An Interview With Penny Bauder
Seek out the specific education you need as an artist. Find a master that does exactly what you wish to do, and study under them if possible. I’m so fortunate I already had mentors and outside-of-school help for my portfolio and technical mastery, but I think it is something everyone should consider before attending a larger, more conventional, university setting. Technical skills for the craft aren’t taught in those settings as much as you would expect them to. Do your research, and seek like-minded mentors.
As part of my series about young people who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julia Maddalina.
Julia Maddalina has been actively pursuing a career in art since the age of 15. Fine art portraiture and fantasy narratives have fueled her passion for the arts through the years. Since the pandemic, she’s found herself working with numerous charities such as Project HOPE, Worldbuilders, and Jasper’s Game Day, using her artwork to further support their causes.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit how you grew up?
I’ve been making drawings and paintings since a very young age. I had a passion for learning more, so I started independent study for art and was participating in gallery shows with community art organizations around the age of 12. I participated in my first gallery show at the age of 14 and started attending the Portrait Society of America convention at the age of 15. I grew up in Rochester, NY to two parents with fine art backgrounds, and two younger siblings who also pursued the arts — acting and dance.
Is there a particular book or organization that made a significant impact on you growing up? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
“The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri was gifted to me by artist Michelle Dunaway when I was 17. It was a beautiful mixture of art theory and philosophy that kept me remembering why I chose this path in the first place. Five years later, I was introduced to the book “The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss. Aside from inspiring me to create illustrations and art based on the novel in the years to come, it led me to connect me with “Worldbuilders,” the charity Patrick had started. Over the last decade, they have raised over 10 million dollars for charities that include Heifer International and Project HOPE. Worldbuilders’ tagline is “geeks doing good” and they resonate with a unique group of people that just want to see the world become a better place. I had never encountered a charity that felt like a community before. They have inspired me to do good as well, and so I have created art to help them fundraise and joined them in their online streaming events.
How do you define “Making A Difference”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
To me, it means leaving the world a more beautiful place than I found it. I can most often do this through art itself, but this statement has deeper meaning to me now.
Ok super. Let’s now jump to the main part of our interview. You are currently leading an effort that aims to make a social impact. Can you tell us a bit about what you are trying to change in our world today?
Well, following up on my last comment, I always thought that “making the world a more beautiful place” would happen more literally — simply by my creating a beautiful work of art, but I have realized through this “Portraits of the Frontlines” series that it is far more powerful when art can also share the stories of these very special people and create an environment where they can be appreciated, celebrated and where those viewing the show can reflect on this very challenging time.
Through my art I am able to tell stories. I can create fantasy narratives, or share personal experiences through my own lens, or, in this case, I can share the stories and experiences of others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while much of my world was shut down, I wanted to honor the work of these frontline health care workers, memorializing them for the viewer not only through portraits of them after long days and some very challenging times, but also by incorporating their stories alongside the work.
We are inundated with so much fast-paced information that people move on very quickly at times, and I didn’t want people to forget these heroic efforts. My hope was to let the health care workers know that they are seen and appreciated. Seeing this exhibit can be a rather emotional experience, so I feel that this effort has been successful in that regard.
Since the pandemic, I’ve found myself working with numerous charities such as Worldbuilders, Jasper’s Game Day, and Project HOPE, using my work to further support their causes whenever I am able.
I heard about Project HOPE through a charity drive that Worldbuilders had conducted in April to support their efforts. I learned what they had been able to do to impact and help the health care workers on the frontline. It inspired me and assured me that more good could come from these paintings I had created. The portraits could remember these 100 individuals, but now through Project HOPE’s work, the series has the capacity to support more health care workers.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
With everything shutting down at the time, yet feeling a need to contribute somehow; painting portraits was fulfilling and I felt that I could do more — make more of an impact through my work rather than by simply isolating. On March 30th, 2020, I sent out a call to health care professionals on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter, saying that I would love to paint their portraits to honor them.
In learning about Project HOPE, and how Worldbuilders would assist me in funding their cause through my art, I knew this was the way I could make a larger impact with the work I had created.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. They don’t get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger?
It was two weeks into the pandemic, and in witnessing its impact on so many lives, I knew I needed to respond to it through my art somehow. I chose to honor the individuals on the frontline of the pandemic the best way I knew how, though portrait painting.
I felt so helpless to do anything about the problems facing the world, but if I could show the health care workers that their stories and experiences were seen and heard by a broader audience, and not forgotten, then I would have made some meaningful impact.
The moment Worldbuilders introduced me to Project HOPE, I knew my work could offer more direct impact in assisting the health care workers than I had imagined.
Many young people don’t know the steps to take to start a new charitable effort/project/organization. But you did. What are some of the things or steps you took to get your project started?
I had help from my friends. My connections to other people with big hearts before the pandemic helped me to get this project not only off the ground, but keep it going. I just needed my first portrait to start this whole project, and a friend I made through the Worldbuilders community reached out to a health care worker he knew, and she was my first portrait. After that, I was grateful for everyone who offered to be painted, for everyone who believed in the project, and to those who offered art supplies, as I didn’t have income at that time.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began?
