Plugging In: Communal Creatives

Freelance creative producer SARAH SLOAN, who tells stories through film, and artist MARISSA GLASE, who creates customized artwork for clients, are two flourishing creatives who recently started using workspace at CoWorx.

CoWorx, in the Cargo District, offers a variety of collaborative workspaces for those who want a creative place to work outside of the traditional office building or home office.

Sloan, owner of Land & People, a documentary production company that uses storytelling to build Southern grassroots power, worked as a freelance creative producer of documentaries in Morehead City for five years before moving to Wilmington a year ago.

“People that I interview, I consider them collaborators,” says Sloan, who specializes in a community-made media production process. “They are as much a part of telling the story as I am … I think the best kind of storytelling is when we are doing it with one another.”

Sloan works on various projects, from small, creative video projects that may appear on Instagram or TikTok to feature-length documentaries and some scripted content.

“As a producer, the film or video is my baby, and it’s my job to bring the baby into the world, communicate to everyone what the project is and what the goals are, staff it up, give notes and direct on the shoot, go into the edit, and guide that edit until it’s a final product,” she says.

“I feel very lucky to be able to do this work in North Carolina and make media in my home region,” says Sloan, who grew up in Chapel Hill and attended the University of Southern California. “Film has a legitimizing nature to it. It can push culture and society in a way that individual conversation can’t. … Growing up in the South, I grew up with a lot of really harmful, oppressive narratives and felt a huge desire to push out as many better stories as possible and be a part of that work.”

Sloan sometimes works for film companies. Other times she works directly with clients who see documentaries as a way to advance their ideas or address an issue. For example, Sloan has created documentaries for the American Civil Liberties Union, the North Carolina Justice Center, and the Environmental Grantmakers Association.

After graduating from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in May with a degree in studio art and a minor in art history, Glase worked full-time managing a website for a small business and part time as a bartender in the Cargo District. Bartending turned out to be an unexpected source of opportunities for her as an artist.

“I realized quickly I could make connections really easily through bartending,” Glase says. “I was meeting a lot of business owners and people starting businesses who need logos, branding, and murals. There’s such a great demand in this area because it’s developing so much.”

Glase’s conversations and networking paid off.

In a short time, Glase says, she was able to leave her full-time job, launch her new business MG Art LLC, and begin focusing on creating art for her clientele of established small businesses and start-up businesses. Though Glase says she most enjoys creating murals and working on branding and logo projects, she creates art for all types of projects for clients, from chalkboards for businesses and posters for events to album covers.

“I like helping people bring their visions to life,” Glase says.

Glase says she thinks flexibility as an artist in Wilmington is one of the keys to being successful.

“I love abstract work, that’s my favorite thing to do when it comes to my personal paintings,” she says. “I switch that part of my brain off when I’m working a lot of the times, but I think that’s what makes a good artist: somebody that can be flexible with it.”

“I can work in a lot of different styles, and I work very quickly, so it makes it easy for me to be able to provide clients with a variety of options,” Glase says.

Glase is one of CoWorx’s primary muralists, and she’ll be working with CoWorx and the Cargo District to start putting some new artworks throughout the area. Some of the new developments Glase’s work is expected to be part of include the Cargo West Food Court and the up-and-coming Bar and Arcade occupying the 615 South 15th Street building.

Before utilizing space at CoWorx’s Queen Street location, Glase worked from home but says the private office at CoWorx she’s had since January has helped her focus while working.

“I’ve been so much more productive since I’ve had this place,” she says.

Sloan, who used to enjoy working from home before trying out coworking spaces, also works out of CoWorx’s Queen Street location. She says she’s happier using coworking space.

“I like being able to talk to people who work in other industries,” she says. “I also enjoy being able to leave at the end of the day and feel like that part of my life is done and I can go home, and it’s a place of rest.”

Sloan and Glase encourage making time to engage with others in coworking spaces.

“The coworking space allows you to get a community so you get the feeling of an office place but you’re not all working for the same people,” Glase says, adding networking opportunities can be invaluable.

To view more of photographer Aris Harding’s work, go to arisharding.com.

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