The Working Artist project were collaborative spaces I created and curated for people to come together, create, and share.  By supplying nontraditional materials the focus is merely on the act of creating and not the mastery and replication of a classical skill or craft.  Art is cross cultural bridge that brings people together from all walks of life.

            Everyone has the right to express themselves and make art.  By inviting different community members together for a curated exhibition, and wear the Khaki jumpsuit of the Working Artist Project showed that everyone is an artist and has the ability of creative expression.

        I wanted to create a space for people to come together and create.   Anyone could sign up for a 2 hour shift, dawn the established uniform and they were a working artist.  For a lot of college students, this meant a line on their resume. For some, this might have been their first art show and hopefully empowered them to participate in many more exhibitions. 

         In the center of the room was this cornucopia of building supplies. The materials provided were items of refuse, things to be discarded or thrown out.  It was for the most part, non typical art supplies.

       The artists would have to explore the labyrinth for inspiration.  This pile of random materials became an art piece on its own. Curating it became a way to make the random collection enticing and interesting.

        The objects provided were going to be thrown away.  Items to appropriate or reimagine into a new form. Being human, a consumer and producer in a growing world, I am concerned with where my products come from and the waste I produce after I am done with them.  Using discarded items aimed to invoke mindfulness of consumer obsolescence and also the anthropic impact waste can have on our environment .  

          Secondly by imposing a limitation on the materials used, I hoped to inspire creativity.  By limiting resources, it allowed students to find limitless potential in the everyday. Using constraints and challenging art making practices focuses more on creative problem solving that is inherent in all disciplines and allows more people to see themselves as working artists.