From the category archives:

MacArthur Genius Grant

More MacArthur Genius Grant Musings

by lorigreenberg on September 29, 2007

lori greenberg glass flower disk beadsI was just responding to some comments that you all left me and realized I should blog a little more about my post on the MacArthur Genius Grant.

Lindy and Nancy both left comments that involved travel and I noted that I have never been one to travel and that I wouldn’t know how to travel with kids so young (almost 6 and almost 4 years old).

So I got to thinking…if I didn’t have to worry about a lot of income I would be able to take a nanny with me and what a great experience for the kids too. I like Lindy’s idea of helping local economies but when I thought about what other genius grant recipients were doing I noted a similarity in that they pursued what they were already working on but on a greater scale…they didn’t change what they were doing, they magnified it and took it where the were not able to before.

So me, I think I would pursue creativity more. What a vast field to study…and apply. How creativity works. What people do. The personalities of ‘creative’ people. Drugs and creativity (not hands on, of course…been there done that). Mathematics and creativity. Spirituality and creativity. What holds people back from being creative. Now, that would be interesting to study. I would love to see a documentary or a NPR radio show about it. Maybe write a book. Quirky, obscure stories of people passionate about their creativity. Everyone has a story.

How would that work? Who knows. But that interests me and I believe as a genius grant recipient the time and money spent should give back to the community. Information is what I would give. But who knows what it would turn into along the way.

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Historic Studio Tour

by lori g. on September 14, 2005

crunch pairShall we continue the studio tour today? Last was my college studio space. After college when I stayed on as a ‘townie’ I worked in a weaving studio, the Textillery. I wouldn’t call it a studio space for myself but it sure did feed my artistic process side (I didn’t design, I just wove). This was in 1990. I just now went and read their web site and see that they have 26 looms now. Holy smokes. When I was there I think they had 6. I often use what I knew of their story as my inspiration for my own growing business. Somehow in my mind it is a bit different than their history link relates it but still the same idea.

I remember hearing that Judith, the designer, started out selling placemats and other wovens in Brown County, IN and on the side of the road. By the time I worked for them they had 6 looms, a nice space and had accounts with Bloomingdales and the like. I was pretty impressed. That was the first place that I’ve ever heard books on tape. We would listen to about a half hour to hour a day in the afternoon. One of them I remember was Oliver Twist. Now, I know when I had to read that in high school I was bored out of my mind. Books on tape changed that. I couldn’t wait from day to day to get to the next tape.

While I never set out to be Judith Rose or have an art business, 15 years later they are part of my inspiration. If they could build a business that big from starting out selling placemats, why couldn’t I? It always makes me think that you have to start somewhere. Those thoughts have been with me often in the past year and I’m sure they’ll stay with me. It was probably the lowest paying job I ever had but look at what it turned out to be for me 15 years later. You just never know, do you?

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