By Sandra Abbott
Recently I caught up with Liam Garrett at UMBC’s community entrepreneurial project and local coffee shop, OCA Mocha. The “OCA” in OCA Mocha stands for “Opportunities for Community Alliances,” which is an extension of the University’s Office of Institutional Advancement. The coffee shop is part of an outreach effort to bring UMBC and the local Arbutus community together by creating a “college town” atmosphere within the business district of downtown Arbutus. Garrett, a senior UMBC Visual Arts Major, is one of many interns working at the coffee shop this year. He runs the art program, which features rotating art exhibitions on the gallery wall inside the shop.
Sandra Abbott: Do you consider yourself the lead curator here, or are you a co-curator? What was your role with the current exhibition, You’re Not Alone, which is running May 3 – June 13, 2021?
Liam Garrett: I co-curated this particular exhibition with Rocky Callen. I focused on the call for artists, choosing the artists, and designing and hanging the show. Rocky came up with the idea of doing something for mental health awareness. If it weren’t for her, this (exhibition) wouldn’t have happened.
Tell me more about Rocky, your co-curator.
Rocky is the founder of Hold on 2 Hope. It’s an organization that raises awareness for suicide prevention. It’s based on her book, “A Breath Too Late,” which is about a girl who commits suicide, but then realizes life was worth living. She realizes she shouldn’t have killed herself, but it is too late. The exhibition is about suicide prevention and aims to raise awareness about mental health issues. We also wanted people (seeing the exhibit) to feel more open to express themselves.
It sounds like you and Rocky were a good fit for a curatorial collaboration then. Tell me more about your role.
Yeah, I put out a call for artists. As far as driving submissions, I contacted more people than I have ever contacted before. I was basically cold-calling people to get artists for the show. I called MICA and even Sheppard Pratt to see if they had any art programs, from which people may want to enter.
Was there anyone else who helped with the show?
We have an amazing team at OCA Mocha. They’re really good at what they do. It’s hard to say exactly what I did without bringing up the people I work with.
We took the idea for the exhibit and the whole team developed it into something even more evolved than what we started with at the initial meeting with Rocky. Rocky wanted to raise awareness about mental health. But honestly, the whole team is just incredible, so everyone contributed.
For example, there’s our videographer, Nahom (Nahom Nega). He was one of the original members of the entrepreneurship class that came up with the OCA Mocha proposal. He also came up with these awesome ideas for videos about the exhibit. It was also for the purpose of trying to raise awareness about mental health and to let people know about the space OCA Mocha is offering to artists. And Nahom is actually shooting a video about the whole entire process of the project.
Is this a “Making of” documentary from behind the scenes about how the exhibition came together?
Yeah. It’s a documentary about (our) collaboration and how we built the exhibition. It’s also about who Rocky is as a person. And she really is a wonderful person. When I got to know her and to hear her read her book I thought, “Wow! You know, this is somebody who really is trying to do good things for the mental health world!”
How did you meet Rocky?
Actually, I met her through my manager, Michael, here at OCA Mocha. They’re related. Rocky is leveraging every connection she has, trying to raise awareness for mental health. I think that is very admirable.
Who is working with you at OCA Mocha, and how did you come together to make this project successful because it sounds like a real team effort? Can you tell me more about that?
First, there are the artists. The artists always come first. I want artists to be aware of this space, where they can participate. I want artists to be aware of the fact they can submit art and be on a wall somewhere. This is a very community-oriented place that will bring in just about anybody and, you know, feature just about any artist with open arms.
Nahom’s video will also highlight the independence they give to their interns. For example, we can come up with an idea at OCA Mocha, and (management) will just be totally on board with it. They really let us run with it. It’s the kind of place where, I’ll ask Michael (the manager) a question like, “How do you think this looks here? Are you okay with me doing this?” And he’ll be like, “It’s your gallery.” It’s like that kind of space. And it’s very different from my prior job when I was assistant to the curator at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery.
Really? That different! How so?
