For the last ten months, I’ve been binge-listening to the podcast “Las Culturistas.”
My husband doesn’t understand my ability to consistently consume the same piece of media for a long period of time, and honestly, neither do I. But I’ve dug myself deep into the seven year backlog and as of the time of writing, have made it to episodes from August of 2023. It’s been a long, hilarious journey.
Las Culturistas is hosted by best friends Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. The two met in college at NYU and have partnered together in comedy ever since. They are gay men, wildly funny, and deeply interested in popular culture.
The two ask each of their guests — ranging from their other best friend from college to Gabrielle Union to Kelly Clarkson to their all time favorite Survivor contestant — a question central to their exploration of pop culture in daily life: “What is the culture that made you say culture is for me?”
The Spice Girls. Season 1, Episode 8 of “Lost.” Clueless. With over 300 episodes, there have been so many intriguing answers, all providing delightful insight into the guest’s origins.
I’ve been thinking about this question ever since I started listening to the podcast. The culture that made me say culture is for me was being the youngest of 4 children by six years—my media consumption as I grew up was always a little ahead of my time and showed me how I could connect to a bigger, more complex world than myself. Never was this as formative as when I began reading my sister’s Jodi Picoult books.
Jodi Picoult writes fiction of complex relationships, dramatic twists, and mostly unrealistic situations. As a grown up, I understand her writing as corny and ungrounded. As a child, her world-building was wildly fascinating, often ripping my heart out of my chest.
I understood then that I wanted to build worlds, too. I knew I would want to write.
I’m so deeply curious about the artistic origins of creatives. I asked five artists a variation of this question: What was a formative piece of art that inspired you to live a creative life?
Here’s what they told me.
Kate Brockmeyer
From the time I was a young child, I have been a creative, artsy, crafty girl. My grandma Margo was instrumental in my artistic development, as I often painted rocks with her and watched her paint Iowa birds and nature scenes. As I grew up, I was encouraged by my parents and various art teachers to follow this passion, always creating DIY projects, and submitting work to the 4-H fair.
In high school, while my peers were taking AP and dual credit college courses, I was taking as many art classes as I could, growing better and better at creating pieces in mediums like drawing, ceramics, painting, and mixed media. I even won a few awards through local art shows. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the arts, but wasn't looking to be an educator.
I was fortunate enough to work at my local art center, Pearson Lakes Art Center, alongside the Visual Arts Director hanging shows, attending artist opening lectures, organizing the yearly Art in the Park, and being involved with all things art and community. This opened my eyes to the career possibilities in the creative field, and I set my eyes on someday working at an art center or museum. When I was 17, I was able to go on a trip to Italy, where I saw world-class artworks in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Botticelli paintings in the Uffizi in Florence, and numerous other famous works I would later study in school when I decided to major in Art History at the University of Northern Iowa.
Fast-forward to now, I work at Des Moines-based nonprofit CultureALL, where my cup is filled as I am able to interact with people who are different from me daily. I find time for my own creative projects and am a regular attendee at Mainframe Studios First Fridays, the Des Moines Art Center, and other local galleries.
I want to share a few books I read in college and keep on hand that shifted how I thought about myself as an artist and creative person.
"Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience," and "Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention" both by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
"Stoking the Creative Fires: 9 Ways to Rekindle Passion and Imagination", by Phil Cousineau
These books helped me through a period of questioning myself, as I became less involved in art-making and studio classes, and more involved in studying art and realizing my place as a community connector via supporting arts and culture. I was reinvigorated and reminded of the joy I feel when I can express my creativity, and that no matter how long I go without creating, I am still an artist.
David Allen Tracy
I really resonate with the movie “The Greatest Showman”. The character played by Hugh Jackman embodies the ethos of making dreams come true. Everything he does is greater than life and is inclusive of everyone. He loves what he does and makes his career his hobby. He creates a magical place for his wife and daughters. But on the flip-side he also gets easily consumed in his work and nearly loses his family and his businesses. As a serial-entrepreneur of several creative design businesses, this movie inspires me to pursue my dreams but not lose myself in the process. Sometimes we exchange the destination for the destiny and that never works.
Kelsey Bigelow
While there are endless pieces of art across all mediums that have inspired my poetry career, there is one particular poetry collection that sparked something in me. "Hum" by Jamaal May was the first full poetry collection I ever read about 10 years ago. The way he plays with formatting and language on the page still influences my writing today. Plus, his collection showed me how each individual poem can stand on its own while still working together to build a bigger picture throughout a book. I reread "Hum" at least once a year if not more. I'm constantly returning to it for inspiration and grounding.
Akwi Nji
My first memory of sitting in a theater seat was in Paramount Theater to watch an early 2000s production of Follies. I was in my mid-20s and wasn’t really into theater back then (and I'd never been on a stage or even stepped foot in an auditorium besides the shows my mom took me to when I was a kid), so I don’t remember how or why I ended up there, but I was there, awkward and solo and so I chose a seat in the way back.
I don’t remember anything about that production except one specific scene. It was a duo involving a beloved local musical theater legend Doug "DJ" Jackson and a young college student named Alvon Reed. It was such a simple, powerful, poignant presentation of the song "Mr. Bojangles". DJ sang and moved subtly, as an aged version of the nimble and physically powerful silhouetted figure performed by Alvon. The performance was pure magic. People who were in the audience for it almost 25 years ago still remember it with a deep fondness. It revealed to me how simplicity, presented powerfully, can create a transformative experience. It opened up, for me, the possibilities of what art can accomplish with movement, fluidity, grace, gravitas, light.
It was also the first time I'd seen people of color on stage in my community. And so it felt like an invitation, from people who looked like me, into their magical world of art-making. They'd moved me. In the spiritual sense of that phrase. And it inspired in me not only the desire to try to create that feeling for others, but revealed to me that there would be space for me in the world of art if I wanted it.
Reanna Lewis
When it comes to my creativity, I have learned that although I exist in the 21st century, I also have inspirations from older generations such as Billie Holiday. I've done projects on her previously more than once and feel it is important that she continue being discussed. What most don't know is that she did not only create one of the most iconic songs of all time, Strange Fruit, but she also had a limited octave in her singing voice. She used the limitations to her strengths and created a sound other artists could not imitate and overcame odds after being told she should choose a different interest earlier in her career. Another artist that has grown to be a very inspiring figure is Janelle Monaé. She is one of the first artists who is not only multi-talented but is from what isn't necessarily considered a predominantly minority town. I feel that those who work towards success is a predominantly white space especially as a creative understand the additional struggles that come versus being in spaces that consist of more minorities and creatives, environments open to and supportive to our interests and culture. Janelle Monaé painted most of her album covers, I learned this when I first discovered her as music artist. She has only continued to inspire me as she has demonstrated her support for the queer community as well.
I would love to hear from you all, as well. What was a formative piece of art that inspired you to live a creative life?
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