I'm Phillip Clark, multimedia artist and designer. I was born in Raleigh, NC in 1974 and spent most of my childhood traveling all over the US with my (Army) family. But I mostly grew up in Atlanta, where I currently reside.
My creative journey began in 1995, when I studied art and design under the renowned artist, Ray Shead. A few years later I moved to Boston, where I began working at Ciavarra Design in the prestigious Boston Design Center. My work lead to several projects that connected me with the local art community. Together with several artists we created By Local, a group that produced numerous live art auction events and helped ignite the shop local movement. During my time with By Local I became a talent scout for emerging artists and through these efforts I discovered and became friends with an artist named Chad Mize. Together we created Bluelucy, an uplifting art lifestyle brand. This creative partnership became something bigger than we could imagine and would define us and everything around us for years to come.
At the beginning of 2003 Bluelucy moved to St. Pete, FL where we found a community with tons of potential but also lacking any cohesion or direction. We began connecting with every artist and creative we could find and by holding art events in any space that would let us, within a few years it all started coming together.
Then in 2005, I founded The Artillery, an artist collective that aimed to redefine St. Pete's cultural landscape.
Under my leadership, we launched "I Love St. Pete," an annual art event that celebrated local creative talent.
The success of this festival caught the attention of a community group who approached me with a proposal to restore a deteriorating local landmark, The St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club. I got to work and created "St. Pete Shuffle," a weekly Friday night event that featured art, music, and refreshments. Not only did this endeavor restore life to the club, but it also sparked a resurgence of the sport on a national level.
In 2010, my partner and I opened The Bluelucy Gallery on the 600 block of Central Ave in St. Pete. This pioneering venture showcased over 450 local and national artists in more than 40 curated exhibits. After five successful years, our presence on the block helped revive the area, causing property values to skyrocket, making the rent on our space unaffordable. At this point I realized my work in St. Pete was complete, because my passion lies in creating the spark, building things from the ground up, and I did everything I set out to do there.
After St. Pete I returned home to Atlanta in 2016, where I now live with my husband, Dan, of 12 years, and my beloved Boston Terrier, Hank, who just turned 14. We live in the city of Chamblee and I'm excited to say that it's on the cusp of becoming the hottest creative community in Atlanta. I'm proud to be a part of it's artistic Renaissance and emergence into the spotlight that it deserves.
Today, I continue to push the boundaries of art and design, experimenting with new materials and techniques to create truly innovative pieces. My works range from small format paintings to large format public art installations and murals. I use various mediums, such as acrylic, enamel, collage, ink, resin, and upcycled material to bring my ideas to life.
My art has found its way into private and corporate collections and has been featured in notable spaces, including the Smithsonian Design Museum, RISD Museum, Tampa Museum of Art, and Design Museum Boston.
Here are some highlights from early on at The Artillery
St Pete Shuffle
In 2005 I was out getting a bite to eat in St Pete, wearing my Artillery t-shirt, when a guy came up to me and said he had heard about me and what I was doing. He asked if I would get my food to go and have lunch with him at the shuffleboard club. I was intrigued and so we met there and talked. Meeting Chris Kelly that day lead to a collaboration that changed the future of the shuffleboard club and all those involved. 17 years later it's still going strong. When I think about all the good we did, the joy we brought into the community, it's truly humbling. When I created The Artillery, I came up with the tagline, "Defining Creative Culture" – it was a bold statement for sure, but also accurate.
