On Thursday, Oct. 10, Public Space One’s cozy gallery traded paintings for panelists as three local Iowa City artists took the stage. As a part of the center’s Creative Pathways panel series, the artists passed their knowledge to an incoming generation of fashion artists.
Arianna Hawkins, one of the speakers, works as a model, creative director, designer, and recently became the owner of fashion business J.A.H.N.
Alicia Velasquez, another speaker, moved to Iowa City three years ago and has transferred her online presence as a jeweler into owning a local store.
The third speaker, Kaelen Novak is a University of Iowa MFA graduate who started his journey as an undergraduate biology major and self-taught sewist. He is a theatrical and experimental designer, specializing in motion capture and other emerging technologies.
Moderator André Wright asked insightful questions about the panelists’ experience in the fashion industry, how Iowa City has influenced their careers, and their advice for aspiring designers and students of fashion.
Velasquez described how her culture and community inspire her artwork. As as owner of one of the few Native American boutiques in Iowa City, she hopes to open doors for others to make connections with other urban natives.
“We all need to reconnect as Native people and need to reconnect with our culture and our art,” Velasquez said. “[During] our teaching workshops, people can come in and learn the old ways of silverwork, beadwork, and making ribbon shirts and skirts.”
Velasquez uses her success and artistic space to inspire young Native Americans through workshops. In her classes, she hopes to teach students it’s OK to evolve with art.
“[We] take something traditional — so taking the ribbon skirt or shirt — and bringing modern technology into it and being able to light it up,” Velasquez said.
Being able to teach classes like these is part of what makes the local fashion scene so desirable. There’s a market for unique fashion opportunities like the classes Velasquez offers. Hawkins has found another unique connection to the fashion world: poetry.
“One of the biggest things I’ve found connecting is poetry. Poetry is one of those things that people come to me and say, ‘I know what you mean when you write that,’” Hawkins said.
Hawkins is inspired by community-fueled connection, as well as how community allows us to better understand each other and ourselves.
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“[Iowa City is] so big at supporting local artists and businesses,” Hawkins said. “And you can tell at markets and fleas, and people come up just to say, ‘I know these are local businesses and I want to shop with you guys before I shop for the rest of the week.’”
These successful artists and designers highlighted the importance of following your path, reminding fashion students there is no linear path to success.
“I started my business a little over a year ago and I’m sitting up here, which is insane. But dive into it. If you’re in the Iowa area, you’re surrounded by people who want to help you and see you grow,” Velasquez said. “So, the more energy you can put into it, the more you’re surrounded by people who want to see you thrive.”
“Remember that people’s critiques of your work are their opinion,” Novak said. “Some people will get on you because they don’t like it personally, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t like it.”
In collaboration with SCOPE Productions and other arts organizations in the Iowa City area, the Creative Pathways panel series also included a film panel on Sept. 19 and will conduct a music panel on Nov. 14 at The Englert Theatre.