A lot of the work I did at the AOK Gallery and in Special Collections was like organization work. I learned a ton there, but I never really had an opportunity to have any say in what kind of art would go up or where things should go. OCA Mocha gave me that opportunity. I can’t express how much confidence it gives young people who are entering the workforce. For example, when you first get a job, you’re like, “Can I even say these ideas around these people?” You’re kind of nervous about it, but OCA Mocha gives you a place where your voice can be heard by other people.
My time at OCA Mocha has been absolutely wonderful, so I really wanted to highlight the opportunities that come with an internship like this one, here at OCA Mocha.
I hope the video gets across how wonderful this internship is. I hope it really captures this space because OCA Mocha has a 120-foot gallery wall! That’s a legitimate kind of gallery space. So Nahom and I have been working to really capture that space. We want artists to know it’s a real gallery wall you can be on for free.
What is Nahom’s role? Is he an employee there also? Is he in a marketing internship there?
He is also a paid intern, like me. I admire Nahom Nega deeply. He’s just wonderful to have on a team. We can bounce things off of one another in a very productive way.
Can you tell me more about how you found the artists for this eclectic group show? It looks like you got the strongest response from the UMBC creative community, correct?
Yeah. I would say a call for artists is fairly effective, but where I get the strongest response is reaching out to people directly, to artists I know. I say all you have to do is submit. You might be on the wall, and it’s a great place. It’s a great thing to put on your resume. I get a lot of responses from reaching out directly. Although I do try my hardest to reach out to organizations like MICA, MAP, the Baltimore art community, and beyond.
Well, there are a lot of lists to go to for posting calls for artists. There’s the Maryland State Artist Registry that Maryland Art Place runs, the Baker Artist Awards site, and then there is always Instagram. All the usual suspects, of course.
Yeah. I have a list in my journal actually of all the places I like to reach out to. I also reached out to visual arts departments at several schools, UMBC’s CIRCA (Center for Innovation, Research, and Creativity in the Arts), and the UMBC Counseling Center. Beyond that, I contacted the GBCA, which is the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, and the BCAG (Baltimore County Arts Guild).
Tell me what your next steps were after you heard from the artists. Did your art training have anything to do with your choices? Did you have to say, “no,” to anyone?
I do bring my art background when I look at the submissions and decide what will be in the exhibition. And I did say “no.” That’s always hard. In every exhibition (I’ve curated) so far, I’ve had a few people (who do not make the cut). For example, I’ll see some pieces where I suspect the artist has simply renamed the title of the piece and is just submitting it to everything. Sometimes we receive artwork that has nothing to do with the theme of the exhibition or pieces that do not visually align with the energy we want this exhibition to give viewers.
Is it difficult making those kinds of decisions and breaking it to those artists?
A little bit. Well, I really do hate sending those rejection letters. It’s my least favorite thing to do.
How many did you have to cut? Do you remember how many letters you sent, approximately? Can you give a percentage of how many applications you had to reject?
I usually have one or two. Because we now use a Google Form, we require people to answer questions. And some didn’t give the sizes of their pieces. They were photographs, and I didn’t have the sizes for them. I was like, “That’s a required field you have to fill out.” You know?
And they kind of put, “No idea, question mark,” in the measurements field, and I was like, “Why would anybody put that?” You know?
You seem to want to empathize with these artists though, who you have to reject from the show.
Well, obviously, because I’m an artist myself, I’ve felt the sting of the rejection letter before.
But what if you had 500 entries? How would you have decided who could stay and who would go if they were all equally good and on point with the exhibition theme?
That’s a great question. I’ve had a few experiences doing this so far, where I’ve seen a piece and I remember the piece very clearly. I think like, “Wow, that really transmits the message of what we’re trying to create here.” I think I would try to narrow it down to all of those pieces, the pieces that really fit the description of the exhibition’s goal and the pieces that really transport people to a moment or make them think. There is a lot of art that really makes you think. I think what’s harder to capture, in my opinion, or what I see less of are what really takes me to a moment.
Good point. Well said.
Perhaps it’s also about community-building?
