My Story

The trajectory my creative career changed entirely when a fire consumed my home, studio, and more than 200 drawings, paintings, photographs, prints, and more. You name it really. Everything I had made and kept since my first art class in tenth grade in my hometown of Cochran, Georgia—shout out Ms. Woodall for introducing me to the idea of a career in the arts

After the fire, I received an outpouring of support from other artists in my community. Artists who had worked with me through one project or another. It was truly special. The support I felt in that moment was unlike anything I had experienced prior and it cemented my love for central Georgia’s art community. My heart is fired in Georgia red clay with a collection of earthenware pottery to prove it. My entire body of work as an artist, on the other hand, destroyed with barely any proof it ever existed.

I would eventually come to terms with my culpability in the loss of my life’s work. The fire took so much because I had held on to it so tightly. I hadn't wanted to sell it or part with it, not in any real way. If my art was in people’s homes instead of packed away in my studio, it would still exist today. That fact haunts me but it led me to arts administration. I was already somewhat of a burgeoning local curator on the scene and that became my focus, especially in the first couple of years after the fire.

Now, I am primarily an arts administrator—a professional practice I consider to sit firmly within the realm of art and social practice—and my passion for working with artists continues to grow. I find purpose helping them get their work out into the world because I don’t want what happened to me to happen to them.

However, when I moved to Nashville, TN, I shared this story with an artist who challenged me to reconnect to a studio practice declaring that the act of drawing and painting, of making, remained essential. Her challenge and encouragement led me back to a personal studio art practice and to embrace digital art alongside the physical. Arts administration remains the focus of my professional, practice, but I enjoy reconnecting to these more personal modes of creative expression. It's not “either/or;” it's “yes, and…”

My creative career highlights include co-founding the Three Cities Group Artist Collective, which was active for nearly a decade in the Southeast, my stint as a gallery curator at the Contemporary Arts Exchange in Macon, GA, and curating a group show at the legendary & infamous Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery in Atlanta. At different points, I’ve served on the staff of a nonprofit local arts agency working alongside city and state leaders to integrate the arts into economic & community development, led a dynamic team creating cutting edge creative for a global art & design university, and worked on numerous community & public art projects across the Southeast.

Today, my passion lies at the intersection of art and business directing innovative programs in support of Nashville's diverse creative community including a nationally recognized artist-entrepreneur training program and a volunteer lawyers & professionals program for income qualified artists, arts organizations & creative businesses in Tennessee.

My partner, Stacey, and I share our home with our son and a sweet husky doodle named “Cici.” If Cici hasn’t scared them away by now, our backyard is home to two chipmunks making a life together inside our crumbling retaining wall and a family of birds that nest on our property year-after-year. We think there may be a bunny too and I’ve seen more than a few lizards slithering around. We grow our own herbs and vegetables in pots in our backyard.

When not making art, or making art happen, you can find me with Stacey and kiddo exploring the natural wonders of Middle Tennessee, enjoying one of Nashville’s many neighborhood parks, or perusing the latest exhibition at a local museum. We travel as much as we can and we love to host friends who are visiting or just passing through.