art gallery/mixed use space with a coffee shop inside and working artist studios in the back. We use The Bunker SLO for everything from fine art shows to music and dance events, workshops, poetry readings and more. I am so incredibly proud of what The Bunker SLO is bringing to the local arts community and I feel like it is the most meaningful project I have ever been a part of.

At the same time as getting The Bunker SLO up and running a few friends and local artists decided we should start doing some mural work and hit the ground running. We started Marmalade Mural Co and have been painting walls for public and private businesses and municipalities since late 2020. It has been an absolute blast to paint on huge walls and I feel like my work lends itself nicely to that format.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was always a creative kid and always wanted to paint, color and draw. It was where I felt the most grounded, most happy, and this has followed me my whole life. I started seriously painting in college but then fell hard for graphic design. I loved the fonts and the layering that was so crisp and sharp. I ended up working in graphic design for about 25 years, 15 of those years I owned my own studio with about 5-10 employees throughout the span of the business. It was a wild ride. I always wanted to do creative work but after about year 10 of owning my own thing I was no longer getting to do the parts I loved. This led me back to my art practice, drawing, painting and making more messes. I craved it.

I decided to drop the graphic design and started creating graphic landscapes and colorways with paint. I wanted a place to go where i didn’t have to answer to anyone but myself, create places and spaces that were calm in their subject matter but occasionally jarring in the flat blocks of bright colors. I just recently started adding more rounded and more fluid shapes to my work but the hard lines are what make me so happy.

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

The arts are one of those things that people always say “makes no money” or “how is that a job?” or “i could do that”. It’s hurtful and uneducated statements like these that keep the arts from schools and communities. I think one of the most important things societies can do to support the arts and artists is pay them. Do not expect artists to work for free. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have been approached to lend my skills for free, to just draw something up. It is insulting. I also believe that public art should be a part of every town, city and community. Art can sometimes feel like it is held prisoner in museums or galleries, unattainable to those that do not have access to entry. Public art is for everyone and exposes people of all ages, races and walks of life to art.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think that because I am home midday or on a walk in nature, not tied to a computer, people think I am not working. Part of the reason artists might not be taken as seriously is that they are always working, it’s just that a lot of it is unseen or possibly misunderstood. Some of my best work is done out on a hike, cooking or dancing the night away somewhere. We all get inspiration from different things and in different ways but I feel artists get judged for their process.

Side note, I think everyone is creative. It might not look like the way I am creative or the way your neighbor or work mate is creative but I’ve seen some crazy creative spreadsheets and documents. I’ve seen creative cleaning solutions and gardens….creativity is a mindset.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.mrc-art.com
• Instagram: @missyreitnercameron
• Other: http://www.thebunkerslo.com

Image Credits
The bunker picture photo by Stephen Heraldo
Artist Photo by Richard Fusillo