In this episode, we had the pleasure of meeting Robby Moore, a talented mixed media artist hailing from Beckley, West Virginia. Growing up in the heart of Appalachia, Robby faced the challenge of pursuing his passion for art in an area that isn't known for its robust art community. He talks about the importance of networking and building relationships, and how he found galleries to showcase his work. We also discuss his creative process, the development of his unique style, and the role of the Beckley Art Center in providing opportunities for artists from all over the state and beyond.
RobbyMooreArt.com
BeckleyArtCenter.com
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If you enjoy the podcast, please consider giving us a review. If you'd like to reach out to us, we can also be contacted by email: themountainmadepodcast@gmail.com
MountainMadePodcast.com
Music Provided by: Darrin Hacquard
In this episode, we had the pleasure of meeting Robby Moore, a talented mixed media artist hailing from Beckley, West Virginia. Growing up in the heart of Appalachia, Robby faced the challenge of pursuing his passion for art in an area that isn't known for its robust art community. He talks about the importance of networking and building relationships, and how he found galleries to showcase his work. We also discuss his creative process, the development of his unique style, and the role of the Beckley Art Center in providing opportunities for artists from all over the state and beyond.
RobbyMooreArt.com
BeckleyArtCenter.com
You can follow us on Instagram to keep up with what we're doing here.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider giving us a review. If you'd like to reach out to us, we can also be contacted by email: themountainmadepodcast@gmail.com
MountainMadePodcast.com
Music Provided by: Darrin Hacquard
Hey everyone, thanks again for listening to another episode of the Mountain Made Podcast. Before we get into the episode, if you haven't already, please take the time to leave a review on your respective listening platform. It really helps us help artists, which is the whole point of this entire thing. Anyways, we hope you enjoyed the episode and we'll see you again in two weeks. You are Robbie Moore. Do you tell us what you do?
Speaker 2:Well, I'm a mixed media artist. I've done that kind of all of my life. I don't really know when it started. I guess I started taking it seriously sometime in high school and then in college. That's when I had my first exhibition and sold my first piece and really started the trajectory that I'm on now.
Speaker 1:So we should mention number one. we're in the Beckley Art Center where you work now currently, And I'm assuming a lot of your work out of but you grew up in Beckley, i did.
Speaker 2:I did. I was in Beckley. I grew up maybe a minute or two away from here, and then I bought the house right next to my parents where I grew up, and so that's where I'm living currently.
Speaker 1:Did you ever want to leave or have a thought of leaving?
Speaker 2:I did. I think a lot of people told me that I should leave. My professor in college said that gave me that advice. I think it was more because of his experience of living in West Virginia his whole life. So maybe reflecting back on that as an old man looking at that 18 year old, An old man.
Speaker 2:I've been trying to be an old man for all my life and so I'm getting closer by each day, and so I guess I see his point and that I guess there are already made opportunities in a big city or a place with a bigger population. I just quickly realized that I could start kind of making those opportunities here, and then it just became sort of stubbornness. So I just said I don't know why I should feel like I have to leave to make art and to do these things, and I want to do them here, and I really feel like I'm more needed here than someplace else. You pick New York because that's the capital of art, but there are millions of other Robbies walking around New York City. That's debatable. Well, yes, yes, but I know for sure that there's only one in Beckley.
Speaker 1:You are kind of an outlier here in that art. In Beckley you're in the Southern West Virginia. For all intents and purposes This is a coal mining industrial place. Art is not a huge part of life for a lot of people here. I would assume It's certainly not where we're from in Huntington, Canova stuff like that You mentioned. In high school you started taking your art seriously. Do you remember why or what that turning point was or what caused you to start taking it more seriously then?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure At that point I'd been doing it, like I say, all my life. That's all I ever wanted Growing up was art supplies or things to make art. So it could have been just my competitive nature. I wanted to be the best and make sure my work stood out, and so I was fortunate enough to go to school with some really great artists And I wanted to stand out amongst that crowd, because I think there maybe aren't a lot of arts institutions here, but I think arts are just so rich in West Virginia.
Speaker 2:If you look back at history and look at families of musicians and crafters and those traditions that were passed down, our culture is just steeped in that. But I feel the disconnect is that our people, west Virginians in particular, and maybe Appalachia as a whole, sees the value in the arts but that doesn't translate necessarily to real life, and so that's usually the hurdle that you get is like, yes, you might get praised for being an artist or loving the arts, but when that comes to paying your bills or taking care of your family, then that's a different conversation to have.
Speaker 1:I think that would be a pretty big deterrent for the majority of people who are interested in the arts. Yes, of course.
Speaker 2:And so it becomes practicality, which is a key word in Appalachia right.
