We recently connected with Gregangelo Herrera and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Gregangelo with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Good question, often ignored in contemporary industries and requires sharing the arc of a history to answer.
I was very lucky to be born into a family and a culture that organically fostered a great work ethic on many levels. I grew up in the heart of San Francisco during the 60s and 70s, a tumultuous time of change where queer liberation, the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, the Summer of Love, and many other occurrences exploded simultaneously on the streets, quickly changing the city’s culture to one of acceptance. Businesses and people had to adapt to this radically changing community by practicing acceptance. Though it wasn’t always a conscious strategy, it became the culture I was lucky to grow up in.
My father, of Mexican heritage, was an auto mechanic and always had a service station with an automotive shop and took care of customers face-to-face, one person at a time, earning trust and building relationships. In fact, some of my “cousins” to this day are the children of my dad’s service station customers.
My mother was of Lebanese descent, and her father came to San Francisco as a tailor working on Mission Street, altering one suit at a time. He eventually opened up some corner markets in San Francisco, serving various neighborhoods, mostly the Fillmore, which was predominantly a Black neighborhood and referred to as “Harlem of the West.”
When I decided I wanted to be a professional artist, most young people are laughed at and talked out of it, as it is not an economically viable career choice, has zero guarantee of success, is completely undervalued, and is at the bottom of the economic scale. Yet oddly, artists seem to be revered, but not worth paying. So I learned early on that I better be very good and excel at whatever niche I was going to create. I still carry that ethic based on advice from some family members:
– From my mother: “Go for it, be honest, and don’t ever ask anyone for money—earn it.”
(I still work that way and empower our crew of artists to do the same.)
– From my father: “Keep practicing, keep trying, and when you fail, keep going.”
(Failing in the arts is a constant.)
– From my grandfather: “Don’t ever trust affluent white people; they will trick you and they won’t pay you. But you can always trust Black people, as they will always honor their credit and pay you.”
Well, it turns out that many of our artists are people of color, and many clients who pay us are affluent and white, so I adhere to ethical practices and great contracts!
Most of my schoolmates growing up were of different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Affluent kids who lived in mansions would socialize with kids who lived in Section 8 housing, and everything in between. I remember friends’ parents being gardeners, architects, builders, dentists, small business owners, employees, unemployed, and one kid’s mom was a policewoman, which was very rare at that time. We all mixed and got along. I was always fascinated by listening closely to the stories of how people worked day by day to serve their communities, to learn from their mistakes early on and to respect their personal accomplishments. They may have all been from different socioeconomic backgrounds, but they all had one thing in common: they got up and worked every single day, created, built, adapted, and served who they could to the best of their abilities.
I refuse to accept mediocrity and continue to learn by sharing experiences with multi-generations. I strive to always embrace differences mostly by recognizing our similarities. I pursue my evolving love of creativity and wonderment by continuously creating experiences which encourage others to be their best selves. It’s a long journey with no shortcuts, driven by care and hard work.
In conclusion, here is a personal experience in the realm of ethics which stuck with me. When San Francisco became a tech hub, it significantly changed and even crushed some of our local culture. I decided to creatively serve the tech industry for money as well as to uphold my personal ethics by hosting free creative arts salons at The Gregangelo Museum. These salons aimed to bridge the gap between tech professionals and artists, fostering unlikely friendships through shared creativity and genuine conversations. At one gathering, a repeat attendee, now friend, announced that the corporation he worked for was going public, and he would become a millionaire. I congratulated him, but instead, he exclaimed he had quit, realizing he had no purpose there. He had learned through our salons to pursue his artistry and had an epiphany to follow his heart. I jokingly replied, “I’m an idiot, don’t listen to me, take the money!”
About a year into his creative journey, we met again and had a wonderful conversation. He casually spoke what he had learned:
“Life is just what you do every day.”
This underscores the ethics of living and working with purpose and integrity.
So, what fulfilled you today?
