Life & Work with Nicole Emanuel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Emanuel. 

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At 22 years old, at the Women’s Building in 1982 San Francisco, I volunteered to assist muralist Patricia Rodriguez. She’s one of Mujeres Muralistas, a group of Chicana/Latina artists in the Mission District who pioneered large-scale, woman-painted outdoor murals. That began my 40-year career working in multi-cultural artists collectives and in the field now called “Creative Placemaking”. 

With the PLACA group, we painted 28 murals about peace in Central America, covering every surface of the Balmy Alley Mural Environment; With the METAL collective, we designed and painted a 12,000-lb steel sculptural mural for the International Longshore and Warehousemen’s Union. I spent 3 years in a public debate about racism and public art before I could begin my city commission for the Potrero Mural Project. Angela Davis was my teacher at SFSU, where I got my degree in Design, Industry, and Community Art. I was steeped in community process, public art, and diversity. 

Most of my artist friends lived illegally in warehouses at that time. So, I worked with the City of San Francisco to develop the Live/Work codes that legalized and made safe, Project Artaud and other artists spaces. Next, I worked for ArtSpace Projects in Minneapolis as the Artists Housing Specialist, where diverse Creatives were given access to affordable Live/Workspace. I loved the construction, the renovations, home ownership, and the artists’ cooperatives I worked on. 

Weirdly, after another move, I took my first art class at Kansas City Art Institute in 1993 at the age of 32 and ended up in a warehouse studio in what is now known as “The CrossRoads Arts District”. Fast forward to 2011, (through motherhood and two murders in the family) and I was commissioned to do the ArtsKC Awards. Surrounded by that commission (7 oil paintings and 80 table-top sculptures), alone in my Kansas basement, I decided I needed to brush up my skills to secure artists’ space. 

Right at that time, a bunch of surveys and studies were published, proving there was a deep, broad need in the artists’ community. Reading that research and holding a wildly attended pop-up warehouse event I called “preview the building raw” is how I conceived InterUrban ArtHouse. 

At that point, Brownback had just eviscerated the Kansas Arts Commission, making our state lose all federal arts support. From my experience, knowing the recent arts ecology research, I applied directly to National Endowment for the Arts and received an “Our Town Grant”, much to everyone’s surprise. But the research was solid. the needs were real, the timing was terrible but essential…and that’s how the non-profit, InterUrban ArtHouse began. 

Our oldest program began in 2007 with hiring artists of color to bring hands-on workshops into Title 1 schools. Now, it is the 10th anniversary of our 501(c)3 status and the ArtHouse owns a 10,000 square-foot industrial building on acre. We house 19 studios, for 30 artists; a community exhibition space; a music engineering studio; and the United States Post Office (who pays our nonprofit rent!) Our programs touch thousands of people. We direct funds to hire artists in our programs, while we maintain a safe, affordable, inclusive place for art and culture. 

I called in every favor, pulled every string, used all my skills, and leveraged all my privileges to lead the ArtHouse. Its origins are in 40 years of my work in multi-cultural, community art. Daily, I take solace in my contributions to positive change as a community artist. This is how use what I have, to face how civilization now faces its most dire challenges. Collective, multi-cultural, creative change is what I know, what I believe in, it is what I have to offer. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would say that systemic racism, ignorance, fear, and impatience have driven every professional challenge I have met. As the daughter of a Child of the Holocaust, I have always been drawn to people who struggle for unity, inclusion, equity, and expression. It is in creative collectives where I find my local heroes and companions. I don’t look at mass culture or celebrities for inspiration. My perseverance is grounded in the faith I have in these collective acts of long-term, creative faith, and hard work. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My teacher said my art sits on “the fine line between Goya and Sesame Street”. While he was specifically talking about a series of my paintings in 1995, no greater truth could be told. My family knows the horror of genocide and murder that Goya’s prints depicted. My daily life is filled with community artists who act as the wise, silly, truthful, colorful warrior creatures on this island of broken toys. 

I describe my personal artwork as surrealistic, multi-media, narratives. But I’ve painted, sculpted, and built everything from still-lives, monuments, and affordable housing. So, I can’t say I have a specialty, exactly. I consider myself a Creative Placemaker. 

I don’t care to be “set apart”, in fact, I object to that notion because everything good I’ve known has come from the struggle for respectful, inclusive, collective unity. My specialty is ancient, I’m not better or different or above anyone; what I am most proud of is my chance to work with people. 

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I, alone, am very limited. Thriving depends on relationships and belonging. It has been an existential trial, being so far away from my frail parents. I’ve seen who is real with me and who makes me real in this world. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: InterUrbanArtHouse.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.emanuel1
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/interurbanarth?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7TKJOpWRBoP54OLWhzduIA