Art 365

By Beau

I’ve had art on the mind lately, and the creative process. A year or so ago I had the privilege of being hired to shoot and edit for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition on Oklahoma artists and the creative process. Under the direction of brilliant minds Melissa Scaramucci and Cacky Poarch, we created two pieces entitled “Art 365.” We first created a short version of the film following six Oklahoma artists who each received a large grant, and were given one year to create a body of work. Three weeks after the short film was completed, we had to have a feature version edited. This in itself was an intensive creative endeavor. We worked day after day finding the story within the hours and hours of footage of each artist creating their works. This is when I realized how much I enjoyed editing documentary film; literally searching for the story as we combed through footage. There was no script. There was no real plot…at first. We built it from the ground up into what I believe are two very insightful looks into the creative process and its challenges.

This project was Okie all the way. Funded by an Oklahoma organization which also funded these six Oklahoma Artists, a small Okie film crew directed by two Okie directors, and music composed by two Okie musicians. It’s almost sickening how much Oklahoma is in these films. For more information on Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, visit OVAC