Daily Inspiration: Meet Quincy Owens

Today we’d like to introduce you to Quincy Owens. 

Hi Quincy Owens, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Owens+Crawley started by accident. Quincy taught art and Luke taught physics at Herron High School. They discovered they had mutual artistic interests outside of the classroom and their story has been unfolding ever since. 

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?
Has it been a smooth road? Anything but! Almost everything about what we do is challenging. 

First, when you work as part of a collaborative team, there is the challenge of navigating relationships. Luke and Quincy are friends before business partners. This can be difficult to navigate. They do their best to keep their egos in check, understand the value of compromise, and respect one another. 

Second, they have structured their creative partnership in a way that is intentionally challenging. They constantly push themselves out of their comfort zone on every project by exploring new concepts, using new materials, and learning new fabrication techniques. 

Third, creating art designed for public spaces is intrinsically challenging compared to other forms of art. All of the components involved in public art can be quite daunting. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We do lots of things. We are probably most known for our public art projects around the United States. We attempt to incorporate light as often as possible. We also create gallery-based works as well as all sorts of fabrication. Our gallery work varies based on the concept we choose. We fabricate almost all of our own work specializing in metals such as steel and aluminum, internal and external RGB-led lighting, plastics, and so on. We have started jokingly saying we have all of these different divisions such as our “planter division” or “fire pit division” because we are really becoming best known as two artists who are able to figure out how to also help others create their vision. Because we have so many fabrication tools at our disposal, we don’t specialize in any one area but explore as many possibilities as we can. 

What makes you happy?
That’s a hard question for one person to answer on behalf of two individuals working in partnership. As it relates to Owens+Crawley I think the best answer I can give is the sense of shared accomplishment when we create something that has pushed us mentally, emotionally, and physically. It is one thing to do something and be proud of yourself. It’s a wholly different experience to share that feeling with a friend and creative partner. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.owensandcrawley.com
• Instagram: @OwensandCrawley
• Facebook: Owens + Crawley
• Other: https://vimeo.com/user37425302?embedded=true&source=owner_name&owner=37425302