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 "I am very much a product of the hip-hop culture. Where a hip-hop producer takes a sample from the past and then breathes new life into it and uses the sample as a vehicle to express his/her own perspective. I take vintage clothing and much like a producer, breathe new life into it through my own perspective.The producer and I make the past anew and tangible for the  people today. I have one foot in the past and one in the future, which makes my work an expression of the present." -- Siya Clothing
Illyanna Maisonet, M.F.A.
.WILDEST DREAMS. Part Un - My initial goal as a yonger twenty something was to start a more successful after-school art program (I started an after-school program when I was 21, but it didn't last long due to lack of grants). But, not in the typical fashion so many after-school programs are ran in Sacramento (with no experience and lackluster coordinators). Mine would include silk-screening workshops, basic culinary courses (for those latchkey kids who eat unhealthy fast food), art curation workshops and fashion workshops. The key is to not only teach them these skills, but also the tools necessary to  become an entrepreneur if they choose this is something they'd like to do in life. Meals would be available to our youth particpants 6 days a week and also cooked by them, along with table etiquette courses. The youth would coordinate and organize their own events, which would be fundraisers for materials/rent. Once a month we'd have a fundraiser dinner, which would also be prepared and served by participants. None of this would be a revolving door situation. Particpants are required to sign contracts submitted at time of initiation, promising to live up to their expectations. Which would only be to never give up.
Part Deux - To open my own boutique, where friends of mine and myself sell our own crafts/artwork. We'd clear out the entire store during 2nd saturday receptions and become a gallery, which would only be possible if the space was on a smaller scale.
Part Trois - Open my own bakery. That's right, I said bakery. Being up at midnight, making scratch doughs and popping auromatic goodies into the oven. Having people pour in and order things that make their eyes light up and their bellies grow. Haha. I'd like to buy a double leveled building and turn the top into a gallery. Or, buy the building next door, knock down a portion of the good neighbor wall and turn it into a gallery. I'm so tired of restaurants and coffeeshops just oddly throwing artwork into their spaces. No one ever really pays any attention to the artwork, because they're there for the coffee/goodies. However, I do like the relaxing ambiance of coffeeshops, but want the two to be totally seperated. People would say, "Oh look, there's a gallery/bakery next door." Not, "Oh...there's art inside of a bakery." No one's going to pay $50 - $400 for a piece of artwork inside a bakery, but inside of a gallery that's next to a bakery they would.
In an ideal world, and this goes for all three of my wishlist entries, I'd like to have a living space attached to the space. Behind, on top, underneath...something!
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