Reflections: Chris Mitchell
(photo: Cylla Von Tiedemann)
Akimbo is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with a monthly series that draws on our rich archive of clients, critics, and contributors to reflect on the accomplishments of the past and look toward future possibilities. This month features professional coach for artists and creatives, and longstanding Akimbo client, Chris Mitchell.
What are some of your professional highlights from the past twenty-five years?
An installation from Come Up to My Room at Gladstone Hotel (photo: Chris Mitchell)
Looking back on the last twenty-five years of my career, I can think of many highlights tied to people, projects, and experiences. By far the biggest highlight was contributing as part of a small start-up team of friends and creatives under the leadership and vision of Christina Zeidler to transform Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel into a world-renowned art hotel. From 2004 to 2009, I was Director of Exhibitions, Marketing, and Development. I helped develop and evolve the business model for the hotel’s gallery and studio spaces, and build the exhibitions programming. Stand out projects for me included Come Up to My Room, Grow Op, and Hard Twist – all of which continued annually for many years after I had moved on and until the hotel was sold to new owners in 2020.
Jace Traz, (With)Drawn, from the Mad Couture Catwalk 2012 catalogue (photo: Mark Belvedere)
Other career highlights that stand out for me include working from 2009 to 2016 with the staff team and the 300-plus artists members of Workman Arts. In particular collaborating with Elena Soni, twelve member artists, a production team, and many volunteers to create Mad Couture Catwalk and presenting it at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2012 and at Rideau Hall at the invitation of Her Excellency Sharon Johnston in 2013. Another highlight during my tenure at Workman Arts includes the experience of co-leading and working with the art committee at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to realize a number of large-scale public art projects as part of the redevelopment of the hospital facilities on Queen Street West.
Sheri STRanger, Controlled Substance, from the Mad Couture Catwalk 2012 catalogue (photo: Mark Belvedere)
Finally, becoming accredited as a professional coach and starting my coaching practice has also been a career highlight. I thoroughly enjoy being a resource and support for other artists and creative professionals in developing and navigating their practices, businesses, and careers.
How has your work changed over that time and what is your current professional philosophy?
Over thirty-eight years and counting, my career and work as a creative has had many iterations. After completing a BFA with a major in visual art and design at York University, I started out as a product development assistant and eventually a Senior Vice President in my family’s manufacturing and wholesale distribution business in the giftware and home decor industry. It was a very creative, dynamic, and entrepreneurial enterprise with a strong focus on style trends, presentation, and sales. My creative work over those years included product creation and sourcing, and design of packaging, print collateral, and merchandise presentation.
The Gladstone Hotel was a more values driven, community engaged environment, and my creative work there evolved towards supporting and creating artistic programming and partnerships.
As a program director at Workman Arts, my work became more focused on supporting and empowering individual artists to develop as professionals, and working collectively with them to create more public awareness and understanding of mental health and addiction issues.
Now as a professional coach with my own business, my work has, in a way, come full circle. I’m building my own business providing 1:1 coaching, resources, and support to artists and creative professionals. I’ve come to realize that in all of my work as a creative professional – in the family business, the art hotel, and working in arts and mental health – what came naturally to me and what I came to excel at and enjoy the very most was being a thinking partner helping to articulate creative visions and collaborating in navigating how to bring those visions to reality. I’ve been a thinking partner with creatives all along, and I’ve become better at it with each iteration. That’s what coaching is really all about: being a thinking partner.
Describe some of your upcoming projects that you’re particularly excited about.
I’m currently working on a new project that builds on a body of work I’ve been developing over a number of years. Inspired by the response to my signature group coaching program and blog, I’m aiming to publish a workbook to help artists and creatives develop tools and strategies to build and evolve their creative practices or businesses with intention. I’m excited and hopeful about the potential for this project to reach a broader audience than I can working with artists and creatives one-on-one or in small groups.
What is your vision for the future?
I am an optimist by nature, and I also believe in the importance of art and creativity to improve our daily lives and our understanding of the world and each other. I truly see artists and creatives as critical to the future of humanity and the world. Therefore, I believe that there are many possible versions of sustainable and bright futures for artists and creative professionals in Canada, the contemporary art world and beyond.