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Artists United

Dayton Artists United: William Cunningham

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Photo by Alex Kamanandi

Artist United interview with William Cunningham, artist and curator of The Orphanage Gallery, 73 N. Dutoit St., Dayton Ohio 45402

DAU—So, Bill, are you from Dayton?

WC—I am. I lived other places, like Atlanta back in the early 90s and I travel a lot, so I get to see many different things.

DAU—What do you like about Dayton?

WC—I’m kind of funny about Dayton. I know a lot about Dayton and its history. I used to run Gallery 257 back in the late 80s, it was located where Press Coffeehouse is now.

But Dayton frustrates me. The Dayton art community frustrates me. There is so much potential there and it languishes as it has no supporting infrastructure for artist cultural production.

DAU—Talk to me about that. What do you mean by infrastructure?

WC—Mostly, I mean exhibition space. There is not enough open exhibition space for the artists we have, and we have a tremendous number of artists here in Dayton. As artists, we need places to see lots of various styles of art. We don’t get to go see each other’s work as it evolves over time,  unless you drop by another artist’s studio, which are usually not open. Most artists have to get a show for their work to be seen. It’s hard here to get shows.

There are few galleries that will show newer artist work or even established artist work for that matter. Let’s say an artist creates say 30-40 works, maybe 5 of those are actually show-able.  Art is a process, and not everything you turn out is your best work, work that as an artist you would be willing to show. Sometimes you have something to say and it doesn’t come across in the first 20 attempts. Or in 20 works the language for the work is not developed enough to be understandable for the viewer. But if you could get those five-good works into a group show for example, you could start to build up to something in the form of a conversation based on the viewer feedback of the work.

DAU—So, if someone came to you and said “Bill, we want to foster the arts in Dayton, and we need some guidance.”

WC—I’d tell them  1) Set up an exhibition space that is open for emerging artists. A pop-up sort of thing. Something that turns over rapidly, once a week or once every two weeks. Just a wall with two works on it would work to increase visibility of an artist work. By alternating the space so there is something new every week, say 50 weeks a year this way there is always new energy in the art space. 2)  Have a looser curatorial process, don’t try to control what hangs to much let other people sign-up to curate shows of other artist work. This really helps as one person should not be allowed dictate what is good or bad. 3)  Don’t control the artists. Don’t put your finger on them and tell them what kind of art they have to show. But do guide them in matters like pricing. Every gallery is different every art space is also different over time pricing patterns will develop which provides a range which art sells well at that venue.

DAU—I’m hearing that you don’t like to be told what to do.

WC—Hell No! Anybody will tell you that. I’ve been called a renegade. I’ve been called worse than that. I speak my mind. I’m not going to say I like something if I don’t and there are a lot of things I don’t like. Some of the things I don’t like are based on my experience. Like, I’ve got a bias against juried art shows. I hate all juried shows.

DAU—Why is that?

WC—Most of the juried shows collect submission fees and then they give out a prize that’s worth a fraction of the money they collect. The rest goes to paying for the show usually in a space that is already paid for. It’s a cash machine that exploits the artists. It’s really nothing more than a cash grab scam that preys on artist. And the jurors are laughable in most cases. They get someone that’s high profile, not high profile in the art world, but someone that people recognize, or a person in the government to walk around and give out a prize to the winner based on what? And then the emerging artists have to explain to that person about the value of their art and what it’s about. Then the show just becomes a personality contest.

Some time ago, I had a work in an abstract show. The juror comes in, he’s all pompous and talking about “post-modern abstraction’ in this way that showed he has no idea what he was talking about. He walked around and talked down to all the artists. Then, he awarded the prize to landscape painting. A landscape, a plen air landscape at that,  with a duck at a pond.  A landscape painting won in an abstract show! Turned out the person who won was related to the juror,  go figure.

Most jurors are friends of the curator—it’s a scam to make money as they oftentimes get paid as well. How does a young artist know which juried show is legit? At the galleries I run we will never do a  juried show.

DAU—No juried shows ever?

WC—Well, there is an exception. We were in ArtFest in Beavercreek last year. That was a juried show done right. The judges were people who knew what they were about. Michael Roediger; Director and CEO of Dayton Art Institute,  (3rd year as a judge), Lisa Seibert; with Dayton Local (4th year as a judge), and Amy Kollar Anderson; Internationally recognized artist, MCACD 2018 grant recipient. Samantha was one of the staff members for ArtFest. And, in my opinion,  this show was fair in its judging.

The booth I worked with won Best Interactive. We showed Front Street artists and had a second half that gave away spun art t-shirts. I ran the gallery side, which also had a little gallery that was interactive. All the works inside were free, provided by artists in the area. It was a good event.    

DAU—Samantha? You mean Samantha Mang?

WC—She’s part of ArtFest. She’s good people.

DAU—She’s co-curating the Artists United group show with you.  Thank you for that. I really liked what happened at the Artists United gathering where you offered The Orphanage for a group show.

WC— You wanted a show. I have an art space. I like what Artists United is doing. It’s like what The Orphanage does in some ways.  Artists United doesn’t charge a fee to be a member, right? The Orphanage has a zero-profit gallery model: $0 submission fees and $0 commission fees. Our mission is to provide a place for artist to show and sell work. Sales of  any work from an artist help support the artist. Our rules are simple: the artist must be present at the show’s opening. The artist, especially emerging artists, needs to mingle with other artists and art patrons. See there’s the network thing we have in common. Artists need to meet people in the public places away from the art studio. How else are they going to sell art? The gallery is supported by the art community attending the shows. We don’t handle any sales of artists’ work: the artists sell their work. But last year, at the galleries, artists sold over 600 works. We don’t take a cut all of that money, it all went into the pockets of the artists.

Let’s say you’re an artist, and you have your work in a group show, like the Artist United show that is coming up. You meet people, maybe you sell some art. If people like your work, they’ll  come to your studio. When you’ve built an audience, you can host an open studio event. People buy more art at events.  Group shows at The Orphanage broaden the exposure for everybody involved. This Artist United show already has 45 artist signed on and I expect a few more before it opens.

One of pieces from Pseudo Bibliography of Imaginary Friends a series of work from a couple of years ago where Bill Cunningham mixed two forms of bad art vintage snapshots and public domain clipart to create a new work.

Also, when you have your work in a group show, like the upcoming Artists United show on March 6, you see the work of other artists. You get to talk to each other about art. I love to talk to other artists about art. When artists talk about art, they don’t put a value on it, like “Hey, that could win a prize at a juried show with that work.” No, they talk about the work. The process. What brush did you use to get that effect? What inspired this thing? These sorts of things. Which helps artists expand what they are already doing. As they gain new information, their work becomes better, even if they do not use the ideas they learned about. The conversations, the exposure to other artists still had an influence on them. 

When artists participate in a group show they learn how a gallery operates. How to interact with the public. How to price their work. They watch what sells and what doesn’t. They look at how the show is put together—why did some works hang together? There are a lot of things that aren’t being taught. We have great art programs here. Sinclair has a strong art department, so does Wright State, so does the University of Dayton. The University of Dayton is the only one that teaches the business in some of its art classes.

The starving artist concept is a myth and based in propaganda. We need to stop selling it. Let’s stop charging $80,000 per year to teach kids how to copy some dead artists. We don’t need more academic art that says nothing. I want to look at art that says something. Art that says something I have never thought about before. Even if the work is reductive,  I am looking at art. Folk art, unschooled art, raw talent with things to say. These are the works that end up in museums. Original thoughts. Fun art. Art should be fun. It should be interesting. It should have something to say.

Art schools should teach how to mount a show, how to preserve work, how to pack and ship something like a painting. How to pay the bills as an artist. Every artist has a market. How do you find yours? This is what The Orphanage is exploring. It’s an entirely new gallery model.

