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Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order.
Shay Youngblood is an artist of several varieties. An author and playwright with numerous publications to her name, Youngblood began to write by reflecting on her tumultuous childhood and the women who raised her, or her “Big Mamas,” as she calls them. Throughout her adult life, she has traveled on fellowships everywhere from Saratoga Springs, New York to Toyko.
But Youngblood has the drive to see life from all perspectives. She’s also a painter, and is interested in collaborating on an opera, a graphic novel, and animation. She’s an innovator. When she wanted to see Dallas as a visitor, she became the Dallas Museum of Art’s first Writer in Residence. She’s figured out how to keep her craft alive, and balance it with life. In her current day job, she works as a career advisor for creatives. We can hardly think of anyone else more qualified to offer that kind of advice.
What was the impulse for you to “write what you know”?
After my birth mother died I was raised by a community of mostly women, some related, some not. Most of them had less than a 5th grade education. They each gave me an incredibly rich range of world views and encouraged me to be an independent thinker. My initial impulse was to write stories to give my “Big Mamas” a voice. I started writing seriously during my time in the Peace Corps. After traveling to Paris with $200 and speaking little French, inspired by James Baldwin, Josephine Baker and many others, I met a number of black girls just like me. We were all hoping that breathing the air and drinking the water would transform us and we would be writing novels, making films and having the expatriate experience we had read about in books like Langston Hughes, Big Sea. We were a bit naive, but we survived and we had our own adventures. I wanted to tell some of our stories and I did in my novel Black Girl in Paris. Drawing on my own experience I wanted to encourage boldness in others.
What made you give up the idea of acting?
From the time I could read I was always chosen to be in the school play or recite the Easter speech in church. When I was about 13 I transferred to a newly integrated high school where I was bused from an all black housing project into an all white neighborhood where many of the houses had tennis courts and swimming pools. I wanted to be in the school play, but was discouraged by my parents who were afraid to come pick me up after dark in the neighborhood because they were likely to be stopped by the police or harassed. I started to entertain my classmates in math class by reading them my serial drama stories not unlike the soap operas I watched with my grandmother on TV. Much later when I was in my 20s, after reading from my collection of short stories a theater producer mentioned that I had a good ear for dialogue and encouraged me to write a play. A few years later, Lisa Adler at Horizon Theatre in Atlanta produced my first play, Shaking the Mess Out of Misery based on my collection of Big Mama Stories and suddenly I was a playwright. The play was a success and toured the country and I followed it. I used money from a film option by Sidney Poiter to go to graduate school where I worked with Paula Vogel and Anna Deveare Smith among others, to learn the craft of play-writing. I wrote a few plays and started a novel which became Soul Kiss and that was a success and suddenly I was a novelist. Now I’ve come full circle. I’m working on a multimedia solo performance piece, Add Architecture, Stir Memory, inspired by a US Japan Friendship Fellowship to Japan. I was in Tokyo 4 years ago during the huge earthquake, tsunami, nuclear disaster. I survived that too.
You’ve traveled a lot, how has that influenced your experience of life?
I have lived on the East Coast, in the Deep South, Hawaii, France, Spain and the Caribbean, traveled to Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Sweden and Denmark and once took a three month road trip across the United States. As a child I grew up in several households in the same community. Moving from house to house almost daily was fluid in many ways. There were physical and invisible boundaries. The transient nature of home allowed me to adapt to different lifestyles. I was very portable. My few possessions could be moved quickly. Today when I enter a new home, the guest room of a friend, a hotel room or an artist colony residence, any temporary home, I am transformed. The rooms of my memory are imprinted on me and each room I enter becomes a space filled with possibility.
How have you built a sustainable life as a professional writer?
