Editorial Note: In the absence of a Substack, which I am going to continue to spare you from in the short term, (you’re welcome) my blog posts are purely refections on my freelance work. I need to hold space for broader ideas that are always percolating (I’m manifesting a book proposal here), so continue to check back here for musings, rants, and other ideas that I can’t convince a media outlet to indulge me on. Thank YOU for reading!
A Brutally Honest Look at Freelancing in 2024
This was the busiest year of my freelance career, and this was a milestone that was years in the making. I publish roughly 20 pieces per year, and in 2024 I managed 35 articles and pieces of copy, taking my writing in new directions that I didn’t dare to imagine. I actually take that back; I did imagine this, but certain goals I failed to set in motion this year. When I look at the targets I set for myself, I see comfort. I exceeded my goals in the areas where I am most at ease: research, analysis, interviewing, marketing, and writing. I also met my goals in areas where I find some discomfort but can navigate through with relative ease: (public speaking and board engagement). From my corporate days I learned that goals must be specific, actionable, and measurable. There should also be an element of boundary pushing, where stretch goals challenge you to chart new paths and explore new terrain. Yet the areas where I truly missed the mark are purely borne out of fear, the true enemy of progress.
The bottom line is that freelance writing, in order for it to be sustainable for me in any measure, must be supplemented through grants (which I failed to pursue in earnest), a secondary source of income, curatorial work, or monetizing my platform. So, I will be back to the drawing board on finding additional means to support the work that I truly love in a more balanced manner. While publishing activity was robust, my fellow freelancers will undoubtedly agree that the wage disparity in this field remains unsustainable. Within arts writing there are fewer salaried positions within a traditional media landscape that has ossified into a conservative, exclusionary, corporatized paradigm that privileges surface-level engagement over inclusive, substance-driven, thought-provoking discourse. This disparity always reveals itself to me when my pen is preferred over my presence at art fairs or exhibition openings in the fall, and I question what and who my writing is in service of. Before I digress much further into my bemused thoughts on the current state of the art world, I’d rather focus my attention on the areas of writing that have been fruitful and fulfilling.
While maintaining a hyperlocal focus on the artists who live and work in North Carolina, particularly in its capital city, I have entrenched myself here to foster a deep appreciation for the artists who are committed to building community within the triangle and the state at large. My coverage of visual arts for Walter Magazine has raised the profile of a community dedicated to supporting one another, creating collectives, offering critique, making space, and simply showing up by answering the call.
This lesson of “answering the call” made itself indelibly felt when I received an email invitation on January 31st to attend a Sojourn for Harriet Jacobs in Edenton in March. That was the most profoundly catalyzing creative journey for me in 2024. It was an experience that remained with me for the remainder of the year, and the memories I hold close continue to resonate deep within my soul.
Over the years I create a vision board on New Years Day. It’s a visual exercise in intention that allows me to gently ease into a more rigorous form of goal setting for the year. Over the first few months I added to it, placing mementos and memories on it to preserve moments in time. One of the first images I placed in the corner of my board this year was a picture of an Eames lounge chair next to a fireplace, with a large picture window overlooking a beautiful grove of trees. In August we purchased our first home in Raleigh, a beautifully designed mid-century modern style house lovingly updated by a creative couple and a local designer who undertook the herculean task of modernizing the home while preserving the integrity of its original design. When I tell you I am not made for change is an understatement, but this home has been worth every bit of the stress of uprooting and recalibrating our lives. I don’t know why short moves are somehow more arduous, but they are ghastly and don’t bring out the best in me. Despite this we are enjoying every minute of discovery in this new home, as it reveals itself in the changing seasons–it has grounded us in stillness in the best possible way. While putting our own unique stamp on this home will continue to be a work in process, we have started to collect local art that celebrates the creativity and diversity that makes Raleigh so special.
So for New Years Eve and New Year’s Day, I plan to curl up by a fire in a lounge chair to read a good book, watch the Twilight Zone Marathon and enjoy some Black Eyed Peas (for good luck) while visually mapping what I want to see in 2025– all while pushing myself to stretch beyond what I believe is possible.
I wish you grace, strength, and courage, as we embark on the journey of this new year together. May the energy you meet the world with return to you in kind.
Here are some of my favorite articles for 2024, but each and every project has been immensely fulfilling and inspiring this year!
A Visual Dispatch – Southern Cultures, Summer Issue, September, 2024
Colony Little, Culture Shock Art 
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