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Life & Work with Orvokki Crosby

Today we’d like to introduce you to Orvokki Crosby.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a part-time visual artist with a background working in arts administration, wholesale representation, coordinating, and retail management. I am from Chapel Hill originally & moved back to the area after living elsewhere for many years.

I’ve worked remote for a company in NY for 7+ years and after my son was a toddler, I needed a new creative project that could have a community component, so I wouldn’t feel so isolated. I started the e-commerce store www.theconcernnewsstand.com in 2017 & quickly after that got a small space at Lump Gallery in Raleigh and then a year later a space at Attic 506 in Chapel Hill. It made sense to be housed amongst art spaces in a lot of ways.

Originally formed & named in 2017 for the concern of a changing town, in terms of the closing down of independent bookstores, commercialization, and a lack of places to buy artist-made books & zines, the store has pivoted with the times focusing on a range of concerns. The shop includes art books, biographies, zines, used & rare books and magazines from the US/ UK/ Europe.  I source from artists & small press publishers.  My research is a combination of online, catalogs & submissions.

It also has a publishing arm and serves as the host of a Reading Series of poets bi-monthly in Chapel Hill.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Since this is an experimental business project, I can be flexible with how I operate and pivot with the times. I have low overhead and can control my spending when sales are low.

The pandemic time period made sales decrease due to not being able to be a part of markets, fairs, or even have open hours for half a year. I had to get a bit more creative in selling on consignment instead, being more selective.

Since I opened too, there have been more zine stores open locally, which is awesome for the community, but the market in the area is quite small, so I feel there is more competition.  The ecommerce market though is inifinite.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I originally got two Bachelor’s Degrees from NC State University in Art & Design and in the Science of Textile Technology. I had wanted to maybe pursue fashion and textile arts. I interned and worked in fashion in New York City for a time. I moved to Helsinki, Finland where my extended family lives, and there I worked for an underground gallery & shop.

It was a cool experience getting to be part of a creative community and helping to organize music & art events. I think that experience led me eventually to pursue a Master’s in Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon. I found I liked to plan and make things happen in the creative field. I was always friends with artists and though I do identify as an artist, I have an organizational mind that maybe distracts me from making art full-time.

I ended up working in New York again in the wholesale design & product industry and then in retail because that’s where I was getting the most work. Continuing in such fields was conducive for making an experimental retail project like The Concern.

I have more creative control with my own business and I can combine it with my love for art.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I would say I am a low-risk taker. I don’t want to be in debt.

I am doing just what I can, to do this project, The Concern, in a sustainable way in terms of the time it takes and how much resources I put into it. My goal is to break even. When I was younger, I used to be more of a risk-taker because I had the energy to move to another country and start from scratch.

Once you have a family, things change with the amount of risk you want to take because there is more on the line.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Orvokki Crosby and Jerstin Crosby

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