DAU—How did you come to start The Orphanage?

WC–We had the space, in between the studios the hallway was just wasted space. We decided to treat those walls as pop-up art space in the beginning. The early shows at The Orphanage were all new local painters who had never shown work before. Those early group shows let more artists gain the art showing skills and gallery skills I mentioned earlier. These shows let them meet each other and broaden their networks. People coming to the gallery got to see some stuff they’d never seen before. We showed some of the Front St artists who hadn’t shown before. We introduced them to each other and the public. Since opening Front St. has energy. People are coming to see what’s new each month. There was a time when first Friday had only 20 people walking around now some of the shows have almost 1000 people. It’s growing all the time.   

Front St. used to be a factory, the space where The Orphanage is was the daycare center, so it seemed right, you know, to start showing new artists here. We do 12 shows a year, one a month. We’re open, technically open, not just unlocked, three days a month: First Friday, Saturday After First Friday  and Third Sunday. Last year we sold 600 works, and that doesn’t include the Christmas gift show.  Most of those 600 works sold during First Friday,  and the rest for the most  were Third Sunday. This year we have some big Saturday events in the works. I expect that day will pick up as well.

All in all,  I would say around 450 plus works sold during those 11 First Fridays last year. This year, since January and February are slower, I can say the number of works sold has doubled from last year. The Gallery is actually two galleries The Orphanage and Us and Them. Us and Them also contributed to those numbers and sold about 150 works last year. Us and Them only shows new artist work. But look at those numbers and tell me people are not buying art in Dayton. 

Photo by Alex Kamanandi

DAU—Those are impressive numbers. You’ve talked about The Orphanage, let’s talk about you for a bit. Tell me about your work.

WC–  Me? I do a little of everything. I’ve done sculpture, painting, writing. I’m well known in stage magic and mentalism. I’ve been an artist all my life, I have been doing art all my life. I didn’t study art in school. I studied history, philosophy, psychology, anthropology and archeology, but I couldn’t walk away from art.  I started buying and collecting art before I was 18. Art has always been there, in my life. Art makes me ask the question – why? Why spend your life thinking about whether you should do something or not? Art says, “why not?” So, do it.  Art is all about doing stuff, as an artist. Doing, not talking about it. 

DAU—Tell me some of your favorite artists.

WC–Peter Gallo, Mike Cockrill, Chris Martin, Thomas Nozkowski, Stanley Whitney. These are NY painters for the most part. I also like the work Sharon Butler, she writes a great blog called “Two Coats of Paint,” you should read that.

I like NY for art. The cost of living there is astronomical. That’s one thing about Dayton, you can live here. Of course, it effects your thinking. If your living in NY and  have to make 8-12 grand a month to pay for your studio and living expenses, you don’t mess around. You work in your studio; you network and talk to people in the industry. Art is a business, there’s no way to take the money out of it and still eat.

But art is more than a way to make money: it’s a cultural commentary, its documentation, its ideas in action. That’s why I love The Little Gallery, which is a micro gallery movement that is free to use by anyone who likes art.  The Little Gallery motto is make art, take art, leave art.  I built these galleries with two other artisans,  Greg Seitz and Cayman K. We’ve placed eight in the surrounding communities. These galleries are helping people by giving them an outlet for small works and getting people to collect art. All of the works at The Little Gallery are provided by artists for free.

DAU—Greg and Cayman K are artists here?

WC—Yeah, Greg Seitz is here in The Orphanage, Cayman K is across the way in The Front St complex. Anyway, the first Little Gallery is hanging outside The Orphanage on the building.

If you want art, it’s around and some of it can be found for free. A small work by a local artist you picked up at a Little Gallery is way better than going out and buying some formulaic painting that looks like something Picasso did, something that has been copied for 90 years. The work does not always need to be big to have importance and wall power. Some of the works I have seen in The Little Gallery have these traits.

