In Good Company: Cole Pierce

An ongoing series of short interviews with artists that we work with or admire called “In Good Company.” Answers are lightly edited for length and clarity.

Location: Chicago, IL

Hometown: Morning Sun, IA

Degrees: MFA, Northwestern University; Post-Bacc, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BA, Cornell College

Favorite Color: Currently teal but changes frequently

Hobbies or Personal Collections: Discovering music and buying records. I read reviews and go down rabbit holes of research, listening to new music of a variety of genres.

As a child, did you know you wanted to be an artist? If not, what did you want to be?

I didn’t know what I wanted to do professionally until I went to college. I decided to major in Sociology and thought I might go into social work or academia. Cornell College is run on a block system, so when I started taking art classes I was completely immersed in each class. On a field trip to the University of Iowa, seeing Jackson Pollock’s Mural for the first time blew my mind. After that, I began making work on my own and added an Art major during my second or third year.

have any other jobs outside of the art world informed your work as an artist? 

I spent 20 years working in the communications department at Northeastern Illinois University, which housed an array of outreach programs in Chicago Public Schools. I produced video documentation, learned about experiential education, and worked with 7th-12th grade students during summer programs and after-school clubs.

Early on, my artwork was wildly interdisciplinary and included relational aesthetics and social projects. Gradually, my artwork became more formal and my day job became the place where I focused on social issues and group dynamics.

However, my day job did influence my artwork in other ways. Most of my colleagues had backgrounds in pedagogy theory and youth development. This environment seeped into my practice, especially when I think about my practice through the lens of chaos theory.

On a practical level, many of the student programs were STEM related, which is where I learned about digital fabrication tools. In my studio, I was using a masking process to make paintings — meticulously hand-cutting tape. At work, I was exposed to laser cutters and 3D printers so I applied for a DCASE grant to work at a maker space and learn how to use a digital plotter to cut masking vinyl. Soon after, I bought a vinyl cutter for my studio, which transformed and expanded my practice.

What is your favorite non-art object in your studio right now? Why do you have it?

I have a broken piano hammer stowed away in a drawer. It was gifted to me by my great aunt Charlotte after completing my MFA at Northwestern. She had kept it as a memento from the time I was 12 and she employed me to destroy and remove an upright piano from her house. I demolished that piano until it fit into trash bags. Charlotte had always supported me and my career choices, and that broken piano hammer reminds me of that support.

What has been a defining moment of your artistic career so far?

It has to be the 11’ x 50’ mural I painted in 2016. It is in my neighborhood in Rogers Park and we pass by it often. I think it was the first time my kids realized I was a professional artist.

How do you measure your own success in the art world?

Exhibitions and placing work in collections is one metric of success — when my work is in public view and living in new environments and when it becomes a part of someone’s everyday life. The second metric of success for me is when I feel like I’ve made progress in my studio and have pushed my practice somewhere new.

If you were placing artwork in an office, what artists would you be most excited to work with?

Farah Atassi, Clare Grill, and Bayne Petersen.

To see more of Cole Pierce’s work, check out his website or Instagram.