Nancy VanReece

Strategist | Way Maker | Artist

Madison, TN

IT STARTS WITH A PROMISE - AND ALWAYS HAS A STORY

FROM THE GRASSROOTS UP

Your home | Your gallery

March 09, 2013  /  Hon. Nancy VanReece

Stop and think about how your home says who you are. Consider not just the landscaping and architecture but the interior, each color choice, each pillow, each print or original work in the hall way or over the sofa.

All these things say something about the artist in your home. You are that artist. You are that curator. If you have been treating yourself to artist dates, you may find yourself thinking more clearly about just how you choose to express your artist self in your home.

Part of living an artful life is awareness of your creative space and understanding the season that we are in as our creative journey begins. As Julie Cameron says in her book The Sound of Paper; “The seasons of creativity are varied. In spring we can doubt our budding ideas will come to anything. In summer we can worry about our ability to keep up. In fall we may fear that we will not harvest our ideas successfully, that we will bruise them as we try to bring them home. In winter we may fear that we will never (be creative) again.”

Take the time to see what season of creativity you are in before you address your gallery. The best time to shop is in your springtime! Not just when the daffodils are up through the peonies bloom but your own springtime of creativity. Don’t doubt your ideas. Take a leap, get that red pillow, look at that picture frame as part of your creative space. For us it was painting our kitchen purple that finally let us leap into our zone of color and artifacts and local art.

I like stepping into a home where you see things that tell you there is a story to go with it. What are your stories? What item from what artisan’s hand made it into your gallery? Did you meet the person that made the item? Was it from a vacation get away?

If you look around your creative space and find only items that came from the do-it-yourself kit at a local furniture store, what does that say about you? Space, like wine, is better with age and time. It takes several seasons in a person’s life to create a gallery that represents who they are and where they have come from.

As Gordon Ziniewicz explains in The Tao And Art ‘We-Wei’ in Taoism means doing without forcing, without consciously acting according to predetermined notions or plans. "Artists are, in a sense, midwives of nature. Out of the pregnant emptiness of the silk or rice paper, forms are allowed to emerge. In a similar way, poems are born, not made; they rise unraised from hidden wellsprings. Without explanation, they begin to be.’’ 

Never feel rushed, find the season that is right and start curating for your home gallery one work at a time. Let each work emerge from your journey.

Get out and see the art. Get out and do the art. Get out and be the art.

 

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categories / living an artful life, artful life
tags / art, local art, decorating
“As a newly formed, public-facing enterprise, our organization benefited from Nancy’s deep understanding and valuable experience in Public Affairs. She established community relationships — public and private, near and far — that will prove critical to our company’s success.
She is a positive and dynamic contributor.
Nancy defined the important role of Vice President of Public Affairs and Business Development beyond the scope of our expectations and executed the complex nature of this dual role seamlessly and with utmost professionalism.”
— Fred Kennedy, Harken Hall
“What can Nancy NOT do? Seriously - she approaches any role, job, task, or initiative with integrity, authenticity, and passion. She’s not afraid of the hard work needed to get the job done and is quick to look for wins for all parties. She also shows up with her community. Nancy is not merely well connected; she’s deeply connected and brings that network to any opportunity that has a chance to make the world better. ”
— Sam Davidson, Co-Founder Batch USA, LLC
“I worked with Nancy for 4 years and I can attest that she is a life-long learner, leader, and relationship builder. Nancy has never met a stranger. I’ve probably sat in over 100 meetings with her and she’s always found something to connect with the person across the table- “a virtual connector of dots.” That takes both empathy and emotional intelligence. Nancy is thoughtful in her approach to everything she does which makes her excellent at business development. She is able to think strategically at ten-thousand feet while being detailed oriented in the execution of tasks. Ideas are nothing without execution and Nancy balances those effortlessly. Having Nancy is your corner is nothing short of incredible.”
— RYAN CARTER, FOUNDER/CEO PARCHUTE MEDIA, LLC
“Nancy did a spectacular job rebuilding MDSave’s social media presence. One heck of a turnaround job. She was creative, reliable and has a solid work ethic. She came to the table with fresh ideas, was always on time and always kept a great sense of humor.”
— Chad Blackburn Vice President Business Development MDSave,Inc.

"I came to Nancy because I wanted to build my brand through blogging/social media and had zero knowledge about how to do it. She was the perfect person for the job. Her blend of social media expertise and calm, positive demeanor was exactly what I needed. 

Consultant/coach/patient trainer, she helped me create a path to launching my blog and gave me skills along the way. She made me feel like what I wanted to achieve was possible, and then got me there. There is lots left to do, but I feel confident that we will partner to achieve the long term results I'm hoping for."

- Lisa Pote, Consultant

“Nancy VanReece is the real thing. She knows how to build an effective social media brand/platform. Even better, she makes this complex, arcane world accessible (and dare I say FUN) for her clients. She stands on the valuable ground where social media, branding and marketing intersect. I’m incredibly relieved to have her on my team!”
— Amy Lynch, Generational Edge
“What can be said about Nancy VanReece that you may not already know? There is a general consensus (and a look at her LinkedIn recommendations confirms this) regarding her wide-ranging talent for just about everything at which she tries her hand. As communications director at the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation (GBBF), I was responsible for helping to coordinate a statewide summit featuring thought leaders and communications experts in the non-profit arena. During the planning phase for the event, when charged with finding a presenter for the topic of social media engagement, I knew immediately that Nancy was the best possible choice. Nancy is on the cutting edge when it comes to helping organizations create comprehensive social media engagement strategies. Her presentation at the Tennessee Executive Residence was eloquent, sleek, articulate and – most significantly – effective. Our attendees left the summit invigorated with a real sense of how to implement Nancy’s ideas and reach more of their constituents in the ever-evolving ecosystem of social media platforms. I cannot recommend her highly enough, and I hope to work with her often in the future.”
— Kirk Graves, Communications Director, Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation
“Nancy has completely transformed our social media program, creating a viable and robust presence for us across a variety of platforms, from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to Google+ and Pinterest. She has played a critical role in upgrading and maintaining our website, and she piloted the launch of the Nashville Symphony’s mobile app, which today has been downloaded more than 5,000 times.

Nancy’s commitment to the job has been beyond compare, as she has spent countless evenings tethered to her iPad, monitoring and responding to the outpouring of feedback we receive through our social networks. Day in and day out, she has created, organized and posted dynamic content that represents the full breadth of who we are and what we do here at the Nashville Symphony — our concerts, our musicians, our education programs, you name it. We are a better institution for all of the incredible work that she has done, and she’ll be greatly missed.

In her own words: “I have enjoyed my nearly two years with the organization. Over 16,000 tweets and 2,200 Facebook posts later — totaling 204 million impressions — we have grown a great community on 11 platforms having 500+ conversations a week. I look forward to working with new clients as effectively!””
— Sr. Director of Marketing|Communications, Nashville Symphony
“Nancy put together a intensive 2 day workshop for Engage Kingsport and Kingsport Cultural Arts. The workshops gave individual artists the confidence and tools they need to enter the Social Media world as well as helped regional arts organizations refine and enhance their current social media strategies.”
— Bonnie Macdonald, Director, City of Kingsport Office of Cultural Arts
“Nancy was fun and informative. As the Luncheon Keynote Speaker for the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare, Nancy provided great insight to a representation of over 20 different social service agencies. Her presentation spoke to each agency and everyone left with a more forward thinking mindset of social media and how it can be most effective and beneficial in telling their agency’s story! We loved Nancy!”
— LaTamera Woodley, LAPSW