Speaker 1:That's like pragmatic.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:If it's not useful. If they can't put food in my mouth, then what's the point of it?
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I feel like I could almost hear my grandpa saying that. to me That's not a slight thing at all. That's just, he grew up in a way where if you weren't working, you weren't eating, and if you weren't eating you weren't starving to death.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it took me. I was probably in my 30s before I realized that I was working just as hard as my dad and my grandfather was. It was just in a different context, and so you know I'll speak for my dad in particular. But work for him, i think, is more on the manual labor side, it's more physical. It is sort of the classic definition of work, and so that realization that I had was okay, i feel like I'm working just as hard but I'm doing different things. So my work looks different. You know, if you observe me working, it could just look like I'm sitting on my couch And bingeing shows and playing a reverse on my phone, but really I'm thinking about the next project or trying to figure out how to combine two materials so that they look good together, or that's one kind. I also had this realization through grant writing. You know there's lots of work. A lot of it is mental, but at the end of the day, you know I could work six weeks and then you get this great payout for the organization or business that you're working for. And that still takes a lot of hard work and brainpower, just like my dad figuring out how to fix the plumbing at two in the morning so that you know his wife and kids could wake up and take a shower. You know what do you have. And so very early on out of college, when I said, okay, now's the time to put up or shut up and those same sort of practical matters of like how am I going to make a living and pay bills and be an adult, or whatever Early on I thought, you know, i need to use, use what you got right. And it's funny this I was taking my parents to a doctor's appointment earlier this week and my dad said that and I've probably heard him say it a thousand times or more, but for whatever reason, i really heard him say that he wasn't talking about art or anything. But that's kind of how I approach my artwork And especially during that time, i think what got me there was I went through sort of a short period where I wasn't making anything and I was miserable.
Speaker 2:I just had this miserable time and I just thought, well, that's life, i'm just having a miserable time. And then I realized, no, it's because you're not making anything right now. So after college and after a theater tour, i moved back in with my parents and was miserable and was having a hard time, and I sort of had that realization that you know, since you've been miserable, the only thing that's changed is that you haven't been making any artwork. And so back in my childhood bedroom, you know as a 23 year old, i thought, okay, well, let me make something. And so I just started pulling things together, you know, going through my dad's garage and looking through my old junk drawers, And I thought, if I'm an artist then I can just make something with these things. I don't have to, like put in a huge order to an art supply store. And so that kind of started my work. Now It looks a lot different than 20 years ago, but do you remember what you made 20 years ago?
Speaker 1:that kind of got you back on the horse.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i made a collage, sort of as mixed media painting, just using objects, like I say, from from junk drawers and from the garage and saying, okay, here's an old board that my dad was using for something. You know, it's sitting up on the outside of the garage, let's get that. That can be my support. Great, i've got a tube of red paint And here's a, here's a can half full of white paint, so I can at least get shades of red and white. And you know, here's some material, here's an old shirt, here's, here's an old toy. You know, let's glue that all together and put some glitter on it and call it art.
Speaker 1:And in doing that, you got to go back to yourself and say, Hey, I am an artist.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i didn't do. It didn't happen that day or that year or that decade.
Speaker 2:But yeah, i've always said that I'm an artist because I think that's important. You know, words are important. So even in those times when I didn't necessarily feel like an artist, i always led with that And so it was sort of it was a mental thing And it was only for me because other people called me an artist and considered me an artist. So it was important when people said, what do you do Not to say I'm a clerk at the Habitat for Humanity store, no, i'm an artist. And then right now I'm doing whatever you know.
Speaker 1:Fill in the blank either I read this on your website or somewhere out in the ether that you first sold your work, like in 99. That was maybe your first professional exhibition. Yeah what that was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a show that I did with Jamie Biggs. Jamie and I went to Concord He was a year ahead of me And Jamie just had this presence and respect from the whole art department. So I remember we had this class. It was a it was kind of a weird class because it was called current events and art history, and so the whole purpose of the class was to learn about the current exhibitions that were happening in New York City, and then the final was to travel to New York City and see those exhibitions. And so because of that we needed to raise funds.
Speaker 2:And I don't even know if Jamie knows this story. But he walked in the room and everybody like kind of perked up and set up a little bit straighter And I thought, okay, who's this guy? I'm going to make him my friend, we're going to be friends. And then we just were, we just got along, we just talked endlessly, and it was at this point I'd already adopted that, that mindset of I'm going to have to do this myself type of thing, and so it was about that time I was a freshman, i'd been at the school for maybe two months, found out who the professor was, who ran the gallery and went to him and said Hey, i'm excited to be here. I'm Robbie, when can I have a show in the gallery here? And he kind of laughed and was like, well, if you ever get to have a show here, it'll be your senior show.
