Today we’d like to introduce you to Bri, Kamren, Carissa, and Jacob.
Hi Bri, Kamren, Carissa, and Jacob. Together, as Scribbles Art Collective., we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
The studio space all started with a car accident. One that left one of our number with a small payout, but not enough for a new car, maybe a down payment, but just not enough.
The arts started when we were all kids. Some of us earlier than others. And all separate. We had no idea the others existed, and it was by chance we met in college in a different city. With the exception of Kamren and Bri, who met first in high school.
We joke we were victims, and maybe we were a little bit just dumb teenagers trying to do everything right and go to college right away. The college we went to was one of those scammy for-profit institutions that inflated its success rates and credentials and misrepresented its reputation in the professional world.
We’re all typical millennials. Overeducated and underpaid/underemployed, now in our thirties, disillusioned with the industries we were once so intent on being in, looking more at working independently.
And then there was the car accident and a small amount of money.
Here in Apple Valley, there’s an old dude ranch, the Apple Valley Inn. A place where the rich and famous of yesteryear used to play cowboy. Big names too, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, and probably most famous in town, Roy Rogers.
It then closed to the public in the 80s and was a clinic for traumatic brain injury for a while before being bought by the Lakritz Partnership in the early 2000s. They like to call it restored, but it’s more an ongoing process. Needed and needs love and elbow grease. It was perfect for four nerds looking for ArtSpace.
We took that meager sum and, together, leased one of the old motel rooms. The smallest available space, way at the back of the property, and got to work. Restoring and revitalizing.
Alright, 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?
The first struggle was just the room itself. Small, cramped, and ugly.
We tore it all apart and made it up again basically, and you can watch us do it on YouTube. Sped up, of course!
Popcorn ceiling, termite damage, horror movie flickering light; all replaced, fixed, cleaned up. It’s unrecognizable.
The Apple Valley Inn, where the studio is, isn’t somewhere with a lot of foot traffic. We never did end up opening the storefront to the public, we just wouldn’t get that many people in, so it remains a thing we’d like to do eventually as the place fills out.
One of the biggest hurdles we still face is consistent income. The studio still doesn’t make profit.
There’s a lot of reasons for it. One is, as a collective, we live and die by our collective effort, and the reality is not every individual is as invested in working for mutual gain; some of us work more for ourselves, and some of us work more for the group. It’s a double-edged sword being a collective, but on the other hand, we’re a very relaxed bunch, so while our goals being different can slow down the collective itself, no one’s left out in the cold either.
Another is art is luxury. It’s ultimately entertainment as it exists under capitalism, and times are hard. While on paper, we’re told Wall Street is doing well, the reality is people are struggling to make ends meet. People that can’t pay their rent or buy groceries aren’t in a position to explore the arts as participants in its creation or as consumers.
We watched out local artwalk dry up and die, and it may have been the biggest heartbreak of the year. We do hope it returns of course, but what can you do if you can’t get bodies in the door to even look at the artwork?
But it isn’t all bad.
Our and others’ effort in our community is seeing fruit. A new performing arts center is in town, and it’s there because the community pushed for it. We all hollered until someone listened.
We’re continuing to make connections and build community, continuing to make art and art-making accessible. It’s not always highbrow stuff, but it is a silver lining in these economic downtimes.
The arts will survive, and so will we.
As you know, we’re big fans of Scribbles Art Collective. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We’re an art collective. What that means is we’re a group of artists working toward a shared goal. Currently, that shared goal is maintaining a workspace, working together to help each other market our projects and sell for each other. We’re hoping eventually to expand the space and open a true storefront to the public, and add more artists to our group.
There’s a great benefit to working with other creatives, and it’s the combination of the people around you fueling you to get better with their feedback or just their abilities and having those same people act as cheerleaders who genuinely want you to succeed. It’d be great to be able to grow enough to offer that to other artists.
We’re probably most known in our community for being art advocates.
We’ve worked with Arts Connection San Bernardino, local galleries, showcases, and nonprofits. Some of our favorite locals have been Drawing Together and a small reptile rescue, Slithers & Crawls. We now work with them regularly, and the work both organizations do is fantastic.
I think our willingness to work, desire to uplift our community, and making a point to show up for our community as much as we can does a lot for us.
We have a good reputation, and we’re all proud of that.
I don’t think it necessarily sets us apart from other artists in our community, but it’s good to be counted in among so many great people and organizations working to make this part of the High Desert something special.
If there’s something to know about us, it’s that we work together and as individuals.
When we offer a service it’s because one of us or all of us can do it. If you contact us for a commission, it’ll go to the person who can do it the best! Or, you have your pick if you want a certain style or medium or particular skill. Cover Art, Scientific Illustration, pin design and consultation, and even something as simple as illustrations for your D&D Party.
And now, we’re doing Paint & Sips, art classes, and activities. Though obviously, that’s really limited to locals.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Everything and nothing.
Luck got us started. No one could have anticipated the bad luck of a car crash ending in the good luck of finding a little hole in the wall so we could afford to start this endeavor.
But it’s definitely not just luck.
It was desire and drive, too. We wanted this. Luck might present an opportunity or remove one, but it’s not a really active player. Sometimes, it’s someone reaching out to us, and sometimes, it’s someone saying yes after we reach out to them. New connections, relationships, opportunities. It’s luck, yes. But it’s luck we make!
It does play a part in how we exist in a certain sense. The things outside our control. People are economically in a pretty bad place right now, and while not necessarily the result of luck on its own, it’s bad luck to be trying to build ourselves in this kind of time. There were also a bunch of leaders in our community that stepped down just as we were really making connections; it’s had a ripple effect for sure. And I think you could call that bad luck.
Contact Info:
- Website: ScribblesArtCollective.com
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