Ebony Iman Dallas makes 90% of her income from public art. She’s won awards, shown in institutions, and built a reputation in Oklahoma. But she’s been waiting for opportunities instead of creating them.
The gap between where she is and where she wants to be isn’t about talent or work ethic. Ebony spends 30-40 hours a week in the studio. She has a growing email list and sends regular newsletters.
She’s doing the work.
What’s missing are the systems and proactive strategies that would help her expand beyond her regional market.
She keeps her plans in her head instead of on paper. Her marketing highlights events rather than her art. And the fear of cold outreach—of being rejected—keeps her from putting herself in front of the people who could hire her.
This conversation maps out three suggestions to help Ebony make progress.
- Build a VIP list of 50-100 people who should know about her work and create a postcard strategy to stay visible.
- Restructure her marketing to highlight her art and storytelling instead of falling back on event announcements.
- Check in weekly with a trusted accountability partner to take the emotion out of the process and make it a numbers game.
This episode is for you if you’ve ever felt stretched between creative work and life responsibilities, or between where you live and the limits of a local market.
Instead of a traditional interview, you’ll hear a live coaching conversation with Ebony, who generously agreed to let me dig into where she’s stuck and map out strategies to move forward.
Listen
YOUR ACTION
Take one of these strategies and put it into action this week.
Reach out to one curator or gallery director you’ve been meaning to contact. Start building your VIP list of people who should know about your work. Or reconnect with an accountability partner and schedule weekly check-ins to share what you’ve applied for.
Ebony Iman Dallas Quotes
“Just having sales doesn’t mean the messages I’m trying to share with my art are getting seen by the people I want to see them.”
“I definitely need to approach businesses, which my husband’s been really trying to push me to do because he sells insurance, so it’s easy for him to go knocking door to door. I’m not really that comfortable with that just yet.”
“I haven’t been consistently applying because I don’t want to get overwhelmed to where I can’t finish what I already promised people.”
“There are times where it feels overwhelming. That’s when I’m like, okay, I need post-it notes and I need to print out the calendar for the year. That usually helps get me on track.”
“I’m so grateful for businesses and organizations reaching out to me, but I can’t count on that forever, so I just have to get over it.”
“My book is a story about my father and me. Part of it is trying to share, Hey, that’s a lie. Here’s what I’ve learned since. So it’s partly trying to clear his name and partly trying to share with people that you can heal through traumatic experiences.”
“A good friend and I started checking in once a week: Hey, what have you applied for this week? I realized how helpful that was because it takes the emotions out of it.”
“When it comes to my art, I’m a storyteller at heart, so I want them to walk away with some sort of message depending on what the piece is.”
About Ebony Iman Dallas
Ebony Iman Dallas, a fifth-generation Oklahoman and second-generation Somali-American mixed-media artist and muralist, creates work rooted in African woodcarving, textiles, and Somali-inspired linework. Her exhibitions span Oklahoma Contemporary’s ArtNOW, New York’s Romare Bearden Centennial, and she will soon release her graphic memoir titled Through Abahay’s Eyes. Dallas was the co-lead artist and project manager for the 600 square foot ceramic mural at Willa D. Johnson Recreation Center in Oklahoma City.
Dallas founded Afrikanation Artists Organization in the US and Somaliland and is a Paseo Artist of the Year.
Follow Ebony on Instagram: @ebonyimandallas