Yeah. And it’s not about your preferences or about what you like. It’s about helping people get their name out there. And you know, if art was only about what you liked, there would never be any art movements.
In terms of your curatorial approach then, would you say it’s more about selecting things, which you can appreciate and which fit the story you’re trying to tell with a particular show?
Yeah, absolutely. I try and put myself in the shoes of the artists who submit. I read their descriptions, and I try to empathize with where they’re coming from, or why they make what they’ve made. I try to be very open about submissions because I know rejection can be painful for people and acceptance can mean a lot. We’re offering people an opportunity, and I want to offer that opportunity to as many people as possible.
You mentioned you have been rejected as an artist before, right?
Yeah, I have. I was rejected by Communication Arts. They’re a big arts and graphic design magazine. I didn’t even get into the top 100 of those they accepted. It was like, “Oh!” I’d like to be in magazines because I just… I don’t know. I just like magazines.
You’re most interested in the print medium for your own work?
In my own work, I’m trying to raise awareness about how nature is being affected by the damage we’re doing to it. I want people to realize nature is beautiful. That’s kind of ironic though because I’m also a digital artist. There’s this kind of weird, inherent irony that exists in that. I want to raise awareness of nature using the antithesis to it. But yeah, I just want to give people the experience of the wonderful, inspiring moments we have when we go somewhere where we can feel like we’re in touch with the environment around us. And we get that true feeling of belonging somewhere. I feel like nature can give anybody that.
Yeah, so it’s potentially accessible to anyone. This was your second curatorial effort, correct? Tell me about your first.
My first one was called Art and Identity, and it was about artists and how their identity has to do with their work or how they communicate their identity. It was at OCA Mocha too, just before this one.
In terms of an exhibition catalog, have you had the opportunity to put together a publication about these shows?
No, actually I haven’t. That’s a good idea.
I imagine that might be challenging with your timeline and budget. Are you thinking about continuing your curatorial practice at OCA Mocha or beyond? Are you thinking about bringing some of those ideas you’re passionate about in your own artwork—the environment, the beauty of nature, etc.–to your curatorial work?
Well, that’s a good question. I consider my internship, and what I do with my art, to be kind of separate. Like when I’m doing my artwork, I leave it to what I like and what I enjoy doing. At my internship, I’m in this totally different mode, where I just want things to be very organized and very ready. I am continuing this summer, so maybe?
Is that an internship you’re getting credit for through the UMBC Visual Arts Department or PRAC at the UMBC Career Center?
No, I’m not getting credit for it. I probably could, but no. I’m graduating next semester, so I didn’t really make the effort to get the college credit.
It’s a paid internship though, right?
Yes, and it’s awesome.
Will you continue to get paid through the summer?
Yes.
Congratulations on that. Not everyone gets a paid internship.
Thank you!
I look forward to seeing how your practice at OCA Mocha may progress in the months to come.
Liam Garrett
digitalartmovement.com
OCA Mocha Facebook InterviewLiam Garrett was born in Harrogate, England on November 28, 1996. He moved to the United States in 2001 and was raised in Crofton, Maryland.
Starting his college education at Howard Community College (HCC) in 2016-2018, Garrett worked as the head graphic designer in the Ellicott City Recovery Project, garnering an HCC Certificate of Appreciation and a feature in the HCC Portfolio Seminar Exhibition. Additionally, he received a feature in the Baltimore Sun for this work. Within his first year at the college, Garrett was awarded the 2016 HCC Entrepreneurial Celebration Pinnacle Pitch People’s Choice Award.
In 2019, Garrett began at the University of Maryland Baltimore County with a bang by selling his artwork in the university bookstore. Following his premiere, the university newspaper The Retriever, wrote an article on Garrett’s work. Garrett went on to secure a spot in the CMYK Magazine’s 2019 Top 100 New Creatives. Continuing to create within his Digital Art Movement, Garrett presented alongside fellow students in the 2020 URCAD Student Research show. Garrett returned to HCC in 2020 as a judge for the 2019 HCC Entrepreneurial Celebration Pinnacle Pitch.
OCA Mocha
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