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Since graduating from Drake University in May, Cat Hall has stayed in Des Moines to start her career in the arts. She was recently named a project specialist for Metro Arts Alliance, where she will coordinate Jazz in July, Two Rivers Expo and other special events. In her spare time, she oil paints, selling most of her work online, and is a board member of the Des Moines Music Coalition.

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I had been working at The Art Store all through college. Joe Domeier is on the board of Metro Arts and he’s the owner of the store; he let me know the (Metro Arts) position was open. I majored in painting, so I was really enthused to find a job I was interested in that also had to do with art. It’s weird to be on the business side of things, because I didn’t get exposed to that in college as an art major. Now I spend a lot of time yelling at my artist friends to enter this show or “Why does your portfolio look so unprofessional?”

Have you always been from Des Moines?

I’m from Norfolk, Neb. I actually started at [Iowa State University] as a biology major and then I switched to art and then I transferred to Drake.

What led you to join DMMC?

Scott Kubie is my boyfriend and he was the executive director for close to a year and a half. I really got involved in earnest last spring and then was elected to the board in the summer and now we’re coming around to (Gross Domestic Product, a regional music festival in March). In June, I’ll also be an emerging Iowa artist at the (Des Moines) Arts Festival at the end of June. Fourth of July we’ll have the 80/35 festival, DMMC’s major event, and then Jazz in July. That whole month is scary.

What kept you in Des Moines after you graduated?

I really like Des Moines. Early on I thought I would want to leave for an even bigger city. I think I’ll stay for at least a few years if not longer, because I do think – it sounds cliché now – but there is a cultural revolution here. A lot of the problem is you just have to make your own opportunities. You have to make your own shows; you have to enter things without someone pushing you if you’re an artist, and if you do those things, I don’t think it’s hard to get your name out there.

Where are you hoping to take your art career?

I have to figure that out. Right now I just pretty much sell my pieces online. I guess my goal would be in the next year to have a solo or small group show and sell more work online. I haven’t decided if I want to take my work to a gallery yet.

What’s a major priority in your new position?

I really would like to get Metro Arts more connected to the younger artists, because a lot of them know what it is but don’t utilize it. There are a lot of great opportunities, even if they don’t use things like our mailing list. Jana Anderson runs our outreach program, where basically we employ artists to go teach at schools. I know a lot of people that would be very qualified to do that.

What do you enjoy doing for fun besides painting?

When I was in school, I was painting 30 to 40 hours a week. Then I graduated and I had to work full time. I didn’t paint almost at all until I got this job, so I’m rediscovering the awesomeness of painting. Other than that I’m a big nerd. I like the Internet as a hobby. I like movies. Video games.

What kind of painting do you do?

I paint with oils. I paint on glass and lately tinfoil. Pretty much anything that is flat and not porous. I’ve yet to figure out how to explain it to people in a way that makes sense. My work is representational. You can look at it and recognized a cup, but it’s stylized, so it’s not totally realistic. It’s really obvious I watch a lot of cartoons, because there are lots of thick black lines and lots of broad areas of color.