Did you catch the new art that popped up on electrical boxes downtown last fall? Part of the Arts Trail and the Arts District of Glens Falls, these works have added so much personality to our little city. We’re excited to introduce you to another of the talented artists behind this series - Miranda Kent! You can see their work on Exchange Street, just before Juicin’ Jar - the perfect spot for a fruit design, right? Read on for our chat with Miranda about their background, inspiration for the project, and the beautiful things that can happen when you set your mind to something…
Tell us about yourself!
After graduating from Shenendehowa High School in 2016, I went on to get my Bachelor’s Degree from SUNY New Paltz from 2016 - 2020. During my undergraduate degree, I majored in Art Education so I could fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming an art teacher and then took on a Psychology Minor and Ceramics studio concentration as well. Currently, I am a few months out from finishing my Master’s Degree also at SUNY New Paltz within the field of Art Education to ensure permanent NYS teaching certification.
While finishing up my first student teaching placement at Saratoga High School during Spring of 2020, I was lucky enough to get an incredible interview opportunity for my first teaching job just days before Covid-19 hit New York in March. Despite only being 21 at the time and on the cusp of graduating and getting official teaching certification, I was still called in to interview as a potential candidate for one of the two High School Art Teacher positions opening up at Glens Falls High School. After an exciting first interview that I was convinced wouldn’t go anywhere due to my pending certification requirements, I was asked to come back for a final interview with the Superintendent as the only candidate being pushed forward for the Pottery position. I was thereon welcomed into the amazing Glens Falls City School District as the next full time High School Pottery Teacher and have never looked back since. I’m now almost done with my third year of teaching Pottery I, Advanced Pottery, Sculpture, and Studio Art here at Glens Falls High School and truly wouldn’t have it any other way! Working here has truly been the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’m so lucky to work in such a positive educational environment with some of the best, most talented teenagers you’ll ever meet. They constantly push me to be a better person, artist, and educator and I wouldn’t be writing this today without their support (and the support from my fellow Art Department members)!
Finally, I have lived in the Upstate New York area my whole life and have many connections to this beautiful area. After my parents got divorced when I was 5, I moved from Galway to Clifton Park and began my tumultuous voyage through grade school. As someone who was aggressively bullied my entire K-12 journey, I had a lot of trouble growing up trying to develop a solid sense of self and figure out who I am and want to be. Two things that got me through these challenging years was pushing myself to get my First Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and basically living and breathing art in every other free moment I had since it was one of the only things that truly helped me with my mental health. Both of these things greatly contributed to my development of confidence, important life skills, and provided me with needed perspective that I am so much more than what others expect me to be or not be. That being said, once I got to college I truly felt safe enough to explore my identity and become the unapologetic and proud person I am today!
How did you get your start as an artist?
In terms of my journey as an artist, it dates all the way back to when I could first simply hold an art material in my hand. I’ve always loved drawing, painting, and creating with any material thrown in front of me ever since I was a little kid and even went as far as “playing art teacher” with my stuffed animals to practice for my future career. Since both of my parents are creatives and educators, they consistently have given me support and guidance throughout my life in terms of my artistic endeavors and future goal to be an art educator. My dad is actually a High School Art Teacher and an incredible photorealism artist among other things and specifically is one of my biggest sources of artistic inspiration in my life. He’s worked hard throughout my life to not only be there for me as a parent and friend, but also as a future art education colleague and well versed artist through our countless art museum trips together. Both of my parents, grandparents, sister, best friend, coworkers, and my partner of 11 years are all significant support systems of my artistic growth and who I am as a person, which I am eternally grateful for.
In terms of more professional experience with my art, I consider this shift to have started in college. After I finished High School and began taking art courses at SUNY New Paltz, I finally started getting out of my comfort zone of drawing/painting and exploring different art mediums. I went from strictly being a 2D artist that absolutely despised any and all 3D mediums to now a primarily 3D artist who’s favorite medium to work with is Ceramics. Creating functional and sculptural work that can serve a higher purpose than a drawing that forever lives in a sketchbook or on a wall gave me perspective and new goals as a maker that I’m still trying to push further today. In more recent years, I’ve set a focus on expanding my horizons as an artist by applying for and taking on much larger projects such as exterior murals, electrical box and fence painting, and making/selling wearable jewelry and ceramic vessels.