DAU—But, just a bit of argument here. Sometimes people want something that is just pretty, and maybe matches their couch.

WC—No! If you start down that road, you’re done, and it will cost you more in the long run. Let’s say,  you have a gorgeous oriental rug, you don’t put a crap coffee table on it. You get a better table. Don’t just put something pretty on your wall to fill a space. Put Art on your wall.  Look at art, not pretty pictures. I am not saying art can’t be pretty. It can be pretty, but it shouldn’t be a pond and a duck pretty. It has to be authentic. It elevates you, having art around you makes you better, more thoughtful, more a part of the world. If you surround yourself with crap, all you’ll be able to see is crap. You won’t be able to see the difference. Treat yourself as something valuable, surround yourself with art.

85% of people think art is expensive. This way of thinking needs to be changed.  There is work you can buy, here at The Orphanage gallery, at every show, that is not expensive.  The sale of those works helps local, emerging artists. There is work you can take from The Little Gallery that is free and you’re welcome to take it just because you like it. People can have real art in their life. Speaking of which, Samantha Mang, who we spoke about earlier, just added a dozen of small salt paintings to the Little Gallery.  Those are available right now, for you to just take if you like them.

DAU—Bill, how can people find you?

WC—I’m on Facebook Bill Montana Artist and the William Cunningham Page and Instagram @bllmontana

DAU–William Cunningham, Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.  Thanks for the work you do for emerging artists and for hosting The Artists United group show, March 6 at The Orphanage. 

Dayton Artists United: Cydnie Deed-King

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Cydnie Deed-King is a visual artist, mother, teacher and gallery curator. She grabbed a coffee with Dayton Artists United to talk about art and being an artist.

 

DAU—How long have you been an artist?

 

CDK—My whole life. My entire family are artists. Both my parents and my sister Taylor are artists.

 

DAU: How is that? I mean, artists work to express an individual point of view. That seems like it would be harder in a family of artists.

 

CDK—I don’t know, it hasn’t seemed harder. In some ways its easier. We had an exhibition recently,  at Tend and Flourish, all of us together. That was really empowering, watching people react, placing our works together. They are really quite different. My sister does portraits. I do nature inspired scenes. Our works are unique but placed together they showed our bond.

 

DAU—In other artist interviews, the artists have expressed the difficulty in claiming the title artist, some say they feel like an imposter. Did growing up in a family artists make it easier to claim the title artist?

 

CDK—I have always felt like an artist, but I struggle with the business of art. I have sold work. That’s hard, it’s like giving away a baby, and I know what I am talking about, now that I am a mother. Each work is unique, an original. I won’t have that experience again, even if I paint the same subject. So, it’s hard to let them go, but I hug and kiss them goodbye and put on a happy face. They are going to a good home. Sometimes, people send me a picture of where they have put the work. I can see where it lives. Sometimes they write and tell me how much they love it, how people always admire it. That is nice. My work in someone’s house.

 

DAU—Have you sold a lot of work?

 

CDK—I have let go about 100 pieces. My husband reminds me that there are very famous, revered artists that never sold a work, or only one work in their lifetime. Being an artist has all these things attached to it. When you tell people, you are an artist you can see them thinking “You won’t be famous until you die.”

 

DAU That’s a scary thought.

 

CDK—For me its not about being famous. Its about living in art, about being inspired.

 

DAU—What inspires you?

 

CDK—Nature. Human connections to nature. No matter how much we try to separate ourselves from it, we’re connected. We’re meant to be one. In my imagination people are botanicals, and I show that in my work. Although, just lately I have been working more with digital images, blending nature and technology.

 

DAU—What artists do you admire?

 

CDK—Living artists? Local Artists?

 

DAU—Any—who do you admire and why?

 

CDK—I really admire Jes McMillan, the mosaic artist. She has helped me so much. She’s mentored me on how to put a show together. She’s given me opportunities and continues to invite me to participate. On January 11, the exhibition Women Strong Soul Session opens at Tend and Flourish., I have a work in that show.

