What brought you to Midtown?

After graduating from college I moved to D.C., but things did not work out the way I planned and I ended up moving back home to Jackson. I started taking up photography and I was looking for a photography studio and I stumbled upon a live-work space and that’s how I got to Midtown. I have been in Midtown since 2011. I knew about Midtown because I grew up in downtown Jackson and Midtown was sort of like the rival neighborhood growing up. It was called Northend back then and Midtown was new. I had no idea when I moved here that it was an art district. All I knew was that I wanted to be around other artists and I wanted to be in a studio. The space I’m in now, I purchased collectively with three other artists. I rezoned it and we opened a gallery. I actually live and work here.

The name of your gallery is AND Gallery. How did you come up with the name?

People always ask if it has anything to do with my name or my initials and it has absolutely nothing to do with that. There is a box that has been here since before we got here and we had no idea where it came from. We do know now where it came from. This building that we are in has been art studios for decades. Different artists have come through here for years. Right after we purchased the building, we allowed someone to use the space for storage. When they left the space, my co-owner Tyler and I began to talk about Jackson needing a contemporary gallery that would show cutting edge art, not just paintings that you may see around town. We decided to try it here. We put walls up ourselves and we opened AND with my show, Hip Hop Show Vol. 2. The name AND came from the box. You can see the letters A-N-D on the box. We were trying to find a name for the gallery and this box was just sitting up there so we said let’s call it AND. We found out that an artist based in New Orleans left the box here. He is a carpenter and an artist. All of his work is wood and he made that box. He made it for a participation type of art show. We just ran with the name because it has been in the building longer than all of us.

What does AND stand for?

For us AND means art, noise and dance. Those are all of the elements that we use for our shows and performances and noise meaning music.

At what point did you realize you wanted to be an artist?

I’ve always known that I wanted to be an artist. Not necessarily getting paid for it, but I’ve always been a creative person. As a child, I used to say that I wanted to be an artist, but my mother would always tell me that being an artist is not a real job because they don’t make money so do something else. That is the impression I had about being an artist so I never pursued it. None of my degrees are in art. I took up photography because I go to a lot of concerts. The base of all of my art is mainly music. I love music. I started taking pictures of the artists at their concerts. That put me on the path to art. When I graduated from college I was looking for an outlet so I went to Michael’s and bought an art kit and I started to practice drawing album covers that I loved. At that point, I truly began to focus on my art although I wasn’t trying to sell it. I had the opportunity to put my work in OffBeat and I ended up selling all of it. I believe that really started my career as an artist and I haven’t stopped. I literally have not put my brush down. I don’t think of it as work because I just love to create.

What type of artist are you?

Other people would probably say that I am a visual artist. I don’t like to put myself in a box like that. I just like to say that I’m creative and I know that can mean anything. I work in photography, I paint and I curate. I am just a creative person. I even do creative consulting. I don’t want to be in a box. I want to be known for my creative ideas. I don’t even want to paint forever. I want to create whatever these hands allow me to do. I also work with glass at Pearl River Glass Studio and I love doing that. I’ve been working with them for five years. I work a lot with fused glass and the projects vary. I get to create for them and I handle all of their social media and the website.

Of all the art you’ve created, what is your favorite piece?

It would be a piece called Cold War which is a portrait of singer Janelle Monáe. It was one of my first pieces that defined my painting style. I still have it and it is on cardboard and I will never let it go. I still have people inquiring about it so I put a ridiculous price on it. I think it would be crazy to charge someone two thousand dollars for a painting on cardboard. I’ll never sell it, I don’t want to let it go. That’s my baby because it was my first detailed piece.

Who or what inspires your creativity?

I would say music more than anything or I would say artists. Art inspires my art. Music plays such a big part of my life and that is what I’m drawn to. I love jazz and hip hop and you can tell that from my subjects. I really love all types of music. Music is where I pull most of my inspiration from. I collect vinyl and I’m always trying to recreate the feeling of a lot of older vinyl covers. I focus a lot on Black art because I feel like we have very distinctive features. I feel like I’m painting icons to keep them alive. Paying homage to great artists inspires me.

Has being in Midtown inspired your creativity?

Yes, absolutely. I live and work in Midtown and this place is so cool because we have so many artists and a lot that come through here at different times. What I love about it is that it is not like Fondren so commercialized. You don’t see the artists in Midtown because we are actually in our studios making art. I love being around artists for feedback when I need it. I get a lot of that from Midtown. Being here has helped me grow tremendously as an artist. I am constantly having to take it up a level. I didn’t study art but being here has helped me. Opening this gallery is teaching me a lot. I feel like I’m in art school. I love being in Midtown because this is where the makers are.

Have you been able to reach the community of Midtown with your artwork?

I think so. That is one of the things I think is so great about BAM. We are trying to bridge the gap between the businesses and the community. I donate when I can to different activities here. The neighborhood association is really good too about having events for the kids and the community. Those are the times that I can show up and donate artwork or play art games with the kids. I also go to the Midtown Charter School and speak to the kids about art. For 2019, I plan to have more programs for the community to come in and do participatory art projects. BAM is really the main way that I’m able to connect with the community. So many BAM opportunities have put me in front of members of this community.

What is your most enjoyable memory as an artist?

I had a pop-up show with another artist at the Mississippi Museum of Art about Mississippi Pop Art. We packed out the place and I believe it was probably the largest turnout for a pop-up. It was amazing to see all of the people come out for that event. That was a big deal for me because at that point I really started to feel like an artist. That was back in 2014. Another great memory was when I did my Hip Hop Show Vol. 2. It was centered around my older cousin who is now deceased. He is the one who put me on to music as a kid. I was paying homage to him with different eras of music and I had an installation in the middle of the floor which was symbolic of his dresser. It helped me to go back to what I felt like as a kid. That show meant a lot to me because it was more about my childhood and I feel like that was the first show where I really had a true narrative. I paint what I want to paint but that was one where I was intentionally painting certain people. We were able to do an artist talk with that and I think that people really connected with it. You could really look at it and connect me to it.

What do you do when you are not creating art?

I am going to a concert. That’s my life. If I’m not creating I may also try to get out of town or go somewhere where I can hear some live music. I love live instruments and festivals. Music always gets my creative juices flowing even when I’m just trying to relax.

What’s coming up for you and AND Gallery?

AND Gallery is having a short exhibition in collaboration with OffBeat in January. In February we do Black History films once a week. We choose films or documentaries that are centered around art, noise, and dance. In March we will have another exhibition that will close out the year with local artist Amelia Key and possibly a few more local artists. Also, we really want to have more art education programs here to teach the art and business side of it. Right now I am working on a project with the Jackson Airport. I am painting two murals on wood panels to be placed on the inside of the airport. The Greater Jackson Arts Council partnered with the airport on this project and I was chosen to be one of the artists. Soon I will be working on a project with the City of Jackson called the Fertile Ground. It is a grant offered by Mayor Bloomberg to over two hundred cities and Jackson was one of the cities chosen. It is a great opportunity and I am truly honored to be chosen as one of the artists to work on this project. I will be creating murals and I hope to bring in other artists to help with it and I will design it. The project deals with food insecurities within the city and the city will host various workshops and we will create art around it. I know this will be a great team and I am always up for the challenge. I am truly excited about it and nervous at the same time. We will be working with some principal artists and just to be on the same list with them is amazing.

For more information on Adrienne Domnick and AND Gallery, visit her websites www.andgallery.org or www.adriennedomnick.com. You can also visit her social media sites: Facebook: www.facebook.com/adriennedomnickarts; Instagram: @adriennedomnick

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