“Take time to celebrate every achievement, because it’s huge. And your creativity is a gift. You’ve got to keep stewarding that gift.”
Ronda Taylor is a poet, writer, storyteller, and program director of Youth Empowerment Services, a non-profit organization in Charleston. Taylor earned a B.A. in English with a minor in creative writing, as well as a Master of Arts in Writing, both from Coastal Carolina University. She published a children’s book titled Radiant Girl: Daughter of the King (2024), and her work appears in two poetry anthologies: This is the Honey (2023), edited by Kwame Alexander, and Ukweli: Searching for Healing Truth (2022) Taylor is the founder of Seen Heard Loved Publishing, LLC.
About
Ronda Taylor said she’d always wanted to write, and her education at Coastal Carolina University was the foundation for her career. Her work at The Athenaeum Press, the student-driven publishing lab at the university, was an important ingredient of that experience, as it allowed her refine her interests, “to become involved in the area, getting immersed in its community and its culture, as we pursued creative storytelling with a purpose.”
Networking has been essential to Taylor’s career. She performed spoken poetry at the Dream Girls Conference in Charleston, S.C., which drew more than 1,200 girls from around the state. “That was a big turning point,” said Taylor. “The creativity I’d been looking for was there, the energy was there. That conference solidified my passion. It all aligned with what I was looking for.”
As a creative, Taylor said she faces challenges regularly in her career. “You never know what the road is going to bring,” Taylor said. “You have to take disappointments and rejection and just redirect. That is what I had to learn: to persevere, endure, try a different way if the first path doesn’t work out. I’m still in a beautiful place even though it took me a different route to get here.”
Taylor encourages students interested in a creative career to attend events, meet people, and make connections. “Networking has been really important, finding those spaces where there’s opportunity for community,” said Taylor. “Sometimes it looks like membership, and sometimes it’s social media groups; there are many places you can find opportunities for community and mentorship.” Taylor mentioned the South Carolina Arts Commission, from which she was awarded an artist business initiative grant, which allowed her to launch her publishing company. She also noted that local bookstores and libraries can be important places to connect with people.
“Don’t get discouraged,” Taylor advises students. “Keep going. Surround yourself with a community that will support you. Keep moving forward, because it will happen even if it doesn’t happen in a certain way.”
Lex Stress is the Principal Graphic Designer at Ellucian, a tech company specializing in software for higher education. From Charleston, SC, Stress brings creativity and strategy to every project whether for clients, internal teams, or freelance ventures.
About
Lex Stress didn’t plan to work in tech, but after spotting the Blackbaud headquarters on a daily drive, they decided to apply. That bold move opened the door to a thriving career in design for the tech world.
Today, as Principal Graphic Designer at Ellucian, Stress leads visual direction across digital platforms, email campaigns, and social media. A graduate of Coastal Carolina University, they credit their education for building a solid foundation but it was curiosity, networking, and real-world practice that propelled them forward.
Stress enjoys the dynamic pace of tech and its flexibility. “Once you’re in tech, there’s room to grow,” they say. Their role allows them to blend strategy with creativity, and they also freelance on the side to keep their skills fresh.
They encourage aspiring designers to explore the business side of creative work, and not to underestimate the value of a strong portfolio and clear communication. Their advice? Keep evolving. Keep making. And always be ready to take the next leap.
“I really love to extend art and creativity for everyone. Art for all. Art for everybody.”
Simone Liberty is a full-time Teaching Artist based in Charleston. As a Teaching Artist, or traveling arts educator, Liberty teaches Arts Integration in schools throughout Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties. Arts Integration uses visual and performing art forms including dance, art, and theatre, connecting them to core curriculum subjects such as math, science, and ELA.
About
Simone Liberty has been in Charleston since 2015, when she left her hometown in Connecticut to attend the College of Charleston to pursue an Arts Management degree. She remained at the College of Charleston to earn a Master of Public Administration with a certificate in Arts and Cultural Management.
While in graduate school, Liberty observed a summer theater program for children at the Gailliard Center; she was so inspired to get involved that she wrote a letter to the program director, essentially creating a part-time position for herself in fundraising and education. Her proposal was successful, and over the next year, she worked as a fundraiser to support Gailliard’s educational programs. While she enjoyed that position, she realized she wanted to work more directly with children, and becoming a Teaching Artist has fulfilled that desire.
Liberty speaks openly about the difficulties of working as a Teaching Artist, such as the networking required to make it a full-time endeavor and the isolation of being an independent educator. “You have to be intentional with networking and getting yourself out in the community so people know who you are and what you do. It requires lots of self-initiation.”
At the same time, Liberty is excited about the increasing demand for Teaching Artists and opportunities for entrepreneurship. Liberty loves tap dancing, for example, but the cost of tap shoes makes teaching the dance form in schools cost-prohibitive. Instead of allowing that challenge to get in her way, she took inspiration from her “Art for all” mantra and created a tap accessory that can be added to the front of a child’s own shoe to give them the tap-dancing experience.
Liberty advises aspiring creative students to “Remember your why” in order to “stay connected to what brought you to the arts in the first place.” She notes that many Arts Management professionals are artists and creatives themselves who run the risk of losing touch with their skill and craft if their professional roles require them to drift from their original purpose. She encourages young professionals to “find those opportunities to stick with your craft and make sure that stays in your practice. It helps you to fill in that work-life balance and at the same time might let you draw some connections toward your ‘why,’ why you’re doing this.”
For more information about Teaching Artist careers, connect with the Teaching Artists Guild: https://teachingartists.com/
“Art has been a language to me that made sense throughout my life.”
Katie Hinson Sullivan is an Art Therapist and program director of the Arts and Healing program at MUSC Health in Charleston, SC. She holds a degree in Studio Art and Psychology from the College of Charleston and a Masters in Art Therapy from New York.
Katie Hinson Sullivan was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, where her art journey and career path in healing began. From a young age, Sullivan was always surrounded by art. Her mother, an art teacher, often left out materials that Sullivan would use to express herself when she was young.
About
Katie Hinson Sullivan was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, where her artistic journey and career in healing began. From a young age, Sullivan was immersed in art, as her mother, an art teacher, often provided materials for her to use in creative expression.
Although she was initially unsure about how her passion for art would evolve, Sullivan began her college education at the College of Charleston, where she majored in Psychology while also taking art classes. During her senior year, a professor highlighted potential career opportunities that combined her interests in psychology and art. Inspired, Sullivan began researching these careers and applied to schools for a master’s degree in art therapy.
After completing her graduate studies at the School of Visual Arts, Sullivan worked in New York. She first joined a preventive agency that supported families and children experiencing issues related to child abuse and neglect, and later served as a mental health professional at Rikers Island Jail. There, she established art therapy programs and advocated for increased services for female inmates.
Upon returning to Charleston, South Carolina, she founded the Arts in Healing Program at MUSC Health in 2018. “We are providing access to the arts to impact the health and well-being of patients,” Sullivan states.
A typical workday for Sullivan includes a variety of administrative tasks, such as developing programming, ensuring its sustainability, and offering mental health support to individuals and communities lacking access. Additionally, she is involved in several research studies exploring the effects of art therapy. One collaborative study focuses on enhancing young patients’ engagement in physical therapy, facilitating earlier hospital discharge.
Drawing from her experience establishing a career in art therapy and becoming the program director of the Arts in Healing Program, Sullivan offers valuable advice to aspiring creatives interested in pursuing this career path.
“I actually got turned down twice when I applied to medical illustration school. I took time off, reassessed, and just drew and drew. When I finally got in, I was excited, and I have been doing this ever since.”
Rick Sargent is a professor of art at The Citadel, where he teaches drawing, painting, animation, and illustration. He is also a seasoned freelance medical illustrator specializing in medical-legal illustration. A native of Columbus, Georgia, now based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Sargent holds a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Georgia and a Master of Science in Medical Illustration from the Medical College of Georgia (now Augusta University).
Interview
Transcript
Rick Sargent 00:00 I am Rick Sargent. I’m originally from Georgia, Middle Georgia, a smallish, mid-sized town called Columbus, Georgia. And right now, I currently reside in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Sara Sobota 00:12 What do you do for work? And where are you working from right now?
Rick Sargent 00:16 I am primarily a college professor at The Citadel, and I teach art. I teach drawing, painting, animation, and illustration. What makes me suitable for that is my other career. My other gig which is being a medical illustrator. When I’m teaching, obviously it’s in person, not online. As a medical illustrator, I work from home.
Sara Sobota 00:43 Okay, next question. How long have you been working there, and what is your official job title? You have two of each of those?
