Inspiration Everyday & Professionalism: Michelle Moeller

Artist INC Peer Facilitator Michelle Moeller (r) with
OVAC associate director Kelsey Karper

Michelle Moeller is the director and founder of Perpetual Motion Dance, a modern dance and choreography company located in Oklahoma City. In addition to her work with Perpetual Motion Dance, she is also an Assistant professor of Dance at the University of Central Oklahoma. Moeller will serve as a Peer Facilitator for the Artist Inc. program in Oklahoma City in fall of 2013.

Erin Shaw: What is an important piece of your artistic philosophy, something that you feel is necessary to you and your particular art practice?

Michelle Moeller: I am most interested in creating work that explores our collective human experiences rather than creating fantasy.  My choreography frequently examines our vacillation between strength and fragility, grounded-ness and precipice.

ES: Describe a pivotal experience or conversation within your career.

MM: I had a conversation a few years ago with my mentor, Jamie Jacobson, who recently passed. I was thinking about leaving my work in the arts for something "more stable" but she wouldn't let me. She said "You are a dancer, that is who you are and you can't walk away from that."  She was able to help me find my path again and my strength. There are always moments of struggle in an arts career but we are given a gift of passion and that can't be ignored.

ES: What do you feel is your unique contribution to the OKC arts community?

MM: I think primarily my contribution is trying to create awareness of dance as a dynamic, ever-changing art form within the greater arts community.  I have tried to seek out artists of other disciplines through collaboration or as a patron.  I believe it feeds my creativity as an artist to take in as much as possible and also contributes to the community by adding a new voice. The work of Perpetual Motion I believe contributes to the vitality of Oklahoma City because of our vision of being on the cutting edge of dance.

ES: When did you first realize you were an artist or were going to be an artist? Were there any circumstances that were vital to this?

MM: I believe I have been a dancer since birth. I don't have a memory of it not being in my life.  Even as a child, I always had a vision of being a choreographer (even put that on my PSAT projected career!)  I certainly believe my parent’s support of my choices impacted my ability to follow through with my vision. I was never questioned about my choices from them, and they continue to support my career as a dancer and teacher.

ES: One or two pieces of advice you would give emerging artists as they begin their careers.

MM: I think my advice is two-fold: To not limit what you think your discipline is or the kind of art you choose to see, to let yourself be inspired everyday.  Secondly, that detail and professionalism are tremendously important, from applications to resumes to the relationships you build.

ES: How have you resolved (or have you) the tension or relationship between making art and making money.

MM: I am lucky to have a full-time job in the arts that has made that tension lighter.  However, I have that job because of focused work on my education, creativity and professionalism.

ES: Talk a little about how you have used your work for social or spiritual change.

MM: The beauty of dance is that it is a communal art form. I joke that my company is a tribe of women; we support each other, balance each other when one is struggling and mostly laugh a lot.  Our personal lives and experience naturally come through in our work and this gives the work purpose and meaning.

ES: Describe unique aspects of your artistic practice and how you have been able to make a life making art.

MM: Working as a choreographer/director, I am always in collaboration with the dancers of the company.  This process really facilitates creativity as you discuss your ideas, expand on one another's thoughts, and each year the ideas get bigger and bigger.  We have luckily made many friends along the way who work with us, such as our welder Joey Smith, who can create pretty much any apparatus we dream us, and recently Kyle Van Osdol, who created a series of film shorts for our concert.  As we continue to tackle the projects, our dreams and aspirations only continue to grow.

I definitely recognize that much of my career exists because of good timing and opportunity, but I know I have worked diligently as a teacher and artist to make sure I am always questioning myself and challenging myself to grow.  I think that is all you can do is just try to make each work or each event just a little better than the one before, and over time you look back to see all the things you have accomplished.

Guest writer Erin Shaw profiles the Artist INC peer facilitators to explore their artistic practices. Oklahoma artists of all disciplines may apply until June 14, 2013 for the Artist INC program held in Oklahoma City this fall. See www.ArtistSurvivalKit.org for more information and the application. 

Boundless Curiosity: Sarah Hearn

Artist INC OKC liaison Sarah Hearn speaks with visitors to her Concept/OK residency project

Sarah Hearn, visual artist

Sarah Hearn is an interdisciplinary installation artist living and working in Oklahoma City. The fulcrum of her practice is photography and drawing, but she often uses other media and approaches including, collage, cut paper, sculpture, sound, video and book making.

