Katie Garcia: Turning 'No' into 'Yes'

Written by Lizzie Emmons
Photographed by Kristy Woody

In 2022, Katie Garcia reached out to me for the first time. We had never spoken before, but she asked a mutual friend for my contact information. She called me to share a new idea she had with someone who was part of the downtown creative community. Although I didn’t know anything about the person on the other end of this phone call, I could tell that Katie Garcia was a powerful force for good change in our community. She told me that she and her husband, Victor, had recently purchased a property on Shannon Street in Downtown Jackson, and she was interested in making the building a space for art. My ears perked up immediately, and I had high hopes that Katie and Victor were about to solve a need in Downtown Jackson: a physical space to create art.

Since 1949, 201 South Shannon Street has been an inconspicuous red brick building of offices. When Katie and Victor purchased the building, they instantly knew that office spaces weren’t what the building was meant to be anymore. They knew that Downtown Jackson was, and is, becoming more than office spaces. With their new building being in close proximity to theLOCAL, the Farmers’ Market, the Amp, restaurants and shops, Katie and Victor had big dreams of activating the space, and their entire side of Shannon Street, into a place the community could enjoy together.

“This is what downtown needs to become exciting and fun; the element that’s missing is art,” Katie said as she remembered when she and Victor were trying to decide what to do with their new building. 

From the beginning, Katie knew that she wanted the building they purchased to be a space for working artists and creatives, understanding the value they bring to Downtown Jackson. Becoming a freelance artist or creative of any kind is incredibly intimidating and often expensive, and Katie sees Art on Shannon as a space that is accessible and affordable to all people in all situations who are looking for a creative space to land.

And a creative space for artists to land is exactly what Art on Shannon became. 

Katie began creating connections with local artists by attending artist roundtables and going to arts events to inform them about a new resource. Local artists quickly gravitated towards Katie, not only as tenants in her space, but they saw her as a person they could connect with because she dreamed of growing the downtown arts community in partnership with them. 

Once Katie formed relationships with the local artists, they all began thinking of ideas together of how to use Art on Shannon. Artists Trey Thompson and Joshua Blankenship quickly partnered with Katie to host artist pop-up events. Now known as Madison Muse Society, this group of artists hosts pop-up events at Art on Shannon and aims to enrich Madison County’s cultural landscape by providing opportunities for local fine artists.

Events at Art on Shannon are strategically planned for the benefit of both the artists and the surrounding businesses. Katie has been in contact with local businesses and organizations when planning artist pop-up events to align with other events in the downtown area, and she stressed the importance of working together with the surrounding community so that everyone is supported in their efforts to grow downtown. 

“We all have to succeed together,” said Katie.

Artist entrepreneurs frequently hear the word ’no’: ‘no' to art being a viable career path, ’no’ to finding affordable studio space to create art, ’no’ to opportunities to showcase their work. I believe the reason so many artists are drawn to Katie Garcia and what she’s building in Jackson is that she says ‘yes’ to their big arts dreams, largely because she shares those big dreams for local art too. Katie understands the regular aspects of being a working creative, so she is flexible with leases. She understands the need for more opportunities for artists to showcase and sell their work, so she provides opportunities for them to do it. She believes that artists integrating into commercial businesses is critical for a thriving downtown community, so she organizes opportunities for collaboration.

“Since the beginning, I wanted this to be a very organic, artist-led community,” Katie said.

She anticipates Art on Shannon continuing to evolve with the ever-changing arts scene of Downtown Jackson, and she is open to making changes that best serve the arts and creative community. She invisions downtown one day having an artist co-op led by the Madison Muse Society and Art on Shannon partnership where artists can have a brick-and-mortar gallery space to showcase and sell their art regularly, rather than relying on frequent pop-up events.

Turning a space like an old office building into an innovative artist studio space is something that Katie sees as an exciting adventure she has taken on, even in the face of some resistance along the way. 

“On the one hand, because so many things haven’t been done yet in Jackson, there’s so much you can do here! On the other hand, some people will say, ‘You can’t do that.’ … Sometimes you have to be willing to hear, 'no,' but not take no for an answer,” Katie said.

As we look toward the future of Jackson, many of us, like Katie Garcia, are looking at what remains of generations that have come before us and are trying to find new ways to use these spaces and tools we have to meet the needs of our neighbors. As we think through the challenges and possibilities of transforming our community for the better, I hope we each have the tenacity to turn each ‘no’ we might face into a collaborative and creative ‘yes,’ just like the Garcias have, to create revitalized spaces that work for us all.