Today we’d like to introduce you to Art Cantu Jr.
Art, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I got my start as a semi-professional photographer focusing on the tattoo community in 2014. I randomly came across a tattooed model competition called “Miss Inked New York” and immediately thought that Texas could do it “bigger and better”. So, with a little help from a close friend I was convinced I could run a competition out of Dallas. September 2014 was the first ever “Miss Texas Inked”, September 2015, we changed the name and had “Miss Inked USA”, we took a break in 2016 to regroup, and then recently had the 3rd show at the House of Blues in Dallas.
Going into 2018 we have re-branded for the last time and calling the beauty pageant “Miss World Inked”. The struggles I ran into in the beginning was most definitely financially. When every penny comes from your own pocket it gets a little tight for a while. 2015 we broke even financially but attendance was an issue. We also announce the wrong winner (before Steve Harvey did it) and that was a big ordeal that we eventually worked through. The 2017 pageant was amazing and couldn’t have gone any better than it did. I was very pleased with attendance, Finalists, venue, and my staff.
A lot of what goes into Miss World Inked has to do with the hard work put in by my staff. Jessica Diaz-Drake handles all of our social media. Erika Winslow handled anything that had to do with public relations. I have Lady MaCallan Bertina as my Director of Operations. We just added 2 event photographers (Max Alday and Tym Lerma) and an Emcee (Antonio Perkins). Without these wonderful people this pageant wouldn’t be what it is today and what it’ll be in the future. I am very lucky to have them.
As of today, we are currently planning our very first preliminaries event at Riverside Municipal Auditorium in Riverside, CA on February 10th, then we’ll have our Finals in Phoenix, AZ in September. If all goes well with the preliminaries in California then it’ll open up the doors to host a total of 3 preliminary events and a Finals starting in 2019. We are excited to see what the future has in store for us.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some struggles have been financial announcing the wrong winner, drama between finalists in previous years (excluding 2017), emotionally draining, and losing venues 2 to 3 weeks before the event date due to the venue being shut down (2014 & 2015).
Miss World Inked – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Miss World Inked sets the bar high by calling our event a tattooed beauty pageant, the ONLY tattooed beauty pageant in the world. We allow domestic and international submissions. The way we do our scoring and judging panels are very different and unique to ensure the proper winners are produced.
We are here to break the stereotype that most people outside the tattoo community have of tattooed individuals. We want this pageant bigger that Miss Universe, Miss USA, etc. I’m most proud of the company and pageant on how we’ve been able to connect with so many great people along the way. We have created unbreakable bonds with big businesses and have been able to filter out people who are just looking to use others.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
My proudest moment would have to be the day my daughter (13 years old) demanded that I find a venue that allows all ages so that she may attend the next pageant. She is my biggest motivation to succeed at this and to have her support me 100% is amazing to me.
Contact Info:
- Address: Dallas, TX
- Website: www.missinkedusa.net
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: missworldinked
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/missworldinked
Image Credit:
Max Alday
Tym Lerma
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