The Joys and Struggles of Small Town Artists
This article was written by the talented, Josh Cox. Josh is a local artist and curator of our Summer Artist Series, as well as as an ex-officio member on the Arts + Culture Alliance Board. Thank you for all you do, Josh!
The Arts + Culture Alliance is finishing up preparation for the second exhibit in our Summer Artist Series (opening Friday, Aug. 2 at the Outlet Co-Work & Space). Preparing for an exhibit such as this involves a lot of moving components – finding and inviting local artists, securing a venue, booking musicians, purchasing food and drinks, writing press releases, drafting social media posts, finding volunteers, getting artwork and equipment to and from the venue — the list goes on and on.
I have a background in producing exhibits and installing art shows so this kind of exhibit prep is something that I know how (and love) to do, but it can be a challenge to put on shows like this in a small town like Marshalltown. Supplies can be hard to find, venues have to be developed and audiences have to be nurtured. I wish this wasn’t so hard to do here. Maybe we change that.
Local artists and musicians are craving opportunities to share their work with the community. I’ve spoken before about the need in this town for places to see (and show) art; more (and deeper) interactions between artists and the community and opportunities for emerging artists. Artists want this and, judging by the attendance at the last few cultural events in town, the public wants it too. We can work towards this goal by supporting artists and art events and recognizing and rewarding artists and musicians for how hard they work to share their talents with us.
One of our goals with the Summer Artist Series is to highlight the unique challenges and rewards of being a working artist in a small town. We love living and working in Marshalltown and, while we recognize that our town doesn’t have the same cultural quantity and impact of larger metropolitan centers, we celebrate the way in which local artists work within (and are rewarded by) the unique qualities of our small town.
Artists can live cheaply here in Marshalltown which might allow for some studio space separate from their living space (an impossible dream in any other town). And sometimes the pace of small-town life can allow for the sort of introspection and soul-searching that artists need, allowing them to develop their identities as artists in a small mid-western town.
Being a successful working artist doesn’t just mean supporting yourself financially as an artist. Nor does it mean just making things in your spare time or showing off your skills to your family and friends. Being a successful working artist means that you’re making artwork that is personal and significant to you as the maker and that what you’re making is having a dialogue with the public. A picture (or object [or performance]) doesn’t transcend into art until it’s activated upon by the viewer.
So for artists to be successful in any public place, let alone a small Midwest town, they have to push themselves to engage with the public and continue to make artwork in a place that might have limited cultural resources, an audience that can be hard to cultivate, and fit all of that into a family and work schedule that can be especially overbearing in times.
The presence of an artistic community (and an audience that values their work) is critical to the survival of artists and is invaluable to creating an engaged culturally healthy town. Local artist Kelly Schwarz says about her artistic practice, “…without an artist community, my artist self slowly died. I forgot all about that part of myself because it was not reflected in the real world I was surrounded by. When we are not surrounded by art, we succumb instead to the drudgery of daily life and forget what beauty is. And we all need a little bit of beauty.”
With that in mind, the ACA celebrates all of our working artists and are so excited to share them and their work with you every chance we get. I hope you join us at all of our upcoming events. Stay tuned for details!