Full Circle. Sharing the Soul Seat story where it all began.
Nobody succeeds alone. Perhaps we like to collect stories of the scrappy individual who beats all odds because it would be too tedious to list the whole community who had a part in their success. The credit roll at the end of the movie isn’t what engages us.
A couple of months ago I was invited to to tell the story of Ikaria Design to a local chapter of Creative Mornings (scroll to the end to see video below and slide deck here). The location of the event was Orr Street Studios, where the very first Soul Seat was conceived. It was a true homecoming for me and we were coming full circle, debuting our latest product, upholstered with original art by Jenny McGee. Jenny was a fellow Orr Street Artist back in the day when the Soul Seat was just starting out and most people who sat cross-legged thought they were alone. Fun fact, furniture design wasn’t originally part of the plan. I landed at Orr Street seeking studio space to compose music.
Our newest product, The Ottoman, is upholstered in limited edition fabric printed with Jenny McGee’s original art.
I knew it was going to be a celebratory presentation, but I was surprised at how choked up I got once I started talking about the pride of place I had in Orr Street and the thriving North Village Arts District it spawned. As I recounted the Soul Seat story to this group of creatives, they knew many of the people whose names I called out for credit. It wasn’t as boring for them as it would be for you if I enumerated the cast of hundreds here.
What surprised me most in the retelling, was how much of the global impact of the Soul Seat has occurred through the permission we’ve been granting people to sit “weird”, even for folks who don’t yet own a Soul Seat. Just knowing that there’s a beautiful alternative has made all the difference for so many. What a privilege to see the cultural power of good design executed in community, for community.
Moving into Orr Street Studios over ten years ago gave me a front-row seat to observe the role artists play in economic development. They didn’t just bring out the furniture designer in me, several blocks of downtown Columbia have been transformed because of them. If you are a creator, I urge you to give yourself permission to claim the moniker of Economic Developer. Too often the folks that are given the designation “Developer” are more likely degraders of our watersheds, ecosystems, and native habitats. We creators can help each other perceive the full extent of our value.
As I retold the stories of the Soul Seat, I was reminded that it was a time in history when furniture stores were closing their doors all over the country. Who was I to think I could launch a furniture design firm with global reach? A friend in the finance sector asked, “What do you know about furniture manufacturing?” Nothing, then, but that same friend, when he soon saw that I was passionate about this project, connected me with Amish woodworkers just a few miles north of us who were instrumental in fashioning our early prototypes as fine furniture.
Yes, there will always be naysayers in response to your creative dreams, but there are many many more who want to see you be successful. Keep collaborating with them. Turn off the comment section in your head long enough to get momentum behind your ideas. Keep turning over stones, you’ll be amazed at the talent you’ll find. Right here in fly-over country, we’ve found all the talent we need to bring an iconic chair to life, one that the rest of the world is now copying. The manner in which we craft them, never compromising the quality of our original version, ensures it’s still the best you’ll find the world over. What sort of talent is waiting to be discovered in your burg?
Now my latest artistic project, (other than furniture design) is a re-collaboration with the artist that shared her studio with me back when I first started at Orr Street Studios. Elizabeth Jordheim has created an art gallery/event space called Serendipity Salon and Gallery in the same North Village Arts District. I am performing jazz piano during the lunch hour there every Thursday. Full circle.
Pack’s talk starts at 13:45 and you can view the slides here.