Speaker 2:And that wasn't a satisfactory answer for me. So I wandered around the arts building and found an empty space and kind of went above his head, i guess to the department chair and said, hey, there's an unused space up here. As long as I don't change anything permanently, can I turn it into an art gallery and have a show? And he kind of said yes, and humored me And I don't know if he thought anything would come of it. So then I went to Jamie and said, hey, let's, let's turn this space into a gallery. I said you know we can use some scraps of wood from the theater department And I know how to make flats because I've done theater, so we can use those as walls. Do you have a credit card or any cash from your parents? I'll get mine And we can, you know, go to Walmart or whatever cheap places that we can and make some walls And we bought some cheap lights and turn that into a gallery, and so that first show was both of our work.
Speaker 2:Jamie had some paintings and a few ceramic pieces, and I had paintings And we called it Parallels, did marketing for it, put out flyers and everybody showed up and our painting professor, my mentor, who I consider my painting mentor showed up and bought that first painting that I sold. I think, bought one of Jamie's too, and it was sort of off to the races After that. I just thought, Okay, if there's an empty space, i'll just ask the person who owns that space, who's responsible for it, and turn it into an art gallery for a day or a night or a few hours, whatever, as long as I can invite people to look at my work hanging up And it was just asking Yeah, yeah, if he would have said no, I would have just found another space.
Speaker 1:So that's the thing, man. It's not so much just working with what you have or working with what you've got, because you didn't have a space but you found one. Yeah So there's like a lot of a gumption that goes into that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i guess I mean that is a characteristic of me, but I think that's a characteristic of West Virginians. It's like there's something I feel like needs to be done and I've just got to do it. I've got to get it done.
Speaker 1:Because nobody else is going to do it, and if I don't see it, i might as well create it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it seems to be a universal thing. There's a lot of folks that we've talked to that have that very similar story, where the opportunity wasn't there at the moment, but they created it. So you graduate from Concord and then you're out in the world. You know time to pay taxes and do adult stuff. I guess How did you bridge that gap, because nowadays we have Instagram, facebook, things like that Probably wasn't a thing for you back then or in its infancy, i would assume. Yeah, how did you let people know? Hey, i'm Robbie Moore, i'm a painter, i'm wearing it at help.
Speaker 2:I just went around and told everybody Basically, yeah, and I was aware that there was that feeling, that some of it was maybe a little bit of BS, i don't know, because they call that imposter syndrome now, but I didn't let anybody else know that. So there was many times when I was just going around saying, yeah, i'm a painter, i'm gonna do this, this and this, and there was no evidence to show that I could do that or that I would do that, because I was there basically just promoting myself with no product If they get to you, mate, yeah, yeah. And so I got other people to believe that, i think even before I believed it. And then, maybe just through pride, i said, okay, now I have to make sure that I do all these things so that people don't go. Who was that crazy guy who told me he was a really good artist And then I never heard from him again.
Speaker 1:So during this time you're going through and you're telling everybody you're really good. Do you remember the first time that somebody said hey, robbie, this is pretty good.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I did a whole series of paintings and I thought like, okay, i have enough now to show. I went to Soldiers Memorial building here in Beckley And I don't really know how I found that, but they had an art gallery. Maybe that's how, because I was like desperately looking for galleries And at that point there was only three. So there was Tamrack, which I tried to jury into when they first opened, as a rank amateur at the right age of 16. And they were nice about it for the most part, because I just I guess it's that blind confidence that has taken me places, so that was a place that was sort of unattainable. There was the art gallery here, but at Beckley Art Center. So that was an option, but there was sort of an old guard And of course then I'm also in my early 20s and making what I think a lot of people, a lot of the established artists that were here in town and showing here, maybe didn't appreciate or necessarily want to show with their art, and so, and then there was this other little gym.
Speaker 2:They just took a room and turned it into an art gallery And I thought, okay, that's a space that I can use, because there's people closer to my age, i'm just gonna go see. And so I found out that I could rent a studio space for $25 a month, which was just a room in the basement. Then I realized that I needed to put all of my things up on pallets because the basement flooded. But it was nice because it was like it wasn't even necessarily young people, it was just people who just wanted to make art, like there was a musician in there and a few other artists in the building, and so I went and had that show and invited the public, of course, and tried to do as much marketing as I could. It's fairly small town too, so, just told, people had a good turnout and had a reception and Doug Harper, who was a musician here in Beckley's he was born and raised as well And somebody that I always had a great respect for because he wrote his own music and just sort of persisted, even though he was an adult and had a family and probably at that time he had grown kids my age And I remember he walked in and looked around And then after that he came up and introduced himself to me.
