The North Shore’s Latest Team Member!

The North Shore welcomes Mike Hancock to our team as a one to one supporter and arts enabler to Cole Fox, a staple artist in our community! Mike is full of laughter and joy. His energy lights up the room each day he is here. Due to his strong arts practice and positive attitude, Cole, and the collective took a quick liking to Mike. We are delighted to have him on board and excited to share a little bit about him! How did you hear about the Arts of Life?“I heard about the Arts of Life through a posting on Chicago Artist Resource website which led me to explore the Arts of Life website.” What do you like most about The Arts of Life?“I love the community environment of the Arts of Life.  It is a very open loving community where the artists are free to explore their creativity in a very wide variety of ways.  The studio meetings and community meal times open up opportunities for the artists to express their thoughts and feelings about everything that is happening at the Arts of Life which creates fantastic group synergy.” What do you like most about being in the studio environment?“I love how open the studio environment is.  It allows for the artists and staff to communicate freely and bounce ideas off each other on a constant basis.  With such an open environment it allows the staff to assist the artists more easily, and encourages an artist to artist interactions which creates a strong bond between everyone in the studio.” What kind of work are you looking to do when you are here?“While working at Arts of Life, the work I would like to do is interact with the artists as much as possible and assist them in any way they would like me to.  I want to help them bring their visions and dreams to life while also challenging them along the way so they can become more confident in their own artistic practice.” Are you an artist and if so what kind of art do you do?“I am a practicing artist on my own.  I do a lot of live painting at concerts and festivals over the summer.  I love collaborating with musicians and other artists, exploring the ways in which the different forms of art can connect and interact with each other.  I think a lot about how we experience and construct life, exploring the connection between our thoughts and emotions with outside influences from cultural to the natural world.  Everything is so beautifully interconnected, and those points of intersection are what I enjoy exploring in my own work.” Do you have a favorite artist? Some of my favorite artists since I can’t pick one are Android Jones, Autumn Skye Morrison, and Stephen Kruse.  All incredible visionaries in their own way. What do you do when you are not at The Arts of Life?   “Outside of the Arts of Life I try to survive as an artist ha!  I work three different jobs, some art related, some not, and on my free time I book live painting gigs and work on my own body of paintings in my studio. Since art is my passion, I try to integrate it into my life as much as I can inside of work and outside!”

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