Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shori Sims. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Shori, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I earn a living as a full-time art teacher, which has its pros and cons. I really enjoy working with kids and helping them to build their appreciation of art and their creativity, but often the job is as much about managing the students as children and helping them to build their capacity as learners and emotional human beings. That’s also a con: I don’t work on my own artwork as a teacher during school hours because especially when teaching middle schoolers (my age group) they can be destructive. I don’t want to lose a piece of work I spent days on to someone’s poor impulse control, even if it’s understandable from a developmental stand[point. Luckily though, I get a decent amount of time off and a whole two to three months PTO thanks to the summer break.
In the meantime, I do commissions and sell work I make on the side as I’m still working to engage with my own practice. I haven’t been able to focus on the research-based areas of my work to my desire, with most of my mental capacity being spent on my job, but. a major milestone for me was coming to the understanding that I’m going to have to do what I have to before I have the freedom to do what I really want full time. It’s good to have a steady art-based/art-adjacent career while I’m figuring out the rest of my life. There’s a shortage of teachers in the United States, so it’s not hard to find teaching jobs, but art teaching jobs might not be so plentiful. As a member of Teach for America, I have something like an upper hand. Outside of wanting to help others, loving the children, and wanting to see them grow: I became a teacher because I want a skill and a marketable trade beyond my creative and artistic skills. I think this is one of the better places to land after graduate school: with healthcare and a steady paycheck.

Shori, 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 Shori Sims, and I’ve been an artist for my entire life. I started with drawing and painting (which still form an important area of my artistic practice) when I was a toddler, and I always knew it was the thing I had to do for the rest of my life. I’m a writer and began as a musician. I have a real passion for all forms of art. As a kid, I started doing digital commissions on Tumblr, and from then on I’ve been selling my art in a lot of different forms and taking larger commissions ever since.

I used to think I was more attracted to 2D art and illustration until I went to college and started experimenting with sculpture/3D, and new media not long after. I’ve moved on to focusing on sculpture and installation work, honing skills in video production, modeling, AV, photography, and editing. All of this gives me the skills I need to survive as an artist in the world and create things of the highest quality. A lot of the time, I’m solving problems for clients as far as bringing their ideas to life in a way they didn’t consider before or couldn’t see. As an educator, I’m working to solve more complex issues for kids they might not have realized they have: supporting their socio-emotional learning and giving them an outlet. That’s one of the things I’m proudest of and something I want my potential clients and the people who are interested in the work I’m doing to think about: to remember that art can solve problems that you didn’t even realize you had.

I’m so proud of the way my work holds and makes space in a room or sparks understanding for someone about an idea they’re just becoming sensitive to. I want people to be aware of the unique qualities of the mediums I’m working in: videos, sculptures, installations—and how they can bring beauty into their lives. We see so many options so often they pass in front of us like nothing—we don’t even notice them I’m proud of the way my art builds spaces for new worlds to exist, to help people think more expansively.

I’m excited for the future, and to see what’s next for me. I think I’m still getting my head on straight after the whirlwind that was being in school for a straight 6 years: I’m still not sure exactly where I want to see myself in five years, but I think that I’m working towards something good.

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

Artists need places to work and money to support themselves. The worth of artists and their ability to survive shouldn’t be contingent on their ability to produce products for capitalism. There’s a program getting started in New York City to provide a base monthly income for artists in an effort to rebuild an beautify the city: as far as I’m concerned, this needs to be federal. Art and such enrichment is essential to people’s quality of life: artists’ ability to provide these things needs to be protected. This is how you create a thriving creative ecosystem: by giving artists the ability to survive outside of working in advertising or “baristas” (so often the joke).
Also, we need to support the arts in schools, for more than how they might just make you money. I feel so disappointed and frustrated when I see people promoting the arts just as they relate to a possible career path: human beings need art to be fulfilled. Art is all around us, to the point we don’t even notice it: institutions should be more willing to fund and promote art for art’s sake. In a nation hurtling increasingly quickly towards fascism, this is really the only way forward in the cultural sense.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I have no idea what those are. So the work is worth more because someone has a line of code saying that it belongs solely to them? Well, I have a mouse that right-clicks and a “save image” option. I mean, knock yourself out, but like AI; we understand that NFTs themselves are bad for the environment just like any blockchain-derived item. I don’t see the point. To be honest, it appears to just be art for nerds.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shorisims.com
• Instagram: @h4l13420
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoris/

Image Credits

Photo credit for additional photographst: Chrid Uhren