Artist Story: Joyce Owens

You would think that a college graduate who managed to attain an M.F.A. from a prestigious eastern university would have been taught the process to becoming a professional visual artist. Did not happen...

I grew up in Philadelphia, PA. and lived in a working class integrated neighborhood since the second half of third grade. There were no artists in my neighborhood. No one in my family practiced visual art although we had musicians and a now, nationally renowned photographer. But when I was growing up my uncle, Jack T. Franklin, was just a working stiff who shot pictures instead of going to a real job. My mother, a trained opera singer, always had a full-time job working for the city or the state. Even though she performed with notables such as jazz great Duke Ellington and with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the conductors Eugene Ormandy and Leonard Bernstein and once sang for Eleanor Roosevelt and a governor of Pennsylvania's inauguration among other concerts, recitals and events she participated in, she never led me to believe that one could rely on one's art to make a living.

Not one of my friends and family circle went to art galleries. I went to the Philadelphia Museum on field trips with my public schools.

Still I loved art, and I was driven to pursue it.

Since my years at Yale and Howard Universities, I have maintained a job in order to pursue my art. I have taught students of every age. I have worked in television as a producer, graphics designer and graphics coordinator. I currently teach college students, as was my plan since undergraduate school.

Only in recent years have I come to understand that art is a collaborative business. I never heard that phrase in art school. Only in recent years have I heard the term Networking applied to art production. Being a black artist did not help my situation since there were fewer of us making a living making art. Even the big name artists had jobs. There was no mentoring circuit. If I could think of the questions, I could get answers, but I had to learn the questions.

I believe the most important aspect of creating an art network is to prepare. Read about art, think about art and make a decision about what media expresses your ideas best. Then learn about your media and use it in a professional manner. Unorthodox is not a bad word, but it is often better to learn the traditions of your chosen medium before you change or totally discard them.

Look at art and interact with artists; go to artist panels and discussions in galleries, universities, city sponsored events and museums; offer your ideas and observations. It is important to be eloquent as well as passionate about your own work. This way you can meet artists who have similar concerns.

For me it has also been rewarding to promote other artists. I have had to overcome a natural shyness (thanks Mom). By helping to exhibit and promote artists I get a chance to interact with them, and they in turn, inform me about activities that could be of interest to me.

I have accidentally fallen into the curating business and it is a joy to be able to showcase artists I admire and to be able to define their work within a theme I establish. Seeing artists' works in a group setting with an established platform that can help people understand what the artist is doing is challenging and very gratifying. I am also able to showcase artists who have not had many professional exhibitions and present them to new audiences. I am a member of Sapphire and Crystals. Our entire purpose is to promote African American women artists and we have been able to build careers through this format. Joining established arts organizations is a good way to establish a network, as well.

My approach is to protect and promote the artists I believe are producing great works and to encourage and inspire students and emerging artists. Offering a service to other artists and art lovers turns out to be a terrific vehicle for networking for me.

Joyce Owens is an award winning painter who creates two and three dimensional works on canvas and wood. She also runs the blog Artists on Art. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Howard University in Washington D.C. and Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from Yale University. She won her first prize in grade school.