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m Gregangelo, a whirling dervish, visual and performing artist, and the founder and artistic director of three creative businesses: a circus, an arts and entertainment company, and an immersive attraction. I specialize in ensemble performances and colorful experiences that open portals into your own imagination. My daily tasks are anything but ordinary and involve every aspect of production and artistic collaboration to run the following businesses:
1) The Gregangelo Museum is our brick and mortar attraction in San Francisco, and honored as the city’s most recent landmark! We offer a multitude of wildly entertainingly immersive art experiences that spark joy and foster human connection through celebrating authenticity, gratitude, and a sense of belonging, all while unlocking your full potential. Who knew self-realization could be this fun?!
https://www.gregangelomuseum.com/
2) Gregangelo’s Velocity Arts and Entertainment is our offsite service that offers fully customized and original interactive, high-impact shows and experiences. We blend our signature artistry, technology, and performance to fit any dream or venue anywhere in the world. Our multicultural ensemble provokes joy, intrigue, and compassion through our multi-sensory productions.
https://www.velocityartssf.com/
3) Our Velocity Circus enjoyed a prosperous 20 + year run , is currently in hibernation though we occasionally regroup for special events. However, there is a whimsy of circus artistry seasoned through all of our work.
At Gregangelo Museum, we’re always reinventing ourselves to stay fresh and alluring. Beyond the seven unique experiences we offer for adults, families, and kids, I juggle 4 to 5 creative projects at once—because I’m constantly energized by the work and collaborating artists. Post-pandemic, we’ve swapped our big crowds for intimate, soul-searching “activations” designed to keep guests both wide-eyed entertained and enlightened.
We’re conjuring up some thrilling new projects. One features an uplifting journey through the museum led by sound healers and fortune tellers, where you’ll explore divinations across various installations—think of it as a mystical buffet.
Another project includes a duo of female magicians and mentalists who’ll take you through several mesmerizing levels of consciousness with a mix of supernatural skill, humor, and a dash of unexpected magic.
We’re also teaming up with a former Ringling Brothers Circus Clown and paranormal expert. She is creating a haunted doll experience with her collection. Picture this: flashlight-lit tours through the depths of the museum encountering hexed dolls who spill their spooky secrets and ask for yours. It culminates with a haunted tea party and daring crossing over the threshold into our Day of the Dead realm.
These experiences, launching in the last quarter of the year, promise to be both invigorating and entertaining. They’re perfect for reconnecting with loved ones, yourself, or making new friends—maybe even finding a new crush! For the latest and greatest, check out SHOWS at gregangelomuseum.com.
Or if you’d like to dream up something on your own and commission new works or hire our ”to go“ version. Check out velocityartssf.com.
Gratefully my private life is also wildly exciting but you’ll have to get to know me personally to experience that.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back, in the current moment, and hopefully into the future, some of my innate qualities are: a fire in my soul to create, wonderment with the natural world and everyone around me, belief in my abilities—some that I may not even have yet—always shining as my genuine self regardless of the consequences, surrounding myself with people who inspire and challenge me, accepting I am a needy chronic collaborator. At the core of everything is great care, the guiding light for accomplishment.
As for skill: I focus on the skills that come most naturally to me, such as dance, costume and theatrical design, aesthetics, artistic direction, making, non-competitive solo athletics (skating, aerial arts, riding, swimming), and bringing ensembles of artists from various disciplines together to create meaningful shows that engage audiences with wonderment and challenge their perceptions. My personal growth and business success have come directly from collaborating with others who have strengths and skills that I lack, such as marketing, choreography, lyrics, singing, comedy writing, songwriting, fine arts drawing, graphics, and a hell of a lot more.
It’s important for me to mention auditions. I find them disparaging. So I took the longest, hardest way by not auditioning, which forced me to create original works, create opportunity for other artists as well as create a demand for our niche artistry. Instead of the audition process, I share lunch with artists, really getting a candid sense of them as a person before witnessing their abilities, which better be great!
