Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon White.
Hi Shannon , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in rural Indiana. My biological father was in prison for most of my life and so I never met him. My step father never made it past middle school education and loved hunting, farming and anything masculine.
I was both of their pallbearers.
My Mother is the bread winner, outgoing, and the personification of positivity.
After over coming an abusive past she raised us siblings to always focus on what is ahead.
She sent both her children to college and went back and received her paralegal degree at 69.
This formed the basis for the queer, ADHD, hyper creative, artist & small business owner busy body running around Salt Lake City today.
I always felt odd or out of place, but sometime around year 9 or 10 my art teacher in elementary told my mother to send me to art classes. She listened.
We happened to find this wonderful art studio around the cornfield from us which was ran and attended by mostly (from what I could tell at that age) women in middle age. The experience was incredible. I learned initial color theory, subject matter and material uses while we duplicated Thomas Kinkade and under water scenes with water color, ink and oil.
This opened the pandoras creative box.
We also grew up Country Baptist in northern Indiana southern Michigan. My best friend growing up was the pasters son and his family. The pastors wife lead the puppetry team which was the next big creative awakening.
We built sets, made puppets and toured the northern Midwest with our puppet show called PAWS (Puppets At Work For the Savior) for many years in my teens. The realization that you can expand on a story with props, set’s, costumes and more sparked raw creative energy that allowed me to think about design on a macro scale while learning how to fabricate it and make it functional.
This lead to AP art classes in high school which was focused on figuring out how to create connections between pieces and then ultimately lead to art school for college at the Herron School of Art & Design where I attended for almost 5 years. During that time there was an incredible comradery between our class mates we collaborated on shows and performance and pieces and after college created a studio space that led to amazing experimental art. The Studio is called The Oil Wick.
During college in Indianapolis I met my counterpart where we birthed Amalgamation Studio together which at the time our process was leaning post collapse neo baroque, emblem heavy, new age futurism through experimental collaborative art.
After moving to Utah in 2016 we took amalgamation studio into the public art realm where we have been awarded several public art commissions.
Over the last decade in Utah I was simultaneously working on art projects while building a career in catering and events. I worked with larger local catering companies in sales and an art fabrication studio for a year before covid hit.
3 years ago a corporate job fell through and that’s when I decided to make Amalgamation Studio an official small business where we focus on event planning and art fabrication. Through that I also now offer catering and event management to small businesses which also lead to the purchasing the catering side of a local beloved company Laziz Kitchen.
As I rely heavily on networking and word of mouth to generate leads for sales sometimes I find that system to move too slowly. Thus I start creating the things I want to see happen for myself and my businesses.
Which is why I am also currently working on a musical with a friend who is a playwriter, in order to combines all these elements and honestly create the work I want to do.
Though life is in a lovely high high right now I have fought alcohol addiction and other obstacles to get to where I’m at now which only still feels like the beginning of the journey.
Currently I am the Board chair of the Utah LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce (without this org I would not be where I’m at today. It has changed my life) owner/founder of Amalgamation Studio, owner CEO of Laziz Catering.
I feel like there’s a million miles left to go.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Our step father was quite abusive growing up.
Being a queer kid in a religious tight nit community (country Baptist) and always feeling out of place but not knowing why was rough and caused a bit of body dysmorphia which I work daily at not focusing on.
Turning to Alcohol first as escapism and glamorizing partying scenes, then to deal with emotions and then to deal with heart break and overwhelming ideations of failure.
2 DUI’s later I decided I had to to make a change and head in the direction of our life goals.
Also life is too busy right now and I have no time for hang overs.
We could dive into lots of other things.
The oxymoron of being gay but relating and truly believe women are better at business and all collaboration on projects in general.
Etc.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My Background is fine art with a BFA in Painting but I loved touching all mediums.
Amalgamation Studio was founded to channel my creative process and start working on large custom fabrication. Currently that consists of murals, some set and install design, metal work for public art and more.
My personal work which I haven’t touched in awhile explores identity within tight night religious family groups.
Any big plans?
My goal for Amalgamation Studio is to take on more custom, high end build outs with production companies, contractors, architects, etc. Since I don’t have a massive body of work yet I am currently creating the projects I want to work on whether that’s back drops for events and markets, sets for musicals, film, or wild experimental art shows that haven’t been invented yet.
Pricing:
- Custom
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amalgamationstudiollc.com/
- Instagram: amalgamationstudiollc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-white-74b499103?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios
- Other: https://shannonlwhite.weebly.com
