Meet Jacob Lovett | Artist & Founder of Muse.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jacob Lovett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jacob, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?

For sure! As many may know, Fort Worth is full of artists and creators, but what it was lacking was spaces that intentionally bring people together in the community to celebrate and grow emerging artists.

As a Fort Worth artist myself, I understood the need for a creative home base & community in my city.

That’s why we created Muse, a shared studio hub and versatile event space made by artists for artists.

With four private studios, a photography studio, additional shared multipurpose space, and both indoor & outdoor event spaces, there’s a place here for anyone to find their muse.

Supporting artists is our main priority, but we’re also here to cultivate a community within the community of creatives here in Fort Worth. That’s why we built in functional spaces you can rent out & tailor to your needs. Our space was created to provide a blank canvas for artists with big ideas and locals with big networks. Our photography studio offers affordable access to those who want to capture their muse, and our private studios allow for the kind of deep work needed by artists trying to make a living doing what they love.

I was provided with an amazing opportunity to do what I love for a living and my hope is to provide that same opportunity artists and creators through this space.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

My love for art began at an early age. My mother always encouraged me to develop my creative side growing up but I didn’t pursue art as anything more than a hobby until after college. My art career started from a friend of mine requesting me to paint a portrait of her late brother. Never painted before her faith in my abilities inspired the discovery of a previously unknown talent. Giving that painting to her family and having it make them feel the way it did was so rewarding. After that moment I decided to seek out further instruction and started taking classes from a local artist to hone my skills.

The process of learning how to paint came rather easy for me. My teacher, Laret Alexi, played a pivotal role in developing my skill set at the pace that I did. He’s taught me everything I know from the process and technique that goes into oil painting to the reasoning behind why I do certain things with my art.

Today my work consists realism oil paintings that focus on one subject to create a dramatic impact within each painting to achieve aesthetically clean, yet strikingly realistic compositions. Each piece that I’ve done so far has been a learning process in how to develop a painting and has trained me to become confident in my abilities as an artist.

As my work continues the meaning behind each of my pieces has been the forefront of the subject matter that I choose. Rather than just painting a pretty picture I want to tell the audience a story within my work and open their mind to new ways of thinking and behaving that may have not existed before.

The idea of being a full-time artist and running my own studio was never the plan but an opportunity arose after I had been laid off last year due to the Coronavirus and I had to take a leap of faith. Running a business and pursuing my personal art projects is a constant trade off and learning experience but I’m blessed to have an amazing support system in place.

The thing I’m most excited about is to be able share the opportunity that was given to me and provide the artists and creators of DFW a space to make a living by doing what they love.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Fort Worth has grown so rapidly over the years and has so many things to do and places to see. If I were to stretch it out over the course of a weekend, I would have to split it up by the different districts.

For someone that’s never visited Fort Worth I’d have to start off by taking them to the Stockyards with some margaritas and fajitas at Joe T. Garcia’s followed up by a few drinks down Main Street, and dinner at the Lonesome Dove. Afterwards go pin a dollar on the ceiling of The Basement Bar.

Next day we’d stop by Meli’s Taqueria for some breakfast burritos. A little hidden gem for those who know where to look. Afterwards we’d head over to the museum district to check out some of the best Museums in the country. We’re so fortunate to have such amazing Museums here in Fort Worth at our disposal, The Kimbell, The Modern, The Amon Carter just to name a few. Next drive down Camp Bowie for a burger at Kincaid’s and some dessert at Curly’s. Grab some dinner at Tokyo Cafe to end the night.

The Near Southside district has evolved so much from the time that I was a kid until now. I’ve been spending most of my time away from the studio in this area. My favorite shop right now is 817 Vintage Hype on Magnolia. They offer an amazing selection of vintage tee shirts at a great price and the owner Rafael and his staff are great people. Definitely someone I would have to introduce them to. Some places I love to eat in this district is Tinie’s, Coco Shrimp, Wishbone and Flint and Shinjuku Station. They have some great bars, so we’d have to go grab drinks at Nickel City and the Amber Room and maybe catch a show at Tulips late night.

Downtown has a lot of great places to go shop and eat. We’d probably head to the rooftop bar at Reata followed up by some hand-crafted cocktails in the RX at Thompsons.

So many places to go, so many things to do here in Fort Worth but that sounds like a pretty good time here my city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

There’s been so many people that have been played an integral role to make what Muse. is today. My family of course, my girlfriend and her family, the Conti family as well as all the customers that have supported this business throughout its short journey.

Two people I would like to shout out specifically is Nathan Butorac and Sherman Young Jr.

Nathan and I have known each other for about 10 years now and recently reconnected before the idea of Muse even came to mind. He reached out to me about my artwork, wanting to help in any way he could to get my work seen. A successful local entrepreneur himself, as the Founder & Owner of Pinatagrams, Nathan has helped me tremendously throughout the process of creating this business. Whether it’s been through advice from his own experiences or just being their when I’ve needed a helping hand his had my back since the beginning.

Sherman and I have only known each other for a few months but we’ve already been involved so much with supporting each other’s work. He runs two companies, Young Productions and Young Podcast Network all while working his full-time job. I was the first guest on his podcast, Cat of Many Colors, where he celebrates local artist and entrepreneurs here in Fort Worth. He’s fantastic photographer and videographer and just an overall great guy. Sherman has produced video content for my business, been a customer in the photography studio and the ultimate ambassador for my artwork and Muse.

Website: www.jacoblovettart.com and www.createwithmuse.com

Instagram: @jacoblovettart @muse.fw

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobmlovett/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/musefw

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacoblovettart and https://www.facebook.com/musestudiofw

Image Credits
Bethany Briann Sydnie Showmaker Liska