Caitlin Lindsay has co-founded CoCreative, a community of artists and musicians working together to build a community that provides a place where artists can continually grow and share their passions. The community has a second event planned for 2 – 8pm tomorrow, June 6, at Rhino Coffee in Shreveport.
“We’re calling CoCreative a ‘community’ of sorts – a community where everyone is invited,” said Lindsay As a growing artist, it can be a little intimidating to throw yourself out into an art community for the first time. We want to break that barrier and continually create more opportunities for young artists and musicians to feel encouraged to be involved. Leigh Rose and I have been doing Vela Nora (our audio visual project) for roughly three years. We started doing performances simply for the fun of it. Art and music is what we love, so we figured we’d share it with others. During our journey, we began meeting so many talented musicians and artists. Their passion encouraged us to form CoCreative. We want to introduce everyone we meet to CoCreative and invite them to be a part of something that will encourage them, grow with them, and inspire them to keep working on what they love. I think so many young artists and musicians never receive that encouragement… and we’re here to make sure everyone gets a chance to show us what they’ve got.”
As a growing artist, it can be a little intimidating to throw yourself out into an art community for the first time. We want to break that barrier and continually create more opportunities for young artists and musicians to feel encouraged to be involved.
“There’s been a lot of negativity spreading through social media recently, so we’re also focusing on throwing art and music all over social media to try to encourage people to focus on something brighter and more positive,” Lindsay continued.
“Tomorrow, there will be acoustic sets throughout the day, and art covering the Rhino walls. I’ve booked seven amazing musicians that Shreveport needs to see! A few of these musicians have recently moved here or play in local bands. They’re a blessing to work with because they’re simply excited to play music and to work with us. We will have 7-8 artists showing work. These artists range in a variety of age and medium.”
Lindsay and Rose are behind CoCreative, and both share a passion for the arts and for bringing people together. Lindsay is from Shreveport and graduated from Centenary with a BA and concentration in Studio Arts.
“While there I was introduced to so many opportunities by my teachers,” she said. “They really opened my eyes to the beauty and potential of Shreveport.”
Lindsay and Rose work together with CoCreative and in Vela Nora, a mixed media music/art duo that entertains at many events around SBC. Leigh has been playing music for roughly 10 years, and he has been in multiple bands around the area, including On Both Feet and Scared of the Dark.
“Music and art are simply a part of us. Vela Nora is like our baby,” said Lindsay. “It holds a special place in our hearts – it’s how we communicate with each other, how we express ourselves, and how we work through the challenges life throws at us. Not only has it helped us grow closer to each other, but it has helped us grow closer to our community. Although this is ultimately what we love to do… we both have day jobs (gotta pay rent!). I’m an Office administrator at Homeland Safety Systems, and Leigh is a technician at Air Systems. We both work 40-50 hours a week, and spend our nights practicing, painting, planning shows, and working on more CoCreative opportunities.”
-With contribution from Caitlin Lindsay of Vela Nora