Today I am sharing an interview I did with musician Wes Mingus. This is an interview series I call Artist in Residence.
I heard this great quote recently: “On the bright side, I am no longer calling this shelter-in-place. I am now an artist-in-residence.” It got me thinking about how times of adversity and challenge are often what inspire action and creation for us artists.
I decided to seek out some peers whom I admire and ask them how they are using this time to be working artists. What has changed for them? Where are they finding room to create at home if they previously worked in an offsite studio, out-of-doors, or are now sharing a home studio with other working-from-home family members? What are they creating now – is it influenced by the current situation or on a similar path as before? Are they feeling called to action or struggling to create?
Everyone is responding differently to this crisis. Let’s learn how others are coping with their new status as Artists in Residence.
A little bit about this video:
This interview is with my friend and ukulele teacher Wes Mingus. Wes is a professional musician and composer, so we are exploring a different side of the arts with this chat. In this interview, Wes talks about his journey as a working musician and the challenges that come along with that, his shift to teaching to help balance work and family life, and his current situation navigating the pandemic and dealing with cancelled performances and classes. He discusses the collaborative nature of his artform, adapting to the new realities of life in his work, and his process of creating music. He also touches on working from home while everyone is at home :)
You can hear Wes’s latest track here: https://soundcloud.com/wesming-1/2x2l-quarantine2
And be sure to follow him on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/wesmingus/