Speaker 2:I knew who he was. I guess maybe that was the first time that he was aware who I was And he said now we have a real artist in Beckley And I just always remember that And I just felt really appreciated and coming from him, whatever that meant to him. I don't know what that meant, but it just meant a lot to me And what I took from it was that I wasn't doing the sort of stereotypical or traditional things that people painted and made And so just having that one person appreciate it and tell me that they appreciated it, that kept me going for many, many years And I guess kind of still does, if I'm being honest.
Speaker 1:I think there's a lesson to be learned there for the population at large, because you don't have to buy one of your paintings. He literally just gave you words that cost him nothing, and you or that's 20 years later and that's your story, you're gonna tell You could have told any story and that's the one that hung with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I have Doug's picture hanging up in my studio just so that he can just kind of be there, watch it over me and I can look over. If I have any moments of doubt, I can look over and remember what he said to me.
Speaker 1:Is he still around?
Speaker 2:No, Doug passed away a few years ago.
Speaker 1:Sorry. Something else that stood out there to me is even back then I understand that the Tamarack is kind of a it's a statewide regional-esque thing. but to have three places to showcase your work in because Beckley's smaller than Huntington by a fair degree, But I don't think we have three, Nothing as close to the Tamarack, for sure, and even the Beckley.
Speaker 2:Art.
Speaker 1:Center here. I'm not sure if we have anything quite like that. So to have that in a place that's population-wise smaller is impressive, i think, and cool. But you mentioned that back then the Beckley Art Center wasn't all that accessible to new artists. Somebody like yourself. That seems to be different now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. I started on the board, i think maybe in 2016, and then I started in this capacity in 2019. And I just want it to be welcome to everybody. I think that this is if we're the sister to Tamarack I think Tamarack is great for established artists And that's what it should be, which should be truly the best of West Virginia and have that standard, and here, of course, we want the best of West Virginia here as well. But this is for all skill levels. It's, you know, at its heart. It's a community center, and so it's a place where you can show your first work, you know, so you can have your first artwork on the wall for people to come to see and really be accepting. So that's how I kind of see the space.
Speaker 1:Have you had young people come in and you're kind of blown away by what they have or what they've been working on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely In our last show, which was a member show which we try to fit as many of the members work in. I think our youngest member right now is Ten. If I'm being honest which I have to be with art some sometimes brutally honest but he's not making groundbreaking work, but he's making work that he likes and that he wants to show and share And hopefully that has created some memories for him that will last him. When he's my age he might think about that And so I love that he has that opportunity to do that and hopefully keep growing and learning. And then you know others as well.
Speaker 2:You know all ages really. They may have just started working a couple of months ago, maybe just even in earnest, you know. Maybe they've always painted or been creative, but this is the first piece that they've made that they've wanted to show. So that's always nice, you know, to hear people that this is their first time showing or this is still kind of even just a side hustle or just a hobby that they like to do, but they're not expecting to make money from it or do anything with it career-wise. So it's nice to have all of those people here together.
Speaker 1:Well, and you're creating an opportunity. so just for that 10-year-old, even if he's not Picasso, that's an opportunity that little Robbie didn't have growing up, so where your first show was at Concord, maybe that catapulted him and gets him moving at a different trajectory. So with the Art Center here, you mentioned that it's a community. How many members do you all have? I?
Speaker 2:think right now we have just under 200 members, say annual membership, and so that fluctuates, you know, throughout the year and from year to year.
Speaker 1:but And do you have people coming from all over the state here or?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have people from all over the state and then in the past couple of years we have some people who are from West Virginia and live other places now, and then some people who have never been to West Virginia Usually they're in Appalachia that send pieces to us or bring them, so we're not necessarily restricted to only West Virginia artists. Of course we want to highlight West Virginia artists and especially local artists, but I think it's also I don't want to cut Anybody who wants to show here. I don't want to cut them out of the equation, because I think another responsibility that we have is to provide opportunities to see art, and so those opportunities may come from anywhere, and so that still serves our local population, because then this becomes a place where they can come and see art from a Virginia artist or an Ohio artist that maybe they wouldn't have the opportunity to see.
Speaker 1:But it's again something for the community. Even if people aren't artists, they can come here and partake in stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, pretty slick of you.
Speaker 1:It's almost like you're the director of this place. I definitely don't want to gloss over. We glossed over your work largely there. I know you just had a lot of work down at the Clay Center, you and five or four other folks, was it?
Speaker 2:I think there was 10 to 15 other artists and they asked me to show four pieces in that show.
Speaker 1:The names on the poster or on the roster were recognizable names, as was yours, obviously. What's it like to be asked to do those things with them?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's just a great honor. They had this invitation or this Western Artist's Invitation in 2019, i think for the first time, and the curator at the time heard about me through my friend in Charleston. So you never know what opportunities will be presented to you. So I do theater too, and I always teach the kids, or tell the kids and tell anybody any age, that you're always auditioning. So anyway, for that, i don't know how that process worked. I just know she called me and it was because my friend, nick in Charleston vouched for me and said Robby should be a part of the show, and so for this one.
