Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloe DuBois.
So, before we jump into specific questions about what you do, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to get to know all of these amazing emerging artists and creatives that I have seen highlighted on the Boston Voyager website.
I grew up in a coastal town, south of Boston. My parents are very “do it yourself”, more than just weekend crafters. They build custom cabinetry, tiled floors, laid bricks and much more. Anything that they could learn and do themselves they did. I attribute my love of material and making to this exposure.
While studying for my bachelors in fine arts, I realized that I desired to make my education limitless. I set out to learn as many different ways of making as possible. If I wanted a sculpture to be one a welded steel base, I learned how to weld, if I wanted to include hand made lace into a piece, I learned how to make lace, etc. The idea for a project often comes before I know how to accomplish building it. Making the work then becomes a mental and physical exploration for me to make my vision reality.
That is about my sculptural practice. Beyond making my own art, I work as an arts facilitator, fabricator and teacher. I currently curate and manage a mobile pop-up gallery space that is called GPS. This is a project I have designed and have taken it through many renditions. I hope to bring the prestige of the white walled gallery to less pretentious spaces and to make fine arts more approachable.
Has it been a smooth road?
The “road” is more like a hike up to a summit, the trail that I seem to be on is a strait up scramble, If I just keep persevering and climbing, opportunity and reward will come my way eventually. I find success is being extremely patient yet also persistent.
One of the biggest struggles I encounter is balancing my many interests and commitments. Working for different institutions and companies as a fabricator, manager and educator has taught me a lot of diverse skills and connected me with great people. I also find time to volunteer with organizations that I find important. Beyond arts involvements, I try to be outside and active as much as I can be.
The ultimate goal is to make my living off of my artwork. So would it be more worth my time to retreat from these other interests and focus more on myself and my own practice? You could categorize this under the “there is no right way to be an artist” folder, because we are all asking ourselves if we are doing the right thing.
And to make it clear – my career is really fresh, and I know I have time to grow, and the answers to my questions will come to me with experience.
What else should we know about your work?
I am a mixed media sculptor and scenic fabricator, though I would say specialize in the community that comes with creativity. Proposal-based public works have become my niche, it is also a really manageable way for me to continue to make larger artworks.
The way that my projects catalyze smart conversation gives me immense pride. I have a primal desire to create and explore, and I want to change the way that people view creation and art-making in the twenty first century.
I see my practice stretching well beyond my love of object making, and am trying to recognize my roll as cultural adhesive. Any attempt in creativity is worth while to me. I hope to treat every interest in self expression as a spark that desires to be stoked into a bonfire.
You can see my work at the Harvard Ed Portal in Lower Allston (https://edportal.harvard.edu/ed-portal-gallery-0)
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I’m very curious, excited, and almost worried for arts in Boston in the next few years. Development is happening so fast, and it’s become harder to find the DIY spaces that make Boston so great. People who can’t afford to keep up monetarily are getting pushed farther out of the city. I’m hoping this boom evens out and the backbone of the city (service workers and brave creatives) will also get a slice of this shiny new Boston.
Even if this urban inequality continues, arts in New England will continue to strengthen in some of the mill cities that are offering freedom to lesser known artists. A lot of my peers and I are desiring to be more connected to the outdoors and we love the ideas of building smaller, more tight-knit circles of artists. Cities like Portsmouth, Brattleboro, Lowell, and New Bedford have so much potential. Being an artist in this post-internet time is making it easier to stay connected to larger hubs.
But Boston is where I am right now, and I still have business that I need to get done here. Creative career builders, like myself, need to get savvy, and my community driven practice is pushing me to combat the city’s growing financial and communal inaccessibility head on.
My response to this shift has been to spearhead a mobile gallery called, GPS: Gallery Possibility Space. Check it out at (www.chloedubois.com/gps)
I hope to bring art to areas without taking space away from people who need it the most. GPS gives the city a platform for expression and flexibility. The mobile aspect of the project lets artists reach outside of their local circles and broadcast their skill in a more approachable manor. I’m super excited about this project, as it was recently funded through Boston’s Opportunity Fund!
Contact Info:
- Address: Lower Allston
- Website: www.chloedubois.com
- Email: chloe@chloedubois.com
- Instagram: @chloedubois.c0m
- Other: www.chloedubois.com/gps
Image Credit:
(photo of artist speaking to the crowd is from Chelsea Broadway)
(all other photos are courtesy of the artist)
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.