The stories of this project belong to the health care workers. All the stories were incredibly touching and, emotionally, they are overwhelming to go through. So many health care workers couldn’t see their families for extended periods, yet had to be the only person able to hold the hand of a stranger as they took their last breath. The fact that those stories are not isolated incidents, but common experiences shared by many frontline workers — it just leaves me speechless. I would highly encourage people to read these stories for yourselves. I’m still receiving more stories to this day, because this experience is still hard to talk about for many people and I want to give them as much time as they need to share them, if they can.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or take away you learned from that?
Saying I would paint portraits for the duration of the pandemic (back when we all thought schools and shops would be closed for 2 weeks), then suddenly having more portraits being sent in than one person can go through, I needed to have an end goal in mind. My perspective on the project changed — as everyone’s perspectives did — as we understood the impact of the pandemic. The takeaway is to always be flexible with large projects, not only when they involve so many different people, but especially because there may be so much still unknown. The pandemic was shifting our lives so much.
None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?
So many people not only encouraged this project, but have supported my art career from a young age. All my art mentors have influenced the way my paintings look today, I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. My family, who sought out those mentors with me at a young age and allowed me to follow this path in life. My partner, who supports me, and always provides a fresh perspective with his own artistic eye. My best friends, who have gone through so much with me, and have seen me through every crazy project I set my mind to. My D&D group who provided me with virtual laughs, fun, and much needed breaks during the pandemic (not to mention that without them, I wouldn’t have found my first health care worker to paint). Rochester Art Supply, the hometown art store who has known me since before I was able to talk, and helped me with supplies for this project. The Worldbuilders community for inspiring me to do the most good in the world I can do through my passions. And finally, Project HOPE for seeing my project and helping to find a way for it to make a more meaningful difference. I’m so glad this has been able to support their efforts, and that support, in return, has meant the world to me.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
Hearing the reactions of health care workers to their portraits, knowing that people have ordered an art print to hang up at home or at work to honor these people, and the outpouring of support that the health care workers have seen, in part inspired by this project, has been humbling to say the least. I’m really proud of how this has inspired others to show their love to these individuals.
Are there three things the community/society/government can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Make sure to take care of our health care workers. There were so many stories that came to me about how they were working more than 12 hour shifts to take care of their patients, and utilizing substitute PPE like paintball masks because they were not equipped to handle the pandemic.
One key way to take care of these workers is through pandemic preparedness. We were unprepared at the outset, and today, more than a year after it began, we are struggling with the variants. Now all of the above can be solved by getting vaccinated to keep the health care workers and all of us safe.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of the interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started,” and why? (Please share a story or example for each).
1. How fragile the “gig economy” could become due to a virus. As hard as any artist could work, your entire livelihood could grind to a halt. I was part of an economy relied on personal connection in workshops, conventions and classrooms and often required air travel. When all of that stopped, I needed to be flexible to keep working despite everything being turned on its head.
2. In this kind of field, you need to be flexible and able to shift gears to keep your job relevant to the time you are living in. Being resilient and maintaining connections to a community when you can’t physically connect is very important. I found my connections and even some new communities through D&D, Twitch, and Patreon. I didn’t realize how resilient I would have to be. No one taught me as an artist how to go virtual in teaching, selling, and promotion. It was something I had to figure out myself on the spot, so I would say never hesitate to reach out for help or advice from others.
3. Seek out the specific education you need as an artist. Find a master that does exactly what you wish to do, and study under them if possible. I’m so fortunate I already had mentors and outside-of-school help for my portfolio and technical mastery, but I think it is something everyone should consider before attending a larger, more conventional, university setting. Technical skills for the craft aren’t taught in those settings as much as you would expect them to. Do your research, and seek like-minded mentors.
4. Always look out for the people that look out for you. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we need our connection to others. We helped each other as the world changed so rapidly around us. The Portraits of the Frontline project wouldn’t have happened without my connections to people that I love. Keep those people close and help them when you can.
5. Maintain the best work/life balance you can. That balance means something different to everyone. As a freelancer, it is up to me completely to control that, and it’s not something I’ve always been great at. Having my workplace in my house, and with my work being something that I love, it is hard to stop working. You have to be in tune with yourself to understand what you need from day to day. Some days you need to talk to your connections, other days you may need to be alone. Maybe you need to get a fresh perspective on a project and step away for a while or maybe you are really excited about a project and you are happily working for 9 hours straight, wondering where the time went. Loving your work while being self-aware of potential burn-out is a skill I will be trying to perfect my entire life. Yet history has shown that this balance is not only possible, but something that, done well, can leave a powerful impact.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
Aside from the positive impact you will have on others, it will make you feel good. Doing good feels good, and there’s a never ending supply of positive energy in doing this.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Since I learned about Lin Manuel Miranda back in 2015, he has been an inspiration to me. He uses his art to raise the voices of others, and uses his own voice to support causes that are important to him. The potential legacy and impact I could leave on the world as an artist never leaves my sights, and I think he is an amazing example of someone who has left a tremendous, positive mark on the world through what he creates. He has a brilliant mind and a kind soul and I would be very lucky to be in his presence someday.
How can our readers follow you online?
www.JMaddalina.myportfolio.com is my main hub to see my work and get in contact with me, but I am also @JMaddalina on Instagram, Twitter, Patreon, and Twitch where I share educational videos and demonstrations.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Young Change Makers: Why and How Julia Maddalina of Project HOPE Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.