As an artist, sometimes the best way to find the community support that you’ve always wanted is to become that support yourself, and sometimes the best way to receive the help you need is to offer it first.
That’s been the goal of the fully free art supply and support source called The Artist Closet inside Mycelium Gallery in northwest Oklahoma City.
Created, launched, and managed by Midwest City-based fiber artist Katie Graham, The Artist Closet is an all donation-based space where gallery visitors can peruse, take, and trade art supplies of all kinds, from pens, papers, and paints to sculpting tools, canvases, and more, all fully free of charge and available to the public.
For Graham and the small band of volunteers that manage the space with support from Mycelium, it’s a way to provide the kind of encouragement and resources that can be both difficult to find and wildly expensive for any young or aspiring artist.
And like so many things, it grew out of the isolation and community detachment of the pandemic era.
Katie Graham: During the shutdown in 2020, when everybody had a little bit of a break or a pause on their life, I saw something similar to The Artist Closet pop up in California, that I was like “I wish this existed here.”
I just started brainstorming, like, what that could look like and what I wanted as an artist. This is a really cool resource I wish existed. What all do I wish existed within that resource? And I just started dreaming it all up during the shutdown.
Brett Fieldcamp: Graham knew that she wanted to provide the kind of broad, all-encompassing support that she’d always wanted as a young artist, but was unsure of how to go about it or of what the response would be to the offer of free supplies with no catch.
But she had a lot of big ideas and an even bigger lot of extra supplies and scraps lying around.
Katie Graham: When I first started The Artist Closet, I had this grand vision of it being this huge warehouse, but it was just me, so it was just a lot.
I was like, I don't know where to start exactly. I ended up using my own art supplies. Like, I bought a small like shoe rack, and I filled it with my excess of art supplies of things I wasn't really using anymore because I really enjoyed dabbling and figuring out what I like, and whenever you buy art supplies, you don't get to just buy like enough for one project. You usually have to buy like a whole pack,
And then eventually other people were like, "Can I bring you my art supplies? Because I have so many.” I was like “sure!”
Brett Fieldcamp: After a couple years of providing free supplies and resources to artists from her table at pop-ups and group shows, Graham crossed paths with the owners of Mycelium Gallery, an independent DIY and outsider art space in OKC.
Recognizing that they shared a love of arts encouragement and resource-sharing, Mycelium invited Graham and The Artist Closet to take over the back wall of the gallery and fill out the space with shelves, bins, and buckets full of free supplies and donated artist tools.
Katie Graham: I messaged Alena and Barclay, two of the owners at Mycelium Gallery, and they were like, "We would actually love to have The Artist Closet in our space.” And I was like, "Oh, okay, like, let's figure this out!”
We started with a little section, and then the demand became a lot bigger once I started posting on social media.
So I don't know what the future will hold, but I hope to work with them forever because they are really wonderful.
Brett Fieldcamp: To celebrate their partnership and the community support that The Artist Closet has received, Graham and Mycelium organized the Art for All fundraiser in July.
An art show where local creatives were encouraged to make something fun, unique, or emotional out of supplies taken from the closet, Graham thought it might be a small, low-key way to say thanks to the community and to raise a little money for the project.
Instead, it became the biggest show in the gallery’s history and raised over $2500 to help expand The Artist Closet.
Katie Graham: I was just like, I have no expectation, other than I hope it's good, and I decided to post online, like “Please come to this art show. It's for a very important cause.”
We sold 99 tickets outside of the artists that came, so there were over 100 people in the space, which was crazy and beyond anything that we thought, especially for just like a three-hour event. Like it was the biggest turnout that the gallery itself has seen, and it was our very first show as The Artist Closet.
I was completely blown away, and very emotional the whole night.
Brett Fieldcamp: The funds will allow Graham to develop The Artist Closet even further, expanding the amount and type of supplies and resources offered and getting her ever closer to that grand vision that she originally had for the project.
But even more than the money raised, Graham said the Art for All show proved just how much power there can be in asking for help and in being the help that you want to see from your scene.
Katie Graham: If you ever need help with something, just ask. If you just ask for help, somebody will be there ready to help, and that is something that The Artist Closet has taught me over and over again as things have progressed.
Brett Fieldcamp: The Artist Closet inside Mycelium Gallery in Oklahoma City is free and available to the public during gallery hours Thursday through Sunday.
For more, visit myceliumgallery.com and follow along with all of the art and endeavors of Katie Graham at threadedfablesbykatie.com.
———————————
KGOU relies on voluntary contributions from readers and listeners to further its mission of public service with arts and culture reporting for Oklahoma and beyond. To contribute to our efforts, make your donation online, or contact our Membership department.
