about a month ago holly asked if i was interested in writing a piece for ilovememphis about the upcoming young collectors contemporary, the annual art fair and conference hosted by young arts patrons. i immediately said yes and set out to learn as much as i could.

i had the opportunity to speak with whitney hardy, the brains behind the operation, about everything that the ycc entails, and she very generously offered me a pass for the weekend.

i had to work over the weekend and also had an orpheum show, but i managed to pop in and out to check out the fair and meet a few of the artists.

the big highlight for me was friday night: lauren, jen, and i attended the opening party, which was awesome. i bought my first two pieces of grown up art, and i was even able to meet the artist who created one of the pieces and have her sign the back of it for me. we spent the evening drinking and chatting and pretending we know things about art before swinging by elemento to gorge ourselves on pizza and then hitting up art bar for a nightcap.

i had never attended an event like this before, and i had a great time. whitney and the entire young arts patrons team is awesome, and i low-key want to be friends with all of them. i ran into a lot of friends and met some cool new people as well, and i can’t wait to pick up my pieces in a few weeks and get them hung up in the house.

other highlights included: give365 chose our grant finalists / movie day at work / march madness began / memphis river parks partnership party / fiddler on the roof at the orpheum / lots of delicious meal prepping

xx

ps — the pieces i bought are by jess tinsley and delphine adama fawundu, respectively / all works are on display at crosstown arts through april 7, and there are still some great pieces up for grabs!