Art & Life with Elizabeth Jarrett

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Jarrett.

Elizabeth, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born right here in Atlanta, GA. The daughter of a commercial photographer, I grew up in a photo studio in West Midtown, often working as assistant and/or model for my dad’s business. After developing a love for writing at an early age, I started exploring other methods of storytelling by putting on plays in my garage. My interest in the arts continued, eventually leading me to a Bachelor Degree in Theatre and Performance Studies from Kennesaw State University, where I also co-started a devised and original theatre company called The Collective Project. Out of necessity and an undying love for visual art, I started designing the shows I was co-producing and fell in love with place-making and spatial art. After spending time as the first in-residence theatre company at the Goat Farm Arts Center, I went on to curate for, and later become Executive Director of, multimedia arts non-profit Deer Bear Wolf. Along the way, I have become passionate about building community through the arts. I cofounded the recently closed theatre, performance, and exhibition community center, downtown (and Midtown) Players Club and continue to produce, direct, and design theatre and performance internationally.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My art expresses itself in many mediums. I consider myself a curator (or performance) and a spatial artist. I’m essentially most interested in space and how people interact with it. I’m always trying to create experiences for audiences to stumble upon or immerse themselves in. I’m interested in this because I believe that space has the power to hold energy, express a mood or tone, showcase history, and create a shared experience. I hope that when people walk into some experience I’ve created, they’re moved in some way- whether it’s personally or as a community. One thing I’ve been really focusing on recently is how to scale my particular form of creativity in a way that helps my Atlanta community.

How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
I define success as creating new work consistently and using my resources to support other artists in my community. Being a successful artist takes a certain amount of resourcefulness, luck, and instability but the term “successful” really is interpretive and means different things to different people. I don’t think success means necessarily that you rely solely on what you create for all of your income or happiness, but that you allow yourself time and space to hone and practice your craft. Most artists I know who consider themselves successful do many things and are often open to trying new things.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can see my portfolio and recent work at my website: elizabethjarrett.me. You can see my work at various performance spaces throughout the city. The best way to support me in my art is to buy a ticket to my shows. I also am currently running a GoFundMe for a project I’m working on in Kefelonia, Greece this summer. That’s at https://www.gofundme.com/elizabeth-goes-to-greece/

Contact Info:

• Website: elizabethjarrett.me
• Email: elizabethjarrettforatlanta@gmail.com
• Instagram: @deerbearwolf , @rainboots_jarrett

Image Credit:
Wes Cummings, BreeAnne Clowdus, Gabriela Arp, Corryn Lytle, Jerry Siegel

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