Women Who Rock feature: Sarah Fizell, ARTSConnect Topeka

#785 Women LIVE Who Rock

Sarah Fizell

ARTIST PATH

BREAKING ART BARRIERS; TURNING WALLS INTO COMMUNITY WORKS OF ART

by Tobias Harvey // CULT | selfie provided by Jason Fizell

S tanding in line for coffee one morning, I turn around and Sarah Fizell walks in behind me, wearing her reflective silver coat that I’ve come to recognize. We both share a similar look of tiredness as I talk about frustrations with work and concerns for the community. She listens to me and shares her insight that only someone who has been involved as closely with the Topeka community as her could possess, and I feel relieved. While a good percentage of people we work with are accustomed to a nine-to-five lifestyle, Sarah’s commitment to the Topeka arts community is something that can’t be measured on a timesheet.

When I first met Sarah toward the end of 2015, I was in the beginning stages of building a marketing agency that helped businesses navigate social media. Oddly enough, the first time I met her was in that same coffee shop I just described earlier, the Classic Bean, now in the heart of a rejuvenated downtown Topeka. At the beginning of 2016, ARTSConnect became our first client, and the small amount of money we received helped start a company that now has enabled me to quit my day job, and create other jobs for creatives like me. Sometimes I wonder if Sarah knows how much her belief in me meant back then, and how that belief has spread into what my business is today.

Late nights and early mornings come with the job, and the work that ARTSConnect has done over the years speaks for itself. From painting murals to organizing events to promoting countless galleries and artists around Topeka, Sarah plays a key role in tying our arts community together. The job title she holds requires a lot of socializing and handshaking, as a large part of it is raising funds to continue the efforts of ARTSConnect, but while it looks nice and pretty on the Instagram account we run there is an immeasurable amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.

Events like the Arty Awards where we recognize impactful artists and art enthusiasts in our city, would probably not exist if not for organizations like ARTSConnect and people like Sarah. Those type of celebrations are easy to say ‘let’s do that’, but making an actual reality requires a tremendous amount of motivation and dedication. While Sarah is not the only one working hard to make Topeka a Great Arts Town, she is the rallying point behind that mantra, because she exemplifies that amount of motivation and dedication to the arts community.

Sarah’s love for arts extends beyond our community, as she has expanded Topeka’s efforts into areas like Lawrence and Kansas City, bridging a gap that should have never existed in the first place. Art is something that transcends things like location and ideology. It takes someone who not just understands that, but is willing to act upon it, to create a better scene for everyone. Whenever I am at an event around town, I often feel relieved when I see Sarah walk in, because beyond being a partner or collaborator, the thing I value most about Sarah is her friendship. She has paved the way and enabled hundreds of creative people, including myself, to be in a better position in life. This is why Sarah Fizell is a woman who

rocks. aseveneightfive

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