Every year I make some seasonal crafts and artwork and sell them at a few local sales.

This year i am selling at the UICA's Holiday Market and Urban Lights on the Avenue for the Arts. Between moving into a new place and trying to get everything completed, i wasn't able to get as many hats finished as i would have liked but the ornaments are pretty cute.

Both events give me a chance to visit with.... well, pretty much everyone.... and did i mentioned the trading? Trading artwork is one of the best ways of finding rad Holiday presents. I can't wait to see what this year has in store...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=915161397278&set=at.906296617368.2515281.21707330.537712396&ref=nf

Community Paint In....

This week I had the pleasure of working with Sarah Scott coordinating a community painting project, "Lift Up Lift."

Residents, supporters and neighbors are invited to paint one (or a few) of the 150 wooden birds that will be intalled into the lobby at Verne Barry Place. The first of three opporunities to participate we had a great turn out with close to 30 participants. Kids, adults volunteers and visiting Art Prize Artist Dan stopped in to say hi!

Here are a few great pictures from the event on our Avenue for the Arts Flickr page.

Portrait Her- Winter 2007

I am always making stuff.... I like to rumpelstiltskin out a hat or two when i watch movies or sewing a hundred bird ornaments for holiday presents. Occasionally i will attack objects with paint and have had a great time painting murals on the walls of my friends walls ....

However this summer i have started a series of prints...well two distinct bodies of work to be exact. One for fun and whimsy; the other for creative juicing.

It has been over 2 years since i have completed an entire body of prints so the undertaking has been fantastic... good to spiff up the old drawing skills. The vision of what i want to the work to look like is super strong and i am excited to get to the part when i am cutting the plates...(my favorite part!)

Since i know i am going to be showing the work sometime in the next year i have started to put out feelers for potential show spaces and opportunities....I opened a profile on ArtPeers, started thinking about regional exhibitions such as Festival,West Michigan Regional Competition and Muskegon Art Museum and i am considering trying to find a gallery that might let me show sometime in late winter.... Most importantly the work itself is at the forefront of my evening time and i have been enjoying every minute of it...

As soon as the work is printed i will post a few sneak peeks! To check out older work click here.

Fantastic Fantabulous Avenue

Summer is the time of year I love the best.... because it is the time we host the Avenue for the Arts Market on South Division. This summer we have a smaller crew coordinating the Market with intern Amber Stout kicking butt on administrative duty and some promotions and Juliet Bennett Rylah coordinating bands.... of course there is a slew of volunteers.

As Market Coordinator I keep it all running smoothly including quite a bit of the behind the scenes activites, and coordinating "day of" activities.

This summer we have been spending lots of time revisioning for 2011 including conducting a few focus groups, vendor surveys and some massive brain time....

Here are some great pics from June and July's Market dates.

Good Business is the Best Art

I really enjoy asking people questions. Give me a patient interesting person, a few hours and the liberty to ask whatever I want and I am 4 steps away from total happiness. Likewise topics that touch on the arts, local economies and entrepreneurialism are key themes to my work and never cease to be fascinating.



Needless to say when I was approached by Erin Wilson from The Wealthy Theater/ ArtPeers to moderate a panel titled "Good Business is the Best Art" I was pretty geeked...



I was given liberty to touch up some of the proposed questions and whal-ah-whal-ah got to lay down some pretty interesting ideas with some GR creative movers and shakers.



At times the conversation seemed to be preaching to the converted, the audience and panelists seemed to be on the same wave length. Frankly, i felt the dividing line came down to those artists whose work is service/ performance based and those who create object or ephemeral fine art. The revolution of the creative class in Grand Rapids will not come down to billable hours but perhaps the beginning of a shift is how GR creatives recognize their worth and measure it not just locally but regionally and nationally.



Artists on both sides of the coin, service and object based producers should recognize that due to a poor local market the sphere for sales is certainly not centered in a West Michigan market.

Therefore sales, goods and services may have to be exported to render greater income value to those who produce them. With sites like Etsy up and storming, along with the capability of individuals to produce, distribute and book music performances more becoming pervasive i think that hope is on the horizon.