Rick Sargent 00:50 I do, yeah. I’ve been at The Citadel for 10 years. I have been a medical illustrator for 22 years.
Sara Sobota 00:59 Okay, wow. How did you end up in the field? We kind of went over that already, but if you could just give us a recap?
Rick Sargent 01:06 Yeah, absolutely. So, I ended up becoming a medical illustrator from the inspiration and advice I had from my high school art teacher, who knew a medical illustrator and thought I would be a good fit.
I changed my major at the University of Georgia, earned an undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, and then went on to get a Master of Science degree in Medical Illustration. From there, I started practicing medical illustration in New Jersey, came down to South Carolina, and had a colleague who was teaching at another school who turned me on to the idea of teaching. He eventually left the program, and I took over his role and fell in love with teaching. I have been a teacher ever since.
Sara Sobota 02:08 Wow, that’s great. So, your graduate degree was an M.S. in Medical Illustration?
Rick Sargent 02:15 Correct.
Sara Sobota 02:16 Wow, that’s fantastic. You don’t often hear or see that.
Rick Sargent 02:21 Yeah. Different programs offer different degrees. Some, like Johns Hopkins, offer a Master of Arts program. At the Medical College of Georgia now Augusta University they wanted to provide a stronger scientific foundation, so they offered a Master of Science degree while teaching the arts.
Sara Sobota 02:49 Forgive me, I don’t know what’s the Medical College of Georgia’s name now?
Rick Sargent 02:56 It is now Augusta University.
Sara Sobota 03:00 Oh, I didn’t know that.
Rick Sargent 03:01 It changed maybe five years ago. It used to be Georgia Regents University, but they were absorbed into Augusta University.
Sara Sobota 03:10 Got it. What background helped you land your roles?
Rick Sargent 03:16 Yeah, for sure. For being a professor, it was a real-world experience plus having a master’s degree, which is the terminal degree for medical illustration, since there is no Ph.D. in the field.
Sara Sobota 03:34 Are there any medical illustration programs in South Carolina?
Rick Sargent 03:40 There are not.
Sara Sobota 03:40 So you need to go to another state?
Rick Sargent 03:46 Yes. There are about six schools across the country offering a master’s degree program. Some, like Rochester Institute of Technology, offer a bachelor’s degree in medical illustration.
Sara Sobota 04:01 Can you walk us through a typical workday? What’s your process and what’s expected?
Rick Sargent 04:08 Sure. I’ll focus on the medical illustration side. I specialize in what’s called medical-legal illustration. I work for attorneys who need to explain in layman’s terms and visually what happened in an accident or a procedure.
A typical day involves reviewing operative reports and radiology films, then making a proposal on the best way to present their case. That gets reviewed by a medical expert. We usually schedule Zoom meetings to clarify the case, and once I have the supporting materials, I begin creating the illustrations.
Sara Sobota 05:04 Wow, you are blending law, medicine, and art.
Rick Sargent 05:08 I’m telling you, it’s all over.
Sara Sobota 05:10 That’s amazing.
Rick Sargent 05:12 Yeah.
Sara Sobota 05:14 That is awesome. Can you describe a defining moment in your creative journey, something that had a significant impact on you, or something you produced that really showcased your creativity?
Rick Sargent 05:27 I will say, medical illustration-wise. Yeah, there was a defining moment; I was the senior medical illustrator at Houston Sports Medicine Orthopedic Hospital in Columbus, Georgia. And there was a conference coming up, where a surgeon wanted to display a new surgery technique. And he was; this was back in 2002. Um, 2003, time. And he was cutting edge. And even in technology as far as visual communication. And so, he was really pushing the department to move to 3D. While we were just scratching the surface of that, a lot of stuff that we did was in Photoshop. Every now and then, we would dip into After Effects and things like that to make things move for animation.
And so, in a very quick turnaround, he bought the software for 3D, told me to learn it, and created an animation of his procedure. So, we had a roughly three-week turnaround time, from start to finish, of storyboarding of creating the models and rendering to get ready for his presentation at his conference. And we actually won an award for it. It was, it was insane. It was long nights spent. I slept there over the weekend trying to create something. But it’s well worth it. And I think he is still using some of the components of it.
Sara Sobota 06:37 That’s amazing. So, when you say “we,” who was on the team? Was it just you and him or?
Rick Sargent 07:19 It was me and him as; we had another medical illustrator on staff, who was helping to kind of give art direction to it. Since she was more, publications. But she was definitely lending a hand to the process. We had all hands-on deck, so to speak, right?
Sara Sobota 07:39 That’s amazing. Was it for you to find this career path? Or to figure out how to apply your background to this task? We talked about that.
Rick Sargent 07:49 Definitely a challenge, for sure. And I definitely wrestled with, could I make a career, I’m just gonna go with medical illustration, like, it was definitely challenged to say that I was going to be a medical illustrator. I actually got turned down, twice, to apply to the school. And so, with my portfolio I just kept, I was more kind of not really, I was a little bit wishy-washy, at least on the second round, because I was debating on this career or this career. And I was like, well, I’ll just submit my application.
And then I took a year off. And that kind of sat down, reassessed where I was going, and what I needed to do, and I think, really put the nose to the grindstone and just drew and drew and drew and drew, you know, everything that they wanted for the portfolio, took their advice from the previous portfolio, and it’s like, Alright, I’m going to, I’m gonna hit this hard, you know. And then, when I finally got in, I was pretty excited.
Sara Sobota 08:50 Yeah, that’s amazing. Great. Can you recommend any specific skills that an aspiring applicant should have to increase their chances of landing a role in your field?
Rick Sargent 09:04 I know that, obviously, rendering and the timeless skills are line, shape, accuracy, value, accuracy, being able to communicate visually, and being confident and effective about the way that you communicate with line and value. That is something that, hands down, digital or non-digital, you have to know.
So, but I know that, you know, AI is coming up and you know, or people say, is that going to replace, you know, illustration and things like that, and then relying on generative AI, things inside of software such as Adobe Photoshop, which we use a ton. That software only gets you so far, and that reliability on that can only get you to a certain level.
So, I would say you need to; don’t rely on those things. You can use them as tools, but you’re making case specific and what’s going to make you relevant is that you can be case specific, and not generic and not rely on things like AI, or generative art that’s going to make you seem more clip art and non-relevant.
So, I would say, keep being creative, I would say, keep up your draftsmanship skills and your ability to learn how contrast of how atmospheric perspective communicates and makes a hierarchy. That will be the most important skill that I would recommend.
Sara Sobota 10:30 Okay, great. Okay. Are there any local organizations, programs, or events that you recommend for aspiring creatives in South Carolina?
Rick Sargent 10:41 In South Carolina, I would say, you know, Piccolo Spoleto, getting involved in getting your artwork out there as much as possible. Being involved in art and art competitions, I found it really useful. I won the Cooper River Bridge run poster design contest, you know, way back when, and just getting involved in competitions, like those sort of things, even though the Cooper River Bridge one, wasn’t medical illustration at all, you know, but it’s designed, and it got my name out there. It gave me a little bit of, you know, clout. As I approach and talk about design, they are like, well, what did you do? And I say, well, here is this or people recognize my name from certain things.
And I have always been a proponent of just finding any competition that interests you make stuff and find ways to get into it. You get connected to more artists that way, that, oh, I saw your work and filled in the blanks, right? And so, design organizations, graphic design organizations, I would be a part of or try to connect with. There is the Association of Medical Illustrators, as far as my own career that I am a part of, I would connect with them, you know, follow them online, look at their stuff on Instagram. See what is happening? What are hot topics? And learning those topics? The research know, is it on your own?
Sara Sobota 12:10 One more aside, have you ever been to Artfield’s?
Rick Sargent 12:16 I have never been to art fields. I know, stop. I know, I know. It’s my own fault. It’s my own fault. Some of that, I’ve submitted fine artwork to art fields that were not accepted. It is one of my goals to have a piece that is accepted that way; a lot of my stuff is more illustration-based rather than pushing the envelope of art.
I’ve had friends; one of my best friends here, who is a painter, you know, got in several years ago, and just spoke highly of that and loved it. And I want to take my kids there; they are now traveling at an age where we can do that sort of thing. And so, yes, it is my own fault. But I want to be part of that.
Sara Sobota 12:59 I only ask because I’m so proud of that gem for our state.
Rick Sargent 13:04 It’s amazing. Really incredible.
Sara Sobota 13:07 It’s really nice to have you here. Do you have any advice for current college students or pre-professional creatives?
