Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisa H. Hamilton.
Elisa H., please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Arlington, MA, and except for a couple years on Long Island, I’ve always lived in the Boston area and I love it here. I earned my BFA from Massachusetts College Art and Design and I’ve been a practicing artist in Boston for ten years now.
My degree is in painting, but I also have a background in theater and performing arts; over time, my work has evolved to reflect all of those skills and loves.
Has it been a smooth road?
For nine years, in addition to my art practice, I worked a day job. I left that job a little over a year ago to pursue my art full time, and although I miss that steady paycheck, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing right now.
It’s no secret that being a full-time artist isn’t easy. When you work for yourself you have to be your own everything. I’m my own boss and employee- I’m a maker, marketer, bookkeeper, grant writer, website moderator, motivator, researcher, strategist, and so much more.
I have to balance the administrative parts of my work with the creative parts which can sometimes be very challenging- but, on really hard days, I look around my studio, remember all that I’ve accomplished, and remind myself that I’m living my dream! I’m extraordinarily grateful to be able to do what I love for a living.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Elisa H. Hamilton Studio – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The artwork I make focuses on creating spaces that bring people together. I develop site-specific programs and interactive installations that explore the inherent joy of our everyday places, objects, and experiences.
I love harnessing all kinds of media and realizing the ways in which multiple mediums can intersect to create a genuinely meaningful experience for the public. This past summer I was honored by the Improper Bostonian as Boston’s Best Creative Catalyst of 2017.
Additionally, my work has been shown locally and nationally in solo and group exhibitions, and my ongoing project “Dance Spot” has engaged with communities around Boston, as well as at the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, and Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA.
I have received four public art grants to create temporary public works in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood, and a Creative City grant from New England Foundation for the Arts.
My recent projects include “Sound Lab,” a special community sound project that was featured in “Listen Hear: The Art of Sound” at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, “Community Legacy,” a collaboration with the MIT List Visual Arts Center, and “Slideshow,” co-presented by HUBweek and Now+There.
I love creating work in collaboration with communities, organizations, and other artists.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
My favorite thing about Boston is that it’s both big and small; it’s big enough that you can always be discovering new, wonderful places and things about it, but small enough that it feels like you know it like it’s yours.
Contact Info:
- Address: Boston Center for the Arts 551 Tremont Street, Studio 214 Boston, MA 02116
- Website: www.ElisaHHamilton.com
- Instagram: @ElisaHHamilton
- Twitter: @ElisaHHamilton
- Other: www.DanceSpotBoston.com
Image Credit:
Leonardo March, Michael Blanchard
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
