Year One
As a poet from the Midwest, I have always felt I have more to prove. I began writing and performing at open mics in 2015, which led to features in poetry shows. Then I started making a living when I was regularly booked for events and commissions. Now, my practice has taken off. I found success as an artist on my own path. I don’t have a formal education in creative writing, and I’ve never had a body of work published by a press, but I have sold over 1,000 chapbooks and made performance art a primary source of my income. While my career took an untraditional route, I enjoyed the hustle of working on my practice, promoting my work, going to events, and making lasting relationships that enhanced my network. All of my opportunities, including my international performances, came from people who saw me perform and promoted me for future opportunities.
At one of my performances, I met Jim Walker and Shauta Marsh, the founders of Big Car Collaborative. At the time, Big Car was a smaller organization, but they had Tube Factory artspace in Garfield Park, Indianapolis, where I was able to host events and attend programming. Tube Factory was the basis of our relationship until 2023, when Shauta and Jim told me about their residency program. The Artist and Public Life Residency (APLR) invites artists to participate as active members in the Garfield Park and Bean Creek neighborhoods surrounding the Tube Factory artspace. We sign an annual lease to rent one of the affordable homes. In return, the artists focus on making a community impact. It is a long-term program, with artists staying anywhere from 1-6 years.
As a poet, I was always interested in having a residency to work on a new collection of poems, but I thought it was a fantasy. I thought I wasn’t qualified, and I let my imposter syndrome get the best of me. Although I was hesitant, the Big Car team urged me to apply because they thought I would be a good fit for the program and offer something new to the community. A few weeks later, I was accepted into as their first artist with a practice focused in poetry.
My routine and ideas around community changed drastically. I went from living in a neighborhood where neighbors didn’t talk to each other at all to spending many evenings at my neighbors’ houses. I went from having no cafe or restaurant within walking distance to a coffee shop and farmer’s market within a few hundred steps of my front door. I changed my approach to strangers. I used to be closed off, for fear of my safety, but now I’m jubilant and welcome everyone on the block. It was an adjustment, but now I can’t imagine my life any other way.
In the neighborhood, there are 18 houses across two streets on the same block. The houses are mostly all fun colors, and I compare it to living on Sesame Street. As I integrated myself into the neighborhood, I started making relationships with my APLR fellows. We ate dinner at each others’ houses, ran errands together, spent time on porches, got coffee, watched movies, and had discussions about our art practices and personal lives.
In the first year living here, I never thought I would develop such deep personal relationships. Now I’ve had neighbors check on me and bring me food during difficult times. I’ve helped neighbors apply for grants to increase their art practice. I’ve babysat for artists so they could work on their research. When Indianapolis experienced totality during the solar eclipse, we had a concert of artists in the neighborhood and hopped to different houses for drinks and snacks. We spent all day outside in our front yards working on projects and talking to each other.
Some of us don’t have relationships with our families, so we spend the holidays with each other. When a few of us were overwhelmed with our projects and excited to have a break for the holidays, we decided to get away. We planned a 5-day road-trip to Pittsburgh over New Year’s Eve for a change of scenery and to visit their art institutions. These aren’t just working relationships. They are personal relationships that have helped me become a better person and artist.
Our relationships in the program are just as fruitful as the ones with the rest of our neighbors. Some of us attend neighborhood association meetings, volunteer at community events, and participate in community clean-ups. Some of the APLR fellows have contributed public art at bus stops and on the sides of buildings. With access to a backyard and greenspace, I’ve learned so much about community gardening, caring for the land, and the bounty of chickens. Groups of us go to farmers’ markets and support local businesses, meeting everyone as neighbors and talking about ideas.
While spending so much time here, I’ve been able to create opportunities for neighbors and myself. I’ve been able to perform at shows and hosted events at the Tube Factory. We have a local radio station where we are encouraged to program shows and share news. We have a print shop, where I’ve been able to learn printmaking techniques from a few APLR fellows. Through programming at the Tube Factory, I’ve been able to witness incredible performances and mindful conversations about community and the arts that influence my own personal practice. For example, I witnessed an amazing performance by Hatis Noit, a Japanese vocal performer who gave a unique performance of music I had never experienced before. I heard Amós Rodriguez, a hunter and ancestral skills practitioner, speak on the importance of nature survival and building a future for generations to come. Experiencing these amazing events, and seeing how they impact us as neighbors and artists caring for our community going forward is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
The people and projects I featured in the Atlas as an Editor are all people I have met through the APLR Program. Dailyn Eades and Cierra Fogle co-operate a Midwest Artist collective between Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Alejandra Carrillo is a printmaker creating work around her activism and her culture. Bryn Jackson and April Knauber have an amazing project connecting Filipino creatives in Indianapolis with their heritage through ancestral body art.
Since joining the program, my own personal practice is developing an edge that makes me more confident in my craft. Programs like APLR make me feel affirmed that I’m making great work and have the empowerment to try new things and be experimental with my practice. I’ve incorporated more music through working with sound artists in the APLR program. I’ve had my first solo visual arts show with the help of my neighbor’s eye for curation. I’ve successfully applied for grant funding that challenges me to continue writing new work. I thought the residency would be intimidating, but it has made approaching my challenges easier. My living expenses before the program prevented me from investing more in my craft, and this housing program empowers my investment in the arts.
Before this program, I found it difficult to develop a kinship to a place or land, but this experience fills me with pride about representing Indiana, no matter where my art practice takes me. I travel and perform in cities on the coasts and share with them what community looks like for me, and I feel so proud to be an artist in the Midwest. This is only the experience of being in the program for one year, but I signed my lease renewal and can’t wait to develop more community projects, finish a new collection of poetry, collaborate on a few art pieces with my neighbors, and contribute more of my skills to our vibrant community.