Rick Sargent 13:18 Yes, I do. I would say there are two main schools of thought for creatives currently. Number one is that you find your thing and do it really, really well. It seems more of a single focus. And so, I would, I would say, it’s easy to get distracted from social, in social media, and discouraged and say, well, I’m not that person, and then just quit what you’re doing. I would say, first and foremost, find, figure out what you like, and figure out what you want to do. And what gives you energy, what feeds your creativity, and do that thing and keep going at it. It is discipline. And so focus on that. And just keep going, keep going, keep going.
Rick Sargent 14:09
Draw, sketch. If you are a fanatic about birds. How can you communicate, birds, and do it over and over and over and over and over and over again? The thing is, to not resist the temptation to have diversity. So, are you an acrylic painter? Are you an oil painter? Are you a sculptor? Do you have a creative inkling to move into other realms? Don’t limit yourself.
So, I know it seems like a little bit of a disconnect or contract or I’m contradicting myself a little bit. But at the same time, man, there’s some really cool stuff that you can be involved in, and you’re never going to know that if you follow this little track of creativity it’s going to come back to that other bit that you were just passionate about or like oh, wow, now I see these connections.
I’ve had so many things that have strangely connected me and developed my artwork. You name it. sand sculpting, you know, like what? Sure, you know, like sculpting has helped me become a better draw or like a better illustrator, like learning in depth and plains of the face as maybe a better portrait painter by becoming better by sculpting like things that you would never think that could be connected somehow gets connected.
So, if there’s something doesn’t ignore things that give you fire as far as a creative like, Man, that is so interesting. pursue it, learn about it, and figure some things out because it may come back to bless your drawing, so to speak, or enhance your drawing, so to speak, or enhance your other part of your creativity.
Sara Sobota 15:45 Yeah, fantastic. Well, that’s all the questions that I have for my interview; you have given me so much; I really appreciate it and your input, I know it will really be helpful to the students. And there is also a few other things that we might have gone on with creative careers in the future. So, is it okay if I reach out to you again if anything comes up?
Rick Sargent 16:06 Yes, absolutely. Yes. Okay, well, I love talking about this stuff. I love meeting other medical illustrators or other illustrators or aspiring medical illustrators. For you know, Zoom calls, I’ve had text, Zoom calls, coffee, you know, with people who are interested in this. So, either that or any sort of creative, please let me know.
Sara Sobota 16:28 Okay, that sounds great.
Rick Sargent 16:29 Yeah.
Sara Sobota 16:30 Thank you for your time!
Rick Sargent 16:31 You’re welcome, Sara. Nice to meet you.
“If you ever start to feel inadequate at what you’re doing, don’t let that stop you.
Ranny Starnes is the co-owner and head chocolatier at Choco Bella in Florence, SC. She develops and designs new chocolate bonbon flavors and makes them by hand with her team.
Interview
Transcript
Randy Starnes
Date: Aug 30, 2024
Haley Hansen 0:00 What is your name, where are you from, and what do you do?
Randy Starnes 0:00 Randy Starnes. I’m originally from eastern North Carolina, a small town called Ahoskie, North Carolina. I currently live in Florence, South Carolina. I have been here for about 17 years and I’m the co-owner of Choco Bella, a small Belgian-chocolate shop that also sells gelato in downtown Florence.
Haley Hansen 0:00 Can you tell me your official job title?
Randy Starnes 0:22 I’m a chocolatier.
Haley Hansen 0:24 Can you walk me through your typical workday, maybe what you did yesterday or last week?
Randy Starnes 0:31 For our bonbons, hand-painted, colorful pieces made in molds. It is usually a five-day process, and our production is broken up by day, very structured: every Monday we do the same thing, every Tuesday the same thing.
Randy Starnes 0:52 Monday is our big day and the longest and most artistic part, our painting day. We use colored cocoa butters that behave like paint, except they’re solid at room temperature. So, we heat them in small increments to liquefy and keep them warm. We use airbrushes, paintbrushes, gloves, and lots of techniques to get different designs for each flavor.
Randy Starnes 1:23 Tuesday is shelling day. Once the paint sets overnight, we coat the molds with a thin layer of chocolate to pipe fillings into. Sometimes we also make caramels that day. Wednesday is filling or “ganache” day, when we create all the different ganache’s. Thursday is free-for-all: we put the bottom layer of chocolate on the bonbons to seal them and crack-and-dump. Either Thursday or Friday, depending on the volume. That is our schedule for every week.
Haley Hansen 2:08 How did you wind up working in that field?
Randy Starnes 2:11 I grew up in food, my family owned a restaurant, so I’ve been in food and beverage since childhood. I always worked in front of the house, majored in Hospitality Management in East Carolina, and managed fine-dining restaurants through college. After relocating to Pennsylvania, I co-ran a deli, needed benefits, and took a part-time job at Starbucks, which led me into coffee management. Eventually, corporate life burned me out, and with two small kids I needed better quality of life.
A friend told me about Dolce Vita- a wine-and-chocolate bar in Florence, adding coffee. I launched a coffee shop. Their chocolatier (now my partner, Marvin) intrigued me, so I asked to learn chocolate. After a one-day crash course, I dove in following chocolatiers on Instagram, reading forums, experimenting with colors. That led us to open Choco Bella in November 2020, right in the pandemic, with investment from Dr. Keith and downtown-renovation grants.
Haley Hansen 7:58 Oh, wow. The timing is crazy.
Randy Starnes 8:01 Yes, the pandemic delayed equipment and plans. Once we opened, I taught myself airbrushing cocoa butter and took the three-month École Chocolate online program: videos, tutorials, tasks, lots of tempering practice. It filled the gaps proper chocolate and cocoa-butter tempering, troubleshooting, the works.
Haley Hansen 9:17 What was the biggest adjustment or challenge when you started Choco Bella?
Randy Starnes 9:23 Timing really COVID-19. Opening cafés is familiar to me, but the pandemic added unknowns: social distancing in our 750-sq-ft shop (only three customers at a time), supply-chain delays, and wondering if Florence would support $20 boxes of chocolates or $5–$7 gelato. It was scary, but the community rallied around local businesses, which was a blessing.
Haley Hansen 11:12 If someone wants a role like yours, what skills should they acquire?
Randy Starnes 11:19 First, curiosity about food. Experimenting with flavors and having a good palate are essential. Also, creativity if I were not making chocolate, I’d be painting at home. Pastry-school training can help with recipe science, because chocolate work is precise and math-heavy. Above all, keep learning; after six years I still learn every week.
Haley Hansen 13:32 Any organizations or programs in South Carolina you would recommend?
Randy Starnes 13:43 I can’t speak to pastry schools; I didn’t go that route but there are many online chocolatier programs with live classes and minimal startup costs. Everyone begins by hand-tempering chocolate; you can upgrade to a tempering machine later.
Randy Starnes 14:30 Pastry school might have sped me up, but I tend to explore and find my own path.
Haley Hansen 14:53 Advice for students pursuing creative or culinary careers?
Randy Starnes 15:02 Stay creative and curious. Failure, especially in recipe development, teaches you to succeed. Learn the rules so you can break them. Work in food service to see back-of-house reality; it’s repetitive and physically demanding, so be sure you love it. Programs that place students in kitchens for short stints are great for trying it out.
Haley Hansen 18:07 Anything else you would like to add?
Randy Starnes 18:10 You know, like I said, we love what we do. It is a labor of love. But if, if you truly love it, which we do, it makes it worth coming back here every Monday painting and shelling. When it gets to the point where it is in your customers’ hands, and they light up, that is what it is all about for us.
I’m mostly back of the house now, but I get that reassurance from the customers when they are like, oh my God, my daughter loved this gift and was such a great gift. Or these chocolates at the wedding, everybody was oohing and aching so that is what it’s all about. Sharing our passion through food.
Lex Stress is the Principal Graphic Designer at Ellucian, a tech company specializing in software for higher education. From Charleston, SC, Stress brings creativity and strategy to every project whether for clients, internal teams, or freelance ventures.
Interview
Transcript
Lex Stress
My name is Lex Stress. I’m originally from outside of Philadelphia. But I’ve been in the Charleston area for almost 10 years now.
Emma Plutnicki
Nice. And so what do you do for work? And what’s your official job title?
Lex Stress
My official title is a senior graphic designer, I work at a company called Ellucian, and they are a higher education software company.
Emma Plutnicki
Cool, and how long have you been working there?
Lex Stress
It’s been probably about two and a half years now.
Emma Plutnicki
Nice. And that’s in Charleston.