Speaker 2:She's since left and now there's a new director of the Juliette Fine Arts Gallery there She started and I don't know if she just saw my work through that past show or just researching Western Artist. So she called and wanted to do a studio visit and I'd never met her before. So that had a little I don't want to say more validity, but it kind of is. You know, when people don't know you and they ask you to do something, it's kind of truly based on the work and not you know not, it's not your mom trying to charm them.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, your mom's. Something like Robby. You're so good, exactly, but if a stranger takes notice, that's a whole different bulk.
Speaker 2:So that first show was very special because that was the first time I showed in that space. And this one, i feel like, had even more meaning because she sought me out. I wanted to travel to Beckley to visit my studio and talk about my work, and so that really meant a lot. And then, not to mention, just showing in that space with those other artists just meant a lot.
Speaker 1:So something I want to ask you about is, whenever you're coming out of your funk, the first time you said you were making things out of anything, you said it's like true mixed media stuff there. Do you still do a lot of mixed media?
Speaker 2:Are you mostly paint or Yeah, i've always said that I'm a mixed media painter. Sometimes that's a loose description. It doesn't always. You wouldn't necessarily look at it and say that's a mixed media painting, but that's just always what I've felt like it's, and so that's the verbiage I use. Yeah, i love mixed media because I'm a little bit impatient, and mixed media allows me just to grab whatever is nearest to me and solve whatever problem that I have immediately Gotcha.
Speaker 1:And I'm not sure which came first to me, like chicken or the egg. but I think I started seeing your work right before the pandemic and things, And I don't know if it was because I was seeing things from the art center or if I was seeing your work and then I knew about the art center. But the thing that struck me and the thing that always made me think, oh, that's when Robbie Moore's works is the people. But they're kind of not your stereotypical. They all have arms and legs but they're almost like a blob with arms and legs and a big old noggin on them. How did you develop that style?
Speaker 2:Well, back in high school and all growing up, I really was attracted to making really kind of naturalistic I want it to be naturalistic I don't know if I ever made anything that was that way, but at least realistic portraits and images and trying to represent them as closely to reality as possible. And something broke inside me in college which let me venture out and explore some different styles and see different things. And then, once I graduated and I moved back it was just around that time, I don't know the exact moment, but again it kind of grew from that impatience. It was like do I want to gather materials and sit here and render this, get your drawing perfect? And I just remember sitting there and thinking, no, I just want to. I want this to be more immediate. And so that's where those figures kind of started. They looked a lot different than these figures now. And then, as I started doing it, I got that immediate satisfaction. But then it occurred to me okay, maybe I can reduce these figures down and tell stories or use them as a tool. However, I'd need to use them, but I don't need all of the other things. Like people get it And I refer to them affectionately as lumps and limbs.
Speaker 2:That's kind of how I see everything, And once I put it in those terms, then I started to see like, oh, that chair is just lumps and limbs too, That table is lumps and limbs. You know, that building is that sort of shift at my perspective because sort of think, okay, well, if I draw this extra line, then that's a head and it becomes a human. But if I draw these limbs a little bit shorter than that's a dog, and if I just leave the head off, then that's a chair, And so it's sort of you know something that's always interests me Just kind of create it, my own visual language, I guess, to use as a code, And so now I can just take those parts and put them in different amounts and in different places and create something new.
Speaker 1:So it's kind of cool because anybody that looks at them can realize okay, that's a person, that's a chair, that's a dog, as you mentioned, but it's like it's that's a dog in Robbie's brain And you can always tell that it's yours, which is I don't know. Whenever people develop their own unique style and you can put your finger on somebody's work and say that is theirs, that, to me, is the moment when I'm like, damn, that person's great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i appreciate you saying that and that is nice. You know, once I started reducing those forms down by this next statement, you'll be able to tell that I wasn't a math major. But if you reduce them down to the least common denominator, right, there's a certain elegance to that that you know. A mathematician might put it in those terms like what is an eloquent equation, you know, using the least amount of steps to get this greatest impact. Again, not a math major, but that's what I'm sort of thinking of. It almost has a sense of minimalism, but it's really not. I'm definitely not a minimalist. You can tell by my office here and maybe by my work too. But you know, the forms are really the simplest thing there, because then it's just built up layers and lots of elements that go into it.
Speaker 1:And you mentioned that you liked the immediacy of things and you didn't want to spend a ton of time elaborating on small details. When does it take you to create a work? from the time it pops into your brain to the time it's finished.
