00:00Being a black woman in art, you just have to, you have to really outwork.
00:04You know, it's something that you can't just walk into a room and be a slouch.
00:09It's so much dignity that I carry within what I do.
00:13You know, a lot of people don't even value artists.
00:15They think it's just a hobby or it's something that you won't make money from.
00:18And if I was an artist for money, then I would have quit like just a long time ago because it's not about that.
00:24It's about the impact for me and it's about how I can help other people see how they can pursue their career, especially young black women.
00:43Faye Myers is a beautiful, complex, creative individual.
00:48I am a visual and performing artist, a singer, and I'm also a conservation advocate.
00:53To be a black woman in art, it is a beautiful challenge.
01:00I feel like we take up so much space.
01:02There are so many visual and fine artists in this space, but I feel like we are constantly questioned.
01:07Our skill is constantly challenged.
01:10And that is something that I just, I defy.
01:13We're really the mothers and we nurture everything.
01:16Sometimes you can be down to your last just ounce of energy.
01:19And then there's something so special and divine about what God has put inside of us that we can just keep going.
01:25When sometimes they put us in this, oh, this is just a male category or getting on a lift is something that just a male does.
01:31But then there's so much beauty when you see young women walk past and they say, oh, my God, like you're an artist.
01:37And maybe just maybe they may be inspired to be one as well.
01:40You know, so I say it's a beautiful challenge because just like everything, you know, you have obstacles.
01:45And I think with great opportunities come great opposition.
01:49So it's just something that you just, I think women, we handle it so gracefully, you know, this art world.
01:54To be the artist that I have to be and that I need to be, I have to show that in my work.
02:03It's not something that I'm forced to do.
02:04It's something that just comes out so naturally.
02:06I love to see the little kids when they're passing.
02:08They say, oh, my God, that looks like me.
02:10Oh, this looks like that person.
02:11That representation is so important because we need to always feel beautiful, not just sometimes.
02:16We need to always feel like that.
02:17And our skin should be respected.
02:19So I am currently working on the I Am New Orleans project.
02:26The part two to the I Am New Orleans project is located in the Lower Ninth Ward on the Andrew P. Sanchez building.
02:35I love this project so much so far.
02:37It has been a labor of love.
02:39It truly brings so much vibrancy to this community.
02:43My family is rooted in this community in the Lower Ninth Ward.
02:46I just can't wait to see the community's response to the mural.
02:49I just want to make sure that I'm doing my due diligence and making sure that the community is heard and impacted through it.
03:01The Monarch Butterfly is very symbolic to my work because of what it represents.
03:05I feel like the monarch is a very rare butterfly.
03:08The monarch butterfly just, I feel like it's really a spiritual thing for me.
03:13You know, it came really heavy in my life when I was going through a very depressing time, you know, in my career and just in my life.
03:20And like I said, it just symbolizes growth.
03:24It symbolizes power.
03:25It symbolizes transformation.
03:27And there's so much beauty in the struggle of a monarch butterfly.
03:31You know, to become that, it has to go through several different phases.
03:35And I think people kind of misinterpret or they don't appreciate the journey and the process.
03:41And I feel like I relate to that so much.
03:43Raising monarchs also teaches me a lot about my femininity.
03:46And I just love that because it's something that I just have to be very soft and gentle with.
03:51And, you know, I feel like women, we are really in that era of standing in our power and standing in that feminine power.
03:58And I just, I love that.
03:59I love that for us.
04:00The message that I hope is being received through my art is to be resilient, to be fearless, to be authentic, and to stand in your blackness, you know, to stand in that power that God has given us.
04:15Because we are powerful people and we should not be afraid.
04:18We should not be ashamed.
04:19We should embrace our beauty and our struggle.
04:22And I feel like my artwork speaks to, speaks to that little girl, that little boy, and just people that just really want their dreams to be fulfilled.
04:31I think my inner child is really smiling and proud of, I guess, how far I've come and how far I will go.
04:38You know, and I think I just want to continue to make that baby Jade proud.
04:41We recognize Jade Myers, the artist Jade, in honor of the unveiling of the second I Am New Orleans Bureau.
04:49Therefore, be proclaimed by the city council that this day will always be known as Jade Myers' day.
04:56Oh, wow.
04:57Congratulations.
04:59On your artist.
05:00There needs to be more exposure, not just of black artists, but to the arts across the board.
05:07When these kids, these youth, even parents, when they see somebody like me doing this, they won't tell their child art is just a hobby or it's something that you just do for fun.
05:16It is a livelihood.
05:19There needs to be more exposure, not just of black artists, but to the arts across the board, but to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board and to the arts across the board.
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