 

DAU—This article doesn’t go online until after Jan 11th—how long will the works be on view?

 

CDK—Until the end of February. It’s a great exhibition. There are talented women in Dayton.

 

DAU—Other artists you admire?

 

CDK—Julie Mehretu. She’s a New York artist that does these larger than life drawings. She shares her process in the work, it’s amazing. And my sister, Taylor Deed. Her work is so bold. She uses herself as a model, her face appears in the works. I admire her versatility, the emotion she portrays on the faces. She’s powerful.

When it comes to dead artists, Leonardo DaVinci. He never stopped. He didn’t limit himself to one thing but followed his curiosity. I find him so interesting. He was a vegetarian, and ambidextrous. Someone recently interpreted his notebooks, they copied and flipped them—because he wrote backwards—and I love reading them they are so detailed and so random. On one page he wrote “learn to draw the muscles of the shoulder” and “make soup” right next to each other. He never stopped learning.

DAU—Let’s talk about Dayton.

 

CDK-I have only lived here about 5 years. I came from St. Louis. It’s interesting to move from a large city to a smaller one. Everything is so close. And I love the park system. The Metroparks are great. I haven’t visited them all, but I want to. Other things about Dayton….I love Young’s Dairy. And I love the art scene. There is a lot happening here.

 

DAU—Talk to me about the art scene.

 

CDK—The Contemporary showed me the art scene in Dayton. I started there as a volunteer, and now I am a curatorial assistant.

 

DAU—What does that involve?

 

CDK—A little bit of everything. I help marketing events, hanging works, I write up materials: I help everybody. I’ve learned so much working there. Eva has a great curatorial eye, so working with her I’ve learned how to look at art not just for its own sake, but also for how it fits a show idea or its marketability. There’s a lot to think about in that respect. If you want to sell your art, you have to have saleable art. How big is it? Huge works are hard to sell to an individual.

 

DAU—Let’s change direction a bit—if you could add anything to the Dayton art community—if price were no object—what would you add?

 

CDK—An amusement park for artists! A big workspace with all kinds of cool equipment. Something large. That would be fun!

 

What we need, though, really need is something to teach young artists about the business of art. There is more to being an artist than creating pictures. You have to be an entrepreneur. We need to be taught to mount our work. We need to learn how to respond to a call for artists—does my work fit the show?

 

The Contemporary did something like that—it was called the ArtSource Fellows program. It engaged about 25 artists in a business of art program. I enjoyed it and learned a ton. Eva talks about bringing it back, she wants to foster artists. Unlimited funds would help that!

And since we’re dreaming, we need a massive art store with good pricing. There is an art supplycoming, I read about it. Hue House. Its going to be near the Catfe. We need that.

 

DAU—What would you like people to know about art?

 

CDK—I live by this mantra: “Support living artists, the dead don’t need it.” We’re out here trying to make a living.

DAU—Time for another subject shift. If your life was made into a movie, who would you want to play you?

 

CDK—Lupita Nyong’o or Michonne from The Walking Dead, you know, Danai Gurira. Yeah, either one of those would be good.

 

DAU—Tell me one scene from your life that would have to be included in the movie.

 

CDK—Meeting my husband, Alex. We met on the 1st day of college at freshman move in. The RA made us play a getting-to-know-you game of musical roommates. He called out things like “back to back” or “head to head” and you had to stand with a different partner each time with those parts of you touching. Alex and I were paired for ‘head to butt.” We’ve been together for eleven years, married for five.

 

DAU—And what would our movie be called?

 

CDK—Oh, that’s hard. If my life were a movie, it’d be called “Art of Madness” because I feel that a lot of artists go crazy on some level, such as internalizing everything around them, questioning their abilities, their decision to become an artist—and some even go so far as to take their own lives unfortunately. However, even out of all that inner turmoil or “madness” if you will, something beautiful comes from it, and it’s something that will make someone else stop in their tracks to take a second look. All artists (the ones that I know anyway) have a method to their own kind of craziness and use it to fuel their art. I definitely went through several moments where I questioned everything about myself as artist and whether or not I did the right things at the right time. I felt like I was going crazy, but I worked through my mental roadblocks and created art that was better than ever!

