We Create Birmingham: Meghann Bridgeman
“I strive to leave something better than I found it. And if I can do that in any small way, here in Birmingham, that’ll be an accomplishment.”
We Create Birmingham: Keith Cromwell
“We, the arts, are having an enormous economic impact on the success and vibrancy of this city… We are literally creating jobs – and in a field where it’s so hard to find an artistic home.”
We Create Birmingham: Kiwi Lanier
“I want to encourage curiosity and make sure our programs are as accessible as possible… The online film or Film Twitter community can sometimes feel insufferable — there’s lots of gatekeeping about knowledge and taste. My personal mission is to burn that to the ground.”
We Create Birmingham: Buddy Palmer
“Looking back, it’s easier to see the moments that were crystallizing for me…. One friend asked me what I was going to do, and I said, ‘I don’t know, but I know I want to make a difference.'”
We Create Birmingham: Darlene Negrotto
“I think about Vulcan’s pose a lot and how it aligns with how I feel about my role. He’s looking up and towards the future… He’s a symbol of what can be accomplished through hard work and a link from our past to our future.”
We Create Birmingham: Daniel Grier
“It’s more than sustainability. It’s about adding value to what’s already there.”
We Create Birmingham: Cassandra King
“I have the opportunity to spotlight Black artisans and makers through my work… You can’t help what you don’t know, but I can change that.”
We Create Birmingham: Min Sun Lee
“When I moved to the States to live with my dad, art connected us. He drew every day, and I began to draw with him. It was a way for us to bond after all this time apart.”
We Create Birmingham: Eryka Perry
“CO.STARTERS helped me understand my value and figure out how to grow… I think financial success and emotional fulfillment are often sold as being mutually exclusive, but we get to choose our realities, and having both is possible.”
We Create Birmingham: Deanna Sirkot
“In my family, there were a lot of artists, artisans, and art lovers. So, it’s always been a part of who I am… I knew I wanted to be a part of connecting art and community.”
We Create Birmingham: Tyler Jones
We Create Birmingham: Edina Shrestha
We Create Birmingham: Cristal Laraé Brister
We Create Birmingham: Jessica Moody
We Create Birmingham: Ursula Smith
We Create Birmingham: Anthony Waller
We Create Birmingham: Viola Ratcliffe
We Create Birmingham: Jorge Castro
We Create Birmingham: Anna Foshee
We Create Birmingham: William J. Rushton
We Create Birmingham: Meghann Bridgeman
We Create Birmingham: Keith Cromwell
We Create Birmingham: Kiwi Lanier
We Create Birmingham: Buddy Palmer
We Create Birmingham: Darlene Negrotto
We Create Birmingham: Daniel Grier
We Create Birmingham: Cassandra King
We Create Birmingham: Min Sun Lee
We Create Birmingham: Cristal Laraé Brister
“When you know what you want, when you know who you are, regardless of the space, it makes it a lot easier to be able to navigate life and do what you need to do.”
We Create Birmingham: Jessica Moody
“I’m immediately invested in people’s success. Everything that I already am has helped me help others. At Create Birmingham, it’s just been improved because now I feel like I know more people to connect you to.”
We Create Birmingham: Ursula Smith
“I can’t just teach dance. I use dance to teach life.”
We Create Birmingham: Anthony Waller
For me personally, it was also just good because the more time I spend downtown, the more of an intimate feel I get for it. I didn’t even know all these businesses were down here, and it was really nice to frequent them and actually have a better understanding of everything Birmingham has to offer.
We Create Birmingham: Viola Ratcliffe
“Also, quilts mark a place and time in something tangible. They link generations together and connect us in surprising ways. Textile art has the ability to break down barriers because you can see it and analyze it independently while embracing its warmth, humanity, and history.”
We Create Birmingham: Jorge Castro
“Your passion needs to reach beyond the food. It has to be about the people who come to eat here and make memories here. It’s all about the people.”
We Create Birmingham: Tyler Jones
We Create Birmingham: Edina Shrestha
We Create Birmingham: Cristal Laraé Brister
We Create Birmingham: Jessica Moody
We Create Birmingham: Ursula Smith
We Create Birmingham: Anthony Waller
We Create Birmingham: Viola Ratcliffe
We Create Birmingham: Jorge Castro
We Create Birmingham: Anna Foshee
We Create Birmingham: William J. Rushton
We Create Birmingham: Meghann Bridgeman
We Create Birmingham: Keith Cromwell
We Create Birmingham: Kiwi Lanier
We Create Birmingham: Buddy Palmer
We Create Birmingham: Darlene Negrotto
We Create Birmingham: Daniel Grier
We Create Birmingham: Cassandra King