“
Chicago was getting harder
and harder to live on a small
budget and as an artist, I just
didn’t want to struggle so hard
anymore,” said Nesbit. “Also,
it is much easier to get art jobs
in smaller cities. I can’t help but
picture the hundreds of art grads
in Chicago looking for a handful
of jobs. It’s daunting.”
Fast forward to today. Nesbit is
now working in Peoria as a part-
time personal assistant and has
a studio residency at Backspace
Collective after finishing a seven
month residency at the Prairie
Center for the Arts. Her goal is to
get more hours in an art-related
field and still have time to work
in her studio.
Even though the struggle to
make it in the arts continues, she
sees promise in Peoria. It’s people
like Michele and Joe Richet of the
Prairie Center of the Arts and art
photographers Doug and Eileen
Leunig, who helped organize the
local artist organization called
CIAO (Central Illinois Artists
Organization) and the opening
art show of local artists at the
new Riverfront Museum, who
give Nesbit even more reason for
the return.
She is now doing a studio
residency at Backspace
Collective, a gallery run by eight
artists who encourage innovation
and risk taking. Nesbit recently
organized a participatory
drawing event called Drawing
From Darkness that was held on
winter solstice in December 2012
at the Backspace Gallery. Anyone
attending the evening event was
encouraged to participate in a
large group drawing executed
in the dark to help celebrate the
longest night of the year.
The event also coincided with
the gallery’s second fundraising
exhibition, Drawback, a drawing
show that sold artist drawings for
$25 with proceeds going to the
gallery.
Nesbit will be the first to tell
you that she has been fortunate
to have the support and
encouragement from people who
know what it’s like to live art as
a career. Her Chicago friend and
mentor, Melanie Parke, has given
her “great advice” in order to
carry on as an artist and teacher.
“
Melanie and her husband,
Richard, are the goal for me,”
said Nesbit. “It’s good to know a
real life example.”
Nesbit is now living her real
life example in Peoria. With the
inspiration of those who have
guided her in art-related journey,
she hopes to continue to teach, do
more art residencies, and within
a year, develop a new body of her
own work.
Her latest paintings will
be shown at Pearce Gallery,
Dunlap, Illinois, in February
2013;
a three person show with
Lizabeth Pearce and Rebecca
Draland-Doyle, titled “Moments
of Being.”
To see additional works, go to
58
thePeorian.com
Some of Nesbit’s latest work, including the one she is painting here, will be
part of a three-person art exhibit at the Pearce Gallery in Dunlap in February.
