Meet Jen Hitchings | Artist, Owner of Studio Associate, Career Services Director at CalArts

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

Hi Jen, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
The idea for Studio Associate essentially started when I was in undergrad at SUNY Purchase – as broad as this sounds, I knew I wanted to bring together a network of prolific, dedicated artists to realize a common goal: to elevate everyone’s creative careers in an equitable, democratic manner. I’ve always been an organizer and administrator, volunteering to put on art and music shows in unconventional spaces, usually on my own and sometimes for arts nonprofits such as Arts in Bushwick. Building community is really at the core of this desire. After years of managing and co-directing contemporary and artist-run galleries in NY, I wanted to start my own venture non-exclusively representing artists who were making amazing work but were not yet represented. I wanted to cultivate a supportive cohort with the goal of helping to make money for the artists and the organization through private sales and commissions, while also providing professional development advice to any artist looking to take the next step in their career. The professional development piece started during the pandemic when I lost my gallery job and many artists had time to think more deeply about their careers and how to manage them. Given my experience on both sides of the market as an artist and a curator/gallery manager, I knew the expectations, contractual terms, and best practices of both parties, and really wanted to impart this knowledge to artists to help them achieve their goals (however they define them). I also hold a certificate in Small Business & Entrepreneurship from Hunter College, and have taken a million classes on the business of art, marketing, and coaching, which have all shaped my approach to operating the business. As valuable as brick-and-mortar galleries are and always will be, I’m more drawn to the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of operating online, so that’s how I started.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I identify as a painter and describe my work as surrealist, psychosexual landscapes. I don’t think anything about being an artist is easy, unless maybe all the money and art-world connections were abundant through one’s upbringing, but even then, making good work is hard work. Receiving recognition is even harder. All I can say is to never stop, never give up, and prioritize making work over basically everything else. For 10 years in NYC I lived in the cheapest apartments I could find with on average 3 roommates, and maintained a separate studio, usually as a subtenant in weird spaces. I’ve almost always had a full-time job, run a business/gallery on the weekends, and painted whenever I could find time. I was always at openings, usually 2-3 nights a week. I rode a bike everywhere and 80% of my clothes are used. In NY I always kept my living costs really low so that I could afford a studio and art supplies. I have a LOT of energy but even still, I’ve burnt myself out many times doing too much. In fall of 2019 I was working 2 jobs, 6 days a week; working freelance gigs on my vacation days from my gallery job; co-directing Transmitter; playing live shows weekly with my band Never; had just launched Studio Associate; and trying to paint. It was insane and my mental and physical health took a toll that January. It was bad, I don’t recommend it. I may have spent too much time and money over the years operating artist-run galleries. It was all immensely fun and rewarding, but I lost so much time to enjoy my twenties by operating businesses on my days off. I also didn’t make much work for several years because of this.

As for what I’m excited about in the studio, my work made a fairly drastic shift in March of 2020, when I was temporarily living in a converted chicken coop house (an AirBnb) on the Delaware River in Sullivan County, NY. I stayed there for 3 months during the worst part of the pandemic and the landscape behind the house and the sun and moon were all I could think about painting. It was a very introspective and transformational, almost spiritual experience that I figured out how to depict in paintings. For the last year i’ve been using my living room as a studio, and I’m currently in the process of moving to a 2 bedroom where I’ll have a much larger space dedicated to making work.

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?
Oy, well I’m quite new to Southern California (11 months!) In my current town of Canyon Country I would take friends to Vasquez Rocks or Placerita Canyon for a picnic, ideally with produce from the farmers market. I’d then probably make an itinerary of galleries to see in DTLA, Boyle Heights, and Chinatown, Hauser & Wirth with dinner at Manuela, and hopefully find a dance party at a museum – I’ve been doing a lot of that with artist Katie Hector. I ate at Saffy’s on Fountain recently after an opening I had work in at Anat Ebgi and that was a phenomenal dining experience. The LA Arboretum and Huntingdon Library are maybe my favorite places so one of them would be on the list. I love the mountains and high desert, so I might try to convince people to take a trip up to Mt. Pinos or Frazier Park and stay in a little cabin. Yes this is too much for a week but that’s how I am.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Oh gosh, everyone I’ve ever crossed paths with! My parents, despite having zero creative endeavors and who didn’t go to college, supported my decision to go to art school. I’m pretty sure neither of them have ever been to a museum despite the fact that we all grew up within 40 miles of NYC, so it’s miraculous they let me do that. My first love, Dan, exposed me to art, music, and culture at exactly the pivotal time that drastically changed the course of my life when I was 17. I definitely wouldn’t have applied to art school had we not met. Then in college at SUNY Purchase, my professors Jane Fine, Sharon Horvath, and Sarah Walker were immensely influential in my practice and approach to managing a creative life. Ravi Rajan was the Dean at the time and I was a student worker in the Art + Design office for all 4 years, working alongside him at times, and he was always so encouraging and awarded me the Dean’s Community Service award. We stayed in touch and just last year, I took his advice applying to jobs at CalArts where he is the President and where I am now Director of Career Services. One of my best friends Catherine Haggarty inspires me to the nth degree every day in the way she balances her art career and radical alternative art school NYC Crit Club. So many people have helped me realize my shows, most notably Andrew Ohanesian, Rob de Oude, the Transmitter gallery crew, Theresa Daddezio and Julian Jimarez-Howard when we ran Associated Gallery, Nick de Pirro of Proto gallery, and most recently Taymour Grahne in London who I just signed on with as a collaborative artist.

The biggest inspiration and motivator however might be nature. Trees, funghi, birds, rivers, mountains, the moon – I have love affairs with them all. Some of my favorite authors/gurus/artists are Michael Pollan, Richard Powers, Tim Ferriss, Malcolm Gladwell, Noam Chomsky, Georgia O’Keeffe, Marisa Adesman, Amy Lincoln, Emily Mae Smith, Melissa Brown, Matthew F. Fisher… the list is too long. So many people inspire me every day.

Website: www.jenhitchings.com and www.studioassociate.com

Instagram: @jenjonesjones and @studioassociate

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhitchings/

Image Credits
second and third photos – credit: Carl Gunhouse, NY