How do you define art?

I define art as love.My belief is that art happens when you create something beautiful out of the bad. And the only way to do that is through love.

Here’s the thing. I promise you that you have not been privileged to have what you have without love and sacrifice. That’s what comes out of love. And that’s what makes Macon magical. It’s the people here. We really do have a different mindset.

At times, I believe it can seem like Macon doesn’t want outsiders. That we won’t allow them in. But that perception isn’t reality. The reality is—Macon chooses its people. I urge you all to ponder that. Because what makes Macon great? Its people.

Here’s the thing about true Maconites—we just want to live and be happy. We’re not in competition with anyone. We don’t care about all the big political nonsense. And why is that? Because we know, as a community, we have real-life problems to focus on.

We have real-world issues within our community.We understand that until we get our own house in order, we have no business focusing on anyone else’s. You want to know how I know this?

Because loving this city is a choice. Those of us who understand and appreciate that choice—we choose to see past the bad. We choose to love our city through thick and thin. That’s what genuine love is. It’s community. It’s getting in front of people and just being transparent and real with them. If we could all put away our anger, pride, resentment, and ego, we’d have a much happier community.

Changes like that begin from the top.

My dad always told me to shoot for the top. He never specified what top he meant.

So I’m shooting just to be the happiest version of me. And how am I going to do that? By loving my community through art.

Because art is meaningless without the people to enjoy it.