Meet Our New Board Member – Alex Gara

We are thrilled to welcome Alex Gara to our Executive Board. As the founder and operator of three businesses, Alex’s entrepreneurial and community building skills will be a great asset to our organization and our Development committee. 

In a new conversation series, studio artists will interview new board members to introduce them to our community. Alex and studio artist Chris Viau met on zoom this month for the first installment.

CHRIS: How did you find Arts of Life?

ALEX: Hey Chris. I found Arts of Life through my friend, Rachel who’s involved in the Chicago arts community. She knew that I had been working with folks with developmental disabilities for a long time, and I thought that maybe I could make an impact on this community like I had with a different one. And so I filled out an application and here I am.

CHRIS: Why are you interested in Arts of Life?

ALEX: A lot of what I do is about building brands that are sort of centered around people who walk and talk and look like me and I think it’s important to serve other communities too. So that definitely spoke to me. And anything that I can help build and create and develop is very fulfilling.

CHRIS: What skills do you bring to the organization?

ALEX: Building, developing, creating. I’ve done marketing for a long time. I’m looking forward to some creative marketing opportunities for some of the events and development that Arts of Life does. I think certainly passion and enthusiasm and events too. I basically throw events for a living, and really want to get involved in the events that Arts of Life puts on to help continue to build a foundation of supporters.

CHRIS: What do you find easy?

ALEX: Easy, easy. What is easy for me probably is problem solving. I think that’s something that’s always come pretty easy for me. Whereas things that might be a little more difficult for me are anything that’s perfectionist. it’s easy for me to create something and to say yes to things and move forward but it’s hard for me to, to make something perfect or to be patient enough to make it perfect. So that’s why I’m always impressed by artists like you Chris because I think I can do a lot but I don’t know that I can see things through to create art itself.

CHRIS: Are you team player?

ALEX: Yeah, I’d like to think so. I love surrounding myself with people and trying to positively affect them and have them positively affect me. So, yeah, I am a team player.

CHRIS: How did you getting into bocce ball. .

ALEX: My entire life professionally is bocce ball. I built a park as part of a creative place making movement in 2013 and the community that came out to support it was so inspiring that we decided to quit our jobs and focus on building the sport of bocce ball around the world. I heard you play bocce.

CHRIS: Have you heard about Paralympic Boccia?

ALEX: Yes. Yes, I have. Chris you play?

CHRIS: Yeah.

ALEX: Have you been playing a long time?

CHRIS: Yeah.

ALEX: Is it one of your favorite sports?

CHRIS: Yeah. 

ALEX: That’s great. I love to hear that. Do you have medals?

CHRIS: Yeah. I was on the US team.

ALEX: That’s very cool, very impressive. We should play some time. Yeah, that would be really fun. Now I want to interview you. We should have an event.

CHRIS: Yeah, that would be great.

ALEX: I would love to do a bocce event that would raise funds for Arts of Life. Maybe you can help me put that together.

CHRIS: Yeah. I’d like to do it.

ALEX: Can I ask you another question?  When you played for the US team, where did you play?

CHRIS: The American Cup in Kansas.

ALEX: Wow, you got to go to Kansas. That’s awesome. Getting to travel nationally to play bocce – that’s the dream. Maybe you can send a picture of one of your bocce medals. 

CHRIS: I am a chalk pastel and watercolors artist.

ALEX: I looked at your work on the arts of life website. It’s beautiful. And it said that you were inspired a lot by nature. Where do you go to be in nature and to be inspired for some of these paintings? I’m sorry I was supposed to be the interviewed, not the interviewer.

CHRIS: I go to camp every summer. 

ALEX: Is it watercolor first and then chalk, or both at the same time?

CHRIS: One or the other. I wrote books of poems too.

ALEX: That’s lovely. How long have you been doing that?

CHRIS: Eight years. I have three books on Amazon.

ALEX: Amazing. You have lots of homework for me then Chris. You have to talk about bocce, we have to create an event together, and you have to show me your poetry. And I’d love to hang out in person when the studio opens back up Chris.

CHRIS: Yeah.

ALEX: I would be honored.