An Inspired Chat with JL Schwartz of Coral Springs / Dania

We recently had the chance to connect with JL Schwartz and have shared our conversation below.

Hi JL, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I was incredibly proud to be accepted into the Shiro Oni Artist Residency in Onishi, Japan, and it became one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. Being embedded in this rural community for six weeks allowed us to fully experience the local culture and learn about its folklore. I will never forget the warmth and generosity of the people. As part of the residency, I participated in an exhibition where I created an art installation that visitors could walk through and around—something I had always hoped to do. The experience has undoubtedly influenced my artwork, and I’m excited to see where it leads me next.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am an abstract artist with a studio at the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA.). While my work draws heavily from nature, it’s often a blend of organic and the abstract where intricate, biomorphic forms and lyrical mark-making blur the line between the familiar and the unknown, creating spaces where fluidity and movement dominate. It’s through this fusion of shapes and colors that I seek to transform the ordinary into something profound—something worth contemplating.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
When I was five my mother saw something in me and decided to enroll me in art classes at the Tampa Museum of Art. It nurtured my love and passion to create which only continued to grow as I got older. Then in high school the art teacher, to my surprise, said she thought my work was good enough for her to ask permission to submit my name for a scholarship in art.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
During my prior career I was working onsite at the clients facility attempting to keep up with all the competing requirements and tight deadlines. I felt as though I was drowning and no one seemed to notice. At that point I spoke with my boss, laid out my problem and that I was close to packing it up and going home. Thankfully, he calmed me down and gave me a valuable piece of advance. Whenever you feel as though you can’t get a handle on things and it all becomes overwhelming break it down into small pieces that you can reasonable accomplish within a set timeline and tackle each one until you reach the finish line.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
The one person that keeps coming to mind is Obama. Although he was in a position as the most powerful person in the world, he always kept steady, working to make sure he improved the lives of those he served at home and those abroad. I always felt that Obama was a compassionate human being who preferred to walk the straight and narrow pulling those he worked with along side him and negotiating to ensure the values he so cherished were never compromised..

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope that people remember me as driven to accomplish my goals yet I treated everyone I came in contact with equally fair. I dislike discrimination of any kind that seems to be rampant in the world today and hope people realize, in the near future, that you should not judge someone else just by the way they look, their religion or their nationality. We must learn to live together without imposing our religion or viewpoint on anyone else. It may be a pipe dream but I cannot give up hope and try to demonstrate that philosophy everyday.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jlschwartzart.com
• Instagram: @jlschwartzart
• Twitter: @jlschwartzart
• Facebook: @jlschwartzart