Today we’d like to introduce you to Carson Drawe
Hi Carson, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started Museo at the end of Summer last year. I was thinking of a passion project I could sink my teeth into and I have always loved the arts. I have been a songwriter/composer since I was eight years old and tried to make it as an artist for a while. It was always frustrating to me how it was hard to get involved in the local network and get my music seen by the community. With that, I thought I would build a digital platform that would serve as a place where both performing and visual artists could share their story with the community, sell their work, and ultimately connect with community of Southern Utah. I knew this would be a big task so I went about it in stages. At first, I started interviewing any local artists I came into contact with and posting a significant quote on Museo’s instagram account @museo.su, then I appeared at local markets with a booth that showcased art from a number of local visual artists, after doing that for a bit I started developing the website museosu.art where people could showcase their story, for visual artists to sell their art, and performing artists could be booked for events. To develop this site, I gathered a team of around 30 artists to help me understand what would be beneficial and what wouldn’t work for the arts community. They have helped me so much throughout this process and I am so grateful for them! Since launching the platform we have already seen opportunities open up for a few of our artists getting spots in galleries and commissioned for tailored pieces. Throughout all of this, my wife Elizabeth has been the best support to me, encouraging me every step of the way and making adjustments to give me time to work on this huge project. She’s my rock for sure.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road! I started this project with almost no knowledge on how to start a community, a website, and a social media presence. A helpful place to start was I just started talking to people. I reached out to significant people in the art community and just asked them questions about how they got to where they were. The network gave me more of a knowledge base and held me accountable with a bunch of people excited for this new resource for the arts community. Time management was probably the hardest piece with this whole thing. When I started this, I was a full-time student at Utah Tech, working full-time as the Director of Student Development at NeuroDev, a post-secondary vocational school for neurodivergent young adults, and a full-time husband and cat dad ;). My time management has definitely gotten better since starting this but it is still the hardest part of being a small business owner. Something that has gone a lot better than I imagined is the support I have received from people that hear about Museo. Almost every time I tell someone about this project I am always surprised with how willing people are to offer help. I have had people volunteer graphic design expertise, network contacts, and so much more and it has meant the world to me that people have been so generous.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Museo is a resource for artists to connect to the community. Performing artists can use it to get booked for events and visual artists can sell their art and get commissioned to do custom artwork. It is also a way for people to have easy access to the Southern Utah arts to buy local rather than mass produced unpersonalized art decor. The word “Museo” means Museum in Spanish. A museum showcases artwork or artifacts typically with historical value which make those works extremely valuable and in some cases priceless. If we can tie the story of our local artists to their work, people will recognize the value that each one of their pieces hold. We ask every artist on Museo to write their story, what they believe in about their art, or simply why they do what they do. People who visit museosu.art can expect to see a variety of unique artwork based in Southern Utah and meet a number of artists and learn why they do what they do.
What are your plans for the future?
My main goal with Museo is to get established in understanding who our customers will be and more than anything establish a good community of artists to continue to offer a valuable network to our artists that join in. Another step that we will be taking down the road is hosting local events to give artists more opportunities to get their artwork or music out there and drive more website traffic to our site. The dream further down the road is having an app that can be a reliable source for home decor, art lovers, and all creatives to connect. Southern Utah has a sleeping giant of an art community that needs to be accessed more! If we had a reliable way to showcase this community and physical events that partner with the online community we would be able to connect with our community in a deeper and more meaningful way.
Pricing:
- Right now I am on a commission based agreement with the artists that were a part of our initial 30 person team. This is subject to change soon. Probably not super relevant to your readers at this time because it will change.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://museosu.art
- Instagram: museo.su
- Facebook: Museo.SU
