Entry 003

Entry 003

Picking & choosing my opportunities as an artist + entrepreneur.

A lot of time in this life as an artist entrepreneur I feel like I have to do a lot on my own without any help. But, over these past 12-15 months I’ve been learning how to leverage myself and learn the game of being an artist. It’s not just about painting pictures or doing art shows; it’s really a lifestyle that encompasses a plethora of things you have to do to reach your full potential.

Picking and choosing the projects I take on are important because they can change your path as an artist and put you through different experiences that can affect you for life. Over this last year, I’ve taken on a project to design a mural for the basketball courts at Patterson Park. This is a huge public art project that takes a bunch of planning, fundraising and capital to complete. I didn’t know what it would take to get to this point, but I’m glad I embraced it because I unlocked some new keys to this art game.

Working behind the scenes, I learned how much money that the state and government provides for art. This also opened my eyes to how important the arts are to society. Millions of dollars are provided in state budgets to go to artists to beautify this world. And specifically for this mural project, I was awarded a 4-figure and 5-figure grant to fund the project. The process wasn’t easy, but no one said it would be easy to get what you truly want. Just think, I participated in public hearings for the grants to be awarded. The Creativity Grant & the Public Artworks Across Maryland Grant were the grants awarded to me. You know I have to plug other artists in, so they can apply for them as well.

Gaining the attention of the community has been a task as well. You have to be unapologetically persistent to get what you need. From the media day with the local news stations to building social media campaigns, all of those things are necessary to get your project out to the public. Learning about how important press releases are for communicating was a real eye opener on the tools that are essential for success.

Above all, I’ve learned I had to deny opportunities that have come my way this year. I can’t do it all, and I have to make those tough decisions on what I want to pursue. This mural project has gained my attention because I know of the benefit and impact it will have for the Baltimore community. My main mission as an artist is to use my work to provide change and impact the world through my visuals. And I know with this project, that is happening right before my eyes.

Updates on the mural project:

With just being awarded the grant money for the project, we now have enough capital to fund the project. We ran into communication issues with the city contractor for coating the courts the wrong color, so we will be pushing back the install for the courts to the end of summer/early Fall 2022 because the coating has to be redone before painting the mural. As Nip says, The Marathon Continues. But, I know it will be worth it.

We all have decisions to make in this life. Own your decision & follow it through until the end.

Until next time,

JLaw