Speaker 2:Well, that's the ironic thing is because one huge inspiration is how things age and there's complexity in that and it's not easy to recreate an aging process, and so it takes a lot longer than I necessarily wanted to. So I like to work on multiple things at once, because then, you know, that allows time to dry and I can go back and keep adding layers and layers and layers, and a lot of those layers are mistakes, so it just builds up and becomes something greater. And then I, you know, i like to think about it like humans, right, we like grow up and we have scars, and you know, visible and invisible scars, and things happen to us like our physical bodies, like we get our fingers stuck in a car door or, you know, we get scratches and bumps and bruises, and then all of those things help make this complex person, and I kind of think, you know, that's kind of the life of a painting as well.
Speaker 1:That's kind of cool that you in my own work things like that scars, those are makers, marks, and that's a hard thing to wrestle with when you're shooting for perfection from the get-go.
Speaker 2:Yes, i think that you know, it helped me mentally to say I'm gonna just find the perfection in these imperfections, and so if you can just change your script like that which anybody can really then it just becomes a part of the work. And and so you said no, i meant to do that. I just gave a painting away to a local business owner who's always been very supportive to me. This week and last night I went to see they. They hung it up and Usually I would because I'm very controlling I Would frame it myself, but it had already been like a couple months.
Speaker 2:I showed them the picture, he loved it and I just didn't have the frame on it and it's cold right now. So my studio is insulated and I don't have a lot of space and so that's more of a summertime activity to get the Saw out and cut these things. So I just said I'm gonna drop that off, just frame it a referencing another painting of mine, this there just frame it the exact same. And so when I went, it wasn't frame the exact same which is okay.
Speaker 2:But he said he didn't do it that way because you know, there was some on the edges, there were some parts that that looked a little scratchy or unfinished, and I told him to it, told business owner and I'm thinking to myself, like perfect, like that sounds like my work and and like show it. You know, i want to like, show my work and all of those imperfections. So it's interesting seeing it from his perspective because he thought let me do Robbie a solid here and cover up these.
Speaker 2:Yes yes, and that's exactly what I would have highlighted.
Speaker 1:So So do you normally make your own frames we are being generous by calling them frames.
Speaker 2:Uh yes, there's just pieces of lumber that I fashioned together in a crude manner.
Speaker 1:Hey Nothing. There's nothing more miserable than trying to make a bunch of frames. I tell you, yes.
Speaker 2:Experience, i try to make work that doesn't need frames and then I let the collector decide if they want to put a frame on it or not. But yeah, if I feel like something does need some sort of a border, then again usually like very simple and And the least amount of pain possible.
Speaker 1:Something else you mentioned there, so you'll work on several works at one time. Yeah, we talked to Paula Clinton. And she said that and I was like I just picture her spinning around. She's one of the most lovely people I've ever met, just spinning around in the room just going from each one to each one.
Speaker 2:Do you do the same thing like sometimes, if I'm you know if I'm working on a series or if I'm working on Things that are kind of closely related. Sometimes it might just be like, hey, i, i overestimate it and I mix this color and I'm not gonna throw it away or let it dry up. So let's go over to the media stack and, like paint, you know, use this blue. I'll just paint random sheets of paper. I don't know if I'll use them or not, but it's a start to something else. Or it may just be play and that long time characteristic of not wanting to waste anything. And you know, my grandfather washed out ziploc bags. So, um, i feel like I don't quite do that, but I will save that ziploc bag just in case I need to sew it into a quilt or something such a low bar, dude.
Speaker 1:So you mentioned, uh, collectors. Yeah, do you sell a lot of work to collectors now?
Speaker 2:Well, I wouldn't say a lot. I'd rather have 10 collectors than 100 customers. So in the last few years I've definitely sold a lot more work Than I ever have, but I wouldn't say a lot necessarily.
Speaker 1:It's something I do Want to ask you. some of your work, i think during the pandemic, actually dealt with some of like the isolation and stuff you Describe being a black guy in west virginia a place that, historically, google says we have less than 4 black people in this state. Um, being an artist in west virginia is different. Being a black person in west virginia is not just the cookie cutter thing. Does that creep into your work a lot, or something you think about often?
Speaker 2:Yeah, i think, i think that it always has. I mean, i don't know how it couldn't, but it wasn't necessarily something I was focused on in the past or I wasn't necessarily like highlighting in my work. And then, of course, it's not to say that these things weren't happening before, but are sort of general Acknowledgement that these things happen to black people and just happen within our society all the time. I think those things were important to me before. It wasn't that they weren't important, but I didn't necessarily know how to Convey that in my work. And then, like those other Realizations, one day it just sort of clicked and I thought, oh, there's a way that I can use My visual language.