Lex Stress
So it, so I work remotely, so like 100% remote. So I am in Charleston. The actual company is headquartered out of D.C., but they have it’s like a global company. So they have offices all over the world. And I work with people all over the world too.
Emma Plutnicki
Cool. How did you end up in this field? How did you hear about it? How did you know that this was an actual path that you could take?
Lex Stress
Um, that’s a great question. So, when I first graduated from Coastal, I actually started at a candle packaging company, and was like a designer for candles, their whole world marketing everything. And I actually only worked there for about six months. And, every day on my commute, I always passed Blackbaud, which is, like, a pretty big tech company here in Charleston. And they actually had a graphic design position open up. Somehow, they like, really believed in me. And I got that position. And that really opened my world to the tech industry, working in software and being like a more in-house designer for those kinds of companies.
Emma Plutnicki
So cool. So what, what did you study at Coastal? What was your background that kind of led you into this role?
Lex Stress
Yeah, so. I was a transfer student at Coastal. So, I studied graphic design, I came in as a junior. And so, I did two years at Coastal, and prior to that, I was also I got my Associate’s in design as well. So, I just, I, wanted to get my Bachelor’s, and so I kind of finished everything out at Coastal. So, yeah, graphic design.
Emma Plutnicki
Cool. And so, now of day’s, what does a typical workday look like for you? What are your responsibilities? What are you expected to make in a day? And what does that look like?
Lex Stress
It can be kind of crazy. But basically, like I will spend my day, there, there’s a lot of variety in my role. So it really just depends on the day and the project. Like, it could be making social media graphics. It could be email banners. Right now, the biggest project we’re working on is event identities for our annual conference. So, that includes so many things like on-site graphics. I just created the registration website, just like kind of anything that goes into that conference we’ve been working on. We also have a lot of Zoom meetings since we are remote. So that’s kind of where the collaboration comes in, is through having those meetings. But really, it just. It can be anything. Which I do like. I like having the variety. And, I think it’s it’s good to cue; it helps keep me creative too, like, being able to do something a little bit different every day.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah. So do you have any challenges with staying creative? Or is it like, what are your main challenges that you face on a day-to-day basis?
Lex Stress
I would definitely say it is hard, especially because, like, working as an in-house designer, that, has its own specific challenge because you are like 100% working on that brand. And so, it’s kind of unique, where it’s not like you’re jumping from different projects. I think that can be, like, the biggest creative challenge because you’re taking the same thing every day and seeing where you can push it and how it can evolve. And, that’s kind of where the creativity comes in. Versus, like, one day, you’re working on, like, a coffee shop logo. And the next day, you’re working for, like, a shoe brand or something like that. So, I found that that’s probably the biggest creative challenge, is just kind of working with that one brand. And probably the biggest thing that helps me is I actually freelance outside of my roles. So, I’ll take on those like full branding projects. And that’s kind of like where I feel like I can keep my, like, creative muscles going, basically.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, that makes sense. So, was it challenging to get into this career? You mentioned that you kind of got lucky someone had faith in you. Do you think it’s hard to, do you need a little bit of luck to get into careers like this? Or how, like, what challenges are there to get into the field?
Lex Stress
Yeah, so I feel like with tech, it is kind of a difficult field in general, because it changes so fast. It’s also notorious for, like, layoffs and things like that, like you always hear like all these tech companies that’s happening with them. And I think, it is really difficult in the beginning. I think it worked out for me because, like, this was pre-COVID when I joined Blackbaud, and so I think it helped because I was living in Charleston. Their headquarters was in Charleston. I was able to interview in person like all of those things. And now, with so many tech jobs being fully remote, like, your competition is anywhere in the world versus like just in your one city. And I think that’s, like, one of the biggest challenges. But definitely, like just having, knowing certain people, like the networking skill, is so important too, because, the reason why I got my job at Ellucian is also because one of my co-workers from Blackbaud started here, and like, put in a referral for me. So, definitely, I think like, the networking piece is huge for just trying to overcome how hard it is to get your foot in the door. But, once you are there, I feel like if you have that experience, there’s so many companies that value that.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, and for networking to establish the connections. Are there, like, events or organizations, clubs, or anything within South Carolina that you can think of to go to to make those connections?
Lex Stress
I don’t know, even like, even my old professors from coastal have really looked out for me as well. Like, I’ve been able to hear about certain opportunities just through them. Because I’ve, I felt like I built a strong relationship with them when I was at school, and then they kind of keep me in mind going forward. So, definitely, I would say like, they’re a great resource. I think there are also, like, a couple of Facebook groups like an alumni network, and also specific, specific for design as well that sometimes, like, there will be postings about jobs, or just certain opportunities in there. And then, I guess the last one would just be the AIGA [American Institute of Graphic Arts] organization. And that’s national, but there is like a South Carolina chapter. And that’s just for, design.
Emma Plutnicki
And what does, what does that stand for?
Lex Stress
It is the American Institute of Graphic Arts. So, it’s like a huge professional network for design in general.
Emma Plutnicki
Perfect. And so, throughout your journey, it could be at the job that you are at now or in the past, have you had one project that stands out in your mind as just having like a significant impact on you, or it’s kind of like the capstone of your career, so far?
Lex Stress
Honestly, I feel like the conference that I mentioned prior is probably that for me, right now, that event is happening in about three and a half weeks. So, we’re like in the final push right now. But, we started with the creative development back in the summer for it and really just built it up from scratch. It’s an annual conference that happens every year, but we do specific branding for it. And this year, it’s pretty cool because it’s hosted in San Antonio, Texas, but during the event, the, like, full total solar eclipse is happening. So, we use the Eclipse as the inspiration for the branding. That has just been really cool for us. Because it’s like I said, like, working on it in-house brand is a little bit different. But, with this specific conference, we get to be super creative. And it’s just been me and one other designer pulling off, like, the entire thing. So, it’s definitely going to be, probably, like the main piece of my portfolio after, after it happens, like I can’t wait to get the photography on site, just have all of our signage and have even the mainstage like we’re working on the presentations and everything. So, that has so many different elements that it’s been really cool to work on. And I know that that’s going to be like a huge portfolio piece for me.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, that’ll be so cool. And so you said networking is really important for, like, increasing your chances within the job pool. But, are there any specific skills that applicants should have or showcase to kind of increase their chances of landing a job in a field like yours?
Lex Stress
Yeah, I would say probably one of the biggest ones is just problem-solving. Because as, as you get into your career, like, I remember being in school, being surrounded by so many creative people that it never really like clicked for me that once I got into the real world, like, I would be one of the only creative type people. And so, so many other people that are not, that, don’t consider themselves creative. Really come to you, to help them, like, think through different problems. And especially like really complex things, like, that’s been a huge skill for me is just, being, really like problem solving, oriented, and really trying to help other people see it in a different way. Because they always think like, oh, you’re the creative person, like you have a brain that can like do all this. That’s like something that they really lean on us for, so showing that you can be, like, a really good problem solver and, like, very solution-oriented is definitely helpful. And then, honestly, I think like even just being, like, having a good attitude, like being somebody that somebody wants to work with, can really take you far and then just having like a good work ethic. I think, like, between those three, that’s probably been, like, the most important aspects just that I’ve seen, like throughout my career, like no matter where I am.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, that’s great. And so, just like as we wrap up. Is there any advice that you would give somebody who is trying to get into this field above, like skills that they should have, or any other just generic advice?
Lex Stress
Um. Definitely, one thing is always like be on the lookout for ways that you can add skills, like as, as you kind of go throughout your career journey, it can be really easy to get into like a very specific niche. But, if you can always be adding on skills, like, I’m trying right now; I’m more like a just traditional, like graphic design. But, knowing how to do UI [User Interface] and UX [User Experiece], or knowing how to do motion graphics, like, if you can add on those kinds of skills, it just makes you so much more marketable, honestly, like, being able to do different things. Even, like, video is a really big one, just like trying to always expand your skills so that way, like no matter where you go, or what you’re doing, you can say, like, I have experience doing that, that’s something I can jump in on like right away. So, definitely just just that, like the continuous learning aspect is really important. And even just because, like,, technology changes so fast, like Figma is a really big skill for us. And that’s that was like not even really a thing when I was in school. So, I’ve had to, like, kind of teach myself just being, like, adaptable like that is really helpful. Like as you go throughout your career, for sure. Yeah, just like always, find ways to stay creative because sometimes it can be hard, but it’s definitely important to prioritize.
Emma Plutnicki
Perfect. Is there anything else you’d like to add about your profession or anything?
