Today we’d like to introduce you to Wilson Whitlock.
Hi Wilson, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a 27-year-old artist who specializes in painting and public art, I’ve been making art since high school for the past 12 years now. Originally I am from Little Rock, Arkansas, I got my Bachelors degree in Fine Arts in 2021 at Arkansas Tech University. In 2023 I got accepted in the masters program of the University of Memphis, I’ve been living here ever since.
Since I was in high school I have developed interest in painting and creating artwork. It was cathartic and rewarding, it was a way to express myself in a way words couldn’t I enjoyed it and I wasn’t terrible at it. However, I wasn’t the best, in some cases I was not that good at all, and I was surrounded by just as talented and even more skilled peers. Many people feel sorry for themselves and give up. The opposite is true for me, I strive to be better and surpass talented peers.
That’s why art is enticing for me, there is never a ceiling of perfect, the best artists grow and learn. I’ve been told I have an endless resource of inspiration and the ability to take feedback and see when I am wrong. Those aspects are what is important to be an artist.
In my time in undergrad school I took this philosophy and improved faster than all of my other peers. In 2019 I entered the student competition in my school. I did not win, didn’t even get honorable mention. However my work got into the student exhibition. They only select 25 art works out of 100 to be shown, and mine got in. I got a taste of minor success and recognition. I saw what it took to win in that competition and I swore to myself that in the next school year I would take first prize.
Which I did.
Following that, I would graduate in 2021 with my BFA. In all honesty, I had no idea what I wanted to do and the job market was horrible. Everything changed when in 2022, I did a mural workshop with master muralist Robert Dafford. The experience enshrined a pursuit of mural artwork as a profession, later that year I would get my own mural project in Little Rock. It was only a 2 x 2 feet section, but it was a good start.
In 2023 I was accepted into the University of Memphis masters program, and alongside my studies as an artist I continued to grow my portfolio in public art. Each project I would get, it would increase in size and in scope further. I would win the Graduate Purchase award at University of Memphis in 2025. Finally in 2025, with the experienced I gained I managed to get my first big pr0ject. I applied for a city project with the Urban Art Commission, was accepted and commissioned to work on a 440 ft x 6 ft mural on a flood wall at Chelsea Avenue. Some artists apply to projects like this their whole lives and never get the chance to or even be capable of completing, and I managed to get one at the age of 26.
Over the course of several months while at the same time completing my masters degree in fine arts, I worked on and completed this goliath mural project. I spent my time going from the studio working on my thesis show to out in the field with the floodwall. I was able to hire my girlfriend Hallee Ward to help execute the design, as well as help from artists Skye Kryszak, Michelle Riestra, and Aremi Fernandez.
In May of 2026, I completed the masters program at the University of Memphis and officially have my masters in fine arts. During my time here in Memphis I’ve completed a total of six murals, and hope that number continues to grow further. Later this year I am going to participate in Paint Memphis for the third year in a row and I intend to outdo the previous two installments I made for the festival. When I create work, I strive to create something only I am capable of doing and creating environments where audiences get lost in and feel livid. It’s not enough to create a design, it has to be unique and impact peoples emotions in some way or another. It is my dream to one day have a mural installed every single state in the country and impact as many people as I can.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Art can be a bloodthirsty field to be a part of. There’s only a couple of artists that I know that I don’t like that much, almost all artists are pleasant and supportive towards each other. However, the reality is despite being pleasant all artists are competing with each other constantly in the arena of spotlight. It’s a field where the more you are seen the more monetarily successful you are. To be seen you have a combination of knowing the right people, having some skill in the medium you work in, standing out, and sheer dumb luck.
I’ve known artists who were more talented that I was, but could not handle the stress and pressure of being an artist. There’s always someone who is better than you and more successful than you are. Social media acts as a reminder that you aren’t doing as well as some others. You have to be able to sell yourself and be able show work that others couldn’t, while a tsunami of other artists talented and untalented obscure you from being seen.
In working in public art, you have to constantly be looking at the next project, even if you aren’t even done with the previous one. Some artists will get to a point in their career where they don’t have to seek out projects, and have people come to them. I’m not there yet, I am at the stage where I have to seek out opportunities. I have to do research on what an organization wants, write a letter of interest talking about what I would do if I got the project, put together an application, sometimes I make a design that I won’t get compensated for if I am not selected.
Most artists get 1 out of 10 opportunities they apply for, even the established and recognized ones. As a younger artist it gets to be 1 out of 20. I’ve been fortunate with the projects I’ve gotten so far. I’ve met an artist who did not get their first real mural project for 7 years trying to get one. I got one the first time I tried. Even with luck the struggle is real.
In 2022, I applied to show work in 20 galleries back in Arkansas, and I either never got an answer or was flat out rejected. I took a break from trying to show in galleries for a while and worked on improving my art overall and making a cohesive and unique portfolio of art. I can say that I’ve been able to show in 7 different galleries this past year with my body of work.
Being an artist is not easy by any means. We live in a time where art is undervalued more and more. Especially with the rise of Artificial Intelligence which is undermining the value of artists even further.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Painting and Public Art.
I create larger than life paintings that are dreamlike and can pull the viewers into the dynamic scenes I create. My work is unique in subject matter and presentation. In my personal work I focus on issues of affordability and anxiety as a result of late stage capitalism in the contemporary moment. Right now that’s important to talk about. I rarely ever see other artists I know or in the region even remotely focusing on those subjects right now. I graduated in 2021, and my generation was indoctrinated to believe that if we all went to college, waste four years of our lives, we would get a well paying job outside of minimum wage and menial labor. Well I graduated and could only get minimum wage jobs that involved menial degrading labor. We are taught that we are the cause of our failure, and if we put effort into things we will be rewarded. That ends up not being true at all in fact. At first I felt terrible because I wasn’t succeeding, like I was doing something wrong. I’ve learned that I’m not the only one dealing with this. It’s a nationwide problem. So I’ve channeled my frustration and anxiety into my artwork and criticize the system. I challenge perspective in my paintings, and experiment with using different environments to convey themes and messages.
My public work also challenges perspective and environments in my designs. While I would love to make the work more personal driven people are not ready to be challenged. I do pride myself and create public art designs that I can still be proud of and that are uniquely something only I could do. It’s vaguer but still has the impression of deeper meaning if you are willing to look hard enough.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Do not get discouraged when you are rejected, learn from what went wrong and change your approach. I see talented artists give up too easily. Sometimes you’ll get 20 rejections in a row but do not let that discourage you. Don’t be afraid to take feedback from those around you.
I wish I practiced more with art instead of playing video games as much in high school. If I was to relive the past 10 years I would focus on looking at a more variety of contemporary artists and practice improving my skills further. Looking at other artists is incredible for personal growth and inspiration
Something that I told my students while I was teaching in graduate school, is that you should not make artwork because you think people will like it. It’s impossible to pander to everyone, I tried that so hard for the first nine years of my career as an artist. Too often I see young artists trying to make artwork that they can sell or garner attention from in online communities. I tried that to only minor success and it made me miserable.
I’ve found much more success doing the work that I want to do and not caring about what other people think. If you like what you are doing, then someone else will too.
Now I still think listening to feedback is important, improving how you can make a work of art and why is it not doing the thing you want to do is hard to do on your own. But don’t let other people tell you what you should make art about specifically. Don’t be afraid to ruffle feathers.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilson_whitlock_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wilson.whitlock.9
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilson-whitlock-038a38212/
