She's that Bish: an Interview with Claire Bishara
[UNPUBLISHED:] Tell us about yourself?
[CLAIRE:] My name is Claire and I’m the founder of ART BISH. I started as an artist with a background in painting. It wasn’t until the end of high school and the beginning of college, I started to get into the art world. I would show my paintings at art shows around LA but it was always a side hustle for me. My life was always split between my natural, artist self to being a regular school kid that followed a normal path. I was always trying to find where I fit in but I was always drawn back to being a creative. I saw it as a hobby because I didn’t think it would take me anywhere. I was raised with the idea that if you’re an artist you’re going to be a starving artist and you’re never going to make any money. Everything changed about 3 years ago when I started growing in the art world and meeting super successful creative womxn. They had careers as painters or designers and most of them didn’t go to art or fashion school. They just hustled their way and had their own stores, brands, or galleries. After seeing this, I knew that I wanted to empower creative womxn and show emerging artists, especially younger artists, that they could actually have a successful career as a creative.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What inspired you to create a clothing line within ART BISH?
[CLAIRE:] I love fashion and I’ve always been into clothes. When I was younger I wanted to be a fashion designer. For one of my art shows, I wanted to wear something ART BISH so I ordered a blank tank top off the internet and I rhinestoned it myself to say “ART BISH”. I remembered being so in love with it and so many people said, “That’s so cute!”, I was so excited other girls wanted to wear it too. I put a few on my Instagram and they sold and eventually learned how to make my own website. I had girls in my school model the tank tops which was really good exposure because then people thought everyone in the school had the tank top. Then I went on to make other clothes like the painting sweats that went viral and sold out.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How have your friends and family reacted to your success?
[CLAIRE:] When my sister and I joined forces and go hard on ART BISH, we didn’t really even give it enough time for people to give an opinion. We were dead set on doing it and secure in our decision. My family has always been supportive. I have a more traditional family who doesn’t always understand the crop tops and edgier sides of the brand but that pushes me more to be myself and break down barriers because I know not everyone is always going to get it.
[UNPUBLISHED:] At what point did you realize you were growing a following rapidly?
[CLAIRE:] The festivals were the first opportunity we had to grow our audience so fast because there is only so much word of mouth that happens with a shirt you wear. With the festivals we threw, so many people wanted to invite their friends and tell people about it. We saw exponential growth between the first and second festivals.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What does being an ART BISH mean to you?
[CLAIRE:] I think it’s being real about the fact that being an artist and a creative is hard. We’re very authentic and transparent that pursuing a career in the art world is difficult. It’s not traditional and there are so many barriers, especially for womxn. Being an ART BISH is about going the extra mile because it’s in your blood to pursue something creative. It’s also about being unapologetically yourself, uplifting other womxn, and being kind to yourself.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What’s your dream brand or influencer collaboration?
[CLAIRE:] It’s less about working with brands and more about working with artists and creatives. So many badass creatives I would want to work with, Amber Asaly, Uzumaki, Soto Worldwide. Pretty much any womxn in the creative industry that has hustled her way to the top.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Tell us about your art festival.
[CLAIRE:] The festival was born out of quarantine. We were trying to find ways to connect creatives with each other so my sister and I came up with the idea to put on an artist festival. The plan was to find six successful creative womxn from six different industries. Our first festival had art, photography, fashion, modeling, beauty, and music so we hit all six industries. We sold free tickets and we had 1,000 registrations. They could jump from stage to stage to whoever they were interested in seeing and have an authentic and intimate conversation with the artists themselves. The goal was to break down any barriers and actually ask questions on how the artists got to where they were. We didn’t want it to feel like a panel of unattainable celebrities but rather have them give honest and authentic advice. Our third festival will be on September 30.
**Scroll down for more information on Art Bish Digital Festival and a discount code
[UNPUBLISHED:] Why do you feel holding events like these are so important to artists?
[CLAIRE:] I wanted to build something that my 14 year old self would be interested in. I didn’t grow up in an artsy area and I didn’t go to school where the arts were amplified and supported. What we’re doing is bringing relatability to what it means to be creative. This really connects artists together. We made a group chat after the festivals that now has almost 100 artists that chat every single day. It is valuable because no one else is building us up so we have to build each other up.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you find people to feature on the ART BISH website?
[CLAIRE:] We have a submission page on our website. We have three ways we feature artists. We do creative shoutouts every Monday which you can apply for on our website for free. Then we feature people through Instagram takeovers where they get to takeover our Instagram for a day and show a sneak peek into their world. We also do editorial interviews that have a full page on our site. We are always recruiting, whenever I’m on Instagram and I find someone cool I send them to our page.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How did it feel to see someone like Tana Mongeau, who has such a large following, wearing your clothes?
[CLAIRE:] Tana reached out to me over a year ago when ART BISH started and I was really shocked because I had only one tank top at the time. I gave her a tank top and she wears it all the time in pictures and in her Tik Toks. It’s one of the staples in her closet and it makes me so happy that she’s so comfortable wearing it. Anytime big influencers wear my clothes I respect them so much because I know that they are getting huge brands to send them stuff yet they choose to support womxn-run small businesses.
[UNPUBLISHED:] If you could describe your brand in 3 words, what would they be?
[CLAIRE:] Badass, empowering, and authentic.
MORE ON ART BISH DIGITAL FESTIVAL
The ART BISH Digital Festival is a LIVE online event on September 30th 5pm PST where you can connect face-to-face with me and some of the most successful womxn in the creative space! From celebrity photographers, fashion designers, and full-time artists, virtually hop from stage to stage where a lineup of BADASS creatives and myself will share our stories about how we got started, and answer your questions about how YOU can turn creativity into a career!
Attendees will also get to shop virtual vendors booths and network with other creatives at the festival! VIP Tickets are also available where 5 other attendees will get a BONUS 45 minute Q&A session with Claire!