Sustaining Craft

The stories of those making a living with their art, craft, or passion.

About the show

Sustaining Craft started in 2016, when Elizabeth Silverstein, a writer, found herself discouraged after a move and a divorce. To find a little encouragement for herself and others, she decided to talk to people building businesses in creative fields.

Sustaining Craft on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 23: Brandy Mimms: Listening with Your Eyes

    February 12th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  59 mins 56 secs
    arkansas, central arkansas, dance troupe, deaf, deaf dancer, deaf talent

    Brandy Mimms always loved music. Wanting to perform, she became a cheerleader while attending college in New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, she left with her 10-week-old son. When she ended up in Arkansas, she decided to study dance at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Now, she's a professional deaf dancer who goes by Unique the Deaf Dancer, owns her own dance company, Listen With Your Eyes Dance Troupe, and teaches dance at Southwest Community Center in Little Rock.

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    Episode 22: Stacey Bowers: Stamping an Edge on the Delicate

    January 22nd, 2020  |  Season 2  |  22 mins 37 secs
    creative stories, design, jewelry, jewelry design, little rock, little rock art, stories, sustaining craft

    Stacey Bowers wanted to make her friends laugh. She’d already had an understanding of jewelry making from her time as a teenager working at a bead store, then she taught herself how to stamp metal. The gifts for her friends caught the eyes of others, and she built an Etsy shop, then a website. By 2018, she had to decide if she wanted to make Bang-Up Betty her full-time gig. She booked a trade show in Vegas and quit her day job. Now, her work has been featured in Buzzfeed and other national platforms, and she makes all of her income as a jewelry designer at her home studio and Stifft Station Gifts.

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    Episode 21: Joshua Kurtz: Socializing through World Building

    January 3rd, 2020  |  Season 2  |  50 mins 21 secs
    art, business, craft, creative business, dnd, fantasy, homeschool, marketing, small business, stories, storytelling

    Joshua Kurtz's journey towards professional dungeon master began years ago. He traveled the world with a theater college program, then started his own production nonprofit. He was teaching theater classes when a parent asked him if he provided childcare. He said no, but he had a tabletop game he could play with the kids. Now, he provides professional dungeon master services for Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing table-top games to the greater Philadelphia area, while offering a positive role playing experience for all ages and occasions. Over the past year and a half, he grew his business from part-time to full-time as of January 2020.

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    Episode 20: Hannah Allen: Putting Petal to the Metal

    November 29th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  35 mins 53 secs
    arkansas, art, art stories, business, career, central arkansas, little rock, professional artist, storytelling

    Hannah Allen learned a hard lesson in college, and she dropped out twice before earning her degree on the third try. Now, with Petal to the Metal Floristry, she helps brides with floral arrangements for their weddings, offering affordability without compromising quality. It's a path that has its roots in her childhood, as the flower girl at her mother's friends' weddings. But it took her a few detours to get there.

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    Episode 19: Michael Eubanks: Using Art to Combat Fear

    November 6th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  54 mins 57 secs
    arkansas, art, art stories, business, career, central arkansas, little rock, mental health, musician, professional artist, saxophonist, social worker, storytelling, sustaining craft, veteran, vocalist

    Art and music helped Michael Eubanks as a kid when he struggling to make friends and talk to others. When he sang, his stutter didn’t matter. And although he left his saxophone behind for a few years, it found him again, especially when he was unexpectedly back in the United States after fifteen years in the military, due to a reduction in strength, as they call a military downsizing.

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    Episode 18: Jessica and Justin Crum: Proving That Creative Careers Are Possible (But Difficult)

    September 3rd, 2019  |  Season 2  |  48 mins 9 secs
    arkansas, art, art stories, business, career, central arkansas, little rock, professional artist, storytelling

    She was an outgoing, young single mother. He was a shy script writer. They bonded over trips to the farmer's market after church and then experienced their first kiss in a cemetery. Now, Jessica and Justin Crum, married for ten years, are forging their careers in graphic design and film making in rural Arkansas. They want to reveal that creative careers don't need a backup plan.

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    Episode 17: Matthew Castellano: Building Community Through Art

    February 27th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  48 mins 56 secs
    arkansas, art, art stories, business, career, central arkansas, little rock, professional artist, storytelling

    There are some unexpected parallels between skateboarding and art -- including discipline, skill, community and the huge amounts of risk. Matthew Castellano has found both to be connected throughout his life as he grew up in Florida and then when he moved to Little Rock, where he curates Gallery 360, a space designed to bring people together.

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    Episode 16: Kathryn LeMaster: Using the Unseen to Craft a Home

    January 21st, 2019  |  Season 2  |  53 mins 26 secs
    arkansas, business, career, central arkansas, design, entrepreneur, little rock, storytelling

    Kathryn LeMaster didn't know that interior design was an actual job until she found it in her college's catalogue. She'd grown up on a construction site, helping her parents build the family home, and loved the idea of helping others build and utilize their own space through function and storytelling.