Narrator Criteria
My objective with this project is to collect the life stores of self-supporting working artists/craftspeople in visual arts. I am seeking artists and who
- Have been (mostly) self-supporting for at least 10 years;
- Do not rely fully on an agent or representation;
- Are not faculty at a college or university
- Bonus! While many of my interviews will be with artists from LA and the Bay Area, I am particularly interested in interviewing artist who live in rural areas.
Scheduling interviews:
I live in Los Angeles and frequently visit Santa Cruz and the Bay Area, if you live in any of those surrounding areas scheduling interviews will be fairly easy. If you don't, I am planning on traveling in the Fall of 2015 and will be looking for artists that live in the western states. In particular:
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Colorado
- Washington
- Oregon
A note on the east coast - not to leave you out, but at this time I am not planning a trip back east. But don't let that stop you from contacting me, you never know...the airline fairy may drop a ticket to New York on me.
What to expect:
You may have been interviewed for a podcast, website or other publication, but please keep in mind that an oral history interview is a bit different and requires a little bit more of a commitment. If you would like to participate in this project I will be asking the following of you:
- Your time (obviously!) If you are available and time permits, ideally I would like to schedule multiple sessions and ask that at minimum each session be an hour and a half. Oral history takes time and I want to provide as much time as possible for your story to unfold. However, if just the thought of giving up an hour gives you anxiety attacks or makes you angry, then now may not be the best time to be interviewed for an oral history. With all of that in mind, I understand that you are a working artist and your time is precious. I will respect your time by showing up at our agreed upon hour and be ready to hit the record button.
- Pictures. I will ask you to provide photos of you and your work. I absolutely love old photos, so if you have pictures of yourself from when you were a child, great! Even better if they show you doing something creative. Really, anything you want added to your page on this website is fine with me!
- Be ready to talk. Your history is what makes you you and that's why I'm interviewing you. If you are concerned that you don't have a story to tell because you had a happy childhood in suburbia, get over it. Most people have had ordinary childhoods. Yes, some people have had extraordinary upbringings, were raising traveling the world and have Indian Jones-like stories to tell. Most people weren't and don't. Some artists have known they were artists since they were 5 years old. Others didn't discover they were artists until well into adulthood. Everyone's story will be different and I am interested in hearing about what brought you to where you are today.
- Release form. These interviews will eventually live in a repository of some kind; they will not be with me forever. For any repository to be able to provide unfettered access to this collection they must have release forms. Signing a release for is standard for oral history interviews.
- Transcripts. I plan to conduct some fundraising to have the interviews transcribed, but this may take some time. When (hopefully!) this happens I will be asking you to review the transcripts.
What are we gonna talk about??
- An artist’s experience and development with their art/craft as children and the people and experiences that supported and inspired their development
- How they see their work in terms of contributions to their medium.
- Why they chose to be a working artist.
- Day to day life in the studio
- How he or she transitioned to becoming a full time artist.
If you or someone you know fits this criteria and would like to participate in this project, please send me a message.