Lyndon House Arts Center Art Education Program Specialist William Stephanos stands in the Lyndon House Arts Center in 2023. Despite engaging in various forms of art throughout his life, Stephanos has found painting the most personal to him. “I’m not attached to earrings,but a painting, on canvas? It feels very different to me,” Stephanos said. “I don’t want to just let it go without having (a photo of it) captured for my own records. Whereas, all the jewelry doesn’t matter as much to me in that way.” Photo by Shannon Williams
Lyndon House Arts Center Art Education Program Specialist William Stephanos speaks on his journey in the art world and his advice for aspiring artists
Digital Editor Lea D’Angelo: You lived in Hawaii until you were 16-years-old. Can you talk about what that was like?
Lyndon House Arts Center Art Education Program Specialist William Stephanos: I wanted to be an actor and work in film. There’s a lot of television (opportunities in Hawaii), but to me, as a young person, I thought, ‘Oh, I just want to get off this rock in the middle of nowhere and go to the mainland.’ Now all I’d like to do is go back to that rock in the middle of the ocean, but it’s utterly expensive, so you have to have your own couple million dollars if you want to move to Hawaii now. I first came (to Athens) in 1996 and I worked during the (Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics), and I never thought I would be here this long. I actually moved up to Tennessee for a few years and went to school (at East Tennessee State University), and then I got this job (at the Lyndon House Arts Center), and I came back to Athens to work this job eight years ago.
LD: What about film were you interested in? What kind of parts did you have in that and acting?
WS: I did some modeling and some acting as a teen. I used to do fashion shows in the mall, and it was in Arizona. It was maybe a little dorky, but I got paid. I was 16,I got paid to do it and I got clothes. I did a little bit of stuff on television. I did a commercial once. I once got paid $35 to spend four hours in a studio laughing. (The directors) would be like, ‘Okay, big laugh. Small laugh.’ When they record that, and then they use it for sitcoms. So maybe you’re watching “The Cosby Show” or something, and there’s laughter in the background, and it could be me.
LD: How did that acting transform into painting and other forms of visual art?
WS: I went from acting to being a musician to starting in jewelry, and I still do jewelry, but about 10 years ago, I started painting every day, and I’ve pretty much maintained that for the last 10 years. I’ve only sold two paintings, and that was by accident. All the rest are piled up in my house, and I pretty much don’t show them to anybody. All the jewelry I ever made for 25 years has sold, so that’s been a commercial success. I don’t know if I’m ready to share my paintings. I think I am, but I need to have proper photographs before I can let any of them go, and that’s a great excuse to never let any of them go so far. But I’m working up to that, to do more exhibiting of my paintings and possibly even selling them.
LD: What was it like getting two master’s degrees at the same time at East Tennessee State University?
WS: I originally was a public administration major only, but I had been working at Circuit City. One of my customers was this very, very crabby professor from the university there, and he’d come in, and no one wanted to talk to him, and we didn’t make (a) commission. It was just hourly. So they would just all bail when this guy came in, and I would talk to him because I don’t care. I can handle difficult people. I don’t take it personally. And he said, ‘Why are you wasting all your time here? They’re never going to do anything for you here. You should come and work for me.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘I have a graduate assistantship.’ I was like, ‘Okay,’ and so I did. And the day I started was his last day at (East Tennessee State University), and he left (the school). I heard he was real crabby and no one liked him, but he was nice to me in his crabby way. But then, I was working there that first semester of grad school and I realized I was helping the undergrads, the graduate students, the professors, the PhD students, the staff, and somehow I was able to help them all (through my job). And I said, ‘Hey, Dr. Daniels,’ who was the head of the education program, the technology part of it. And I said, ‘What would it take for me to get into your program?’ He goes, ‘William, you’re in.’ So, I added it to (my Master’s of Education), and my graduate assistant paid for both.
LD: What does your work look like at the Lyndon House?
WS: I run the education department. That includes classes, after school for youth and teens – we have several teen clubs. Those meet in the evenings. We do Saturday family workshops. We have seven professional studios in the building, in addition to the children’s wing. So we have an open studio member program so that there are professionals (teaching classes). There’s a photography studio. There’s a dark room in there, and there are people that come and use it. So that’s all part of the education department. I’m also a summer camp director.
“For most artists, there is this compelling urge on a deep level that they just have to make stuff and they have to put their feelings (somewhere).”
— William Stephanos,
Lyndon House Arts Center Art Education Program Specialist
LD: What kind of impact do you hope to have with your work at the Lyndon House?
WS: I hope to be a champion for teen life in Athens, and to show teenagers that live here that they can go into creative fields like filmmaking, fashion design or illustration and find a career path that would allow them to live in Athens and not move to Atlanta or another state. So the teen clubs are all run by professional mentors. The fashion design group is led by a fashion designer, and the film group is led by a professional photographer (and) videographer. I want to continue with that. I would like to see the teens get actionable skills, meaning that they learn things that can actually be used professionally in these clubs. The clubs aren’t exactly a class, but it’s not just goofing around. It’s pretty serious stuff (but) I do want them to have fun too. If you’re a teenager, you should be having fun, and if what you’re doing isn’t fun, then maybe you should pick something else that would be better for you. I personally benefited a lot as a teenager from the arts. I was also in theater in school. So acting, theater life backstage, that 2D-set design stuff that is like that. I’d like to give people opportunities to find ways to build a career based on creative means where they can make a living and hopefully not have to move away from their families.
LD: What about art helped you as a teenager?
