This summer, I was so lucky to be included in NAL Media's Summer Cohort for emerging creative talent. The goal was to provide the chance to connect with an already seasoned individual in our respective fields so that we would have a new mentor that could guide us towards creating a personal project and improving our career path overall.
I got paired with a marketing and advertising agency director, who had so much insight on personal branding vs. business branding, as well as how to fine-tune what I'm good at and should focus on as a general creative.
This past year, I have gone from communications positions to mainly production work and creative strategy. It was a switch that I loved, but definitely left me with an identity crisis: I mean, who am I?
I can design, but I don't consider myself as someone with an eye for design or aesthetics. I can film and edit, but just don't necessarily feel like I can call myself a videographer/video editor, having only worked on my own small personal projects and internships here and there. In fact, everything I've ever learned how to do, came from me doing it myself and teaching myself along the way. And I've never really felt like I've been able to work on a big project like the people I look up to have...
Which led me to the thought: who am I when it comes to the work I create? The work I enjoy doing? The work I want to be paid and recognized for? And why am I so quick to compare my humble beginnings to someone else's career highs after years of putting in the work?
And that's when I realized there were two components to this work that I could call my own: I do not enjoy being the leader, but rather instead being the one to help piece things together and put together the vision and execution. The second part was that I loved a good story, and that's where a lot of the content aspect came in for why I wanted to stick to creative work.
After doing some soul searching and researching myself and my talents (aka asking people what I was good at), I came to the conclusion that production was my main interest at the moment, and so it is up to me to find and create opportunities for myself before breaking into a big project and having that career high of my own.
In comes in Art in The Park, a local NYC event for artists and creatives of color to connect, create and heal in a safe space after a year of the pandemic ruining any chance of socializing, networking and really doing a number on everyone's mental health. My sister is actually involved as an organizer, and seeing them execute this event alongside their friends and fellow artists was inspiring- and led me to think of a potential creative series that could shed some light on the faces behind this event, and what Art in the Park truly aims to capture.
This video is shot on the Canon E05 and edited completely through Premiere Pro, all by moi. It's a short look into who my sister is within their art, and why they decide to create this safe space within Art in the Park for fellow artists. The hopes is that this short artist profile will be used in a series of profiles meant to highlight the creators of Art in The Park, their personal art and what they hope to inspire within the art community.