Artist Spotlight: Sara Cowan
Sara Cowan
Factory Obscura Artist Spotlight
A lot of folks may not realize that it takes more than art to make an experience like Mix-Tape work. It takes logistics and planning and personnel, it takes a focus on things like rules and safety and fair policy, and it takes thinking long and hard about the participant experience. In other words, it takes people like Sara Cowan.
Honesty, inclusivity, community-building, healing.
When you ask Sara what’s important to her, these are the themes that rise to the top. As an artist, she stitches and paints them into everything she creates. As Factory Obscura’s head agent of experience, providing them for all our participants is her number-one priority.
“We work to make sure all people, including those who are underrepresented and those living with disabilities, have access to our spaces,” she says. “We want everyone to feel welcome, and I'm happy to be a part of that.”
Tammy Greenman, Factory Obscura co-founder and director of strategic creativity, says it shows in everything she does. “Sara's attention to detail, her capacity to devise a way to do something, and her emphasis on safety and accessibility are unparalleled. We are so grateful to have her on our team.”
An outflowing of her heart for our participants, Sara’s art has also been an integral part of the Factory Obscura experience since the beginning. A quilter for almost 20 years, Sara contributed her sewing skills to our first immersive event, the Midnight Dinner. “I definitely cried when I got my first check for making art,” she says.
Since then she has found ways to use all her superpowers – including her singular, textured painting technique developed as a “meditative distraction during some rough times” – to contribute to the mission of Factory Obscura.
“I know I’m a part of something that helps people heal and have emotional experiences,” she says, “and that kind of meaningful work is such a magical thing to have in our community.”
Who's your favorite Feel?
"Hope Reign Beaux, because I like a reminder that better days are ahead during any challenging time."
What do you do when you're not at Factory Obscura
“Since 2019 I've had the pleasure of teaching at Oklahoma City Girls Art School, a nonprofit after-school program. I have really enjoyed building relationships with the girls in my group, who just finished 4th grade.”"