WS: For a couple years, in my last two years of high school, I was living in the theater at my high school. My home life was sketchy at best, and it wasn’t necessarily safe or helpful to me, so my teachers and even fellow students became like my family and support system more so than my own family. In theater, no one cares if you’re weird or abnormal, maybe just not quite what the mainstream is supposed to be thinking. I think the arts are a place for acceptance and diversity and allowing people to be their genuine self, and that was all very valuable for me as a team.
A gallery of Lyndon House Arts Center Art Education Program Specialist William Stephanos’ artwork is shown. Stephanos has found the programs the Lyndon House offers to teenagers are ones not many are given. “Get the most out of (the programs),” Stephanos said. “Pay attention, but have fun, play around. But, you’re getting these hours with these professionals that are here to basically help you learn and help you understand. It’s an excellent opportunity.” Artwork by William Stephanos
LD: You talked about wanting art to be enjoyable for people. What about art is enjoyable for you?
WS: I want the club members to have fun coming to the club, but when it comes down to really serious art making, I think it’s work, just like any other job. You can enjoy your job, you can get fulfillment from it. But is it always fun? Maybe not. But, especially if you’re a teenager, and you’re doing a club once a week, if it’s not something you’re enjoying or it doesn’t seem to resonate with you, then I would say try something that does. Or for some people, maybe that just means getting a little more serious. But in the media arts group, for instance, maybe you’re into writing and maybe learning how to do technical scripts and describing lighting and things like that is really interesting to you. The next person might be like, “Oh, writing is like homework, but acting is fun. I really enjoy it. I memorize lines well,” and you need both of those to make a movie. So, I think it is really good for the teens to try these different jobs and see if it resonates with them, if it’s something they want to dig into more, or maybe they want to move on and try something else.
LD: You’re currently selling jewelry at Impressions Fine Art Gallery in Kingston, Tennessee, how did that start?
WS: It started (when) I was a street musician in Europe, and it would get freezing cold, and my fingers would get too cold. I couldn’t play my instrument, and I started selling jewelry. That was how it started. My first lesson was from a Mexican guy in Switzerland who taught me some real basic metalwork. And I was making it as I traveled in order to help fund my travels. But when I came back after all that, I got much more serious about it in school, and I ran my own business for years, but I got a little bit burned out from being a one-man factory and sales force. I did a lot of shows, I had shops. I decided to go back to school. That’s when I did the grad school program. (The gallery in Tennessee) is it at the moment. It’s been a few years since I’ve done it in any big capacity. And if I did really well at a show and I sold x number of whatever earrings stuff, I would think in my mind, ‘Oh, that means I have to make all those when I get home to sell next weekend at the next show.’ And that’s when I thought, ‘Maybe I need to change direction.’ And I think it was fun in the beginning, and then it was not fun. It was just a lot of work.
LD: Even with the burnout or some of the challenges that might come with art, what makes you keep coming back?
WS: No choice. I’m compelled to make stuff, and like the painting, I can’t really help it. I do- not because I’ve made a decision to do it, but because I can’t seem to not. So maybe that’s not so true in the jewelry. Jewelry is very practical for me, it’s art, but it’s a fine craft, maybe. It’s not quite the same as a picture on a canvas, and maybe it’s less personal too. A pair of earrings, I don’t know if I’m giving away my own secrets, but the paintings that I make, it’s very personal, and it’s a very different feeling altogether.
“If you’re going to make it on your own as an artist or in any business, and it’s just you, it’s going to take a lot of tenacity and grit.”
— William Stephanos,
Lyndon House Arts Center Art Education Program Specialist
LD: Are there any challenges that stand out to you in being an artist, whether that is the more artistic forms you like painting or the jewelry?
WS: Being an artist as a full-time job is a lot like any self-employment. There’s never an end to the work, there’s always something you should be working on. The hours are long. At times, it can be lonely because you’re working alone in the studio. But I think for most artists, there is this compelling urge on a deep level that they just have to make stuff and they have to put their feelings (somewhere). But it has to come out of them and then go into the form of some kind of art that someone else could see. And I do think a lot of artists, if they could, would choose to not be artists. But it kind of comes down to, maybe it’s not so much of a choice. The challenges are making a living. Doing anything as a small business, self-owned type thing is going to be challenging, no matter what it is. Art can be really challenging. I mean, my paintings are really personal. They’re beyond abstract. They’re nonobjective. They’re not trying to be anything. It’s just invented. But every person who looks at them is probably going to think something totally different. How do you market something like that? Not that I want to, but if you’re trying to make a living, if I was trying to make a living as a painter, I would have to be putting my stuff out there more.
LD: You’ve talked about businesses and having a career in this world. What advice would you have for the kids in your programs that may want to go into the art world?
WS: These teen programs? Get the most out of them. Pay attention, but have fun, play around. But, you’re getting these hours with these professionals that are here to basically help you learn and help you understand. It’s an excellent opportunity. I would like them to understand what a work ethic is, because if you’re going to make it on your own as an artist or any business, and it’s just you, it’s going to take a lot of tenacity and grit. You could do everything right, you could do everything you can, and you may not achieve success in the eyes of the world, or at least financially. And there certainly is a cliche of the starving artists, but it’s a cliché for a reason. There are a lot of people that try really hard and maybe at some point end up giving up being a professional artist, and they decide to do something to pay the bills, and then they might paint on the side, more on an amateur level, but there are also people that have risen out of that whole starving artist motif and become some of the most famous artists. I just think the art world is so fickle and not necessarily fair in any way. That there are no guarantees. It’s a very tough thing to go into.