Additionally, I’ve been a part of multiple art shows over the course of the last 5+ years as well. While doing my undergrad, I was picked to be part of the President’s Residence Show in 2018-2019 and curated/created some of my own art education student based shows on campus. Post college, I most recently have been involved in a handful of virtual market shows through Celebrate845 and had my work up in Glens Falls City Hall from September to December of 2022 as part of the GFSD Art Educators Show.
What was the inspiration behind your work on the electrical box?
As a pretty fruity and upbeat person myself, it only felt right to submit a proposal that was fruit based for this call of electrical box paintings. I actually submitted 3 proposals total for this call with the others being based around wildflowers or mushrooms, but am really happy the fruit design was chosen. I originally made the concept art for fruit design back in June of 2022 for fun and so I could upload it on my Redbubble to make merchandise out of.
Tell us about your process! What challenges did you face and what did you love about painting downtown on an electrical box?
Back in April of 2022, I applied for my first public art initiative through the Lake George Arts Project for their very similar electrical box painting initiative. After having my Glens Falls building mural plans rejected multiple times, I was ready to give up on this artistic dream of being a mural artist, that is until I applied for the Lake George electrical box. To my absolute surprise, I was picked for that project as a 23 year old without public art experience among a handful of more established local artists with relevant experience. Being picked for that project really proved to me that if I set my mind to something with my artwork, even if I receive some rejections, something will eventually work in the end.
Fast forward to September of 2022, I immediately applied for the Glens Falls Arts District call for the second set of electrical box paintings. Since I finally had experience with exterior murals through the Lake George Arts Project and being hired to paint Halloween themed fences for “BooTown” in Fort Ann over the summer, I felt confident going into this third public art project I landed in a span of 4 months (while also doing my Masters and teaching full time). I think completing this painting in particular was the most challenging out of the three, mainly because of the short timeline we had to finish these and the impending doom of winter closely on the horizon. My box in particular is also home to years and years of tags and graffiti, so simply covering that and painting over the very uneven surface of the metal was hard in itself. Something else that I found cool about working on all of these projects was the interactions I shared with locals and tourists who were very eager to chat with me as I painted. Almost every one of these conversations was positive and complimentary which was unexpected but greatly appreciated. I did have some kind local Glens Falls folk warn me about the potential of my work getting tagged, which it did, but I thankfully was able to fix it back to its original glory!
What’s your favorite downtown spot to visit after you’re done painting?
One of my favorite parts about living in Glens Falls is going to the wide range of amazing restaurants and local businesses that line the downtown area. Of course I had to stop by Juicin’ Jar a couple times since they graciously embraced my fruity painting outside their fruit-based business, but I also frequently visited Downtown City Tavern after a long shift of painting. My next favorite spot to visit when I’m done painting is my apartment so I can chill with my two amazing cats, Mocha and Biscotti, and my partner!
Anything else you’d like to share?
I want to finish off by thanking the lovely network of people who have believed in me the last 20+ years and pushed me to keep fighting so I could reach this enriching stage of my life. Specifically, I want to give a shout out to both of my parents, grandparents, sister, best friend, coworkers, students, and my partner for being significant support systems of my artistic growth and who I am as a person - I am eternally grateful for your love and wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you as well to the Glens Falls Arts District and Lake George Arts Project for taking a chance on me and allowing me to cross things off my bucket list I never would’ve imagined doing at my age. If anyone is particularly interested in my work or my story, you’re more than welcome to check out my socials and reach out. I am always down to do commissions for fans of my art and have public accounts on Instagram, Etsy, and Redbubble all under my studio name - Studio Rosebud! ♡
