Brand Journey — Bess Creator, Christy Mack’s, Story: Return to the Bay and Branding Non-Profits and Grassroots Ventures (Part 5)
Once back in the Bay, Christy continued to work with arts and culture organizations and more artists too. She partnered with Bay Area businesses, non-profits and grassroots groups and undertook work with creatives using artistic and cultural expressions as platforms for societal change. She even co-founded a public art organization.
“SLO gave me the chance to put my vision for creatively beautiful do good brands out there; to show these kinds of brands were not only possible, but necessary for communities. I wanted to bring the same approach to the Bay Area .”
Christy’s first post SLO project was with San Francisco’s Intersection for the Arts. Her goal was to extend their impact further into city communities. She built partnerships with the Mayor’s office, 5M, Rebar, IDEO, and 5MPlaceWorks to launch the city’s first Urban Prototyping (UP) Festival. The UP Festival demonstrated how public space could be reutilized and revived by placing art installations combining visual art, dance, architecture, and technology in neighborhoods.
“Seeing neighborhoods reborn because of the UP Festival left me wanting more,” Christy explains. “It propelled me to co-found Art Moves Project (AMP) to reimagine communal spaces in the East Bay.”
Serving as co-founder and co-artistic director Christy not only conceived the AMP brand, but secured start up and ongoing funding. She has participated in commissioning and curating the collaborative work of more than 25 artists from different disciplines and backgrounds to produce nine temporary public art installations, bringing art out of traditional indoor venues for all to experience.
“I am extra in love with AMP because it’s a great example of how brand can manifest creatively and beautifully across all mediums – online, in print and ultimately in physical space. The brand Holy Grail for me,” Christy shines.
As Christy began to interact more with East Bay communities through cultural projects, she witnessed glaring inequities. She felt called to respond.
Christy leveraged the power of brand to fundraise for local non-profits, including the Lafayette Juniors and White Pony Express. Both organizations ease the pain of the Bay Area’s marginalized and disadvantaged – the unhoused, immigrant families, battered women and children, disabled veterans, foster teens, and homebound seniors.
“Christy’s work helped fill gaps in basic needs from food, clothing and medical care. It also supported moving people through homelessness via pop-up care villages, emergency shelters and rapid rehousing services.”
Christy shares “This work is something my parents would do; something they taught me to do. And once again I get the joy of creatively using brand for good.”
Feeling the urgency of our time, Christy converted her decade long freelance practice into a brand studio.
“The world is a complicated place. I want to support organization and civic leaders in creating more of the world we want to see through our work together. ”
In life’s circular nature, Christy’s first California home, Berkeley, is now home to Bess, her studio.
She goes on to say, “I’m grateful I have gotten to work with organizations of all shapes and sizes, of all origins on my journey. I’m excited to see what’s next, for Bess and for me.”