 

DAU—I believe it. I’ve seen your work. Cydnie Deed-King, Thank you so much!

 

CDK—Thank you.

 

DAU-Cydnie Deed- King is showing at Tend and Flourish until the end of February and also atArt at the Trace https://www.centervilleohio.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/2304/

starting February 1.

She will be artists of the month for the City of Centerville in August.

Her website is www.artisticspyder.wix.com/cydnie-deed

Instagram: @cydnie_ld_king

Email artisticspyder@aol.com

 

To read about other Dayton United artists, click here.

Dayton Artists United: CL Pauwels

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Cyndi has been writing since a school play she penned was produced on stage in the third grade. Her first short story appeared in print in 1989, and since then, her short fiction has appeared in Mock Turtle ‘zine, Over My Dead Body!, The View from Here (UK), and other journals. In 2009, Lammert Publishing released her non-fiction book, Historic Warren County: An Illustrated History. A personal essay “Swirly Happy” was chosen for the Sinclair Community College journal Flights in 2013, and Sugati Publications has selected two of her essays for their Reflections from Women anthology series. In addition to writing, Cyndi’s portfolio career includes book editing (The Enduring Legacy of Kahlil Gibran and The Essential Rihani), teaching freshman composition as an adjunct at Clark State Community College, and serving as assistant director for the Antioch Writers’ Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

DAU–Talk to me about your grandfather. I think I remember you saying he was a source of inspiration for you.

CLP—My parents divorced when I was very young, but I was fortunate to have two very loving and involved grandfathers to serve as great male role models. I don’t remember specifics, but my father’s father must have encouraged my early writing efforts. I guess I shared my scribblings with him, because after he died, my grandmother sent me a notebook where he’d kept all my handwritten pages over the years. That came at a time when I was just beginning to consider writing seriously, and it was a tremendous boost.

My grandparents were all extremely important in my early life, and I’ve commemorated each of them by using their names in my novels.

DAU– I know you have experience in the criminal justice system. You’ve been a dispatcher, a court liaison, a deputy clerk, and recently you’ve run for office on the democratic ticket in Greene County. And you’ve been a published author since 1989. And you teach. How do you manage to balance so many things and find time to write?

CLP—Quite honestly, there are far too many days when I don’t. And that’s my biggest frustration! I’d love to be able to write full time and still pay the bills, but that’s not happening. For now, I try to make an hour of each morning before the day job(s) as my time to write. I shoot for 1K words per day/5K per week. If I at least come close, I count that as a win.

Now if I were under agent contract and on deadline for this next book instead of working with my easy-going small-press publisher, things would be radically different…at least I like to imagine they would be.

DAU–Tell me about moving to Yellow Springs.

CLP—We’ve been in SW Ohio since 2004, in Yellow Springs since 2010. I half-jokingly tell people we chose this area because of the Ohio Renaissance Festival in Harveysburg. We’ve attended at least once almost every season for more than 20 years.

In reality, after our kids were off to college and on their own, we took the advice Hubby had been giving to his tech students and moved to an area with better opportunities in IT. Rust-belt Toledo was struggling mightily in those days as the auto industry bottomed out and many of the tech jobs dried up, too. The Dayton area – and with it, proximity to Columbus and Cincinnati – was a good choice for us.

DAU– I recently read that Air Force personnel call Dayton a “2 cry” posting. You cry when you get posted here, then you cry when you have to leave. What do you think about that? What are some things you like about the Dayton area? What would you miss most if had to leave?