Lex Stress
I would say it’s definitely, a, like, it’s a, it’s a cool career to have. I love being a designer. I don’t really, it’s hard to imagine doing anything else. And I think since it is such a, like, specific field, I’ve always found that other designers are so willing to help anybody, like, if there’s ever someone who needs mentorship, or even if you’re asking for mentorship, like, people are always there and available to help you. And, same for this, like, I’m definitely a resource if anybody ever has, like, questions or needs advice, like, can definitely ask me.
“I really love to extend art and creativity for everyone. Art for all. Art for everybody.”
Simone Liberty is a full-time Teaching Artist based in Charleston. As a Teaching Artist, or traveling arts educator, Liberty teaches Arts Integration in schools throughout Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties. Arts Integration uses visual and performing art forms including dance, art, and theatre, connecting them to core curriculum subjects such as math, science, and ELA.
Interview
Transcript
Simone Liberty 0:00
I’m Simone Liberty. I’m from Connecticut originally- but I’ve been down here in Charleston since fall 2015.
Emma Plutnicki 0:06
So, can you please tell us what you do for work and what your official job title is?
Simone Liberty 0:10
Yeah, sure. I am a Teaching Artist, and this would be my official job title. I’m a traveling arts educator. I go to lots of different schools at this point. Although a teaching artist doesn’t have to be just confined to schools; they are community art educators, so they could go and do workshops for adults or other communities as well. Right now, my work has me going into schools all over Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties.
Emma Plutnicki 0:41
Very cool. How long have you been doing that?
Simone Liberty 0:43
I’ve been a full-time Teaching Artist for about two years now.
Emma Plutnicki 0:48
So, how did you end up doing this? How did you know that it was a profession that you could actually pursue? How did you know that you wanted to do this?
Simone Liberty 0:53
Yeah, so. It was kind of funky. So, I have to go back to tell you about my undergraduate degree at the College of Charleston. I was an Arts Management Major, and I graduated in 2019 with my bachelor’s degree. And while I knew that I wanted to roll right into a master’s program. I also had a desire to start connecting with some of the organizations around Charleston in the arts.
So, the best thing about my arts Management experience undergrad was that we had some great adjunct faculty members, and one of my professors was Catherine Brack, who at the time was the Director of Development at the Gaillard Center. So, I went in, and I was just kind of trying to pick her brain about what she does for work. And while I was there, she invited me to go and see their youth theater program in the summertime. It was a summer camp. And she said, “You know, it’s going to be super cute.” They do every summer. So, would you, you know, just come and check it out? And totally adorable. I fell in love with just watching the kids on stage. And it reminded me of some work that I had done in the summers during my undergraduate experience.
So, I met Sterling DeVries, who is the Director of Education at the Gaillard Center, and still is, and just told her how interested I was in arts education. We talked for a while about that. And I ended up actually writing a letter in email form- to both Catherine and Sterling. I’m basically creating myself a position at Gaillard. I ended up getting that position, but the catch was that what I really wanted to do was work part-time in the Education Department and part-time in the Fundraising and Development Department. And instead, what they could offer me because of budgetary needs, was a full-time or it was still a part-time position in development while I was in graduate school. And I ended up raising funds for specifically the education program at the Gaillard while I was there for about two and a half years and absolutely loved the work that I was doing because I got to raise the funds that were supporting the arts education. But I wasn’t doing it myself. I really wanted to be with the kids specifically. So, I started to talk to Sterling more about that. And she eventually ended up asking me to be one of their teaching artists for the summer camp that I went to and saw originally. So, that was kind of my bridge into teaching artistry.
It started out as just teaching summer camps. And increasingly as I got my name out there and started to network myself a little bit harder and got connected with some other community partners, I’m now able to say that I’m full-time as a teaching artist.
Emma Plutnicki 3:46
Amazing. That’s a great story. So, nowadays, how would you say the split is between working in schools and working behind a desk? What does your typical day look like?
Simone Liberty 3:58
Yeah, so it really depends. I used to love my routine. Unfortunately, this job has no routine. So, if I’m in school, it’s either in school after school, or maybe summer camp.
Let’s take today, I am going to be in a school, but my school time doesn’t starts until 12:45 And from 12:45 until the end of their school day, basically, I’ll be teaching different classes, and then I will do an after-school program. So, that meant that I had a couple of hours this morning to be on my laptop. And that’s what I have been doing and will continue to do after we get off this zoom call. This I would say, looks like a pretty typical day. If there were such thing as a typical day, where you know, it’s a balance between computer work and then being face to face with students for me, but like I said, a teaching artist can also be face to face with adults in the community or anything like that.
Emma Plutnicki 4:53
Yeah, so do you think it’s been I mean, you said that you kind of paved your way to find this position, but has it been challenging to work within this field? What kind of challenges do you see on a day-to-day basis? And how do you kind of overcome those?
Simone Liberty 5:07
Yeah, so it has been difficult to call this a full-time career path. As I mentioned before, you really must be intentional with networking and getting yourself out in the community, so that people know who you are and what you do. And what I have found is that I’ll speak specifically to the Charleston area. Lots of people have questions or are generally confused about what a teaching artist does for their work, and I think that has to do with the broad nature of the role. You know what age range do you like to work with? Or what’s the style of your workshops? Sometimes, when I’m working with different community members when I am going into schools, specifically, I’m doing arts integration. And so that’s making sure that it’s not just a dance or theater, workshop, I’m teaching dance and theater things, but it’s also teaching a core curriculum subject like Math, or Science or ELA.
So, all those moving pieces make a teaching artist change how they describe themselves. And it’s just this really vast thing that hasn’t really been nailed down, nor do you want it because we’re creative individuals. So, all, it’s tricky to keep having the conversation of who are you and what do you do? And you know, what are your credentials? Because there’s not real credentials in Geometry, there’s no certificate, and there’s no degree in teaching artistry. But you know, that’s, that’s kind of the tricky part of it. And with that comes, where do you find your peers? You know, it can be a little bit isolated if you don’t have community partners that you’re really in contact with. It’s just that it requires lots of self-initiation.
Emma Plutnicki 6:51
Yeah, and so far, as networking goes, how have you been able to network with people? Are there any events that you’ve gone to? Or is there anything within South Carolina programs or communities that you’ve found to kind of build those connections?
Simone Liberty 7:05
Yes. So, first and foremost, I will need to tell you about Engaging Creative Minds, which is one of my community partners, and one of the organizations that I work for. They’re kind of like a booking agent for Teaching Artists, and they have a whole roster of artists. All these artists go into schools as well and do very similar things to what I’m doing, but just maybe in a different discipline or the same. So, I focus on dance and Musical Theater. And so lots of those teaching artists I’ve been able to connect with through engaging creative minds, even if it’s just on an email basis, some of them I’ve been able to meet in person, even, you know, get coffee with and pick their brain about how they run their workshops. But that’s been a great help.
I should also call out professional connections that aren’t teaching artists have been very helpful in just understanding the field more broadly. And I would like to stay well connected with the South Carolina Arts Commission and the South Carolina Arts Alliance, two separate things. The Arts Alliance is a non-profit that is a statewide Arts Advocacy Organization. So, that, those two organizations or the agency and that organization have been great to relate to so that I understand more about the South Carolina Arts field at large.
And then I found a lot of my personal connections to be a part of my graduate program. So not only did I do the master’s in public administration, but the College of Charleston also offers a certificate in Arts and Cultural management. So, a lot of the individuals from my cohort and I are still quite close. So, I would say that those are a couple of events and organizations that I stay connected with.
Emma Plutnicki 8:48
Perfect, and so throughout your journey so far, has there been any particular project or, I don’t know, a program that you’ve worked on that has had a significant impact on you, or that you hold, like, close to your heart, anything that stands out as being like a highlight of your career so far?
Simone Liberty 9:05
Yes. And it’s kind of a new one. But I’ve been happy about this past couple of months now. So, I for the past couple of years, have struggled with the question of what my why is. And I think that’s a really important question, especially for young professionals to ask themselves when they’re going through, trying to find what they love to do for work. What you know, makes their workday feel like it’s fun, rather than work. And what I’ve been working on is, I really love to extend art and creativity to everyone, art for all, art for everybody. And one thing that had been kind of gnawing at me for a while is that I love tap dancing. I’m not a ballerina, but I do love tap dancing, and I can’t teach that in most of the schools that I go into because there’s a prohibitive cost to tap dancing. Those tap shoes they start at $65 dollars. So, that’s just not possible for a lot of the students that I teach.
