ArtPrize offers Grand Rapids a place for the exchange of ideas.

We dont design it, we facilitate it Im excited to help facilitate the structure so that it can exist.
Catherine Creamer Executive Director and COO of ArtPrize

How did you manage to pursue a career related to the arts while sustaining yourself? I never lived as a starving artist because I tried with great diligence to support myself. It was my goal that I would make a living at it, which I did as a craftsperson and businessperson working in the textile industry. I purposefully sought the intersection between art and business. When I did creative work for galleries, I made product that could be marketed. I supplemented this income with work in the textile industry. I ended up going full time into the contract industry and leaving my own creative work. I believe that creativity can permeate every aspect of life, and I am creative in the business world. You seem to have an interesting right-brain/left-brain blend going on between art and business. I consciously and purposefully cultivated this. My father is a scientist, and my siblings went into the sciences. I have penchant for science, and I went to an alternative boarding school that espoused all sorts of creativity. Weaving is inherently full of mathematics, and I am fascinated with the complexities of textile construction. What role do you see ArtPrize playing long-term? ArtPrize as a platform offers to Grand Rapids a place for the exchange of ideas. We dont design it, we facilitate it. The experience is created by the artists and venues that choose to be involved. One cant predict what it will become; it will be different year over year. Im excited to help facilitate the structure so that it can exist. Do you ever miss the vibrancy of New York? Of course, I miss that vibrancy, but the energy I see in Grand Rapids the changes I have seen its really alive and exciting in its own way. Grand Rapids is the perfect place to foster an idea. It creates a vibrancy of its own that is self-evident to see how it opens itself up to allow art to exist. The cultural changes that have taken place very recently UICA just opened its new doors, and GRAM has gone through a leadership transition are exciting to see. Ive seen an amazing transformation just from 1989 until now. Were getting people to say not only that they want to stay here but that they want to come here. Are your children pursuing art in any form? I have three children two sons and a daughter and all are teenagers. Theyre amazing. I try to encourage them to be creative in all their endeavors. I dont know what theyll choose to do for their lifes endeavor, but I hope that Ive raised kids that know that art is essential for life. Any advice for artists who want to make a living doing their art? I think art is essential to a vibrant economy. At ArtPrize were doing our best to help artists foster their talent so that they can be successful. No matter what the economy, creative expression is essential to our lives.

The Business of Art

Up Close with ArtPrizes Catherine Creamer

with Victoria Mullen photo by Daniel E. Johnson

eet Catherine Creamer, the new executive director and COO of ArtPrize. Originally from northern New York State, Creamer moved to West Michigan from Manhattan and has lived in Saugatuck, Ada, and now Grand Rapids for the past 23 years. Shes delighted with the opportunity to be a part of what she considers an incredible, dynamic idea. It provides the simplest platform to dialogue about the arts and creative expression, says Creamer. When did you begin making art? I learned to weave in high school and to spin as well. I became enamored with textiles. That brought me to Norway, which was part of my college experience. Im trained as an artist, but Im not a producing artist anymore. Did your parents encourage your artistic side? Although my parents are not artists, they supported the knowledge of art and afforded me the opportunity to enjoy the arts in and around the New York metro area. They encouraged me to be well rounded in life. My mother was quite musical, and my sister is professionally trained as a musician.

Tell us about your career as a full-time artist in New York. I lived in northern New York State for a year after I finished college and in 1982 moved to New York City to begin a full-time weaving and textile design business. I was part of an artists loft and opened a studio in New York where I created textile design prototypes. Back in the 1980s, we worked with handlooms hooked up to a computer. Weavers were employed to help with our work, which provided services to the contract and apparel industry. We created prototypes to inform bankers and clients. In 1989, I joined the Herman Miller staff in west Michigan. They had been clients of mine. Was it a bit of a culture shock to move from Manhattan to west Michigan? When I moved to west Michigan, I worked in Zeeland and found a creative community in Saugatuck. Moving to Saugatuck from Manhattan was very different. The creative community in Saugatuck was fabulous, and I loved my experience there.

No matter what the economy, creative expression is essential to our lives.

September 2011

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