Do You Know How To Talk About Your Art?

(Transcription)

QUESTION: What were your challenges as an artist?

Margaret Galvin Johnson: I’d have to say that I just really didn’t know where to talk to people about my art. It just felt like because I have a significant history of mental health issues in my family, it always felt a little awkward and kinda weird. But once I enrolled in the semester, that all changed, so it’s really exciting.

Ann Rea: Good.

Margaret Galvin Johnson: I found my tribe.

QUESTION: What has changed for you?

Margaret Galvin Johnson: And I guess I’m really starting to figure out who I am. It’s not just as an artist and what I do in The MAKING Art Making MONEY program, it’s really helped me personally to get on a healthier path. Even though I’ve always been seeking healthier ways to you know to build my life and make myself a better version of myself. I just think it’s really helped me own my story and move through that journey in a more graceful way.

Ann Rea: Nice, that’s awesome! Damn, if you could just like stop there, that would be good, right?

QUESTION: What stopped you from owning your truth?

Ann Rea: How many people do struggle with their story and they resist it instead of owning it and taking pride in it and seeing the gift, the gift in their story even if their story was a painful one. There’s a gift in it.

Margaret Galvin Johnson: I think that pain has been causing a great deal of fear and doubt and restriction on the part of me opening up myself to the right people. Even though those people are completely understanding of my story.

QUESTION: How is your truth the best marketing strategy?

Margaret Galvin Johnson: I just feel an alignment here and a connection that I’d really like to share my story with you and then I met with the Executive Director and she really liked my story. Of course, you know she deals with a lot of people who’ve had adverse circumstances and she really connected with me because I was myself and I was just telling the truth.

Ann Rea: Yeah! I mean isn’t the truth the best marketing strategy ever, ever, ever?

Margaret Galvin Johnson: Yeah, it takes all the pressure off. I don’t have to be somebody that I’m not.

Ann Rea: Right.

Margaret Galvin Johnson: Yeah, yeah.

Ann Rea: And you don’t have to remember what to say.

Margaret Galvin Johnson: Yeah.

QUESTION: What happened when you shared your mission?

Ann Rea: You owned your story and you approached someone and you told your story and then what happened? What was the result?

Margaret Galvin Johnson: Well, they were just so supportive. They’re like we want to purchase this work to beautify our space. I’ve been working on this for a year and a half. It hasn’t happened overnight. It wasn’t like it was one day and then it was done. It was definitely a work in progress and over the course of a year and a half I met with numerous people including the people who want to donate the art and the people who want to install the art and the people who are part of the purchasing department and the people who are, you know, there are a lot of people involved.

Ann Rea: Right.

QUESTION: Have you earned back your tuition investment?

Margaret Galvin Johnson: In the project, but, yeah, it’s been exciting. I sold a piece of art for $3,500.

Ann Rea: She’s graduated!

Margaret Galvin Johnson: And that was before this installation of my photography at the Dahlia center in Denver. So now I’m like, okay, I get this. This is my path and it’s helping me to clarify my path. It’s like oh, wait, now I get to get better at telling my story and talking about my art and it all starts to make much more sense.

Ann Rea: Right, and when people confirmed that they receive value in your offering and in your art, you get paid.

Margaret Galvin Johnson: Yeah, they feel like my art is really hopeful. That’s what was the major comment. And you know a lot of people who are going to be walking through the doors at the Denver Mental Health Center will be people who are in adverse situations who are really struggling and need help. And so I get to offer hope to them through my art.

QUESTION: What is it like to know your creative purpose?

Ann Rea: So now you know your “Why”, you know your mission. And when you talk about it to me, I haven’t you know, I haven’t even, I’ve never even met you in person, but I’m getting goosebumps already. How does it make you feel to know your why?

Margaret Galvin Johnson: I mean it just it clears up everything. It just makes everything so much easier for me in my world. And there’s just no ambivalence and no frustration around my art. It’s like I have a reason to want to do art. So I’m going to just keeping doing it because I have a bigger mission than just myself. It’s not about me, it’s about this mission of helping people who’ve been in adverse situations and giving them hope.

Ann Rea: I just love hearing this. I just love, this is why I bust my ass, when I hear this. I love hearing it.

Margaret Galvin Johnson: I just feel really fortunate that I’ve been able to be a part of this because had I not found you, I’d still be going huh, who should I go talk to. I’m not going to talk to anybody about this. You know, I’ll just stay in my studio and make my art, you know. But I didn’t have a direction and now I really have a clear direction and it just feels amazing because I mean the Denver Mental Health Center has 24 different facilities and they’re just one city of many mental health centers that connect with my mission and so it really opens up a whole plethora of places.

Ann Rea: Yeah, you’ve got a target market to go for here.

QUESTION: Are you learning by yourself?

Ann Rea: Did you do this all by yourself? Did you study all by yourself or did you have some study partners?

Margaret Galvin Johnson: I had some amazing study partners. In fact, I got to meet one of them in person a couple of weeks ago. And she really inspired me. Her name’s Erica Montgomery and she did this really cool thing with Whole Foods. It was through their leadership conference and she was documenting it as a videographer and it was about how she was eating. And the person who was, you know, it just went really deep and I just let her know today. I’m like you really inspired me. And she’s like wow, thank you so much for letting me know that!