Melissa Dunmore of Phoenix’s Mujeres del Sol: 100 Creatives

Phoenix is brimming with creativity. And every other year, we put the spotlight on 100 of the city’s creative forces. Leading up to the release of this year’s Best of Phoenix issue, we’re profiling 100 more. Welcome to the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives. Up today: 40. Melissa Dunmore.

“I am always working on something whether it’s a poem, a narrative, a bracelet, a recipe,” Melissa Dunmore says.

The 24-year-old Phoenix poet, performer, and writer is a member of Mujeres del Sol, an arts collective of women and girls, and works in social justice and youth development. Her many interests mean there’s never nothing to do. “I love to cross everything off my To-Do List, and regularly have about a dozen tabs open on my Mac, reading article after article, and books — always a book,” she says of her day-to-day schedule. “If I can get to the library I am happy.”

See also: Scottsdale Concrete Artist Brandon Boetto: 100 Creatives

The ASU grad’s next socially conscious project is currently in the works. Dunmore says she wants to blend fashion, blogging, and domestic violence statistics and resources during the month of October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“My idea is to wear purple all month long as part of ‘Paint Phoenix Purple’ in partnership with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence and show​​​​​​​​​​​​​​case different outfits, coupled with statistics and resources, for 31 days,” she says, adding that she’s had her own experiences with domestic violence in the past. “I would do this via a blog I would start specifically for this endeavor. The goal is to get all the outfits donated by local shops and have an auction at the end of the month where all proceeds will be donated to vetted organizations.”

Sounds like that checklist just got a little longer.

I came to Phoenix with my family. My mom, brother, aunt, cousin, and abuelos all relocated from Brooklyn in June of 2004 when I was 14. We had never moved anywhere before, and the cross-country culture shock was a big one for us. As a kid, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere other than NYC with its big buildings, traffic sounds, and seasons, so moving here where there are mountains, wild animals, and monsoons was a big awakening for me.

I make art because I can’t help it. I’m enraptured by the beauty of everyday encounters, of the natural world, urban jungle, and social constructs. I feel compelled to give voice to the feelings — the awe, the hope, the devastation I discover and more recently, I’ve begun trying other mediums such as printmaking. I’ll get these phrases or verses stuck in my head and I just have to write them down on anything that’s closest — a napkin, receipt, business card, or the palm of my hand. I resist entering anything into my phone since the simple act of writing has always been significant for me. And I’ve always been drawn to the performative, the unabashed, and bombastic such as live music, theatre, musicals. When I moved to downtown two years ago, I felt it was the only place for me to spread my wings in AZ and just had to get involved in the local arts scene. From performing at open mics or with Mujeres del Sol, taking classes at Phoenix Center for the Arts, and cooking wholesome dishes, I have this habitual urge to create things with my words and with my hands.

I’m most productive when I’m well rested and I have a plan. I’m a planner, for sure. An ambitious one.

My inspiration wall is full of plants, books, and takeaways from local art shows put on by friends of mine and artists I admire. My refrigerator door is covered with magnets I made out of local business cards of my favorite places, a signed poster by Sentrock, magnets of places I’ve been or want to visit. I live in a bungalow on the second story of this historic building and I’ve converted the entryway with a private stairway into a gallery of sorts – posters from shows at Crescent Ballroom, designs by Michelle Ponce and Jackie Q. I’m inspired by all the brave art being created by my peers.

I’ve learned most from bouncing back. Life deals us blows we don’t always understand but that inevitably make us stronger, resilient, and wise. It is in those moments that I have discovered my innate strength, voice, and power. Realizing self-love is the surest safeguard against loneliness, sadness, and dissatisfaction. Also, bouncing back has led me to have profound gratitude for the unconditional love and support of family and friends. I am grateful for places where I can feel safe that nurture me — cocoon places — from which I can emerge transformed, and triumphant.

Good work should always be true. Even if it’s fiction, it needs to ring true. It need not co-opt another’s experience or story simply to be trendy or controversial — it needs to be rooted, and fed, by truth. Ethicality and authenticity are paramount.

The Phoenix creative scene could use more people showing up to witness the incredible, revelatory, compelling, and authentic voices, images, sounds, and creations of its citizenry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people, over the years, say that Phoenix has no culture. That is absurd! There is culture all around us — it’s in the very soil. It’s in our bodegas, street names, tribal lands. I will say that people do need to become aware of and challenge the privilege that exists in terms of the type of art that is revered, produced, bought and sold, and who is benefitting from it. We need to see the problem in defining indigenous and minority voices as “new” or “trendy” when the fact is we have been here all along. I’m a firm believer that if you don’t see your culture represented then you, yourself, need to challenge the status quo — be that change you want to see. Make others take notice of you, your art, and your very presence as valid, as evolution, as revolution.

See the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives:

100. Bill Dambrova
99. Niki Blaker
98. Jeff Slim
97. Beth May
96. Doug Bell
95. Daniel Langhans
94. Nanibaa Beck
93. Nicole Royse
92. Ib Andersen
91. Casandra Hernandez
90. Chris Reed
89. Shelby Maticic
88. Olivia Timmons
87. Courtney Price
86. Travis Mills
85. Catrina Kahler
84. Angel Castro
83. Cole Reed
82. Lisa Albinger
81. Larry Madrigal
80. Julieta Felix
79. Lauren Strohacker
78. Levi Christiansen
77. Thomas Porter
76. Carrie Leigh Hobson
75. Cody Carpenter
74. Jon Jenkins
73. Aurelie Flores
72. Michelle Ponce
71. Devin Fleenor
70. Noelle Martinez
69. Bucky Miller
68. Liliana Gomez
67. Jake Friedman
66. Clarita Lulić
65. Randy Murray
64. Mo Neuharth
63. Jeremy Hamman
62. La Muñeca
61. Kevin Goldman
60. Emily Costello
59. Kerstin Dale
58. Vara Ayanna
57. Nathaniel Lewis
56. Ruben Gonzales
55. Lisa Poje
54. Bobby Zokaites
53. Frances Smith Cohen
52. Julie Rada
51. David Miller
50. Xanthia Walker
49. Kyllan Maney
48. Cary Truelick
47. Constance McBride
46. James D. Porter
45. Allyson Boggess
44. Abigail Lynch
43. Ashley Cooper
42. Jaclyn Roessel
41. Brandon Boetto

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