Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Van Leer
Hi Brandon, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee in a house of creatives. My father, Darryl, is a full time actor and musician, my sister, Carmen, is also a musician playing multiple instruments as well as singing and rapping, and my mother, Evelyn, is the glue that keeps it all together as well as formerly teaching at Hunterslane. I graduated from East Literature, and continued my education at Tennessee State University graduating with my bachelors in Art with a concentration in Graphic Design.
While at TSU I began doing miscellaneous art projects around campus to make some money. Hoverboards had just came out and a few of my teammates on the football team asked me to customize theirs. I had no idea how, but I soon figured it out, customized them, and got paid! For the next few years I was also commissioned to create large scale Greek Letter cutouts, large scale props for Organizations spirit weeks, as well as drawing portraits. The first portrait I drew was Ice Cube immediately after I watched Straight Outta Compton. I was inspired by Cube’s resilience and perseverance to see where he came from and where he grew to, and that uninetentionally began my Black Excellence Art Collection. One of the highlights from my TSU days was a portrait I drew of Jessie Jackson, my chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., The Mighty Rho Psi, President Dr. Glover, and myself presented the art to him while he visited and spoke at the school. Lastly, I began to do flyers around school. First for my greek chapter, and then that branched off to other organization and even homecoming concerts posters and snapchat filters for the school.
So it’s safe to say that my experience at Tennessee State University launched my entrepreneurial and artistical career by providing a space to grow my skills and ultimately providing a network of friends, peers, and staff, which turned into future clients.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I do not believe there is any path in life that is smooth. Although I do believe I am blessed with a God given talent, the road has never been smooth. It requires determination, resilience, perseverance, and the ability to get back up once you’ve been knocked down.
The most current challenge my sister and I are facing is the forceful closing of Van Leer Studios, LLC. We opened a special event space in North Nashville, which also served as a photography and videography studio. While the situation is still underway I will just ask for support from our community and to keep us in their prayers.
Van Leer Studios was a creative space for our community. We’ve been at 2 locations, at our first location it began as a photography studio, but we quickly realized photoshoots alone we would not be able to generate enough funds for rent. So we changed our business model and added special events. Since then we’ve had multiple events including baby showers, gender reveals, repasses, art shows, church services, private events for celebrities such as Derrick Henry, and more. One of my favorite memories from the studio was watching a family grow. One of our first clients had their son’s gender reveal, baby shower, maternity pictures, and the same son’s 1st and 2nd birthday party all at our space. It’s such a blessing to provide a safe space for our community that also feels like home.
We hope and pray after this unfortunate situation is resolved we will find a space that is welcoming and where we can truly flourish as Van Leer Studios, LLC.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Aside of my full time career as a graphic designer and fine artist I am also the Senior Graphic Designer at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, TN. MTZ has over 30,000 members which spread across in person services and online members across the nation.
I’ve been on staff since the Fall of 2020. Having a full time job, although time consuming, is extremely important when pursuing an entrepreneurial career. It provides much needed stability as well as much needed health insurance!
Outside of the stability I do enjoy working at the church. It has given me a direct path to reconnect to church which I was not as consistent as I’d would’ve liked to have been. I’ve also grown a large portfolio from the massive church designs, including: Sermon series designs, full conference signage, book designs, print materials, and more.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was really into sports. Football, basketball, track, and even spent a summer playing baseball at the Margort Maddox YMCA. I also had multiple drawing books and was into video games just like every other kid my age.
Pricing:
- Custom Portraits (Multiple sizes offered) $750+
- Graphic Design Services (Flyers, logos, signage, etc) $120+
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vanleerart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanleer_theartist/
