Meet James Akers | Neon Bender, Artist, Production Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Akers and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When moving to New York pre pandemic, I realized that I could turn bending neon, (one of my favorite things to do) into a job that paid more than I had ever been paid. I also noticed how large the NYC market is and how there seemed to be room for more neon benders and designers.

After working for many people in the industry, I noticed how a one person neon business can take over your life. I also saw in other companies how division of labor makes everyone’s job simpler and lets people focus on becoming excellent at what they do. I loved making neon for people, but knew that I would only want to start a company if I had help I could trust.

Before moving to New York in 2019, my partner Ali and I talked about starting a neon company together. We didn’t plan on starting it for years.

Once we moved back to NYC in September of 2020, no one was selling neon. There was no work. We knew we had to either drum up work, or start a other career sorting packages. I believed that things would come back from the pandemic and wanted to be ready when they did. With that in mind, we launched Nebula Neon in November of 2020.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art practice has been luminous since learning to bend neon around 2013. Artistically I gravitate towards the wild ones- Maximalists rebelling against minimalist Art world tropes, those living excessively and the distopian realities of the modern world. My sculptures are often gestural, reactive and play with sensory overload. Certainly working with an eye grabbing material that can emulate the glow of screens works well for me artistically.

Most of my sculptures violate safety codes and may potentially drive people crazy. Occasionally I have ideas that work better for commercial projects and Nebula neon is a great place for those projects to go. Lately I have been so focused on Nebula Neon that it’s been starting to inform my artistic practice in interesting ways- something I find exciting!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Let’s pretend we are not living in a global pandemic.

First I would take them through a regular day. Let’s get breakfast at a deli before heading to Brooklynglass to get glass. They have some of the most exotic and premium neon tube colors out there- it’s easy to burn a hole in my wallet there. Then we would go to Pat Nash Designs where we fabricate 90% of our neon. Dinner would be “Smokey’s Island Grill”- the best Jamaican food spot in East New York.

The next day would start with Greenberg’s Bagels in Bed Stuy before training into Manhattan to see the hottest Museum and Gallery shows. The last gallery show I thoroughly enjoyed was Erica Rosenfeld’s Jewelry show at Heller Gallery. The New Museum Triennial was also really good. Lunch would be at the amazing “Xi’an’s famous foods” or Vanessa’s dumplings.

Manhattan still has a few artist shopping spots including Canal Rubber, Canal Plastics, the Compleate Sculptor as well as the currently defunct CW Pencil Enterprise. Lunch at Scarr’s Pizza on Orchard Street before finishing out the evening at karaoke bars. Baby Grande or “Rainbow Room” are some of my favorites. When it’s super late and your hungry on the way back to Brooklyn, Kellog’s Diner is a nice spot off the Metropolitan L train stop.

Ali and I have a small studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. It’s cozy and we have a lot of Nebula neon stock stuff there as well as a zone for artistic electrical R & D. Speaking of R & D, Russ and Daughters has a location nearby for Bagels and Lox- it’s delicious! We assemble some of the more in depth Nebula jobs there and we can walk to Wegmans for the late evening studio dinners.

Having two public access glass studios, Artists working with glass are spoiled in Brooklyn. Urbanglass runs in an opposite manner to Brooklynglass and I like showing people both. That being said, Urbanglass is a great place to take a neon class and has the cheapest rates for filling experimental plasma designs. Culinary options at Urbanglass include “Luv’ N’ Oven” pizza, “Black Forest” for German food and the “Bong Deli” down the street for delicious heros and smoothies.

For a relaxing day around Brooklyn I would get breakfast at Brooklyn Kolache before biking to Prospect park. You can forget you’re in the city at some places in the park. A ferry ride to Govenors Island is another way to feel laid back for a day. Biking out to the Brooklyn Promenade around Sunset is another good view- especially contrasted from the park.

Living in New York City there are endless things to do. While we are usually super busy, we do love when people visit! We especially love when people give us a months notice so we can plan things and give ourselves a day off.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shout-out Denzel Russel, Fred Tschida, and Sarah Blood at Alfred University for encouraging me to pick up neon in the first place. Bryan Riehl at Riehl Deal signs in Norfolk, Virginia mentored me with signs while getting my bending skills up to commercial standards. The good folks at Neon of Dallas showed me how a wholesale neon shop with division of labor can run. I would like to thank Clif Eddens of Random Neon and Patrick Nash of PND for giving me places to work and things to bend when I arrived in New York. Finally I would like to thank all of the customers who have supported Nebula Neon so far- without you we would not be able to continue.

Website: Nebulaneon.com

Instagram: @nebulaneon

Image Credits
Photo by Annesta Le