In fact, to this day, I host lunches every Thursday at 1 PM to meet artists. I’ve been doing that for over 30 years. It’s my secret weapon to building caring professional relationships and connecting the dots to build wonderful teams who can collaborate, work on top of each other, and succeed both within my business and entrepreneurially on their own.
This is a skill.
As for Knowledge: I am always fascinated by the entrepreneurs in my life and learn from them as well as their mistakes which I do not need to repeat. I made, and continue to make, plenty of my own mistakes that lead to unexpected and great outcomes. As serendipity would have it, while writing this, I received a text from a collaborator about a project in the works: “Mistake Paralysis has certainly held me back at certain points in my life… The attitude to experiment is certainly highlighted from my years knowing Gregangelo as he always directs—‘Just do it! And find out!’”
What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’m not one for offering advice, but rather for hands-on work and learning through experience.
But since you asked, here‘s a list of things that work for me in show business:
Don’t speak negatively or complain. Optimistic speech manifests good stuff.
Elevate those around you, be caring, wild, disciplined, generous and grateful in every meaning of the words. Earn your way.
It is crucial to work with great mentors and people you trust to represent you best.
Collaborate with others and help each other along the way. You won’t succeed alone.
Be brave enough to simply be your genuine self, hone your innate skills, and push your own and others limits. Never stop. Respect and take care of your carnal and spiritual self.
Dance and sing naked every day.
Eat as close to the Earth as possible, drink lots of water and steer clear of substance abuse.
Enjoy nature and sleep outside whenever possible.
Don’t give up on your dreams, complete your daily tasks, tackle things you might not feel prepared for, take risks and with hard work, you’ll find that you are prepared after all.
Learn the boring business side of the arts: contract writing, bookkeeping, artist management, technical riders, and every detail, so that you can excel, be supported and make good decisions. Be sure to have an excellent CPA who specializes in working with artists.
Practice acceptance and excellence. Don’t go out of your way to hurt somebody. It’s inevitable that you will but the consequences will mirror back on you quickly.
Vote.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Yes, I am always looking to collaborate with both clients and creators.
Since the pandemic, our on-site business at the Gregangelo Museum has increased tenfold with room to grow, while much of our off-site client base has either disappeared or changed drastically. Many event producers are trying to “go back to normal,” which we find as effective as trying to unspill a can of paint. As an artist organization thriving on bold cultural creation and genuine, immersive engagement with our diverse guests, moving backward is simply not an option for us. It’s fruitless to work with producers who consciously backpedal.
Fortunately, we have a handful of loyal clients who have adapted and support our forward-action approach. We’re also attracting new clients who appreciate our daring yet thoughtful productions and activations, which entertainingly help guests break through and shine.
One recent client based in Santa Monica recognized our aligned artistry and philosophy and challenged us to push further. This collaborative commission contributed to the successful launch of their organization, which aims to break conventional perception boxes and provide collaborative grants for unlikely partnerships in the nonprofit sector.
We seek more trailblazing clients like that who are visionaries, value risk-taking, trust us to help bring their visions to life, have a sense of humor, and ultimately care to actively focus on mending the fracture in humanity.
As always we welcome aspiring young artists who are at the beginning of their careers and ready to launch into the professional world. We are particularly interested in young sculptors specializing in metal, wood and multimedia for large-scale outdoor sculptures, as well as projection mappers, and filmmakers who can bring a profound allegorical story to life using the Gregangelo Museum and San Francisco as their set.
Additionally, we welcome artists, scientists, and makers from any discipline to join us on various projects. Don’t just bring your ideas—bring your skills and your willingness to collaborate with other artists to make those visions a reality.
If the above resonates with any of you, drop a line and connect with us at Velocitysf@gregangelo.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gregangelomuseum.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregangelomuseum/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gregangelomuseum/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/36162349/admin/feed/posts/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@velocitysf?feature=shared
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@gregangelomuseum?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Image Credits
Hiromi Yoshida
Russel Johnson
Zoart Photography
Scott Saraceno
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