So, what I created last fall, I’m calling them Tip Taps. It is a low-cost tap accessory, I’ll call it. It’s not a replacement for tap shoes. But it’s simply just a piece of metal that you can strap to any shoe. And I can now go in and teach tap dance workshops. Now it’s just one tap, it’s not the heels, but I can teach tap dance workshops to kids who might not have ever had a tap shoe on their feet before. So, this has been a highlight. And it’s really brought me back to that, what’s your why? Because, like I said, my why is art for all and making sure that there are accessible ways to bring art into our community, even if it’s not in a traditional way.
Emma Plutnicki 10:48
As far as the skills that you possess, what do you think has helped you in this role? Clearly, you have ingenuity and creativity with projects like that. But are there any other skills that you’ve had that you think really advance your role?
Simone Liberty 11:02
That’s a good question. Yes, I want to say flexibility and not in the dance way. But being flexible in your schedule, in your idea of what your day is going to look like in your goals, even. You know, sometimes you end up either under or overshooting a goal that you have at, say, the beginning of the year or the beginning of a school year or semester, whatever it might be. Whether that’s a financial goal, a mindset goal, or a life, a work-life balance goal, whatever it is, there’s an element of entrepreneurship in craft. And it takes some flexibility.
There was another thing that I was thinking of well, ah, curiosity would be another one. That’s been a skill that I’ve had to flex quite a lot, you know, ask lots of questions and kind of dive into who might be potential partners for you to go in and offer your teaching artistry to. I would say, Yeah, curiosity and flexibility. Those would be the two skills.
Emma Plutnicki 12:03
Yeah, great. And so, just as we wrap up, do you have any advice for young professionals and college students who are trying to make a path in the creative world and looking for a job similar to yours?
Simone Liberty 12:15
Stay connected to what brought you to the arts in the first place. This has been something that I’ve been trying to get back to the last year, I would say, you know, we probably all landed in arts management or arts administration or wanting to be in the creative field because we are creatives, and we are artists, or at least we say like, oh, I used to be.
It’s not gone, and it doesn’t need to be. So, my advice to young professionals is to find that adult dance class, down here in Charleston, we’ve got Redux that offers adult art workshops. Find those opportunities to stick with your craft and make sure that that stays in your practice. So, I think the reason that I’m saying this is because it really does help you to fill in that work-life balance, and at the same time might let you draw some connections towards your why, why you’re doing this.
Emma Plutnicki 13:09
Great. That’s such good advice. Okay. So, thank you so much for joining us. Is there anything else you’d like to add about your profession, your career, or anything else?
Simone Liberty 13:18
Oh, my gosh, we need more teaching artists please. You know there is no lack of demand. I think that the field of teaching artistry is growing at just an exponential rate in South Carolina at large. I do know that there’s planning to be a teaching artists forum in the fall by the South Carolina Arts Commission. And I think they always have community partners on things like that. So yes, you know, look out for things like that if the idea of teaching artistry is interesting to you. I also would say to get connected with Tag, which is the Teaching Artists Guild. There’s other national and even international resources for teaching artists to kind of connect with so that you can explore the field more and of course, if you have anyone up your way that would like to connect with me about teaching artistry with more questions, feel free to send them my way.
“Your path in life won’t look like anyone else’s.”
Thurayya UmBayemake is the Spark Lead Actor-Teacher in support of the Arts Grow SC program at SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. She delivers literacy-based drama programming to public schools to encourage “creative thinking, divergent thinking, and overall motivation to read.” UmBayemake earned a degree in drama studies at South Carolina State University (SC State).
Interview
Transcript
Thurayya UmBayemake 00:00
My name is Thurayya UmBayemake. I moved to South Carolina a couple of years ago from Ohio. But I claim Ohio, Kentucky, and South Carolina because I went to college here, and I felt like I grew up here.
Emma Plutnicki 00:13
Perfect. So, what do you do for work? And where are you currently working?
Thurayya UmBayemake 00:18
My official title is Actor-Teacher Coach for the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. So, what that entails, is that I’m the Lead Actor-Teacher for a program called Spark, which is through their department of outreach and community engagement. The Spark program is a literacy-based drama program. So, we go to elementary schools, and not only do we show students how to take stories from picture books and how to add drama enactments in there, to show characters, to show settings, to show plot, to reinforce the literacy-based learning, but also creative thinking, divergent thinking, and just overall motivation to read. That’s our main goal. But we also have a goal of showing teachers that even though you don’t have an arts background, you could do this too. So, it’s a twofold job.
Emma Plutnicki 01:18
Amazing. So, you’re working out of South Carolina?
Thurayya UmBayemake 01:21
Yes.
Emma Plutnicki 01:22
Okay. Perfect. And how long have you been working there?
Thurayya UmBayemake 01:25
So, I’ve been here for a little over two years. And that’s when the residency program started. But the program before I came along was a summer based only pilot. And when the SR [Sub-recipient], ARP [American Rescue Plan] grant money came in, that’s the federal grant money that was given for the pandemic, it turned this program into a year-long residency program. So, that’s when I was hired in. And I had a team underneath me of other actor teachers, and we’re spread out throughout the state. So, we work somewhat remotely and we traveled to different schools across the state. To spread the wealth, to spread the joy of the job.
Emma Plutnicki 02:11
Yeah, amazing. So, two years, how did you end up in this field? How did you hear about it? How did you know that this is something that you could do?
Thurayya UmBayemake 02:19
So, my background, I’ve always been into theater. Well, I shouldn’t say I’ve always been. I’m a storyteller. So, I’ll try not to be so long winded, I promise you, I will try hard.
So, it all started when in high school, I was actually an athlete, I did cross country and track and field. I got injured my senior year. And at the same time, I got injured, the African community theater opened up in my hometown. And I tell this story, because it’s very important. That’s how I got into theater. I was involved in a theater that embraced me for who I was and told stories that I could truly relate to. And so, that gave me the theater bug because, actually, I wasn’t even initially an actor; I was an assistant director, slash stage manager, then came acting, and I knew from then I wanted to stay in theater. So, I went to college and ended up at South Carolina State University because they had a drama education program. And that’s how I ended up from Ohio to down here. I have no ties to South Carolina other than that, but that program really developed me. One as a family unit, you know, I felt comfortable and vulnerable enough, which is very important. When it comes to drama and theater, you have to be vulnerable onstage, in the script, everywhere, for the story to be told authentically.
So, that was one thing. But then also, when I realized how long the drama education program was going to take to complete, I switched to drama studies, which was good for me because it helped me learn other aspects, more in depth in theater, I learned Tech, I learned administration, all these different aspects, versus just little surface levels and education. So, that is my educational background.
Once I graduated, I did some traveling. I called myself a little bit of a nomad, so I went back to Ohio for a bit. I did a children’s theater up there, and I opened up my own theater, basically for social justice. It was called the Sue Company. And I opened it with two of my friends, and we focused on telling the African American stories, you know, up here. I don’t know why I said up here, I put American in there. African American stories.
From there, I went to New York and, actually when I moved to New York, I took a break from the theater, even though I was living in New York. I know that’s backwards, but I just was living life and, and me being a natural storyteller, you have to experience life to tell stories. So, that’s what I did in New York. I just was experiencing life. I did go to do readings, and volunteered as an actor, but that’s the extent of my theater experience in New York. Once I came back to Ohio, I realized I wanted to get back into theater. But I also knew I wanted to come back down south to South Carolina, because this, to me, is where my home theater is now. Where my friends from school kind of stayed in the area. So, I was looking for jobs. And then one of my colleagues or old classmates sent me this job. He was like, “Hey, I think you’d be interested.” So that’s how I learned about this job. And I was like, “I am interested.”
So, I was nervous. I actually applied for both the actor, teacher job and the actor, teacher coach job, because I didn’t know if I fully qualified or not. And it’s funny, because I think you’ve probably seen that article where there was a study on men and women. How women feel they have to heal. That’s me. I was like, “I don’t know.” So, obviously, I interviewed well, and I got the position. And it’s just been smooth, not smooth sailing, but it’s been smooth sailing since. It’s definitely been challenging, but it’s a good challenge. And I’m really happy that, one, that they picked me, and they trust me with this position, and that I could do justice for it.
Emma Plutnicki 06:20
Yeah, amazing. So, what kind of challenges have you experienced? And how have you overcome those challenges?
Thurayya UmBayemake 06:26
Well, one is I’ve somewhat managed before. My managing experience has always been short-term, right? Like my last job, I worked for the Board of Elections in Cuyahoga County, and I was a recruiter official. So, what that means is that I basically was responsible for filling in the poll workers. So I hired them. And then sometimes I had to fire them, you know, or relocate them, and things like that. But it was a very short-term commitment. This job is a very long-term commitment. You know, because once someone’s on the team, we want them to stay on the team. So, I had to grow as a manager to overcome difficulties, whether it’s individual or personal, or just overall team dynamics.
