Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Smith-Atkins.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Christine. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started my professional Artist out of The Art Institute of Dallas straight into the video game industry, creating 3D art and animation and am accredited on seven published titles over a decade long span in the entertainment industry. I left the industry when my second child was born to spend more time raising my children in the early development stages of life.
During that time of six years, I worked freelancing as a graphic designer, photographer and web developer. When my youngest started kindergarten, I found that the video game industry had become flooded with job seekers, so rather than try to compete as a middle-aged woman with children, with the young single guys hungry for entry into the industry, I decided to move into a tech position and began working for a start-up company in McKinney, as a biz dev/marketing manager. That startup decided to start an incubator within the Cotton Mill of McKinney called the Collide Center, to encourage collaboration with other tech start-ups in the area. I found myself managing the Collide Center and then moving into the Operations Director role within a year. From there, and with financial backing from the City of McKinney, I founded The WERX Foundation, and served as President and Executive Director, assisting nearly 100 start-up tech companies to become successful small businesses, and also acquiring a highly sought after federal grant that funded the creation of 4 maker spaces on Collin College Campuses, and at the WERX. Though all of this work was important and fulfilling, I was getting further and further away from my artist roots and though I regularly hung art throughout the WERX coworking/incubator space, I was still not producing art like I wanted to be.
At the beginning of 2017, I left the WERX Foundation and at the same time met a group of fantastic artists in Allen TX and together we established the non-profit organization the “Visual Arts League of Allen”(VALA). I began working on my fine art full-time and began instructing art at Collin College, as well as privately. The Visual Arts League of Allen serves the art community by supporting local artists and promoting art in the community. In the first two years of operations, we have built a solid membership base, held fundraising events, offered art workshops through the Allen Arts Alliance Blue House Too Gallery, curated numerous shows and exhibits and partnered with various organizations such as Allen Community Outreach on Empty Bowls, and Make-A-Wish by having artists create artwork to help raise money for social causes. We have also partnered with the Cotton Mill of McKinney to build and curate a Gallery inside the Event Venues Grand Hallway. We are now working to raise money for scholarships for HS students pursuing art careers. I currently serve as Chairman of the Visual Arts League of Allen, and as the ArtSparks Program Coordinator of the Allen Arts Alliance, and of course I am creating fine art to show and sell!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nothing is ever a smooth road, however, the journey gives you knowledge to build on future endeavors.
There were two major struggles along the way for me. The first was my divorce that happened at the same time I was getting back into the workforce after my youngest started school. Divorce is never fun and often messy…mine was no exception. Being a 40+ single mom in the world, without a full-time job, and living completely on my own for the first time in my life was a major shell shock. I did a lot of growing during that time and had to build myself up from the bottom again. I was working two part-time jobs that paid very little and raising my children during a difficult time. My saving grace was I had been engaged in trading on the stock market for many years, and at that time the market was recovering so I was fortunate enough to be able to make a good amount of money do that on the side, which kept me afloat for years.
The second major setback was something I haven’t talked about much publicly. My departure from The WERX Foundation. Without going into to much detail, I will say that business people can be very cutthroat. My departure was not by choice. As we neared the end of our funding from the MEDC, and had just been awarded the federal grant to build the Maker spaces, some of my board members began working with ex-NTEC executives and decided the organization would be better at generating revenue, as purely executive office suites for post-revenue generating companies, rather than an incubation for startups. I was sure the city was not going to award more money as they were already matching funds of the federal grant, so I was opposed to the idea. They began forming a plan in backroom meetings to pitch the city on this idea in hopes of securing half a million dollars from the MEDC for build-out and operation costs to launch an ‘Innovation Center’. Narratives were spun that were not truthful, and ultimately it came down to three board members making the decision to replace me with the ex-NTEC exec, thinking this would strengthen their pitch to the city.
This happened right after receiving the grant for over 600K and two weeks before Christmas. I was devastated, and angry, but my hands were tied so there was nothing I could do about it. Everything I had worked on for the last four years was gone, all of the relationships in the startup community were tarnished through the narratives spun, and the people I handpicked to be a part of my board were the reason. They didn’t get the city funding and tried fruitlessly to make a deal or partner with other organizations. Within four months almost all of the 36 companies working out of the center had left, and the place was falling apart. All but one of the remaining board members also departed and within ten months the final board member left holding the federal grant to administer, shut down what was left of the co-working center. It was such an incredible waste of something good that helped so many startups…
This was huge heart-hardening learning experience for me, but at the same time I left WERX I met the group of artists that I went on to establish the Visual Arts League with. I remembered why I loved art and artists. It’s not about the money, and they are passionate about doing the right thing. This is something that is missed when business, politics, and money are the focus. I couldn’t be more satisfied with the work I’m doing now and am also working on another project with some amazing women called the Mill House Foundation. We hopefully launch it off 2019! For detail check out millhousefoundation.org.
Visual Arts League of Allen – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Visual Arts League of Allen was created to promote our vital and vibrant artistic community. VALA serves as a conduit for creative synergy between our talented Local Artists, Local Business and Patrons of the Arts in order to energize and support the arts in our area. VALA is comprised of a talented pool of Local Artists and Art Enthusiasts working in all disciplines of the Visual Arts. We offer workshops, exhibitions, events and opportunities to Artists and the Community alike, but what makes us unique from other organizations is having our own gallery in the Cotton Mill of McKinney that provides exhibit opportunities to any artists in the community who would like to show their work. We are working to uncover hidden gems in the community!
We are passionate Local Artists and supporters of the Arts in the community. Though our partnerships, we give back to the community to promote social consciousness.
VALA is always welcoming new members and Patrons of the Arts to join in the initiative, to bring more art to more people!
I am so proud of the work we do to help artists and the community alike.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is defined by the mark you leave on the world. What will you be remembered for? Will your impact be purely monetary or will you change things for the better. Only through the sharing of knowledge, culture and awareness, can true change for the em betterment of man occur.
I am always looking for ways to make a positive mark with whatever I do. If your goals and passions are aligned with what you value, you will always be wealthy.
Contact Info:
- Address: VALA Gallery
610 Elm St.
McKinney TX 75069 - Website: https://www.valatx.org/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @vala_tx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valatx/
- Twitter: @vala_tx
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas 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.