An artist needs money, time and support to do their work and support comes in many forms. Sometimes you have to be inventive to get all three to do your work. Most important is getting the work done. I am always creating, developing my work and experimenting with different genres. In a brief conversation with Edward Albee early in my career he told me to diversify, don’t just write plays, he said, “try your hand at novels, poetry, non fiction, screenplays, make paintings.” He had written a novel that didn’t do well. I took him literally. That was the beginning of redefining my idea of success. For years I worked painting and cleaning houses to pay the rent but I was always writing. I’d work a day job for a year or two then I’d travel or go to an artist residency. I’ve been going to Yaddo for many years and can get more done in a month there than I can in a year at home. I’ve learned to create opportunities for myself as well. In 2013 I wanted to explore the DFW area like I was visiting a new country and learning a new language and that’s how I became the first Writer in Residence at the Dallas Museum of Art. My current day job is a Career Advisor to Creatives. It’s one of the best positions I’ve ever had. Everyday I help artists, writers and musicians plan their careers and help them transition from student to professional and prepare creatives to navigate the job market and learn the art of connecting (aka networking). I also have an international community of creatives and supporters I couldn’t function without.
If you had the chance to do something, or all things, over again would you?
Je ne regrette pas. I have no regrets. When I didn’t die at an early age from youthful risky behavoir, I became bolder in my personal life and in my work. Each misstep or mistake I’ve learned from. There are thousands of choices I could have made and paths I could have taken from the fatal to the fantastic. Sometimes I wish I had been kinder or more generous, not made certain decisions so quickly, but I don’t dwell on the past, I live in the present and try not to plan too far into the future. I’ve rarely been safe or practical and I’ve had a lot of fantastic. My mantra is “Be Bold.”
What is the biggest trial of being a writer in DFW?
I am the work and the work is me. The biggest challenge for me in general is balancing a day job and finding time to work on my own projects or work on the grants/opportunities that would give me time. Many mornings I get up at 4 or 5am and work before going to my job and work on my lunch breaks and after work. I miss a lot of great events. It may sound crazy, but I don’t drive. I’ve mostly lived in cities with great public transportation or had jobs where I could afford to hire a driver. Another challenge living in the DFW area is navigating the segregated arts community. That has been the most disappointing and the biggest surprise.
DFW has a vibrant and thriving arts community. I wish I could be in many places at once. I have found several circles of writers, artists, musicians and deep thinkers to keep me inspired and stimulated. In addition to where I live, I’ve got northside Art Book Club, Southlake salon, South Dallas Cultural Center and Oak Cliff and the museum districts in Dallas and Ft. Worth. It’s quite rich.
Are there books you return to?
My name is Shay Youngblood, I’m a book junkie and a library groupie. I could reel off a dozen books but my all time favorite go to every year is Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison. I also re read James Baldwin, Balzac, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston, How to Be Your Own Best Friend and Your Money or Your Life. I’m voracious. I also read cookbooks, Instruction Manuals, Pablo Neruda’s Love poems, Graphic novels, Rilke…. So many books….
