Meet Melissa Grano | Creative, Activist, and Visual Communication Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Grano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I think I pursued a creative career for the sheer desire to grow as a person. Art to me was always a form of expression, an opportunity to go beyond my own reality and a way to connect with my community. Where words lacked creativity made up for it. It brought me purpose to keep helping others who want to be creative and understand themselves.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m not sure if my art in particular sets me apart from others, but I do believe my art speaks from the heart and my feelings. I draw/design what I feel. The styles I choose varies but usually uses bold, often chaotic imagery, black with bright colors, bold lines with inspiration of punk subculture. In terms, my art is me. I feel dark, but with so much brightness inside. Overtime, as I grew as a person I geared my art toward advocating more for the community and to shine a light on voices that are not heard. It’s important to me to use creativity as a form of resistance against those who oppress others. I think I am most proud of is being able to gain the opportunity of creating a creative safe space for others to enjoy and come together as a community. As well as, gaining new friendships with others who gear towards the same things.

Like everything in life it takes hard work to achieve some sort of success. In working hard I’ve gained the ability in connecting and maintaining relationships with other creatives, discovering new ways to be creative, and taking care of the community. In return, it lead me to where I stand today as an artist. Even though, the challenges never really end I know I have faith in myself and my surrounding community’s support to be able to problem solve and keep working towards a solution. I’ve learned many things as well. I learned in creating a community it’s important to be able to communicate, listen, and as well as hold each other accountable. I also learned as a creative it’s enjoyable and inspiring being around other creatives. It helps being surrounded by art in order to create art. I want the world to know that I want to keep making art for the arts sake of existing. Being able to be creative and be able to give the opportunity to explore our imagination helps us discover more about ourselves and what we are are capable of accomplishing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In my opinion the best places to see and visit has been Mecca Hills or Painted Canyon, Joshua Tree, and White Water River. The views of the mountains as you hike the terrain is beautiful. There’s plenty of activities for folks to enjoy from camping areas, climbing, off road trails, picnicking, and swimming in the river. For food and entertainment I have learned local has been the best. You have your street vendors posted in every corner in Coachella and Indio varying in food from mariscos, sushi, tacos, iced drinks, snacks and so much more as you explore the cities. Then you have some local spots like bart lounge bar and arcade that occasionally have free shows that also range in music genre to connect all sorts of communities. You also have the community art walks in Cathedral City in the Perez Art district, farmers markets with local produce and vendors, and lastly, you have the D-I-Y community that try having affordable shows run by local artists and performers.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shout out my close friends and community. They have always uplifted and inspired me, in my darkest days, to keep pushing forward with my goal of becoming a resource for creativity.

Website: https://www.burntoutcreativexx.art

Instagram: burntoutcreativexx

Linkedin: Melissa Grano

Image Credits
Credit for photos of workshops to feedtheblockIE and quemadremedia.