Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Salisbury.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always known I wanted to be an artist and teacher I just had no clue at what capacity, how I would get there and what would unfold. While getting my BFA in Art at Art Center College of Design, I was working part-time as an Art Teacher to an adorable bunch of sixth-graders in Inglewood, CA. I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did – it turned out to be my happy space. With a break in between teaching and studying to go travel the world and live in another country – my teaching was put on hold while further explored my love for Art. I graduated college with honors and once I got my adult self situated and foundation set – I found myself back into a classroom. What I fell in love with the most with teaching was building the relationships with the students with this goal of leaving an impact that would last well beyond our year or two together. I wanted to introduce Art and connect the healing qualities, the uniting, the therapeutic power of creating. How Art can help you explore your identity, your ideas, your dreams and visions.
I grew up in South Central and saw the lack of Arts in our neighborhood. Schools didn’t have Arts programs and I remember feeling like my classmates and I were at a disadvantage. I fell in love with Art because of my grandfather Fred and it always brought me so much joy. It became my favorite pastime and because there was no academic place for me to further explore this creativity – I felt the pressure of the world. I found myself doodling in math textbooks in between algebraic expressions because my imagination and focus was elsewhere and I just knew I wasn’t the only student who struggled here. Traveling the world as a young adult opened me up to a career in Art. What was possible and just how Art can transcend borders, language barriers, educational and economic structures. Art is universal and the feeling it evokes needs no explanation. Art doesn’t need to work hard to build a connection.
Art tells stories, experiences and is the most powerful tool to share my experiences and has been the instrument to share the stories of my people for centuries. I knew that this was something I needed to bring to kids. Kids like me who always felt too artsy for the “hood” kids and too “hood” for the artsy kids. Who felt out of place but found themselves most comfortable – mixed up in the color wheel or piles of paint on a palette. I knew Art was a healing tool and wanted to connect my community with that power – so I created Coloured Art Studio.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Initially, just getting funds for all of the nonprofit fees and paperwork was such a struggle for me. I started this nonprofit in the middle of a pandemic and I feel like just about everyone was worried about the stability of their financial situation. I crowdfunded the money and initially – no one was interested. I had an initial team of board members and the promotion and response was dry and stale. I was disappointed because I thought this was a great idea that I could really pour my heart into. A couple of weeks past and I began to promote and post more aggressively. I told any and everyone who had a second why this program was much needed and who and how it could help our community. The funding started off slow but began to pick up. I met my goal within a month and a half – started the paperwork and was established.
My Nonprofit has gone through some ups and downs for sure – especially being available during a time where the world is so wrapped up in the chaos and fear of tomorrow. I had a blowout summer school virtual art program where I met some amazing children and we did art projects and laughed and talked for hours. I’ve had my highs for sure! Now, being a new year, it’s slowed down a bit with kids being wrapped up in school so I’m hoping and praying in the background that I can create a permanent in person space for children to come and create – covid safe, of course. We can move on from not just virtual but to a living breathing space. The biggest struggle is, trying to communicate to people why this is necessary and a valuable resource to our community. Having to paint an image of what this can be – what this studio can grow into. A struggle has been having people buy into my dream that they can’t see yet but I can see clear as day.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I myself am a Visual Artist – an illustrator actually and I love to capture the experiences and expressions of my people and my community. I am most known for the conversation behind my pieces and the social thread that sparks ideas and evokes a feeling. I am most proud of the sense of pride that people feel when they see my work. They identify and connect personally and that’s all any artist ever dreams of – for their work to be seen. I am still continuing my practice but my Nonprofit is just an extension for my love for my people. I am still able to be creative and expressive while building those connections for other artists – young and old and that tends to feed my soul more than me sitting alone at a canvas for hours at a time.
My studio will be a place where not only myself but other aspiring black and brown artists can study and explore. It will be a safe haven for artists to gather, share ideas, collaborate and ultimately be hired to teach in the community their craft. Community and culture is the vein in all of my work and especially my humanitarian work – I feel they are one of the same. What sets me apart from other artists maybe, I am not as interested as gaining fame and fortune from my personal artwork but more, connection. I want, like I said before, people to feel seen. I want conversations to be had and stories to be told. I want to be able to communicate hurts and joy and maybe even change a heart. I want to build a warehouse for artists to build and grow in the Arts. I want to build a warehouse where Art can become a staple in South Central again. I chose this to be a Nonprofit because I am so much more interested in creating opportunity and change than making money and I want longevity and access for my people.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I’ve always been ambitious. A child with her head in the clouds but her heart on her shoulders. I’ve always cared way more for the others around me, their well being and happiness where my own happiness I wouldn’t understand until I became a middle of my 20s adult. Being an Artist and successfully being able to financially support myself sounded like a myth in my family, this was a scary career being it was so unknown. Artist were seen as the hippies on the Venice boardwalk and nothing more – I admit I was so ignorant. My grandfather, an Artist himself, was still working a 9-5 well into retirement that had nothing to do with his Art… I had no examples of someone having an Artistic vision and chasing after it. I admit, I was ambitious but a little figure of doubt always hung out in the shadows. That is why now, me playing around with the idea of my Nonprofit being built into a huge warehouse in my community, me doing Art full-time and actually making a difference in my area seems so monumental. Because although I had this dream, it seems so far fetched and unheard of. I admit throughout life, I merely half stepped everything. Scared to give everything my one-hundred percent and afraid of failing. But I knew one hundred percent that I’d give back to my people – one way or another. This program is my 100%.
As a young kid, I, like a lot of my melanated counterparts in South Central, were pushed to grow up a lot faster than necessary. Society just is rough when handling us sometimes, we get kicked around a little bit more than others. I saw and experienced a lot that had a huge effect on who I grew up to be. I had to go through a lot of healing, a lot of sharing, exposing and releasing before I realized that through every mountain and trial – Art was there. Art has saved me through the worst days and helped celebrate the great ones. Art had the power to say all of my bad ideas and hurts better than I could. I learned later on – this was a power that was unique to only a few creative individuals who had not only the talent but the story that needed to be told. I was dedicated to teaching and sharing that power with anyone who was willing to learn it. Art made me proud of my people, proud of me, proud of my dream and excited for the future. I wanted to be the person to share that experience with other black and brown babies who looked like me.
Pricing:
- Coloured Art Studio LLC – Art Supplies Kit $35
- Coloured Art Studio LLC – Art Project Book $35
- Coloured Art Studio LLC – Merch $25-60
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected], [email protected]
- Website: colouredartstudio.com
- Instagram: @colouredartstudio, @colouredartstudio_shop
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/ZS58whuMv40
- Other: @schwarz_asf / kaylasalisburyart.com (founder)
