Getting to know the new kid on the block.
I was born in the spring of 1979. I grew up middle class to factory working parents in the central, rural area of New York. My neighbors included animals such as horses, family, farmland and outdoor spaces that I could explore. I ended up going to college at the University of Iowa in 1998, after a short time at Union College.
After pursuing 5 different majors (Political Science, Business, Urban Planning, Environmental Engineering and Design) I graduated with my BFA in Painting and Drawing in 2003. I then moved to Providence, Rhode Island for my first “real” job as an Assistant Development Director at an art non-profit, AS220. When my year contract ended, I moved to San Francisco, to run a youth arts program. From there I focused on my art practice, while volunteering with several arts organizations, and held a position on the board of directors for Intersection for the Arts for 2 years.
I then met my now ex-husband and moved to Oakland, where I co-founded and curated an alternative arts space that we operated out of our home. For over 2 years, WE Artspace worked with hundreds of artists, chefs, musicians, performers and artisans to produce monthly exhibits, film screenings, dinners, shows and events.
While in Oakland, I also got involved with the Rock Paper Scissors Collective and became the first Executive Director of the Oakland Art Murmur. In needing time to further develop my art practice, I stopped everything in 2012, and went to graduate school at the San Francisco Art Institute, where I focused my studies on performance and exhibitions.
In 2014, I graduated with an MFA and headed south to LA for a post-graduate program on full fellowship. Shortly after arriving to sunny southern California, I received a phone call from my mother that led me to get in the car the next day and drive across the country. When I wasn’t able to return back to LA to start the program in the fall, I considered my options, which were limited, since I didn’t want to move to a big city.
In having family living in Buffalo, I visited in the fall of 2014 and realized that the city could be my next home. Between my first and second visits, I conceived of the concept for Project Grant, and on my second trip I viewed the house on Grant Street. With everything seeming to be falling into place, I took the leap and moved with my few belongings to the Queen City. Within 2 weeks, I garnered employment at Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Arts Center and The Public, and established the socially engaged artist residency, Project Grant out of my new home. Over the course of the last year, things have definitely not been easy, between adjusting back to the climate of long winters and my miserable attempts at relationships, but I am still here, and when I am away, I always look forward to returning to the place that I now call home.
Why am I writing for Buffalo Rising?
I hope that we can learn from each other.
Since arriving in Buffalo, I have spent time getting to know the landscape, and the people that make up the community here. I have come to learn that everyone living here is a walking encyclopedia volume containing a part of the city’s rich history. It’s refreshing to know that one doesn’t always have to have their nose in a book or glued to a screen to learn something, one just has to leave their house and engage with their surroundings. I love learning and being able to share knowledge and ideas, and believe that education functions as a two-way street, and I look forward to learning something new everyday.
I hope that we can engage with one another.
I understand the importance of being social, and not to be dormant especially during the cold months, when it’s easier to stay curled up in bed reading a book or watching Netflix. Human interaction is a vital necessity that can never be fully replaced – there is no better experience than the live one.
I invite the people of Buffalo to engage with me. Write comments in the field provided after each article, and start a dialogue with the community that surrounds you. One can always send me an email, if you are more comfortable with a one-on-one conversation, or would like to meet up for a coffee or drink.
To those that host events or produce work, be sure to add me to your press list and invite me to your events, and “friend” me on Facebook if you haven’t already. I may not be able to come to every event, but I always make an effort to see what’s happening around me, because if one is going to contribute something meaningful to their community they need to know what’s going on first. There is a diverse, active community out there and I want to be supportive and assist where my efforts are best utilized. Our community is filled with generous, dedicated and intelligent citizens that are already contributing to the social fabric of our city, and I would like to be able to complement those efforts and ensure that others are aware of their activities.
I hope that we can listen to each other.
Buffalo has a growing, diverse population, and with this comes new ideas and perspectives that need an open and unbiased space to voice their opinions and concerns. I look at writing as a means to communicate an opinion, idea or fact. It’s a natural born right here in this country – freedom of speech. People have died trying to speak their mind, when all it would have taken was for the other to respect their opinion and allow them the space to be heard. As the cityscape of Buffalo continues to evolve, one must keep an open-mind for progress to occur, and in order to grow one must be willing to change.
I hope that we can solve problems together.
I am a firm believer that two minds are always better than one. I also believe that in order to have a successful relationship whether it is professional or personal, one has to be willing to make compromises and sometimes sacrifice. At the root of this is one’s foundation that is composed of their beliefs and morals. As one stands for what they believe, it should be fueled by passion that is coated in empathy. This is what makes us human.
I hope we can work together to create a sustainable progressive city.
There is no perfect city. Every city throughout time has battled against some issue that threatened its wellbeing, and in certain cases brought it to its demise. In knowing that history can repeat itself, we have to be cautious and learn from our predecessors and neighbors. We have to value our resources and treat each other fairly, because there is no difference between you and I – we are both made of flesh and bone. I view art as a vehicle for change, and it is the role of the artists to challenge the norm and evoke a response from its viewers that leads to action – nothing can improve if one is only talking… motivation is key.
Tina Dillman, www.tinadillman.com, tina@buffalorising.com
Lead image: By photographer David Moog, 2015