We recently had the chance to connect with Hollie Davis and have shared our conversation below.
Hollie, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Being around love. I am so lucky to have deeply meaningful relationships. I can get lost in conversation. I have a family that I can be raw and vulnerable with and tell them anything. Truly lucky.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Hollie Davis and I am an artist, curator, and community leader from Chicago. I focus on bridging the gap between emerging, mid-career, and experienced artists. My biggest focus is curating art exhibits meant to engage the community, provide professional development for emerging artists, and engage experienced creatives. I do this through my organization; The Connect Residency. The mission is to connect visual artists to each other and collaborate and create lasting relationships in the arts. We meet for five weeks virtually two hours once a week. The first hour we teach skills such as exhibit proposal writing, budgeting, and how to speak about your work. Then we have industry professionals speak. Why is this key? In times of hardship, instability, or just a simple lack of community artists stop creating. How much more likely are you going to continue your practice if you are part of a cohort of 15 other creatives struggling with something similar. Not only are artists connected to their peers, the connect residency introduces industry professionals. They have extensive experience and resumes to give advice, perspective, and experience to encourage artists to continue. Industry professionals have included; Claire Oliver Gallery (NYC), Eclectica Contemporary (Capetown, SA), Nike Art Gallery (Lagos), Curators from The Art Institute of Chicago, Art Consultants, professors, and other creative tastemakers. I then partner with local art spaces and the cohort who attends all of the meetings then has an exhibition. We just had our fifth opening at Tribehouse LLC this past weekend on September 20th and it was a success. I am so excited that the program continues to flourish three years after launching. Why do I do this? I am a super passionate artist and painter. I love to create colorful artwork reminiscent of portrait based tapestries referencing craft and textile based art work and juxtaposing those patterns with figurative work. While our society consistently seeks to erase people who look like me. I am on a mission to create and embody living history. My work is constantly a call and response. I am constantly responding to the world around me. I respond to injustice, exploitation, and silencing with community, creativity, and collaboration. These themes are evident in my curatorial and artistic practice.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
When I was 13 I took an art history course at The Art Institute of Chicago. It was a transformative experience. I could not be more grateful to my parents for allowing me to participate. We met once a week for two or three hours and we walked throughout the galleries. This is where I was intimately exposed to artists such as Monet, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Salvador Dali, Archibald Motley, and others. At 13 that is when art is not merely about creating beauty. Art is about what happened to us and HOW our lives are affected. It gave me such a sense of power. I realized a great piece of art can tell you what people were eating at the time, major world events, the technology of the time, every day life, gender roles, and even what religion looked like at the time. It really gave me a sense of my own soul what made me deeply contented and comfortable with myself and I did not realize what a gift I had been given at 13.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
There is a certain strength that is learned through doing a job you are not passionate about and is often overlooked. I have had many jobs that I did not enjoy but I had a vision for myself that motivated me to see the bigger picture regardless of what the current present brought. I also deal with chronic pain. I was diagnosed with crohn’s disease at 13. It has been one of the most painful and traumatizing experiences of my
life. However it made me a lot more empathetic and more true to myself. In the sense I don’t take a single day or hour for granted. Making it through the day pain free and able to be tired from a challenge of my choosing. It’s a whole new mindset of gratitude.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I want to choose someone who I have a personal relationship with versus a public figure I deeply admire. I would say my friend Gio Swaby who had an exhibit “Fresh Up” at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2023 which went on to tour the UK as well. I deeply admire her authenticity, her dedication to black women, her dedication to the black diaspora, and her resilience. Every time I speak to Gio she is so encouraging, honest, and grounded. Her practice is rooted in stories that aren’t often represented but she always comes from a place of kindness. We also connect because both of our practices are rooted in joy at their core. How can we as artists find joy when we have such limited time on earth? How can we make each day, each relationship, each moment count? So I deeply deeply admire her.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
You know I have been thinking about that a lot. My goal is not followers but legacy for sure. I read some excerpts from the book “Southside Venus” which tells the story of Maragret Burroughs. There’s a part of the book where she’s walking around her neighborhood and kids come up to her telling her they read about her in school. That is my goal. I want people to tell the story of someone who gave back to her community no matter how little she had. My life goal is to found a museum like Dr, Burroughs. I want to create long lasting relationships across art and community activation. I’ll keep it simple here though I think if my story is about good people and great art I have more than created a story I’ve created a legend.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://holliedavisart.com
- Instagram: @holliedavisart
- Linkedin: Hollie Davis
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
