Today we’d like to introduce you to Owen Schmit
Hi Owen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in LA but I always felt like I wanted to go to the east coast. I went to Bard College in upstate New York to study studio art, and after I graduated in 2006 I moved to NYC to work, initially in a gallery and then got hired to do showroom and window display design for Ralph Lauren. During that time I continued making art and did a couple of residencies. Eventually I decided to move back to LA in 2008 to go to graduate school at Art Center College of Design, where I got an MFA degree. I started working for artists after I graduated, and then eventually became a prominent artist’s studio director. This was one of the most valuable work experiences I have ever had, because in the process I learned so much about the arts industry as a whole. I worked with some of the best galleries and institutions all over the world and we traveled a lot for exhibitions and research as a result. It was wonderful.
I continued making work of my own and showed a little here and there, but because of my demanding job I wasn’t able to focus on it as much as I wanted. I decided to step down and redirect my career, which was a truly difficult decision. Working from then on consisted of many freelance and contract jobs working with artists and organizations, primarily project managing and consulting. Projects I’ve worked on span from artwork fabrication supervision, to producing gallery and institutional exhibitions, to a fair amount of operational consulting and artist studio management. I’ve continued doing these types of things on a case-by case-basis, although I’ve recently taken a one year break from working on others’ projects. My partner and I now have a beautiful baby boy, and I have devoted this past year to postpartum wellness/ recovery and being with my family. In my small amounts of free time I have continued making new work in my studio at home.
Currently, I am working on some new paintings, and I’m working on developing a children’s TV series with two incredible women. I have recently been brought on as a producer for a documentary film (this is a first!).
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In terms of my personal work, I would say that I struggle at times with feeling guilt or shame surrounding not being consistently productive, and I tend to work best when I have a deadline or a reason to be making. Sometimes there is no deadline or reason, and it can feel like I’m making work or working through ideas in an echo chamber. I have taken long breaks from making my own art, which at best can feel like a nice vacation and at worst can feel like a full-blown identity crisis, but is ultimately necessary to reinvent and reassess what it is what you want to make or participate in over and over again. This is the hardest work, because for me it goes against ingrained belief systems I inherited or was taught about being an artist or person of “value”. Recognizing this and actively breaking this cycle is extremely important to me.
When your day job is primarily helping other creatives realize projects to fruition, it requires cultivating a lot of happiness for others and avoiding the pitfalls of feeling not as successful by comparison. Because at the end of the day, that is not what being an artist is about. It’s about self-expression and engaging with other artists and creatives, and I learn so much from everyone I work with.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In terms of my personal work, I am primarily a painter and sculptor, and I typically work in acrylic paint, mixed media and sometimes materials in the plastic and urethane realm; however, in 2021 I started designing large scale fused glass windows for a residential project, which was an entirely new material to work with for me. This was a multi-year endeavor, and I was so lucky to be able to work with Judson Studios in Highland Park, one of the oldest glass fabrication studios in the US. The project concluded in 2023, but I’m obsessed with glass (I collect it). I really hope to work in this medium more in the future.
In terms of my work with others, it’s pretty simple: Tell me what you want to make or what you want to do, and then together we figure out how to make it or how to get it done.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.owenfayeschmit.com
- Instagram: @owenschmit
Image Credits
Portrait: Ava Warbrick
Artwork images: Owen Schmit, Kyle Mickelson for Judson Studios
