Daily Inspiration: Meet Shiva Shahmir

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shiva Shahmir. 

Hi Shiva, 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 was born a couple years after my parents immigrated from post-revolution Iran to New York and have spent my life in various places, never lasting more than 7 years at a time. We moved around for reasons pertaining to my parents’ immigration status but spent most of my years coming up in northern California. I have always been involved with the arts wherever I have lived and in middle school, I became politically active protesting Big Oil, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and response to Hurricane Katrina. In high school, my interest in journalism led me to volunteering at community and college radio station KDVS 90.3 FM in Davis where I first began in the news department. I eventually began apprenticing in audio engineering and working live sound for various events and venues in the Sacramento area and had a radio show for numerous quarters. I eventually went to university at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver Canada where I was employed as the Senior Audio and Recording Engineer and got involved in the local art and music scene. I began a studio practice in visual art at Red Gate Arts Society and assisting with production at Adbusters Media Foundation. After graduating with a bachelor’s of arts degree in fine art with an emphasis in Architectural Theory, I was interested in facilitating a space like Red Gate which included a gallery, venue, and studios, and found a similar organization called Spread Art in Detroit where I applied for an artist residency. Shortly after arriving, I began to assist in the operations of the organization through a very difficult time which eventually resulted in the executive director needing to resign. I managed to take the organization that had grown isolated from the local community and was in debt into one that has been self-sustaining (albeit with no paid staff) and has even been able to survive the pandemic. Having been new to Detroit, as the new director I did not want to prescribe my own vision for the building the organization owns, so I created a structure that allows the space to be entirely community programmed accessibly and affordably. Before the pandemic, we were seeing up to 100 events every given 12 months- all organized by and for the Detroit community. Since Spread Art has not provided me income, I have worked with other organizations in the city as well been a substitute teacher and continued gigging as a sound engineer. Currently, I serve as the Information Technology Manager at Detroit Community Technology Project where we support Detroit communities in learning to build and manager their own internet networks with our program called the Equitable Internet Initiative. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. First, being a woman in sound and music has had many challenges given that it is such a male-dominated field to the point where often women don’t even know how to support women in the field. Generally being a leader can be isolating even if you are surrounded by people or your work involves people. It can all be so exhausting and hard to emotionally regulate. Running an organization and having to deal with grant rejections can be really harsh when you really believe in what you are trying to help make happen. Because Spread Art is self-sustaining, it sometimes feels like organizations don’t think we need their help- but if I were to get hit by a bus right now- I don’t know anybody who who step in to do what I have been doing for 5 years as a volunteer. Also, the beginnings of the organization involved trauma that I had to process but also had to hold space for the community to overcome after the former director departed. Some continued to hold me responsible for his actions which was really hard when I was handling the resulting consequences alone (there was an absent board of directors at the time). Lastly, the building that the organization owns has been in dire need of renovation, and acquiring capital funding has been very difficult. This is mostly why I have not gotten paid in my time at Spread Art, any profit the organization sees currently goes straight back into the building. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My skillset has made me prone to working as an arts organizer and in technician but often people forget that I am also an artist and musician. I have maintained a creative practice at my home since becoming the President of Spread Art which involves painting, video, audio, and film photography. I also am a trained actor and was part of Sacramento Youth Conservatory for five years and studied ballet at Sacramento State University. I also play the piano and enjoy writing. My practice is centered on process and intuition. As a person without an inner monologue or vision, my art expresses the abstract way my mind interprets the arbitrary structures that make up our reality. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shiva.studio/

Image Credits
Barbara Troy
Rita Ramirez
Mario Ybarra Jr.
Sylvana dAngelo