CLP—Besides the RenFest mentioned earlier, as a writer, I’d dreamed of the Antioch Writers’ Workshop for years, and that meant Yellow Springs. I never thought I’d be fortunate enough to live here. While I love to visit the big city – our son lives in Chicago, I’m a small-town woman at heart. Dayton is close enough to Yellow Springs that we can enjoy the great restaurants and micro-breweries, theater, baseball (Go, Dragons!), the Dayton Art Institute…without having to live in the middle of a huge metropolitan area.

Much like I still hear about Toledo, whose downtown struggles like Dayton’s does, residents don’t realize the gem they have until it’s not within reach. Both of those cities have food, art, sports, music – and more community than they often get credit for. But mostly? I’d miss the people.

DAU–If you had to leave Dayton, where would you like to live and why?

CLP—Oooh…with or without a budget? Let’s see – Ireland, south of France, Tuscany, Sedona, Taos…basically, small-town, sustainable living with accessible art, music, theater, baseball – and warm weather! Okay, I know Irish weather can be iffy, but there are trade-offs.

DAU–I know you’ve been working on Jadz #3 and audiobooks. Talk to me about where you are now and what’s next

CLP—My publisher, Crossroad Press, is working diligently to bring many of their authors to audio books, and I’m in the queue with my first two Jadz novels, Forty & Out and Burned Bridges. For those who haven’t met her, Jadz is a female homicide detective in Toledo with a needy widowed mother, a drama-queen sister, and ex who doesn’t want to let go, and a fierce drive to prove herself in the testosterone-fueled world of a police department. My 20+ years working in the criminal justice system help me infuse reality into my stories so people don’t scold my words the way I scold Numbers and Boston Legal – I hope!

My current project is a prequel of sorts. As fellow local author TJ Turner (Lincoln’s Bodyguard, Land of Wolves, Angel in the Fog) says, I’m pulling a Star Wars and writing a story that takes place before Forty & Out. And while Jadz isn’t the main character in this one (working title: Unwanted Ties), she’s very involved in solving the central crime and readers will learn more about her early life.

DAU–I read an interview with another author recently who said 80% of the stuff you learn at conferences is crap. Among the crap he cited the advice that’s given to “write at the same time every day.” What are your thoughts on conferences, crap and writing at the same time every day?

CLP—I’ve already addressed the “write every day” adage. It’s not for me, and I don’t know how it could be for folks with small children and two jobs and aging parents and…and…. We all have to find what works for us at any given time. As for conferences – it depends. I was Assistant Director of the Antioch Writers’ Workshop for six years (until it closed up shop in 2018 (sniff!)), and a volunteer workfellow for three years before that. I don’t exaggerate when I say its unique blend of craft classes and intensive workshop sessions made me the writer I am today. That being said, I’ve yet to find another conference that equals the format and qualities of AWW. I’m still searching.

DAU–I met your furry friend recently. Have you always been a dog person?

CLP—We weren’t allowed to have animals in the house when I was growing up (except for one very short-residence dog…not sure how that happened!), so when I moved out, the first thing I did was adopt a kitten (easier for a college student than a dog). We’ve had both dogs and cats over the years, sometimes together, in various quantities. We also have a dozen chickens now!

Our last cat was with us 19-1/2 years after being born in our daughter’s bed. We’ve lost two of our most recent trio of dogs in the past two years, and the “furry friend” you mention, Indiana (he came with that name!) is 13-1/2. He technically belongs to our son – who did not learn the lesson about dogs in college until too late. Indiana’s been with us over nine years now on long-term foster care, and he’s likely our last canine companion. It’s just too hard to lose them.

DAU–What is one question you’ve always wanted to be asked but haven’t?

CLP—”What is the meaning of life…the universe…and everything?”

42, of course. ?

Thanks so much for including me in your round-up of Dayton-area artists!

DAU–Thanks for talking to me. CL Pauwels’ books are sold where all the best authors are found, and her website is https://clpauwels.com/

International Organization Seeks to Unite Artists

By

Curtis Bowman

I meet Curtis Bowman several months ago and she shared with me that she was part of an international arts organization that is working to connect artist across the world. As she was explained their tag line, “Artists who work alone create art. Artists who work together create change” I was intrigued.  This week Curtis and organizational founder and President Holly Million have been working to make those artist connections.  I asked Curtis to share some more info with me about Artists United:

 

What exactly is Artists United?