Sarah’s own studio practice seems to be fueled by a relentless curiosity, an unending stream of questions and a firm belief that pretty much anything is possible. The presence of these questions and curiosity appear everywhere within the work itself as well as conversation about the work. When asked about the role of curiosity within her process, she replied, “I just don’t believe that things are impossible.”

She is particularly interested in the tension between what is real and what is not real. It is this fascination that has led her to explore the relationship between science and science fiction. Speaking of this relationship she said, “With my work I attempt to engage a range of audiences on different levels. If some look at the work and are pleased aesthetically, that’s fine. If they choose to look closer, there is more to it. I like to make work that rewards pouring over the details. It’s not something I expect people to do, but if they engage, they keep finding more layers to the work – both physical and conceptual. I’m also interested in posing questions about what are the limits of our systems of knowledge. At what point does science fiction become real science? I’m interested in challenging the viewer to question what they know.”

Sarah will serve as a Peer Facilitator for the Artist INC Program in Oklahoma City in the fall of 2013 and when asked what advice she might give young artists, she replied, “Remain open and teachable – even if it’s painful. If committed to life long learning, you will continuously grow and evolve personally and artistically. It’s also important to keep a sense of humor about your work/practice and the art world.”

Sarah’s studio practice is vibrant, engaged, thought provoking and when conversation moves to the more practical aspects of her work, her responses are equally as thoughtful. “The practicality of it is a constant struggle, I rely on income outside of my sales from my art, but I have found there is an interesting synergy between these things.” Teaching, commercial photography, workshops and arts administrative work create a synergy that she takes back into the studio. She said, “For me, it’s worth it to do the stuff I may not enjoy as much so that I can do what I really love.”

When asked what she felt she could uniquely give to young artists, she replied without hesitation, “My honesty. I’m always honest with my students about the difficulties I have because I think it’s important that young artists know rejection happens as well as success.”

Guest writer Erin Shaw profiles some of the Artist INC facilitators to explore their artistic practices. Oklahoma artists of all disciplines may apply until June 14, 2013 for the Artist INC program held in Oklahoma City this fall. ee www.ArtistSurvivalKit.org for more information and the application. 

Originality & Diversity: Robert Matson

Artist INC OKC facilitator Robert Matson with Kansas City facilitator Larry Thomas

Robert Matson is a local playwright, actor and director who will serve as a Peer Facilitator for the Artist INC program in Oklahoma City in fall 2013. His writing credits include Drama Queens, Playground and the touring program, Oklahoma! Interactive.  Robert earned his Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Northern Michigan University and his Master’s in Acting from Oklahoma City University.

Erin Shaw: What is an important piece of your artistic philosophy, something that you feel is necessary to you and your particular art practice?

Robert Matson: Originality and diversity

ES: Describe a pivotal experience, conversation or happening within your career.

RM:  Establishing my production company, Robert JM Productions, as a part of the Oklahoma theatre community.

ES: What do you feel is your unique contribution to the OKC arts community?

RM: My plays feature a LGBT storyline or character or is LGBT-themed.

ES: When did you first realize you were an artist or were going to be an artist?

Were there any circumstances that were vital to this?

RM: It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized I wanted to be in theatre. I took an acting class to help me with public speaking and I just fell in love with it. Once I did my first show I was hooked and I knew that this is where I wanted to be artistically and professionally. I always wrote as a child so the more I learned about theatre the more I wanted to write my own plays with my own vision and words.

ES: What is one piece of advice you would give a young artist as they begin their career?

RM: Learn everything in the theatre business and treat everyone with respect.

ES: How have you resolved the tension or relationship between making art and making money?

RM: I am still trying to balance art and money but it's always about the little sacrifices one must make to keep life going. The one thing that I make sure is balanced is paying my bills, on time.  It may scrap me down to pennies and dimes but it helps to strengthen my relationship with those businesses and organizations which could lead to major support or sponsorship of my work down the line.

ES: Talk a little about how you have used your work for social change.

RM: One thing I do with my plays is to donate a portion of my ticket sales to a charitable organization or educational institution. I feel it's very important to give back to your community.