Emma Plutnicki 07:10
Yeah, that makes sense. So now, on a daily basis, what kind of things are you working on? And what are your responsibilities on a day-to-day basis? Are you working on long projects? Or are there kind of short assignments that come up? Or what does it look like?
Thurayya UmBayemake 07:26
It’s a mixture of both. And I feel like since I’ve been brought on, it has always been a mixture of both. Mostly because it was such a brand-new idea of a program, where we had an idea where it was going to go, but we didn’t necessarily have the pathway. So, we had to be always flexible, which sometimes is harder than it sounds, you know. So, my daily projects, like the shorter terms, are what I know, right? Like summer programming, I know what comes up every year. So, I have to plan for it, right? During the school year residency, I have to plan for that. That’s the short term, you know, constantly, but the long term part is choosing the districts, how we’re going to get to those districts, who’s going to be involved, that’s more of the long term, and also getting the word out about our program because, there’s a lot of challenges that comes with our program, because it’s new, you got to explain it. But you have to explain it in a way that you don’t lose interest. For instance, not being too long winded. But you don’t also want to be too short, because they’ll come up with their own idea of what the program is. I feel like the whole program has had a significant impact on me.
Emma Plutnicki 08:31
Yeah, it makes sense. So, throughout your time doing this, has there been one project or something that you worked on that stood out the most like resonating with you or something that had a significant impact on you?
Thurayya UmBayemake 08:45
You know what, one thing I’ve always wanted to do is be a presenter, right? Like when I go to conferences or things, there’s always a presenter up there explaining. And I always thought that job looked cool. I didn’t know that this job would turn into part of that. So, this past year, particularly, I got to go to different conferences and present the program. So, I was really happy with that accomplishment.
Emma Plutnicki 09:12
Yeah, that’s so fun. You said that you didn’t really have too many ties to South Carolina. So, when you came, were there any, um, like organizations or events that you went to, or interacted with to kind of build a network, or just overall help you in your field?
Thurayya UmBayemake 09:30
Yes. So, this is when I bring in my mama. Growing up, we moved around a lot. My mama has always instilled in me that you get to know the community. Like, on the first and second day moving, we always went and got a library card. We met at the police station to meet the officer, like you have to know who you’re living with, you know, your neighbors and everything. So, when I came down here, not only did I reach out to my former classmates from SCSU [South Carolina State] who are still in the area. I did the same exact things. I went to get a library card, I went to local community festivals or events, you know. And I reached out to different communities to let’s say, hey, you know, introduce myself to things of that nature, you know. And that’s how I built my network here. I also went to many different theater events around. I live in Colombia. I don’t know if I mentioned that, but my remote position is in the Midlands. So, I went to the theater network here to just introduce myself because I’m also doing something in drama and wanted to know the familiar bases.
Emma Plutnicki 10:38
Amazing. When you were trying to get this job, were there any skills that you found helped you land, the position, or any skills that you think someone trying to get into your field should have in order to find success?
Thurayya UmBayemake 10:53
Definitely. So, I think two major skills are what got me the job. One was my natural storytelling ability. The second was my background and job experience. I have worked so many different types of jobs. And I know some people feel that once they get out of college, they should only work in their field, right? You’re missing out, right? Like you are missing out on meeting different people, learning about different situations, how to overcome it, you know, taking that L, you know, learn from your mistakes. So, I think having all those different types of jobs, one led me to be a recruiter official, because I could deal with people well, and that recruiter official helped me get this job because they’re like, Oh, you have management experience, see how it all just comes into place?
Emma Plutnicki 11:42
Yeah, perfect. And just as we’re wrapping up, do you have any advice for someone who would want to get into a position like yours, and how they can manage that? And just any overall advice for them?
Thurayya UmBayemake 11:56
Yes. One, don’t narrow your network, right? Like, make friends with any and everybody, just to learn about their life experiences and what they went through. It will help you learn that your path is not going to look like anybody else’s. Like, you could talk to 100 people, I promise you, your path is going to be different from all 100 people. Right? And with that being said, you can’t take everyone’s advice. Everyone’s advice is used with a grain of salt because, again, your path is going to be different no matter what.
Emma Plutnicki 12:28
Yeah, for sure. That’s good advice. And is there anything else you’d like to add about your experiences or your profession?
Thurayya UmBayemake 12:38
Yeah, I would like to add one more thing.
I feel like this job was a dream come true. And I say that because when you major in one of those fields that doesn’t, quote-unquote, guarantee you a job. You have to learn patience, right? And when I came out of college, I think my first job was housekeeping. Like, who wants to admit that nobody, right? I eventually got into children’s theater and other stuff, but none of those paid the bills, right? Like it was just something I enjoyed doing. But this job is the first one that meets both. That satisfied my living situation. And I really love and enjoy doing it. And it took a while. But I feel like it was perfect timing. So, it’s about faith. It’s about persistence. I just had to, like I said, refocus and learn different jobs and different skills and enjoy the journey of life. But I really do love this job. My team is great. Working at the SC gov school is great. And I couldn’t ask for anything better.
Emma Plutnicki 12:40
Yeah.Amazing. I’m so happy you found your dream job. So good to hear.
“Art has been a language to me that made sense throughout my life.”
Katie Hinson Sullivan is an Art Therapist and program director of the Arts and Healing program at MUSC Health in Charleston, SC. She holds a degree in Studio Art and Psychology from the College of Charleston and a Masters in Art Therapy from New York.
Interview
Transcript
Katie Hinson Sullivan 00:00
My name is Katie Hinson Sullivan. I am a board certified and registered art therapist and I am from Charleston, South Carolina; I actually moved to New York to get my masters to become an art therapist, and I worked in New York for 10 years as an art therapist and then moved back about six years ago and started the arts and healing program here at MUSC.
So, we started Arts and Healing in 2018. And it started off with as a very small program, I think the CEO initially here wanted to create some kind of art program, he didn’t know what that was, he was thinking more of art on the walls, but hiring an art therapist, I kind of went in the more clinical evidence-based direction and started a Creative Arts Therapy Department here, which is… art therapy is actually a mental health field. A lot of people can misunderstand that as kind of an educational field, but it’s not, we’re not teaching any kind of art activities. We are using art in a way to impact the health and well-being of patients from children to you know, end of life. Essentially, I have worked in a number of different populations. I’ve worked with vets; I’ve worked with children of abuse and neglect. I actually worked at Rikers Island in New York for three years working with the incarcerated because when words are really hard to find, or really unsafe to use, I think art therapy has a really important place for those types of people, especially the underserved populations out there, which is kind of where my heart lies.
But when MUSC Arts and Healing was created, we started with just one art therapist and one music therapist and doing work within the palliative care space with both adults and children, and that just exploded. I think people quickly saw the impact of having that kind of holistic approach in the hospital. Counselors and therapists don’t typically work within hospital spaces. It’s generally, you know, just like a psych eval, but people are going through a lot of things. And we have people that stay here for years sometimes in the hospital, which is really sad, or family members are just experiencing a big loss. So, losing a family member happens often here in the hospital, so we work directly with patients and family members as well. So, we now have three art therapists and four music therapists working at MUSC. Music therapy is a separate field. Music therapists focus on functional goals. If you like, I can connect you to a music therapist as well. But it’s a completely different field than art therapy.
Yeah, so that’s kind of us in a nutshell, in the inpatient world. We’ve also expanded with the help of the South Carolina Arts Commission to be in our school systems across the state, which is like the most exciting work ever, especially after COVID-19. Kiddos are very isolated; they really struggle socially. I think anxiety really just took off. We wrote a grant to get funding, a little funding for this to start things off before partnering with the South Carolina Arts Commission, because we were seeing an increase in our emergency room with kiddos having suicidal ideation or just feeling completely overwhelmed and having mental health crises. So, the best place to reach our kids is in schools, especially with those who are underserved and don’t have access to mental health care. So that was our main goal. So, we started pushing into schools using art therapy two years ago. And again, we’ve expanded to four districts. Thank goodness to the South Carolina Arts Commission for helping that work along.
We’ve been in the school system, and we’re pushing into underserved populations as well within our community. So, we’re working with an addiction agency and working with their clientele. We’re working at an assisted living facility, we’re actually doing art therapy with the blind and visually impaired in partnership with the South Carolina Arts Commission, we’re actually pushing into a children’s group home and also working with foster care families as well. And then a myriad of other populations. It’s kind of expanded to very diverse settings. But yeah, that is where we are at – MUSC.
