Spring 2012: New Work by Amazing Artists
It was this time last year when the dream of producing other artists' work began.
I was feeling moved and inspired by work I was seeing around me, but also noticing how traditional channels could alter it beyond recognition. You know that saying about trying to fit a square peg in a round hole? Clearly what we needed were some square holes.
At first I didn't take it or myself too seriously, the way we so often don't. Then I said it out loud. Mistakenly (or not) to a friend who takes me quite seriously. He said yes absolutely I should do it. I scoffed.
"Yeah, maybe someday when I have my own independent media company."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Jen," he said, "but I think you already do."
(Long pause. I feel in this beat that this is not one of those ideas that will let me off the hook.)
I consulted some trusted advisors to see what they thought. I really didn't want the job if it wasn't my assignment from the universe, so to speak. I didn't want to just run down a rabbit trail as a distraction from doing my own work (which often begs for distraction).
"It would be really good for you," they said. "It would be social, for one thing." They know I have a tendency toward isolation.
So I just said a quiet Yes one afternoon in the middle of my kitchen with the afternoon sun my only witness.
And that's how it began. In the weeks to come, I'll tell some of the stories about how the partners and projects I have since held in my hands and in my heart came to me and came to be. But for today, I'm so happy to begin the story and share that this spring I am delighted and honored to produce new work by amazing artists: Caren McLellan Gazley, Andrea Corona Jenkins, Jolie Guillebeau and Liz Lamoreux, all with the help of my partner-in-crime, Liz Kalloch.
(Here's a sneak peek at what's coming in April: now available for pre-order.)