Meet Beau Allen Collins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Beau Allen Collins.

Beau Allen, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It was around middle school I began understanding my passion for art. I started playing bass guitar and was in and out of bands through high school. During that time, I began designing posters, taking photographs, and making videos of my band and others in the area. I was also involved in theater as an actor and behind the scenes doing everything from stage design to production. I wound up getting acceptance and scholarships to the School of Visual Arts in NYC for photography and video and was the first in my family to graduate college in 2017.

Through college, I was doing all of the same things. I was doing creative direction for incredible musicians like Hooliganradguitar5 – all while earning my college degree full-time. I played bass and drums in various bands/music projects, had freelance opportunities working as a photographer in music & fashion, assisted friends with short films, had a full-time job working as the flagship manager for a menswear label, and helped design their NYFW shows, took photographs, and helped with textile design.

Since graduating, I have had more intent on my work, focusing on sculpture, painting, photography, and video. I still heavily involved myself in any creative avenue and opportunity I could find. Assisting artists like Urs Fischer & Tom Sachs, interning at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and even now, I have been working in restoration, custom framing, and the handling of fine art. After about 8 years in NYC, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, leaving me jobless and forcing me into a reset where I sought new opportunities and formulated my own identity as an artist.

I left NYC for Atlanta in 2021 after landing roles as an actor in Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things (Season 4), as well as the FX show ‘Atlanta.’ I have been doing custom framing, art archiving, and commissioning paintings since being here and am working on establishing my studio. After over 10 years, it is incredible for me to look back on the days in high school when I was exploring all of these creative ventures and to be here now, where I am professionally acting, selling my work, still producing and writing music, working professionally in design/video/photography, and actively exploring new ideas and honestly still learning. I genuinely have a deep-rooted love for art, and I am highly optimistic for the future!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been fairly smooth?
I would say for anyone, and the road is never “smooth.” It’s about perspective – there’s always someone with a smoother path and a rougher road. Depending on how you are raised, the environment you grow up in, the people around you, or whatever the circumstance is, there will always be a wave of uncertainty somewhere along the way. For me, growing up living in a trailer park with a single mom, exploring many different interests and not having a motive to “fit in” and therefore not really “fitting in” through schooling, I moved a handful of times where I was the new kid – there’s a lot of situations where it was hard for me. Even leaving at 18 to go to college in New York City also had very rough moments. At least from my perspective, where the road was rough, I always felt I had the right shoes, proper strength, mental fortitude, and determination to move forward smoothly. I appreciate the struggle because much of my success is a product of my hardships. I also believe it’s a privilege to struggle – It brings humility, perspective, kindness, and a different kind of strength. The struggle is beautiful.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At my very core, I am an artist. There are many mediums and avenues I explore, and I am excited to be at a place where everything feels like it is coming together. My photography work starts to inform my sculpture, collages itself into my paintings, and back into the storytelling within my video work. The best way I can sum up my experience and definition of art is that it’s a language in and of itself – and it is amazing to feel I am at this point where I know my story, my perspective of the world we are in. I know exactly what it is I am saying within that language. I am working on establishing my art studio, and there are some collaboration projects on the way with colleagues and friends of mine, as well as some more opportunities still acting and music I am thrilled about. I think overall, what I am most proud of is having a beginner’s mindset. I know there is something to learn from every situation I encounter, and I am always eager to make an opportunity for myself and even comfortable with rejection. I keep in mind often that there’s an end to this life and prioritize doing what I love and achieving the things that matter to me. When there isn’t an end, there’s nothing to get to – and I love to get to – I live to get to.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
Nashville was changing fast and seemed to start changing around when I moved to the area during my first year of high school. Although I only lived there for those 4 years, Nashville was a reset for me. I found myself and what I’m passionate about in those 4 years, and as I drastically changed and explored myself, it seemed Nashville was too.
Nashville was conducive to finding new opportunities and allowed me to attain my early accomplishments. It also just happens to be where I met my wife. It was the end of 2013 during a Christmas charity event for underprivileged youth with an organization (that has since moved) called Sophia’s Heart. When I think of Nashville, this is the first memory that comes to mind – which will always be the one I love most. That being said, a drastic change can be both good and bad. There seems to be a lot of displacement in long-standing communities where there isn’t a focus on integration between old & new. It’s not even that I don’t mind some of the “New Nashville” (despite its bad rap), but anyone that comes into someone else’s “home” at the very least needs to say hello and should wipe their shoes before entering.

Contact Info:

• Website: beauallencollins.com (under-construction until fall 2022)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beauallencollins/

Image Credits
Beau Allen Collins