100 Creatives:
100. Theater Mastermind Matt Posey
99. Comedy Queen Amanda Austin
98. Deep Ellum Enterpriser Brandon Castillo
97. Humanitarian Artist Willie Baronet
96. Funny Man Paul Varghese
95. Painting Provocateur Art Peña
94. Magic Man Trigg Watson
93. Enigmatic Musician George Quartz
92. Artistic Luminary Joshua King
91. Inventive Director Rene Moreno
90. Color Mavens Marianne Newsom and Sunny Sliger
89. Literary Lion Thea Temple
88. Movie Maestro Eric Steele
87. Storytelling Dynamo Nicole Stewart
86. Collaborative Artist Ryder Richards
85. Party Planning Print maker Raymond Butler
84. Avant-gardist Publisher Javier Valadez
83. Movie Nerd James Wallace
82. Artistic Tastemakers Elissa & Erin Stafford
81. Pioneering Arts Advocates Mark Lowry & Michael Warner
80. Imaginative Director Jeremy Bartel
79. Behind-the-Scenes Teacher Rachel Hull
78. Kaleidoscopic Artist Taylor “Effin” Cleveland
77. Filmmaker & Environmentalist Michael Cain
76. Music Activist Salim Nourallah
75. Underground Entrepreneur Daniel Yanez
74. Original Talent Celia Eberle
73. Comic Artist Aaron Aryanpur
72. Classical Thespian Raphael Parry
71. Dance Captain Valerie Shelton Tabor
70. Underground Culture Mainstay Karen X. Minzer
69. Effervescent Gallerist Brandy Michele Adams
68. Birthday Party Enthusiast Paige Chenault
67. Community Architect Monica Diodati
66. Intrepid Publisher Will Evans
65. Writerly Wit Noa Gavin
64. Maverick Artist Roberto Munguia
63. Fresh Perspective Kelsey Leigh Ervi
62. Virtuosic Violinist Nathan Olson
61. Open Classical’s Dynamic Duo Mark Landson & Patricia Yakesch
60. Rising Talent Michelle Rawlings
59. Adventurous Filmmaker Toby Halbrooks
58. Man of Mystery Edward Ruiz
57. Inquisitive Sculptor Val Curry
56. Offbeat Intellect Thomas Riccio
55. Doers and Makers Shannon Driscoll & Kayli House Cusick
54. Performance Pioneer Katherine Owens
53. Experimental Filmmaker and Video Artist Mike Morris
52. Flowering Fashioner Lucy Dang
51. Insightful Artist Stephen Lapthisophon
50. Dallas Arts District
49. Farmer’s Market Localvore Sarah Perry
48. Technological Painter John Pomara
47. Progressive Playmakers Christopher Carlos & Tina Parker
46. Purposive Chef Chad Houser
45. Absorbing Artist Jeff Gibbons
44. Artistic Integrator Erica Felicella
43. Multi-talented Director Tre Garrett
42. Anachronistic Musician Matt Tolentino
41. Emerging Veteran Actor Van Quattro
40. Festival Orchestrator Anna Sophia van Zweden
39. Literary Framer Karen Weiner
38. Man Behind the Music Gavin Mulloy
37. The Godfather of Dallas Art Frank Campagna
36. Rising Star Adam A. Anderson
35. Artist Organizer Heyd Fontenot
34. Music Innovator Stefan Gonzalez
33. Triple Threat Giovanni Valderas
32. Cultural Connector Lauren Cross
31. Critical Artist Thor Johnson
30. Delicate Touch Margaret Meehan
29. Fashion Forward Charles Smith II
28. Dedicated Artist Carolyn Sortor
27. Political Cyber Banksy Wylie H Dallas
26. Dance Preserver Lisa Mesa Rogers
25. Rob ‘Ain’t No Creative Like A Bow-Tie-Wearing Creative’ Shearer
24. Scholar of the Stage Susan Sargeant
23. Photographer of Record Justin Terveen
22. Music Man Jeffrey Liles
21. Keeper of the Safe Room Lauren Gray
20. Playwright Jonathan Norton, Man of Many Words
19. Filmmaker and Funniest Comic in Texas Linda Stogner
18. Gallerist Jordan Roth, the Art Scene Cheerleader
17. Artful Advocate Vicki Meek
16. Ballet Queen Katie Puder
15. Carlos Alejandro Guajardo-Molina, the Book Guy
14. Janeil Engelstad, an Artist with Purpose
13. Will Power, Playwright and Mentor
12. Gallerists Gina & Dustin Orlando, Boundary Pushers
11. Moody Fuqua, Music Community Organizer
10. Joshua Peugh, Choreographer to Watch
9. Allison Davidson, Advocate for Art Accessibility
8. Ben Fountain, Man of Letters
7. Fashion Maven Julie McCullough
6. Contemporary Curator and Artist Danielle Avram Morgan
5. Irreverent Art World Organizer Kevin Ruben Jacobs
4. Dwell with Dignity’s Lisa Robison
3. Artists/Curators Michael Mazurek and Jesse Morgan Barnett
2. Rodney Dobbs, Man Behind the Scenes