Speaker 1:If I can use that to tell a story about my cats, then then I can tell a story about racism so to summarize that and make it when my stupid brain works you may not write a letter Describing how all of your feelings work there, but you can use your work to kind of put it out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think I think that's important as artists to you know, talk about those social issues, and I think for a long time whether it was society telling me that or me telling Myself that, but I just thought, well, i don't necessarily have the right experience to talk about racism or talk about being a black man. That sounds funny now, but at the time it was true. You know I have, you know, a large part of my family on my mom's side grew up in Detroit and still live in Detroit And you know that's a huge city, and so I think what we see often is a Perspective of a black person who is from a large city, that perspective being sort of laden with all the troubles that Society can bring being a black person and in West Virginia, and specifically Beckley, like when you're from a place, it's not the same type of racism, it's not the same type of troubles, but it's still racism. And so I guess that was another realization, which, which was that okay, this isn't that same story. That's more prevalent if I were in a larger city or even if I had darker skin, you know, but it's still there and maybe there's something significant or something valuable in Me telling my story, if nothing else for me, but also for my neighbors, because I think that what we've learned, or what we've become aware of in the last few years, is that, you know, racism isn't just burning across in a yard, racism is. It comes in so many forms and, growing up here, it's sort of a soft racism, it's. It's more acceptable, it's more subtle, and I don't even know that the people who feel that or practice that Even know that they are.
Speaker 2:And so, again, the last few years, i've started, you know, being a little bit more involved in the leadership of the city and being asked to be on boards. And I was just sitting in a board meeting a couple months ago and and I'm the only person Like me in the room, shall we say, i'm the only black person in the room, i'm the only person that, to my knowledge, that still lives in ward five, which is at least perceived as like low income or well, i'll put it in their terms. What happened is that they were talking about this new initiative for remote workers, and the person that was giving the report said We need it to do a little bit more research or be a little bit more selective with who we are awarding these remote worker opportunities with, because the last one their income wasn't as high as the other ones and so they had to look at, uh, less desirable neighborhoods. And so, uh, she saw that as a downside, because you're inviting people into West Virginia to live and work here And then, i guess, from her perspective, then they have to live in this less desirable neighborhood. And Immediately for me, i thought, as far as this room is concerned, anyway, i live in an undesirable neighborhood. I just knew exactly that she meant my neighborhood And many others that are like it.
Speaker 2:So there are little things like that and There are things that when you're black and growing up in America, that you just Experience, that I think is difficult for someone who doesn't have those characteristics, that they don't even realize. And of course, that can easily be explained with the word privilege, of course, right, because you, you don't, you don't realize that you have those privileges. So, yeah, so the last few years I've been thinking about all of that, including thinking about my own privileges. So I have, i guess, for the most part, or at least on the surface, uh, assimilate well, so that was some of my work that I did during the pandemic was about that subject was about being accepted, you know.
Speaker 2:But what does that mean? to be accepted by your white colleagues? I don't know what that means. That's just a question. And then what is my responsibility? being the only black person in the room, you know, and also trying to be smart about it? I don't necessarily want to walk into every room and say let's address the racism here, but I think I have a lot smaller tolerance for it now And I think that as long as I'm doing it authentically, then I should be able to speak up and say those things that are on my mind.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you putting that in your work and feeling brave enough to put that stuff out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know it's. my wife is from Puerto Rico. Just by having her here and living my life with her, you see things differently. Of course, growing up there were places that my parents told me don't go down that road, don't go to that city, don't go to this county sometimes, you know, because you're not going to be welcome and then things may not work out nice for you.
Speaker 2:For the most part, i do feel fairly safe in West Virginia. I mean, i think there's been maybe a handful of places that I've ventured into that I thought nope, this isn't for me. I just don't feel safe here. But for the most part I do, and some of it is just because I know the language. like I'm a West Virginian and and I truly believe this and I hope that it's true that being a West Virginian kind of supersedes even racism, you know. So sometimes you find yourself on an old country road and you don't know where you are and you just have to say like, hey, help me. And being a West Virginian helps you because, again, I know the language, sometimes the literal language of like understanding somebody who lives out in the country, and we just have that perspective, you know like transcends color of your skin, things like that.
Speaker 1:Yes, because you've been here with us.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:You know we're living the same experience to a sub degree in there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I, you know, i didn't realize there was that difference until my wife appeared in my life And then to see how people treat her and to think, especially since 2016 or so, to see, you know, if I get lost on an old country road, i feel like I can make my way through that, i feel like I can navigate that, but she can't, not necessarily not because of her capabilities, but because she is obviously not from West Virginia, and I think that that is something, just speaking as a West Virginian and our history in West Virginia, there is always sort of fear of an outsider, and then you mix that with, just like, blatant racism and a Spanish speaker, and that manifests in its way.
