Today we’d like to introduce you to Melodee Strong.
Hi Melodee, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I describe my practice in three parts: illustration, murals, and studio work. Each part of my practice has its own story of how I got here. All three began after I graduated from MCAD in 2006. My illustrations in children’s books were published for the first time just a year and a half after my senior show, which included illustrations I created for the song “Colorful World” by Cece Winans. About six months after I graduated, I received a call from Maren Green Publishing in Stillwater. They were given a referral by a friend of mine.
When I came in to conduct a portfolio interview, I was given a job right off the bat. They also were very interested in helping me get my senior project published! Very exciting as you can imagine. The first print was a hardcover including the CD of the song. A few years later, the publisher decided to sell it as a paperback and board without the CD. We all know now that it’s an outdated technology with streaming services regularly available. “Colorful World” along with the other series of books I illustrated were recognized with Mom’s Choice, Teacher’s Choice, and Moonbeam Awards.
Around the time, I was publishing and marketing my books on tour, the housing market crashed and many artists were not finding gigs, especially illustrators. With access to more affordable stock photos and illustrations, companies were going that route to stay in the green on projects. Children’s books being written by celebrities were getting the most attention because they were a “sure win” in the market.
While my illustration practice was in decline like many other artists at this time, my community mural work took off. It was during this time I was able to work with the Minnetonka Center for the Arts Community Outreach program. I had already been teaching classes there and was able to segue into community work very easily. My first project was a small one working with an elementary school in the Wayzata School District. They liked working with me so much, that the principal called me back to recreate a mural for the entryway lobby of the school building.
It included 11 walls! This was the launch of my mural career and I learned so much from this project, that I continue to use the same design techniques I conduct to this very day when leading a community-engaged mural project. Since then I have completed over 70 mural projects in the Twin Cities and Jamaica.
After the George Floyd uprisings, the city of Minneapolis coordinated with several companies and funders to create the RRR Fund. With this fund, many businesses affected by the destruction of the uprisings in areas along Lake Street, University Ave, and West Broadway were able to apply for grants to rebuild or revitalize their facades and storefronts.
Within that initiative, they wanted to include local artists to combat tagging through the addition of murals to projects. That is where I came in. This provided me an opportunity to create murals more like a commission rather than a community-engaged project. This is when I had to put my big girl pants on because the projects became so much bigger. Through the RRR Fund, I have created 5 mural projects spanning Lake Street and West Broadway. This work has sent me on a new and unexpected trajectory that I am so very excited to continue.
Here and there since graduating from MCAD, I have been able to participate in an array of gallery shows and exhibitions. However, with the demand for mural painting and teaching, it’s been a challenge to work in my studio on more personal work and less about creating something for a client. Until last year when I was invited to showcase my work in a solo show at the NE Sculpture Factory Gallery in NE Minneapolis. Last September I launched my first solo show in years centering on my upbringing in Minnesota as a Latina and the relationship I have with my parents.
I couldn’t very well tell my story without including theirs. This show was a culmination of many mediums I like to work in painting, drawing, ceramics, sewing and textiles, installation, and screen printing. The work is not done and I will continue to add to the collection over the years as time allows. It is currently on exhibition at the Howard Conn Fine Arts Center in south Minneapolis until January 2024.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Getting where I am today was a slow and windy road. Many detours. I completed my BFA later than most, in my 30s. I started art school right out of high school but dropped out after 2.5 years. I worked for corporate America for about 8.5 years. I was married, had a kid, and got divorced. After my divorce, I was struggling to find my way both spiritually and professionally.
I was unhappy because I had no art in my life. I decided to go back to MCAD part-time raising my son as a single mom. I was able to work that out with my corporate job until I decided to take the leap of faith and leave that behind altogether in 2004. I didn’t want my son to be raised with a grumpy mom who hated her job. Sure, I needed it to pay the bills but I needed to live too. You know that saying, “Find what you love to do and the money will come”? Well, it does. But you have to be patient, work hard, and have a plan. I took a job in education when I left my corporate job and I have been teaching and doing art ever since. Never looked back or regretted my decision even when times got tough.
Teaching and making art didn’t always pay the bills so I needed to hustle working at various jobs in retail, hosting in a restaurant, and catering. I also started teaching art classes wherever I could get. Eventually, I landed an adjunct position at MCAD and taught at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. My career has had some ups and downs. Some years were great and others not so much. But being the hustler that I am, I always had a roof over my head although the electricity and water may have been shut off on occasion.
I bounced around from studio to studio and worked from home until finally getting back into a great studio space in NE Minneapolis almost 2 years ago. It had to be done because my work was outgrowing the office space in my house. It’s ironic to have a studio in the Highlight Center, which was once the building that housed Minneapolis Public Schools, where I teach now. I believe that is very serendipitous. I feel everywhere I am at this time is where I am supposed to be.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to make art that represented Black and Brown people. People from other cultures and ethnicities. I didn’t grow up seeing any of that. I never really connected with any art until I saw the artwork of Ernie Barnes on Good Times! That was it! That was the spark that ignited me into being an artist. In high school, I was given plenty of opportunities to explore this in my work as well as use it as a platform to be an advocate for racial injustice and political points of view.
When I got to college that sort of fell off. In a prominently white male institution (as most art establishments are), no one wanted to hear my visual voice and they didn’t provide space for it either. I think that is primarily why I lost interest and left school. When I came back with a bit more confidence and fearless energy, living my life a bit more, I didn’t care what white people thought and projected my voice in my work. It paid off because my senior show was received very well.
And that work is what got me published. I think as artists we need to stay true to ourselves as much as we can. However, I also feel as artists we need to give ourselves permission and grace to “sell out” a bit to get that check. Which is what I have had to do. Some artists don’t have to but many of us do.
My work will always celebrate people of color, embrace multicultural stories and histories, call out for justice and anti-racism, advocate for the marginalized, be feminist, and showcase the beauty in my culture and others who look like me. I strive to be a truth-teller. And I hope through that truth I can connect with people.
I also don’t want to be siloed into one genre. I don’t want to be just a painter. I want to be a multifaceted artist using all that is available to me to create works of art. That is what inspires me the most. I love to learn and try new things and see how I can manipulate them to talk about the things that matter to me.
I think what sets me apart from others may not necessarily be my aesthetic style but more to do with how I conduct business. I don’t need to promote myself much these days. Jobs come to be by referral. I try my best to be as professional as I can. I feel my clients appreciate that and that is what gets me the work.
What’s next?
I have just turned 50. I am probably only going to be able to do murals for another 10 years (if I get back into shape). Murals are very physical. It takes a toll on your body if you don’t take care of it. But if I can get back into pre-surgery shape in the next year, I know I can last another 10 years on lifts and scaffolding.
But I also want to continue to work on my studio projects so that I can transition into more gallery exhibitions post-mural work. I feel illustration work will always be a backup. I can do that sitting at a desk on my computer or at an easel. I would like to expand my mural and studio work nationally and internationally, eventually working in communities less fortunate across the globe.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.melodeestrong.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mstrong73
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelodeeStrongArt
Image Credits
Ron Newkirk and Ari Jackson
