One of the many things we love about CreativeMornings is the opportunity to explore different, interesting subjects through the lens of each month’s global theme. The concepts and conversations that our speakers come up with never fail to spark a new perspective.

For this month’s theme of Survival, we’ve asked Francis Vallejo—a native Detroiter, award-winning artist, and Assistant Professor of Illustration at CCS—to share his experience with surviving, and what that has to do with creativity.

CreativeMornings/Detroit: Don’t give it all away just yet but can you tell us in three words what you’ll be talking about on Friday?
Francis Vallejo: Hu$tle, Love, Pain

CM/D: Why Detroit? What keeps you here?
FV: I was raised in Detroit. I lived my 20s in the south (Texas and Florida) and moved back to Detroit at 30 to teach at CCS. I mainly moved back to be near my parents without much knowledge of how the city was doing. I was/am blown away and so lucky that a side effect of this move was to be located in a city so vibrant and perfect for me. Where else can you get the benefits or a large metropolis art community with a reasonable cost of living - usually those features are exclusive of each other. I’m confident the (art) history books will mention 1920s Detroit like they did 1950s New York. And in the end, we make shit here in Detroit. It’s in our blood.

CM/D: Since this month’s theme is Survival, what is one thing that you couldn’t live without?
FV: Community. I used to work in complete isolation thinking that was a romantic notion. Trips to the gas station were my excitement for the week. I realized that lifestyle is dumb. People are cool. I’ve since learned that I benefit as a person and an artist when family, friends, and peers are regular participants in my life and me in theirs.

CM/D: What do you do when you feel “stuck”, creatively?
FV: That doesn’t happen. I look at so much art from all disciplines that I have no problem finding inspiration.

CM/D: If you were not working on your current endeavors, what might you be doing instead?
FV: Training for American Ninja Warrior.

CM/D: What’s your favorite animated gif?
FV: I literally LMAO’d after seen this the other day accompanying this quote “Video will play after ad, instead of Skip ad.”

You can hear Francis share more of his story in person this week during his CreativeMornings talk at Detroit Center for Design + Technology. Doors open at 8:30 for coffee, snacks, and mingling, and the talk will begin at 9:00am. As always, the event is free - just be sure to grab a ticket!

Special thanks to our sponsors: MailChimp, Shutterstock, Wix, Huge Detroit, Threespot, Kind Snacks, and Detroit Center for Design + Technology.