Speaker 2:So that also made me think about things a little bit differently too. You know, i'm thinking about, you know, she she ran out of gas once in a small town and went to the only gas station there, and I don't think anything was said explicitly, but she knew and felt you're not welcome here And what are you doing here? And how did you get here And how can we help you to leave as fast as you can, which is like the opposite of what I would probably have experienced there.
Speaker 2:Yes, And I'll put it like this until recent years there maybe was that racism and was that discrimination, but it was subtle and you kind of kept it under, kept it under your hat, And now you just buy a new red hat to let everybody know.
Speaker 1:And back on the meeting you had where people said, oh, undesirable, blah, blah, blah, blah. I've known you now for 45 minutes. I would feel comfortable plucking somebody from any corner of the earth, putting them next door to you and feeling good that they'd have a good experience about West Virginia. I, we need more Robbie Moores. I stick that on a political sign. We can make you a hat if you want. So you see, a lot of artists come in and out of here. Do you have any particular favorite artists locally that you know of? Well, I have tons.
Speaker 2:I'm fortunate enough to have worked in the arts for over 20 years now and really never live outside of the state. I've lived in a few places in the state, mostly in Beckley, and so, yeah, there's tons of artists that I've met throughout the years. Susan Feller is just a phenomenal artist and so intentional in her work and so thoughtful I think it's the best way that I can put it And I've loved getting to know her through the past few years. She's really become a really great mentor I don't know if she considers herself my mentor, but she is and just a wealth of knowledge. And then her work too is really beautiful. That was one of the first exhibitions we had here at the Art Center in the gallery here, and again, it was just because of asking. Like, i saw her work at Tamarack while I worked there for many years and saw it again. She showed some work at a local theater here in the lobby And I just picked up her card and called her and said Hey, i'm Robbie, i want to show your work, i want you to have a solo exhibition. So much can be accounted to just asking. But, yeah, susan is great.
Speaker 2:Jamie Biggs, i mean, he's always been one of my favorite artists, simply because a lot of it is long conversations we had as well. I guess I was still a teenager, maybe he was too In our early days. They're just talking about art and growing up, and that's when those first conversations started about what it means to be a West Virginia man but also be painter and not a mechanic or barber or laborer, coal miner, things that are more sort of traditional West Virginia men things to do, and what that meant for us, and so I've always loved that. Jamie is just a very competent, great artist. But then also there's that depth in a great piece of art. You cannot know about that depth and you still kind of see it and you can appreciate the aesthetics, but then you know just knowing him. I love his work. There's way too many to name, though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I understand. So nobody gets your feelings heard, Something you mentioned there again and something you mentioned early, early in the recording here. At first you felt you couldn't get into Tamarack and they're very polite And you end up working there as a resident artist. Well, I'll say this.
Speaker 2:There was absolutely no reason for them to accept. I turned in for the jury session assignments from school. They were assignments, it was just my confidence, i guess, and I don't know where that confidence comes from. I'm just happy that I have it, i guess. So, yes, there was absolutely no reason for them to accept me. I just thought here's art, i love art, my art should be there. And then, you know, maybe 12 years later that's when I was juried in And that was great, and I think I was already working there by the time that I got juried in Yes, that was just such a great experience too, because it taught me not only that I get to meet artists from all over the state, but that's kind of where I fell in love with arts administration.
Speaker 2:Dare, i say it's almost more exciting than the work itself is seeing how the work gets to you and what that process is, and you know, hanging in on the wall and hosting a reception and selling to collectors, and but also working with artists, you know, and I think it's important to have artists be in the arts administration side, because I've also worked with lots of arts administrators who aren't artists, and from both perspectives as an administrator and then as an artist and it's always easier if there's that little bit of understanding And then working on this side too, i realize just how awful I am as an artist to like answer an email, you know, and from this side it's like it's not that hard, just write me back and tell me no. And then as an artist I'm like yeah, i know, they sent that two weeks ago. Well, i'll send it tomorrow to be okay, dude.
Speaker 1:well, where, at this point, can everybody find your work?
Speaker 2:Well, you can go to my website, robbymoreartcom. and then I'm working on a new show called Black History Month and that will open at Concord in the fall. It'll be their first show in the gallery there.
Speaker 1:Hey guys, thanks again for making it to the end of the episode. We hope you learned something new about the artists. More than anything, please go out and help support their work. We know they appreciate it more than they can tell you. Again want to say thank you to Darren Hackwood for allowing us to use his song Hurricane Season as our intro and outro music And, lastly, if you want to get ahold of us, reach out to us on our various social media platforms or VRR website, which is linked in the show notes. At any rate, see y'all again in two weeks. Thank you again. you.