Artists United (AU) is an artist led nonprofit organization, headquartered in Oakland, CA, working throughout the United States and in 25 countries worldwide to empower individual artists to create excellent art and to unite all artists to create social change.  Artists United seeks to cross all disciplines, demographic lines, national borders and ages to build social cohesion by amplifying the collective voice and power of the worldwide artistic community.

What can local artists expect to gain from affiliation?

Artists United believes in the power of the network. Dayton has an impressive local network that made the events that are happening this week possible. Artist United will connect Dayton artists to Artists United members around the world. We’ll get to see some network interactions at events this week.

Sat, July 20 3-7pm  Artists United Networking Event at Tend and Flourish

The Dayton Artists United event kicks off the 16 City Confluence Tour. The event will showcase Dayton artists, connect artists to artists in other Artists United cities and offer an opportunity to meet Artists United Executive Director Holly Million. Event features live music, gallery displays, and the 2019 Artists United Call for artists in all media reveal.

Sun, July 21st 11am-4pm  Artists United at Third on Third

Artists United will joins other artists and artisans at the Third on Third Market. Stop by to talk to visiting film maker Holly Million, join Artists United, buy a t-shirt.

Mon, July 22nd 6-7:45pm Artists United Writers Forum at Downtown Dayton Metro Library

Audience Participatory discussion moderated by Furaha Henry-Jones.

Featured Writers: Valerie J. Lewis Coleman, C.L.Pauwels, Joyce Barnes, Fred Marion, M. Ruth Myers, Janet E. Irvin, Trudy Krisher, Meredith Doench, Albino Carrillo, and Tim Waggoner, and via video-conference from Tobago, Adele James.

This event, hosted by Artists United, brings Dayton writers and writers in other Artists United chapters together to discuss all aspects of the writers art, publishing, and promotion. Writers of all skill levels and genres are invited to participate.

These connections aren’t just event specific. The ability to tap the Artists United network is open to anyone who signs up as a member.  The AU online platform connects people to share information, to collaborate, and to foster the creative spark. Artists United is here because Dayton’s creative community is vibrant and active.  When Artists United hosts events in 15 other cities, Dayton artists will video in, to exchange information.  Artists United believes that connecting their 35,000 members to the Dayton Artists community will be of immeasurable benefit to us and to them. I think Artists United has already been a huge gain to us. Planning the July events has strengthened our community. 

What’s the goal of the July events?

To be truthful, my primary goal was to show off to the Executive Director of Artists United. When Holly started talking about Artists United 2 years ago, I started promoting Dayton as a place she needed to visit. When she agreed to come, I started looking for ways to show her how great we are. Now, the events have become something bigger, and they are all about the creative community here. I am thrilled that Holly gets to see some of what Dayton has to offer, but I am most thrilled that Dayton is already benefitting from the power of the network.  My goal now is to sign up 1000 people to be members of Artists United in the week that Holly is here. The largest number of event driven member recruitment so far is 897. I want us to top that!

What else do you want to tell us?

One of the things I love about Artists United is that it unites people. It’s right there in the name, “united.” My experience planning these events with the creative community in Dayton has been incredibly positive. I reached out to our local artists and arts organizations. Lisa Hanson and Karen Maner at Culture Works, Jes McMillan of the Mosaic Institute, Lisa Grigsby of Film Dayton, and artist Megan Fiely responded right away. They introduced me to people, who introduced me to people.  So many people have come onboard to donate space, their time, their expertise, a meal—and everyone so gracious, so excited to engage in dialogue about being an artist, film maker, writer, dancer, musician… across any barrier you name. I have so much gratitude and respect for the arts community in Dayton: Thank-you, all of you.