Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Street.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Morgan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in New England, surrounded by a vibrant community of creatives and educators. I was encouraged to build and experiment from a very young age and given access to tools and materials that shaped my early confidence as a young maker. A Quaker upbringing also imbued a sense of service, mutual aid and community activism that has deeply influenced my journey.
I went to college in Brooklyn to study Industrial Design and worked for a number of NYC fabrication shops building custom installations, furniture and displays for commercial and residential spaces, eventually becoming lead fabricator and ‘chief problem solver’. In a desire to dip my toe into education, I started working for Beam Camp, the rural New Hampshire summer intensive program of Beam Center, a maker-centric alternative education organization based year-round in Brooklyn. After two summers at Beam, I became the Project Director, coordinating Beam’s signature large-scale Project, designed by professional architects and artists, built by campers and staff through a rigorous program that champions individual agency and collaboration. Beam is an amazing place where kids of all ages get to build big and bring their ideas to life, kids learning to weld and use power tools, make detailed plans and try new mediums. Beam has been a hugely supportive network, allowing me to hone skills as a project manager, collaborator, educator and fabricator.
I moved to LA seven years ago and have lived semi-bicoastally ever since. In the summer months, I go to work with Beam in the woods of New Hampshire, for the rest of the year I juggle freelance design, fabrication, workshop development and my personal creative practice here on the west coast.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some of the scariest times have been when I’ve taken a big risk like quitting a good fabrication job in Brooklyn to go be a camp counselor with no solid plans afterward, or packing a few bags and moving to Los Angeles without knowing anyone. You just hope things will work out and trust in thriftiness and a really intense work ethic. I’ve been lucky to make some connections that have let me have a softer landing and I’ve made a point to pay that forward to others who are taking a leap. I don’t believe in hoarding connections, supportive creative networks are so important.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I love what I do because I get to keep it interesting. Designing and building custom pieces for clients, collaborating on projects, designing workshops and developing programming, it never gets boring and I’m always honing new skills. I get a lot of people coming to me because someone told them ‘Morgan can make anything’, and if I can’t, I might know someone who can.
I do custom design/build work for a variety of commercial and residential projects, anything from custom kitchenware, backyard sheds, film sets, puppet and props, boat repair, built-in furniture, you name it! I am proud of my varied skill set and ability to problem solve on a huge range of design challenges. I also can and will gladly travel to work on remote projects.
Having grown up with such a supportive creative base it’s incredibly important for me to also keep a hand in education throughout the year. I do one-off workshops for organizations all over Los Angeles including Side Street Projects, Oakwood School, Center for the Arts Eagle Rock and others. It’s especially important to me for young girls and queer kids to see people that look like them making, building, using power tools and succeeding in a hands-on creative field.
In the past few months I’ve been working on some apartment renovations and finishing a boat I’ve been working on long-term. I also have had the opportunity to do residencies at Art Farm in Nebraska and in the ghost town of Cisco, Utah. These remote locations have been ideal to continue the development of several projects in the design and construction of experimental architectural forms utilizing traditional craft methods as inspiration. I’ve also been diving back into garment construction, using repurposed tent and hammock fabrics as well as topical materials used in firefighting and outdoor exploring to re-imagine future everyday utility clothing and objects. It’s a lot of fun!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
An intense work ethic, multi-tasking, and being autodidactic.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.yesmorganstreet.net
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: yesmorganstreet
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