Featured Friday: MAKE Literary Productions
Greetings and Salutations Readers welcome back to our Featured Friday Segment. I trust that you are all enjoying these hot summer days and warm summer nights with your loved ones and embarking on some fun-filled adventures. We are still reporting from Chicago, and loving every single second of our new temporary home. We have made some amazing connections, enjoyed a famous Chicago dog, and have explored the streets filled with wanderlust. Last week we Featured the Chicago-based donut shop that blew our minds, called Stans Donuts which you NEED to visit the next time you find yourself in the windy city. This week's Feature is really special for us because this organization is a non-profit and creating some amazing change for the Chicago Arts community. Time to introduce our new friends and organization that are doing some big things.
MAKE Literary Productions is a literary Arts Non-Profit company based in Chicago that has presented and promoted contemporary writing, visual art, music, and the intersections within the arts community in multiple countries. OnBrand had the wonderful privilege of interviewing the co-founder and executive director of MAKE literary where we followed along her journey of growing within herself and her company. Sarah Dodson reminisced about the early days of the company which started in 2005, where she and a few other writers came together through the passion of writing and literature. The group wanted to continue their personal work, so they started a magazine and decided to go within the non-profit route because there were better avenues for funding and to be able to help other artists. This passion for writing has grown to amazing heights and since 2005 they have published 18 full print issues and grown to amazing events like the Lit & Luz Festival. The company had such a huge passion for the arts that they wanted to divulge in the intersections of how art can be presented like literature being shown in video creations, photography, and culinary arts.
In their research for their publication, specifically within the 12th edition, they learned a lot about international publications and how literature touched people from different languages and regions. They learned that there was a very limited amount of translated text from Spanish to English. This discovery is where the Luz festival was also born, MAKE literary invited different artists and writers from Mexico to come to present their work in Chicago. Artists then would also go down to Mexico City within the tour cycle to be able to present their work from America, creating a collaborative space for artists to work together from both countries, really opening a space for expansion and growth. When I asked Sarah what her favorite part about their company is she stated that these connections within artists are what continue to drive her passion and love for her company. She loves that she gets to be a part of something that facilitates connection for the arts between people of diverse backgrounds, countries, and languages.
The origin story and growth of this amazing company and non-profit inspired us at OnBrand for a plethora of reasons. Sarah originally started this company with other artists when she was 25 years old from a passion she enjoyed in her daily life. Originally this was a side project that she worked on for years with other colleagues until recently where it has become her full-time job. To be able to interview someone on the other side of success within a company is amazing to watch because our Twenty-Somethings is such a special time to lay roots down and create goals that will hopefully affect our lives forever. From starting a business, creating music, or obtaining a degree in the perfect field I hope everyone feels encouraged to find something that calls to them and start working towards this goal. Originally Sarah started this company because she had a love for literature and with over a decade of perseverance, growth, and vision she now gets to call this love her career and that is so extremely admirable. This motivates me personally because I currently am chasing a passion that connects people within my business and hopefully with my journey this will become my full-time career that will inspire hundreds of other artists as well.
Sarah’s company, work ethic, and journey were amazing to hear so we wanted to pass on some advice that she shared to other twenty-somethings within the arts and non-profit community during our interview. She wanted to let other people know that if you have a passion for creating a non-profit to follow this passion through lots of research, informational interviews, and hard work. She also challenges people to find a need in your community to be filled before starting a non-profit, or if you can fit your efforts into a non-profit that is already dedicated to your passion. In general, she hopes our readers can look within their community at how they can support different art programs and artists. There are so many ways to help the arts, through volunteering, being on different boards, offering your diverse skill sets to organizations, and filling general gaps of needs. Sarah taught me that supporting the arts creates ripple effects where you live and in helping artists you help the entire community become a better place.
Birdi and I walked away from this interview feeling inspired and ready to continue to create change in our lives, business, and community. We hope this pushes other twenty-somethings to lay their roots in avenues that call to their souls, help passions that shape communities and support the arts. Thank you so much to Sarah and MAKE literary productions for the amazing opportunity to work together for this blog and were so excited to see the online publications and hybrid festival you create this year. You have our full and continuous support here at OnBrand.
Thank you to our readers that support our business and the businesses that we feature. We hope you all have an absolutely fantastic weekend filled with art and community. We will see you next week.
Stay Safe and Happy Travels.
OnBrand