Before the pandemic, Brooke Chaney was teaching art at Uplift Infinity Preparatory school in Irving. But when the students left for spring break in March 2020, they never came back to class – and neither did she.
“It gave me time and gave me space,” Chaney said. “I was finally able to apply the things that I was teaching to the kids, to my own art practice.”
There was a lot to process at the time. The pandemic’s seemingly never-ending costs, and the growing support across the country for the Black Lives Matter movement. That inspired Chaney’s first official body of work: a series of conceptual sculptures.
“There was a little bit of hopefulness and, you know, dread,” Chaney said. “But hearing how moved people were by the work was really motivating. Using the energy that I had in my own work, I had never really felt confident enough to do that before.”
Chaney has been working as a full-time artist under the moniker “Mom” ever since. It started off as a nickname in college, but when she started making art and helping others foster their own creativity, the name stuck. “Mom is the spirit of who I am,” she said.
While her work has drastically transitioned from heady sculptures to more playful, decorative paintings, the spirit at the core of her art has remained the same. Whether she is painting a mural alongside high school mentees, or guiding a workshop for adults as co-founder of Trade Oak Cliff, her art is about sharing, and strengthening a sense of community.
“I think I want my art to be for others,” Chaney said. “I think my philosophy is like working for people, working toward people, working around people, with people.”
That’s a philosophy she shares with her business partner Corrie Pocta. The two met as fellow International Baccalaureate art teachers in the same school system, and often talked about creating a community maker space.
“I think it was just a natural proclivity of ours that kind of led us into the educational space,” Chaney said. “She was like, we have all these materials and this knowledge and blah, blah, blah. Like, I really want to start a space where people can come and use our tools and learn from us.”
Early in the pandemic, the two decided it was time to open Trade Oak Cliff: an artist co-op that is part studio, part shop and offers regular classes for adults in everything from ceramics to fiber art. Chaney found that sharing her skills, experiences and talent has become a vital part of who she is as an artist.
Recently, an organization called Make Art with Purpose (MAP) approached Chaney to collaborate on a project with students from CityLab High School to help paint a mural in the ground-floor parking garage of the Galbraith, a mixed-income housing building in Downtown Dallas.
“One of the reasons I selected her to do this project is because she's not only an artist, but she's a teaching artist and she's a teacher,” said Janeil Engelstad, founding director of MAP. “So she has these three things that really help her connect to students.”
Chaney was happy to participate, not only because she seeks out opportunities where her art can serve the community in some way, but also because she’s no stranger to mentoring young, aspiring artists.
Chaney is working with five students to design the mural, which will also serve as the entrance to a child-care center. Once the students finalize a color palette and design, Chaney will paint the piece in September.
Engelstad said it’s important for young people to see what a sustainable and meaningful career as an artist can look like.
“They can see someone who came from the city, who went to a local university, who's had this experience, and she's told them her story,” Engelstad said.
Nineteen-year-old Adriana Jaime,one of the students working with Chaney to design the garage mural, said opportunities for students to work on projects like this one are rare. She’s already researching color combinations to pitch to Chaney and the other students as they work on preliminary designs.
“You get to put your touch into the city,” Jaime said. “You get to drive by. You get to show your friends like, ‘Hey, I was a part of this,’ ” she said.
That’s what makes Chaney’s work so important. She’s raising the next generation of artists, who have their own talents and skills to share with the community.
“I think the world has a misconception of what it takes to make a career in art. And it isn't all money based or it isn't all about fame, it is about affecting the community and the way that people live,” she said.
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