This time around, I really enjoyed meeting Amy Rice, a Minneapolis-based artist who is so honest about the ups and downs of the creative life. “One of the best things about working in the visual arts is that they’re, well, visual!” she says. “People can see what I do; my grandma can show it off to her friends.”

But there’s a flip side to that kind of visibility: “For me, the worst thing about being an artist is that, when your work is out there for everyone to see, you’re very vulnerable to rejection and criticism. I tend to be shy, so gallery openings and other public events where everyone is looking at my art—and at me—can be very stressful.”

Amy stays grounded by getting involved in her community. “Three days a week I work at a nonprofit arts organization called Spectrum ArtWorks, an award-winning program I founded for artists who are living with mental illness. We assist them with their artist statements and bios, take photos of their art for submissions to exhibition venues, work on grant proposals, and give feedback on their work in progress. In return, we get inspired and laugh a lot. It’s a great job!”

She’s particularly interested and excited about the role art can play in opening dialogue between cultures and communities. “There’s a uniqueness in the way we can communicate our vision or story or culture through the arts,” she says. “There was a time when what was considered art was dictated by institutions and an elite group, but that’s changing. More and more these days, art is coming to, and from, the masses. With the internet, a lot more people are being exposed to a lot more art—and privy to cultures and communities in new ways.”

Links:

www.spectrumartworks.blogspot.com/2007/02/one-love.html

www.egg-basket-full-of-hollyhock-dolls.blogspot.com