THE ART OF BUSINESS: Picturing Watie White as Both Artist and Entrepreneur

WATIE WHITE, ARTIST AND ENTREPRENEUR

THE ART OF business

PICTURING WATIE WHITE AS BOTH ARTIST AND ENTREPRENEUR

Watie White’s art has been exhibited at numerous institutions

from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, to Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney and Omaha’s own Joslyn Art Museum — not to mention countless pieces in private and public collections. He’s spoken at many prestigious art events and been a visiting artist at several art schools.

In recent years, his studio has produced public art projects like 100 People, Benson Mural Project and New Nebraskans in collaboration with local entities including Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, Immigrant Legal Center, Omaha Housing Authority and Omaha Public Schools.

There’s no question that White is creatively successful. At his open studio event held annually to coincide with Berkshire Hathaway weekend, however, visitors often express curiosity about how an artist can also be commercially successful. The affable artist said he finds some of the misconceptions amusing.

“I get the questions about, ‘How do you make a living?’ ‘Do you live on this?’ ‘Do you sleep in this room?’ They’re a little bit disbelieving that this is a way a real person can live and work in the world … I think they are actively challenging their own understanding of how someone has their own sustainable creative practice,” he said. “They think that if you’re an artist, it must be fun and must be silly; you must goof around all day … Well, I think we have a different picture in our mind about what’s going on in this situation.”

In actuality, White has a lot in common with other successful entrepreneurs.

Education

To begin with, he’s educated. White is a graduate of Carleton College (Minnesota) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“When I went to college, I never questioned if I would be doing art or not. The question was, ‘How do I get to do more of it and do things that are meaningful?’” he said, adding that attending a liberal arts college as an undergraduate was a good fit.

“I learned how to ‘learn’ things, how to think about what I’m being

I never found anything that was more interesting or that was going to be rewarding in a deeper way, a more holistic way.

- WATIE WHITE, ARTIST

taught, and how to put that into some sort of context and build a way of seeing what the issue is from multiple perspectives so I can more fully and wholistically understand what I’m looking at,” he said.

Mentoring

Like other entrepreneurs, White has found mentors to provide insight and guidance and now mentors others.

“It’s impossible to not try to pay it forward,” he said. “I wound up collecting mentors along every step of the way … I’ve been incredibly fortunate where these people who had so much understanding of their own life and their own trajectory could share that and were eager to share that with me.”

Motivation and Passion

White has great passion for his work, something Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett himself is known for promoting in the oft-quoted statement, “In the world of business, the people who are most successful are those who are doing what they love.”

“I never found anything that was more interesting or that was going to be rewarding in a deeper way, a more holistic way,” White said. “It’s a very holistic thing. It’s very hard to separate my work from everything else I value in my world and in my life … The idea is that whatever I’m working on, I’m learning something from, I’m growing.”

Discipline and Productivity

White said he draws, paints or makes prints virtually every day, and that the process itself provides inspiration.

“I learned that I have to investigate a lot of things, that my work is better when I work quickly, and that there is a certain amount of resolution that I need to get — but that if I do absolutely everything that I can think of to a painting I will kill the thing in that painting that is good,” he said. “I have to leave a little bit of something that is still unfinished.”

White seldom works on commission, which means he’s built up an impressive body of work. People ask him why he continues to produce art that he can’t always cash in on right away.

“Art is not something you can hard-sell. You can’t convince someone that they love it; either they love it and are thinking about it or they are unmoved,” he said. “I’m engaged in a lot of things. I work with a lot of people and on a lot of projects in addition to what I’m making out of the studio. When I think about my practice in totality, I see everything that I’m doing … each one is its own thing, its own eventual stream of income, its own direction of research and personal growth and education, and all of them feed the whole.”

Experience has taught him to be confident his artworks will move at some point.

“I may like it today and may not know how to sell it. Eventually it will find its place somewhere. I’m building up this inventory of things that I have even when my sales are relatively low,” he said. “The catalog is still gaining and growing.”

He added, “I can’t help but be encouraged to make more and to make bigger things and better things and more ambitious things and things that try to reach even more people. It’s all building up to the most important things that are still yet to come.”

MBJ

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NEW NAME, GREATER IMPACT

PCCF BECOMES COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR WESTERN IOWA

CONTENT COURTESY OF COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR WESTERN IOWA

(Council Bluffs, IA) – It is an exhilarating time in southwest and western Iowa, and Pottawattamie County Community Foundation and its Board of Directors have observed and identified growth opportunities and the need for increased services and philanthropic support.

Over the last 15 years, the Community Foundation has learned how necessary it is to build funding sources for areas of need, where caring and committed donors can invest their charitable dollars in ways that fill their passion, while creating lasting change in our communities. Two “Field of Interest” funds have been established at the Community Foundation – the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa and Southwest Iowa Mental Health and Substance Abuse Fund – both created to support nonprofit organizations in nine counties throughout southwest Iowa while increasing access to philanthropic funding in a holistic and regional way. In addition to the new funding sources, the Community Foundation established a “Make It Happen” fund development program to help nonprofit organizations build leadership within their organizations, and to assist them in developing a rich culture of philanthropy in the communities they serve. In late May, the Community Foundation will also bring SHARE Iowa to our region to support nonprofit organizations through donor engagement and a high-level of donor-centered service.

All these elements have led the Community Foundation to a place in its mission that has grown beyond Pottawattamie County and into the western Iowa region. A name change from Pottawattamie County Community Foundation to the Community Foundation for Western Iowa better reflects the Foundation’s mission to build community through giving while being a leader in donor-centric philanthropy.

“The growth of the Community Foundation reflects the awesome and inspiring support of our community,” said Tony Tauke, Community Foundation for Western Iowa Board Chair. “We have seen a substantial increase in the size of gifts and in the number of donors. Individual donoradvised and special needs funds have mushroomed beyond Pottawattamie County borders. This expansion is reflected in the new addition to our once little office which was completed due to the generous contribution and strong support of the Lakin Foundation. This seedling organization started nearly fifteen years ago and has grown into a fruitful tree of philanthropy with many branches, relationships, and donors that encompass more than just Pottawattamie County. We as a Board see the potential for growing larger and creating more impact over the coming years.”

Over the last year, area stakeholders, donors, committee members, and the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors conversed in a series of meetings and events to determine the direction and strategic vision. The consensus was to choose a name that better reflects the work the Community Foundation does in our region: supporting vibrant communities; engaging nonprofit organizations; and building a culture of philanthropy.

The Community Foundation was established in 2008, by four founding board members, Bobbette Behrens, Dean Fischer, Marie Knedler, and Kelly Summy, with the help of an initial grant from the Iowa West Foundation.

In its most recent annual report published in April, the Community Foundation shared the incredible growth and impact that donors and fund holders have created in southwest Iowa. Last year, investors awarded 269 grants totaling an astounding $1.9 million dollars to a variety of nonprofit organizations in focus areas such as community betterment, education, human services, and arts & culture. This is an 18.79% increase in grant awards from 2020 ($532,504). The investor granting, coupled with the Foundation’s grant awards, was $2.2 Million.

The Community Foundation invites you to attend its ribbon cutting and building dedication on Monday, May 16, from 8:00am to 10:00am at 536 E Broadway in Council Bluffs. The event will celebrate the new name announcement, as well as the beautiful building renovation and addition generously funded by the Charles E. Lakin Foundation. The Community Foundation will officially dedicate the building as the Florence M. and Charles E. Lakin Center for Community Giving.

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