We had the good fortune of connecting with Jody (GrandAce) Jones II and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art is distinct in the way that it’s simple. Years ago, I realized that I’m not that impressed by academically dense hidden messages and abnormal vocabulary. I seek to make things that can be deciphered, but also understood at face value. There’s no satisfaction quite like having someone point out something that they just realized was tucked away in a piece of art they enjoy daily.

There’s a song for every mood life has to offer and sometimes the same song can satisfy multiple feelings. When I’m creating, I’m thinking about what type of space I want to enjoy the work in… Is it in a car in front of a friends house at 1am? Is at a park? Are we listening on a plane ride? It’s all fun to imagine because I can implant these layers to carry the listener away. The intent is always to create something that one can grow with over the years.

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?
If I’m to bestow a magical experience upon a friend, my first step is to map out the food. We can do everything based on what we’re going to eat. The top selections are Sushi (Drunken Bento), Thai ( Thai Express or Lemon Grass), Ramen (Maki Express or Dope Asian Street Fare), Indian (Adeep India), Chinese (First Wok), and Mexican ( San Marcos or Tortilleria Garcia).

From there I look at what events we’re going to scope. It’s nice to mix it up with some local and traveling entertainment. There’s usually always something going on in the arts scene so I set them up with a few shows to visit. Cincinnati has a ton of Galleries and Museums, so I make sure that we stop by a few to see what the current exhibits are. Odds are, my friends skate, so after begging them to bring their boards through TSA, I show them around to some of my favorite spots. Nothing too crazy as I really just practice flatground these days.
And lastly I have to set up my famous Cincinnati tour, where I drive around all my favorite spots at night and talk my companies head off about all the cool stuff that happens around, because I adore them so much!

It’s a lot to pack in but, I always leave room for a bit of spontaneity in the mix!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There’s a lot of people that I can give credit to for me being where I am in my journey so far. My parents have been an absolute rock in supporting me, having been in my same shoes at their age. My experiences with peers here in the Cincinnati scene who have shown me that being local doesn’t diminish the impact of artistic vision time and time again. The internet for allowing me to connect with friends I’ve still to this day never met but have somehow made wonderful works of art with. It’s beautiful – I really feel like everything comes together for a reason and life continues to find ways to make me smile.

Website: theegrandace.com

Instagram: @theegrandace

Twitter: @theegrandace

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theegrandace

Image Credits
Photography by: Sophia Munoz, Romain Maya, Annie Noelker and Chris Pasion

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.