ES: Describe unique aspects of your artistic practice and how you have been able to make a life making art.

RM: I'm a playwright who writes for the LGBT community.  I consider myself an advocate for my community, not through politics or protests but through my words.  Give me a subject and I will write it up in a twisted gay way.  My plays are economical for theatre-goers and since they are my own, I don't have to worry about royalty payments or giving a profit of my ticket sales to a publishing company.

I have always learned if there is a space then there's a place for theatre.

Guest writer Erin Shaw profiles some of the Artist INC facilitators to explore their artistic practices. Oklahoma artists of all disciplines may apply until June 14, 2013 for the Artist INC program held in Oklahoma City this fall. See www.ArtistSurvivalKit.org for more information and the application. 

Beau Leland: Trust Your Gut

"Take control of your career, create opportunity, shape your future and strengthen your art practice ..." begins Artist INC's description of their programs. This successful program helps artists of all disciplines work together to overcome challenges they all face. The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition will host the first Artist INC Live in Oklahoma through the support of the Mid-America Arts Alliance this fall working with many great local partners. 

Local artist facilitators Beau Leland, Robert Matson, Sunni Mercer, Michelle Moeller, Jerod Tate and Sarah Hearn and area topic experts to jointly conduct the eight-week program. These facilitators approach their careers in widely varying ways with a myriad of entrepreneurial pursuits and different goals. 

Guest writer Erin Shaw profiled some of the facilitators to explore their artistic practices (which gives a hint why we thought they'd make good Artist INC facilitators!). 

Beau Leland, Film and Video

Matthew Kaney-Spotlight Artist 2013 from Invisible Arts on Vimeo.

Beau Leland is a media artist working in film and video. Beau works primarily as an editor on narrative and documentary shorts and features. Beau lives and works in Oklahoma City. His work can be viewed at http://invisibleartsonline.com

Erin Shaw: What is an important piece of your artistic philosophy, something that you feel is necessary to you and your particular art practice?

Beau Leland: In my field, a lot of attention tends to migrate toward the latest and greatest hardware and software.  While all of that is particularly important, I find that being a storyteller is most important. My philosophy is that it has to feel right.  If I don't feel like it sits well in the gut, it's not good enough.

ES: Describe a pivotal experience, conversation or happening within your career.

BL:  I think my career took a real turn when I decided to leave the four-year program at the University of Oklahoma, and instead transfer to Oklahoma City Community College.  Making that decision is what led me to discover my love of editing, and forged many valuable relationships that I have to this day.

ES: What do you feel is your unique contribution to the OKC arts community?

BL: I have been involved in the film community here in OKC for a while now, and I feel very fortunate to have earned a reputation as a trusted editor and collaborator. Much of the work I receive calls for come from the referrals of other people who I have worked with. It's nice to receive so many endorsements from the Oklahoma filmmaking community.

ES: What is one piece of advice you would give a young artist as they begin their career?

BL: As I mentioned above regarding my artistic philosophies, I often tell young people to trust in their gut.  Don't let anything past you that you don't feel right about.  

ES: How have you resolved the tension or relationship between making art and making money?

BL: From the beginning of my career, it has always been about building my business around my craft.  I'm different than a traditional artist in that I don't create multiple pieces in my studio that I then exhibit and sell. In a way, I'm service-based.  The majority of my work is spent on other people's projects.  So I don't really feel like I have to put my art on the back burner while I work to make money to survive.

I'm fortunate in that my art, or my craft rather, is how I make money.  Someday soon I may start producing more abstract work that is truly mine, but I don't feel deprived for not having done more of that kind of work.  

ES: Describe unique aspects of your artistic practice and how you have been able to make a life making art.

BL: I think what may separate me from a lot of other artists is that I don't create works for myself.  I truly do collaborate with another person or more in nearly everything I do.  It's what I enjoy the most about my work.  And I've always approached it as a business.  

Much of my downtime is spent working on the business side of my practice, which is almost an art form in itself.  When times get slow, I start working on ways to improve the business or how to grow my skills as an editor.  I think approaching my art in this way is one of the reasons I have been able to stay somewhat successful…knock on wood.

Oklahoma artists of all disciplines may apply for the Artist INC program until June 14, 2013. See www.ArtistSurvivalKit.org for more information and the application.