The Arts on the Millrace tradition has highlighted the growing artist community in Goshen since 2013. The 2020 event had to be virtual due to COVID-19, but this year, everyone was back in person. Food and drink vendors, musicians, and artists gathered to share their craft and skills with their community once again.
Tasha Friesen, a 2015 Goshen College Graduate, was one of the artists that set up a tent and displayed artwork to sell at this year’s Arts on the Millrace. At the event, Tasha talked about her journey with art.
“I have always wanted to be an artist my whole life. I was discouraged by that track by my family and society. They thought that I couldn’t be successful or make a living as an artist. But I kept coming back to it.”
Friesen talked about what she loves most about working on her art.
“I love the conceptualization stage. I like that nothing ever turns out how I want it to in my head, but I can see it in the beginning how I want it to be. And there are so many stages in pottery from putting the lump of clay on the wheel to pulling it out of the last firing is such a long time and so many factors come into play that I don’t have control over. It is a good challenge for me.”
She shared some advice for future artists.
“It is worth it. It is so hard and exhausting. I am a one person operation. I do all my own marketing, all my own everything. It is all out of my garage. It is exhausting, I am poor all the time, but it is worth it. I spent a lot of my life cramming myself into jobs that were more stable but not what I wanted to do, and it wears on you, I burnt out every time. Doing art all the time is what my soul wants to do.”
Tasha Friesen is just one example of the talent we have in Goshen. For more information on upcoming artists events go to http://goodofgoshen.com/. Reporting for Globe News, I’m Gabriella.
