We recently connected with Ness Kent and have shared our conversation below.
Ness, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Mess Arts, a New Orleans youth arts non profit, has been the most thrilling, heart warming, and meaningful project I have worked on in my creative career. This work with the young artists in our community has been impactful to me in ways that are hard to fully express in words for my art practice and personal growth. My heart is filled to the brim with love and joy from the community that has blossomed—where we can all express ourselves and grow together through the arts. Below is our mission, and origin story of the organization and the project at large.
Mess Arts is a queer-led visual arts program with a special focus on youth leadership, safe spaces, and community. We are a 501(c)(3) non profit arts organization that offers high quality arts education, centering youth voice and leadership. We offer a range of classes, camps, and events all on a sliding scale and scholarship basis, ensuring equity. At Mess Arts, process over product is highly valued, along with the community-building power of the arts! Mess Arts allows for the creation of safe and joyful space so young artists can express themselves freely, and actualize their own wild and wonderful ideas, creating a sense of empowerment within all who participate.
Back in 2022, I, Ness Kent (they/them), Mess Arts Executive Director and Co-Founder, along with Mahala Miller (she/her), Co-Founder, started a backyard arts camp in our shotgun Bywater home. What started as day camps during school vacations, quickly progressed into recurring monthly youth classes as well as adult workshops and private lessons. Since then, Mess Arts has become a registered non-profit organization with a permanent space in the 7 th Ward, led by myself and the Mess Arts team. Mess Arts offers myriad programs ranging from Open Studio to Community Art Nights, and holds a unique place in the art landscape of New Orleans.
Ness, 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?
My name is Ness, I am a 27-year-old queer, non-binary artist (they/them) living and working creatively in New Orleans. I see Mess Arts, the non profit I founded and run, as my art practice—a sculptural and conceptual medium built through collaboration with the community. Originally from Seattle, Washington, I spent my childhood picking apples, digging holes in the forest, and chasing slugs. After earning a BFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design, I moved back to Seattle, where I worked as the public projects fabrication lead at the John Grade Studio, all while baking many many pies with my grandma.
I moved to New Orleans in 2020 and unexpectedly discovered my true passion: working with youth in the arts. Teaching kids wasn’t something I planned on, but it turned out to be the most refreshing, creative experience of my life thus far. It was a breath of fresh air for me as an artist- I felt like I got to be around real magic everyday. My curiosity was piqued. I was able to push the envelope on what can be taught as an independant maker, involving youth in projects like wood-fired ceramics, iron pours, mosaics, and other public works—projects that we could all explore together. The following year, Mess Arts was born—a small backyard arts program out of our house that quickly grew into an established nonprofit centered on youth leadership in the arts.
We now have a beautiful community of young artists and families who are deeply invested in the program. It’s been incredible to watch as we give youth a platform to express their ideas and creativity, showing that not only they truly have something important to say, but we are here to listen.
At Mess Arts, we serve around 150 kids a year, offering after-school programming, summer camps, community art nights, and open studio space for those who want to develop their craft. We also provide leadership opportunities where youth voices are at the forefront of our programming, involved in brainstorming, planning, and execution.
It has been and continues to be deeply rewarding to see our young people find their voices and contribute to something bigger than themselves. It reminds me how invaluable it is to give youth space to create, express joy, and explore. That opportunity, regardless of age, is transformative—not just for them, but for the entire community. I truly believe the art we’re building now is laying the groundwork for a brighter, more hopeful future-centered around creativity, joy, and love.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, being a creative is rooted in a practice of sharing joy and magic with the world around me every day- which I primarily find through collaboration.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have the privilege of not only creating art with, but also being surrounded by the most curious, creative, and innovative artists around- who happen to be ages 5-10. Youth have the ability to bring such a fresh and uninhibited perspective to everything they do. In the studio, we’re not just learning together; we’re collaborating, sharing ideas, and creating something truly brilliant.
Youth have an incredibly open view of the world, and their emotional honesty allows them to express themselves in the most genuine and free way possible. For me as a maker, and a person, it’s inspiring every day to see how they approach the world without limitations. This is directly showcased in their artwork. Ideas are endless, confidence and execution are bright, beaming, and boundless. We are able to talk about and explore everything from the lifespans of jellyfish to imagining what a living room made of lava might look like—and then we actually figure out how to make it happen through art. In that space, anything is possible. Some ideas are small but mighty, like how to depict a dangerous snail with a gumball machine close by. Others are larger than life, like “Underwater Taco Cat” –our youth-run art market, vended, and planned by youth where they sell their wares and keep the profits. For each and every vision, we break down those ideas, find solutions, and figure out how to bring them to life through our community.
What’s incredibly rewarding as an artist myself, is the sense of growth I get to see with these makers. Yes, I’m teaching them, but they are teaching us just as much. It’s an ongoing exchange that makes the experience incredibly rewarding and magnetic. Some of these artists I have had the joy to work alongside and collaborate with for 3 years, most we met at 5 and now are 8, and they are continuously blooming- along with the influx of new makers and ideas that join our studio. We’re all learning together in this dynamic, an intergenerational artist community where we can watch each other grow, and stretch like bubblegum. It’s a space of shared voice, creativity, and mutual inspiration, and that exchange is what makes it all so beautiful.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
For me, the key is community. When we come together, we have the power to create a more dynamic and supportive creative ecosystem. By sharing resources and ideas—regardless of age—we can elevate each other and make incredible things happen.
At Mess Arts, I see my role as Director to use the resources we have to help directly amplify the ideas and voices of the youth we work with. They bring such fresh, amazing perspectives, and it’s our job to figure out how to help bring those ideas to life, while creating opportunities for the youth to lead them.. Sometimes, as the adult in the room, I have a different set of tools and experiences, the youth, their own set to offer, but it’s about how we all collaborate and use our collective resources to make something real.
One of my favorite recent examples of this in action was our youth having our first art gallery opening, “Inner World” at The Front Gallery. This all started months prior when Soleil, a blossoming young nine year old artist in our program, and I went for our usual “Boba brainstorms,” where we’d meet up for Boba with some paper, and talk about ideas for the program. What did we want to see next? What could we dream up? One day, we started talking about this amazing concept for an art show at a real gallery—We couldn’t stop talking about how great it would be to show all the adults- that kids can do what grown ups can do. We left our boba brainstorm with the goal of having a show and knowing that somehow somewhere it would appear. She had the vision, and Mess Arts helped mobilize the resources—reaching out to local artists and galleries, connecting with the right people. In September, we got the call for a show opening in October- everyone came together, we wrote our individual and collective statements, gathered our work, and made it happen. Together, we pulled it off, and the show ended up being a huge success, a show that was planned, curated, and showcasing young artists in our program, with a paired direct conceptual statement of environmental activism and climate crisis.
What struck me most was how we all came together to make it happen. It wasn’t just me leading the way; it was a true collaboration of the Mess Arts community, with everyone playing a role- families, kids, and local artists. The experience really reinforced for me that the power of community lies in listening to one another, sharing resources, and continuously ensuring that those who may not have a voice are uplifted and given a platform. When we come together like that, there’s no limit to what we can achieve- we can be real magic.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://messarts.org
- Instagram: @messarts_ @nesssss__
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19SmJzapWM/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ness-kent-77b45a27a/
