With everything happening in the greater political landscape, it’s been nice to sit and appreciate the local community that I have around me. I recently had a lot of new guests come over to my apartment, and seeing the joy that they get from experiencing my collection of prints, zines, and artwork gives me a renewed sense of delight from them. They each contain memories of a place and time.
Almost every piece I bring back from a fair, market, or convention is tied, in some way, to a conversation that I had with the seller. Many of the pieces that I purchase as a gift are, ironically, a bit painful to give up because of the brief connections that I made while purchasing it.
If I have any sort of meaningful conversation with an artist, I’ll buy something from them. It could be as small as a bookmark or a single sticker — a memento of our time together and our connection as artists. I always always post a haul on instagram, which serves as a small token of appreciation, a way to boost both of our social engagements a bit, and most importantly — a way to nurture our connection beyond the event.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the conversations I’ve had in Instagram DMs. It’s a skill that I’m still learning and that I admire in others: their ability to connect with individuals over social media and build a genuine friendship out of it. I believe, fully, that the small market communities on Instagram are alive and thriving — a whole-hearted trade of mutual respect, admiration, and support.
Although my design work has taken a break this month after a busy May, I’ve still been active most weekends with some sort of community activity. I volunteered for a friend hosting an open studio popup, visited her cat cafe exhibition, made some clay crafts, and got to see the installations from this year’s New Inc cohort — catching up with lots of folks who repeated from Y10.
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Somehow, my life has become filled with friends who are making — creating space for community, pushing artwork out into the public, and building out their practice in whatever way that means for them.
Seeing creativity in so many different spaces, taking so many different forms, is a lovely reminder of how personal connections nurture new ideas and create opportunities.
To me, it’s really important to show up to these events — to be present, to meet other artists and vendors, and to surround yourself with the people and art that rejuvenate your creative juices.
People are creating, and they’re also bringing people together. They’re organizing events and making connections. They’re forming stronger relationships with the people they know, and they’re discovering new ones with the people they don’t. They’re creating a space for gathering, and all of it is centered around an idea: that art holds value, both in the object itself and in the person we meet behind it.
