MANAGER SPOTLIGHT: GREG ANTRIM KELLY

This month we turn our attention to Studio IX's Manager & Curator, Greg Antrim Kelly. We were curious to know a bit more about what makes Greg tick. Member, Joa Garcia sat down with Greg to ask him a few questions collected from our members.

Why did you choose Charlottesville and why do you continue to stay in Charlottesville? What's the main draw for you?

I think, in a way, Charlottesville chose me. I actually moved here somewhat on a whim. I came through on a cross-country road trip after finishing my degree. A close friend had a room for rent. I moved in, set up a studio, got a job at the Mudhouse and 25 years later I'm still here. It’s a beautiful place but it's really more about the people and the community for me. There’s something special here. Something that’s always felt like home.

What inspires you on a daily basis?

People. I guess to be more specific, their stories, their lives, who they are fascinates me. But what I find equally compelling is what separates us, what keeps us at a distance from one another and from ourselves. So the thing I'm most inspired by is seeing where the connections lie. 

Tell me a little about your art career, and how you combine the different kinds of work that you do? And what exactly is involved in your artwork?

I was trained as a visual artist. My degree was in ceramics and art history but I also spent many years mentoring and teaching, working with youth, working in galleries and museums. When I graduated I pretty quickly steered away from a more traditional path as an artist — that of getting a gallery, selling work, etc... My focus wasn't so much about making and selling work as much as making those connections, serving a greater purpose, giving back.

So a lot of what excites me and drives me as an artist is largely driven by what goes on outside of the studio. The ‘curatorial’ side of it, as I like to call it. The more civic, community driven, social justice and organizing aspects, which I'm able to do, in part, here at Studio IX. Supporting the work of other artists and organizations, getting to know them, better understand their efforts and their process is a big part of what feeds me. The arts, in a way, are just the language that I speak and that I'm most fluent in. It's the tool that I can use most effectively to find those connections.

Looking back on your years to date, is there anything that you'd like a do-over on?

I wish I'd played organized sports.

What did you want to be when you grew up and how does that compare to what you're doing now?

I don't think I ever really questioned it because I was always doing it. Being an artist is just the thing that I did and I had unwavering support from my family and those around me. So the bigger question for me has always been less about what I do outwardly and more about what's going on inwardly. My ambitions, I think, are far more spiritually based than they are financially or career driven. 

Why do you think that is?

It probably goes back to that basic ingredient of connection. My desire to enlarge the playing field, to have a richer sense of 'home', to have others feel that as well. The spirit is the most fertile ground for it, for me. Whatever's going on outwardly is just sort of an extension of what's going on inside. So it made sense to put my attention there. 

That makes sense. What's your secret super power?

My secret super power. Well, I don't know that I have a name for it, but I think I'm pretty good at what I guess I would call 'breaking a horse'. Softening the walls of those who are guarded, angry, who most consider to be assholes. In a strange way, I kind of admire them (laughter).

That's a really good trait to have.

Yeah, when it works. (laughter)

What do you do in your down time?

Read, watch documentaries, get outdoors, drink coffee, talk to people, strike up conversations.

What is the meaning of life?

Good coffee? (laughter) - but seriously, to love one another and to appreciate and respect what's here. That's all.

What's your favorite part of working at IX?

My favorite part would have to be the people - which is why I love the job. I get to interface with all of you each day. And also working with James and his vision for Studio IX and Vault Virginia. It's very much in line with the work I'd been doing before landing here, and the work that I continue to do outside of Studio IX.  So that's exciting to me.

What's your favorite band?

Wilco.

What kind of music is that?

I guess you'd call it alt rock? but they kind of take from everything.

Have you gone to any cool concerts lately?

I just saw an amazing concert at The Garage on Friday night.

What's The Garage?

It's a venue here in town that's literally a garage,  adjacent to the park that has many names, that has the Lee statue in it.

Okay, yeah.

Yeah, good friends. One opened, the other one headlined, and then another one jumped in with the one who headlined and played a few songs.

Nice.

What kind of music was that?

That was more singer/songwriter - guitar, keyboards, cello kinda stuff. Wes plays cello and sings, Diane plays guitar and keys and sings, Guion plays guitar and sings.

Wow. I love music, but I'm not musically inclined. I have a keyboard and a guitar, but I can't move my fingers like that.

It's hard.

Doesn't work for me.

Yeah, it's very hard. 

That's why there's no way I could ever be an artist because I can't think like that.

We'll work on it. (laughter)

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

That's a tough one because I live so much in the moment, but I would say that if the last ten years are any measure of what's to come, I would probably still be committed to the work that I am now and hopefully in this community. Much of that has to do with our young people, race relations, social justice — and there's plenty of that to do.

Yeah.

As long as I don't get priced out or relocated due to other circumstances, I'll probably still be here doing exactly what I'm doing now..

Yeah, it seems like you're really happy with what you're doing now. 

It feels that way.

What's the best thing you read this summer?

What's stayed with me the most are the sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A collection called 'Strength to Love'. I've also been carrying around a steady stream of Irish writers/poets. Moya Cannon, Michael Longley, an off-beat short story writer named Kevin Barry. 

What animal would you like to come back as and why?

I don't know if I would come back as this, but this image has always stayed with me. When I was eight years old, I went to the aquarium in Chicago, and I was staring at a seal who was laying at the bottom of the aquarium. Just laying against the wall like this (mimics a drunk man leaning against a wall), holding their breath, I guess, just chilling out. I thought, "It would be cool to be a seal."

Where is your family from? Where were you born? Where's your hometown?

My dad's side is Irish, surprise surprise. Mom's side is French-mutt. I was born and raised in Illinois. Grew up in Champaign-Urbana. We moved to St. Louis when I was eleven.

Nice. I love Champaign actually. 

Oh, yeah? I think that's another reason I love Charlottesville is that it reminds me a lot of Champaign. 

What's a risk that you've taken?

Probably following this crazy notion that simpler and slower is a better way to live. Trusting my insticts around it. I don't consider it as much a risk now but I think in the past I questioned it a lot. Investing in something that wasn't necessarily a step-by-step kind of thing but was guided more by curiosity, intuition, inspiration, a passion for things. — trusting that it would evolve, that it would work out. That felt risky at the outset.

If you could be in the Olympics, what sport would you pick and why?

Rowing.

Oh, why?

I just love it - though I've never done it.

It's so difficult.

Yeah, I sit on a machine at the gym all day, but I haven't been in a scull or an 8. I just think it's beautiful. And I think it would be an amazing feeling - being in something that is totally silent and feeling that much power when you put your oar in and there's eight of you pulling.

If you were in a roller derby or a bowling league, what would you call yourself?

Oh god, what would I call myself? What would you call me?

I don't know. I was trying to think of what I would call myself, and I don't even know.

Yeah. I mean Spaz would be good because people consider me to be so mellow.

Yeah, that's true. (laughter)

Is there anything else that you'd like to say?

Closing thoughts?

Yeah, that we haven't gone over.

I don't think so. Just happy to be here.

We're happy to have you.

Thank you.