My Story

Everything changed when a fire destroyed my home studio. I lost nearly 200 drawings, paintings, photographs, and more, but after the fire, I received an outpouring of community support from other artists. One artist, a local bookstore owner, even organized an art auction to raise money for me. That event took place on the same night and in the same place where I was supposed to have my first solo show. In the end, it was the creative community around me that made me resilient. It's a lesson I carry with me in all that I do—community is a form of capital.

I would eventually come to terms with my culpability in the loss of my life’s work. The fire destroyed so much because I held on to it too tightly. I hadn't tried to sell it or put it out into the world, at least, not in any real way. If my art had been in the homes of collectors, instead of packed away in my studio, it would still exist today. That incident was the turning point in my career. I was already a burgeoning curator so that became my focus, especially in the first couple of years after the fire. I would eventually come to identify primarily as an arts administrator, a career I consider to be an artistic and civic practice, serving in several roles in both nonprofit arts organizations and community-based initiatives. Through it all, my passion is to help artists get their work out into the world because I don’t want what happened to me to happen to another artist.

After moving to Nashville, TN, I shared a version of this story with an artist who challenged me to reconnect to a studio practice. She, rightfully, declared that the act of making art remained essential. Her challenge, combined with her encouragement, led me back to a studio practice and to embrace digital art. I still understand arts administration to be a large part of my creative practice, but I'm enjoying the chance to reconnect to more personal modes of creative expression. It's not “either/or;” it's “yes, and…”

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 Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery in Atlanta. At different points, I served on the staff of a local arts agency, a global art & design university, and on several public and community art projects. Today, I work at the intersection of art and business directing innovative programs in support of Nashville's creative community including a nationally recognized artist-entrepreneur training program.

My wife, Stacey, and I share our home in Nashville with a couple of chipmunks that live in our retaining wall and a few birds that nest around our property. We think there may be a bunny moving in and I know there are more than a few lizards lurking around outside. We are also dedicated foster parents who sometimes grow our own herbs and vegetables. When not making art or actively supporting Nashville’s creative community, you can find me alongside Stacey exploring the natural wonders of Middle Tennessee, catching the latest blockbuster in the MCU, or perusing the latest exhibition at a local gallery or art museum.