Emma Plutnicki 03:59
How long have you been there and doing the show? And what’s your official job title?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 04:04
So, I’m the leader of the Arts and Healing department and I started the program in 2018.
Emma Plutnicki 04:08
Okay, perfect. And so, what kind of background, like, led you down this path? How did you end up doing what you’re doing now?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 04:16
Yeah, I’ve been asked that question before. I was a kiddo who actually had open heart surgery here at MUSC Health when I was five. And I think, throughout my life, I had an art teacher as a mother, so I think she always just put materials out and that was my way of expressing myself when I was very young. So, art was just kind of a language to me, so it made sense throughout my life. I didn’t know what that equated to. I was actually going to the College of Charleston, I was majoring in psychology and just taking art classes on the side because it was like my interest, just growing up doing it. And I had a professor my senior year at College of Charleston, and I didn’t know what the heck I wanted to do, but she was kind of like, you understand that there is an actual profession that kind of blends your two interests, psychology and art. So, I looked into it and then started applying to schools. You have to have a master’s degree to become an art therapist, just to get training. And then there’s a whole myriad of board certification tests, all this and collecting hours in front of patients just like any other mental health field. But yeah, in my senior year, I decided to become an art therapist. I really didn’t have any idea what that was until I got into it. And just, it just makes so much sense to me, just given my history, I think.
Emma Plutnicki 05:28
Yeah, amazing. So, on a day-to-day basis, are you going to schools and teaching the kids, or what does your day-to-day look like?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 05:38
Yeah, so, I am more on the administrator’s side. Now, I can speak about what that looked like when I was an active therapist. But my day today is really building programming, really thinking strategically about how we can build sustainable programming and these spaces that don’t have access to care. I am doing a research study currently in the hospital. So, I’m working with pediatric patients who have just had a bone marrow transplant, which is a really tough procedure to go through. So, I’m working on a study that is looking at whether or not art therapy helps young people be discharged quicker. I’m working alongside PT (physical therapy) so if children receive art therapy before PT, does it make them, essentially does it help them to engage in their services a little longer, or more readily, because as we know, if a kiddo going through BMT is compliant with their physical therapy they can be discharged a lot quicker. So just providing that support, assisting them.
Emma Plutnicki 06:51
Has there been one project that has stood out to you over the years, that was the pinnacle of your creativity, or just had a significant impact on you?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 07:02
Yeah, I think my work at Rikers was the most impactful work I did. Actually, my job before that, I worked at HeartShare human services before that in New York, and it was an agency, it was called a preventive agency. So, child abuse cases would come through the city, and then we would be contracted to provide support for those families. I worked with the entire family. I think that just allowed me to get every type of issue or struggle that a family was going through, and whether that was child abuse or neglect, that really gave me a very dynamic view of the world, I think. As a new therapist, I worked there for five years. And then I think that kind of led me to my position at Rikers. I answered a cryptic job posting about a mental health clinician wanted, and luckily, I got the job. And I mean, it was really intense. As people know, Rikers Island is very known for being a really scary place and giving inmates a voice or helping them process what was going on. I mean, there’s so many layers in jails, right, like just who we incarcerate and why we incarcerate them. But allowing them the space to have support in a really scary time, was really impactful to me.
Then I fought to work in the women’s jail. There are over 10,000 inmates on that island, and only about 1500 Women were in the jail at the time. And they were receiving little to no services because the men were just, you know, they were having a lot more issues and like code reds throughout the days. And women, a lot of them have children at home. And they were trying to get through their time at Rikers, to find out what the outcome of their sentencing was, et cetera. So very impactful work for me gave me a very different view of the world.
Emma Plutnicki 8:51
Wow, that’s incredible.
Katie Hinson Sullivan 8:53
Yeah, a bigger view of the world. I mean, it was really impactful. And the women were so strong.
Emma Plutnicki 08:58
Wow. That’s amazing. So, has it been challenging, like the work itself, and also the way that you got into this career path? Was that challenging to find and kind of get your foot into the door?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 09:09
It’s very challenging in our state to become an art therapist. There are no grad schools here, and you have to have a master’s degree to become an art therapist. There are some online schools. And I didn’t know what the field was like; I didn’t even know that it existed. I had a professor that was from New York, where it, you know, obviously mental health is a little more accessible in another state. In South Carolina, not only am I a mental health clinician, but I’m an art therapist, which, you know, I think is a double whammy. We don’t have licensure in our state yet. We’re pushing hard for licensure. So, I think that’s a challenge, but we’re doing it. In 2018, I think there were 39 art therapists throughout the entire state. Right now, we are sitting at like 62 therapists, so within a few years, it’s really grown, which is crazy. Then we have a bunch of interns that are working with our program and then just people are flocking to the state because we now have the opportunity for art therapists to work. It is challenging here in South Carolina, in New York; it was not a challenge. There was a huge community of art therapists that were great and wonderful to work with. And there were jobs available and all of that. But South Carolina is really moving along. I have high hopes for the next few years, for sure.
Emma Plutnicki 10:19
Yeah. And within South Carolina, do you know if there’s any like programs or events or organizations that kind of allow people to network or meet or find out more about a field as an art therapist? Are there any like organizations or anything?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 10:33
Yeah, the South Carolina Association for Art Therapists, our state organization. I’m actually the treasurer and have been a past president for that organization. They’re great. We’re small, but I think anybody who’s interested in the field of art therapy, please just get in touch with a licensed or credentialed art therapist to ask about what the field looks like, there’s a lot of art therapists out there that are claiming to be art therapists in our state, because there’s not, I think there’s just a lack of understanding of what it is. But if you’re interested in the field of art therapy, get in touch with me, get in touch with somebody who has an ATR behind their name. That’s the credential to be an art therapist and ask questions. There are online programs to become an art therapist. There are internships available across the state, the association is happy to connect people, or I am happy to connect anybody and/or just have a conversation with people about what the field entails.
Emma Plutnicki 11:30
As an applicant, are there any specific skills that you think would be beneficial to have? If you were hiring somebody and saw, “Oh, this applicant has this skill, this skill, this skill, they’re good,” or any skills that you have or use on a daily basis that you find come in handy?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 11:44
Yeah, they would have to have their training and their credentials to become an applicable applicant. And for any job with us, I think just, I mean, art therapists, you have to be interested in the mental health field, right? And you also, I think, artists just generally are more or are a little empathetic to the world around them, you know. It’s a hard job. Because you’re, I mean, it is mental health, and you’re just hearing trauma and dealing with trauma. And as an art therapist, I think you get to those spaces a little quicker, because you have this process and product that you’re doing with a client or a patient, in that therapeutic space, but I think skill sets would be – A: that they’ve been through their training, B: that they’ve been willing to do the work personally.
So, I think any art therapist who’s, you know, been in therapy, or you know, has a good idea of where they end and where a client begins. That’s always a good trait to have as a therapist. To experience therapy yourself, as a therapist, I think it is really important. And just willingness to learn. I feel like even, you know, well into my career, I’m still getting supervision myself, and still learning from others. And I think just always being open to growing. And then also having your own art making on the side, you have to have a place to dump all this stuff, right. I think art is why we became art therapists, right? Or why people become art therapists because they believe in that process of art making. So also, applicants, one of the questions I always ask is, how do you take care of yourself? Do you do anything creative on the side? That is, I think, just a really important piece of that creative outlet as well.
Emma Plutnicki 13:25
So just as we’re wrapping up, do you have any advice for someone who’s looking to get into the field?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 13:30
Just connect with an art therapist, ask them about possible programs they can go to, if they’re in South Carolina. Ask, you know, just talk through what you’re thinking because there’s so many different ways that art therapy is applicable. You can do art therapy in a museum, just you know, going into museums and maybe creating work based on what you’ve seen. There’s, there’s so many different directions an art therapist can go. But again, I think it just takes diving into training, like I said earlier, like I didn’t know what I was getting myself into as an art therapist until I actually got into the training itself. Also, if anybody ever wants to come and shadow an art therapist here at MUSC, we have that opportunity for people, if they’re kind of like, seeing whether or not they want to volunteer or want to come into the field like there are opportunities to shadow or volunteer with a program like ours. Yeah, just throwing that out there.
Emma Plutnicki 14:22
And then is there just anything else you’d like to add overall, any last thoughts?
Katie Hinson Sullivan 14:27
Not necessarily, if anybody wants to get in touch, I always do offer conversation.