Finally, I think that there is one final issue that never gets touched in conversations about the arts and business.



You have to be good.



At both creating and marketing your work. There must be an equal partnership between your skill level as an artist and your savvy as a business person. And both of these skills can be learned and taught but it is with extreme dedication that they begin to transform personal economic platforms. I believe that the new economic model is that an artist must always be their best sales person, they must view the creation and distribution of their work as well.... work.


Each and every time I have the opportunity to talk about and listen to artists compare and contrast ideas around the issues of art and economics it helps me to resolve my own ideas on the topic.... So special thanks to CMC, Rapid Growth and ArtPeers.



Here is the write up on Rapid Growth and an article in the Rapidian by Denise Cheng.

Festival and the Avenue for the Arts.

A few years ago I saw a fantastic imge from Spain of festival goers wearing large paper mache heads standing in the center of a field of yellow flowers. The image was great, but the heads themselves were thrilling.... they had a comical/regal apperance and my imagination went into hyper drive... the possiblies seemed really exciting....

Of course I never had the time/ reason to create a large paper Mache' head...

Fast forward a to a March potluck for the Avenue for the Arts residents. We were discussing how Avenue for the Arts should participate in Festival. Resident, Rachel VanDyke suggested that the Avenue create large paper mache' heads and wear them as part of the performance for the opening of Festival. I was super stoked when the group decided to go for it...



After a few months of buidling big heads on June 4th we got to break them out and parade downtown as part of the 2010 festival opening.

Here are a few pictures from the event and a brief video that was posted in the Grand Rapids Press and a link to a story one of our interns wrote for the Avenue for the Arts website.

Young Women, Strong Leaders

Today I had the opportunity to be a mentor at the Michigan Women's Commission, conference called "Young Women, Strong Leaders" at GVSU. There were well over 150 strong, fantastic young women from West Michigan High schools and Universities. My afternoon started with lunch and then we had two "roundtable" style discussions that were split by career paths.

The panel I was on included:
Shelley Irwin, WGVU
Denise Cheng, CMC
DeDe Esque
Emily Stoddard Furrow, DVQ Studios

During the discussion each panelist was asked to give a piece of advice for these young women. I always fall back on the same three fold advice when talking to college classes and students......

First, study abroad. To cut to the quick, while in college you can take out a low interest loan to help pay for the costs of forgien travel. Trying to budget for world travel out of pocket is extremely difficult. In addition, colleges find ways to introduce students to international cultures in ways that are not accessible to regular travelers, the forge long lasting relationships with people they meet while traveling and, frankly, seem a bit more well rounded.

Second, take time to experience a variety of internships or regularly volunteer. A great way to network, a fantastic way to explore types of working enviroments and one of the best ways you can increase the quality of your resume references.

Finally, double major! I haul this peice of advice out each time i speak with University or High School students in the visual arts field.... Sure find something you love to do, the thing that you are committed and passionate about. And then find a second degree that is complimentary and practical. Most of the time a double major means only 1-2 more semesters of study and often leads to greater opporunties in the future. I think a great example of this is getting a Fine Arts Illustration or Graphic Design Degree and pairing it with a Marketing Degree. They are complimentary degrees that are enhanced by a well rounded knowledge base. Like studying both sides of the same coin.

Phew! Special thanks to Emily and Grand Valley State University for the invitation to participate!

The Basics

For over six years I have focused my interest on helping creative communities grow.

After graduating with a BFA from Grand Valley State University I began working with several grassroots art initiatives. These experiences led me to pursue an MPA with an emphasis on nonprofit management also at Grand Valley State University. In 2005 I began promoting and working with the Avenue for the Arts as a part of the Dwelling Place Neighborhood Revitalization Department in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I am a practicing artist who shows regularly. I work towards providing accessible methods for artists to publicly exhibit work; encouraging artists to develop their professional skills and facilitating relationships that help artists and the public creatively grow communities.

I also serve on the board of the Division Avenue Arts Cooperative, the Heartside Business Association, the Heartside Neighborhood Association and am one of the marketing co-chairs for YNPN-GR.

www,.facebook.com/jenn.schaub

twitter.com/jennschaub