Today we’d like to introduce you to Rinette Korea.
Hi Rinette, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started Artdillo Studios in October 2023, but in many ways, the seed for this work was planted long before that. Ever since graduating from art school during Covid in 2020, I felt the abrupt loss of a safe space and community for my creative spirit. A “third space” where I was free to experiment, make mistakes, and express myself was taken away from me, and I suddenly realized how much I had taken a space like that for granted. After I moved back in with family in Flint, I grew increasingly depressed; I had no friends or community here, so I stopped making art and stopped pursuing my passions. I was despondent.
Ultimately, I decided the only path forward was to build the kind of space I always wished existed here.
Artdillo Studios began as a small open studio experiment—just a room filled with tables, supplies, and an open door. People came, they stayed, they talked to strangers, and they made art. Very quickly, it became clear that this wasn’t just about crafts or hobbies; it was about belonging, healing, and community.
Today, Artdillo Studios is growing into a genuine third space—not home, not school, not work, but a sanctuary where anyone can exist and express themselves freely. Our next evolution is launching structured programs and classes to teach people how to develop, practice, and refine their craft. With grants from Community Foundations of Greater Flint and Flint ReCAST, we successfully launched the Art Portfolio Development programs for youth in Genesee County, teaching them how to develop professional-level works for college or professional opportunities.
And that’s the story of how we got here: starting with one open door, one table, and one artist at a time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road — but I think that’s true for anyone trying to build something from nothing.
One of the biggest challenges has been access to funding and legitimacy as a new organization. When you’re small and community-based, people love what you’re doing in spirit, but institutions want long histories, data, and proof — which is hard to produce when you’re still in the building phase. So I’ve had to learn how to do the work while documenting the work, so that every open studio, every workshop, every person who picks up a paintbrush can count toward something measurable. Two, politics in the nonprofit world is real, especially in a place where resources are limited and competition for funding is strong. Even though—at least on the surface—everyone is working towards a common goal of helping our community, older and more established organizations can be dismissive, hostile or unwilling to share the ‘sauce.’ They don’t want a situation where you may be trying to split the already limited slices of the funding pie. They can be unfriendly to hungrier, more ambitious, younger grassroots organizations and say things like “you don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.” I think this is a huge issue that the general public is not aware of.
Another struggle has been accessibility — balancing affordability with sustainability. I refuse to price out the very people I’m trying to serve, so most of our programs are low-cost or donation-based. But that means constantly problem-solving behind the scenes to stretch budgets, repurpose materials, and barter resources to keep the doors open.
And finally, there’s the emotional side. Creating a safe space means carrying a lot of people’s stories, grief, and hopes. Art brings vulnerability to the surface — especially for communities like Flint dealing with socio-economic challenges or young people dealing with heavy trauma. Holding a safe space for that is wonderful, but it also takes perseverance. But through every challenge, there’s been proof that work like this matters. Every time someone says, “I haven’t felt this relaxed in years,” or “I didn’t think I could make something like this,” it reaffirms the mission. So no, it hasn’t been smooth, but it’s been deeply worth it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I wear a lot of hats, but at the core, I’m an artist, a designer, and a builder of systems that empower people. Professionally, I come from a background in digital marketing, graphic design, and web development — I’ve spent the past five years doing marketing strategy, UI/UX development, and branding work for other organizations and small businesses. I hold a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, which gave me both the creative and strategic foundation to approach complex problems from multiple angles.
Artistically, I specialize in drawing and painting, and I’ve always been fascinated with how visual language communicates emotion and identity. But what I’m most proud of is not just making art — it’s helping other people discover that they can make art too.
Long before Artdillo Studios, I spent four years as part of Seven Mile, a student-led nonprofit that offers free art, writing, music, and coding programs to youth in the Brightmoor, Detroit neighborhood. I helped run arts programming there, and witnessing how creativity could shift confidence, behavior, and community dynamics was transformational for me. I took everything I learned—from program design to relationship-building—and directly transferred it to Artdillo.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Yes, I definitely did not do this alone—Artdillo Studios took a village.
First, my parents deserve tremendous recognition. When I shared my idea of turning one of their commercial buildings into a nonprofit art space, they were quite skeptical but decided to help me. They remodeled the space themselves, transforming it from a bare room into a welcoming space ready to hold community, paint splatters, and possibility. Their trust gave me the foundation most entrepreneurs spend years trying to secure and I am extremely grateful and recognize my privilege.
I also owe so much to Diva Walker, our board president and one of my life mentors. She has been part strategist, part therapist, and part hype woman. She guided me in navigating relationships, connected me with key community leaders and resources, and consistently pushed me to dream big while staying grounded.
And honestly, our community and studio-goers deserve equal credit. Every person who showed up—even when it was just folding tables and mismatched chairs—gave me energy to keep going. Whether they realized it or not, their consistent attendance was a form of moral support, telling me, “This matters. Keep it alive.” Word-of-mouth has been our strongest marketing tool; people didn’t just participate—they advocated for us.
The success of Artdillo Studios is not mine alone. It is a co-created effort between family, mentors, and the community who claimed this space as part of Flint. I may have founded it, but they are the reason it continues to grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artdillo.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artdillo.studios
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artdillo.studios/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtdilloStudios
