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140 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 11.17 shared space like Art Sanctu- ary in Schnitzelburg or LVA.) Up a short flight of stairs at LVA, a couch sits on top of a Persian-style rug, facing an oversized painting. A thin layer of sawdust covers one studio station. In a far corner, past a hanging hoop and crescent where trapeze acts are sometimes performed, soft music plays as Victor Sweatt paints a nature scene of Cherokee Park. Sweatt, who grew up in the Russell neighborhood, recently finished a large mu- ral for the Louisville Slugger Museum, a piece featuring images of Hank Aaron and Muhammad Ali and the slogans: What beliefs do you go to bed for? What freedoms do you fight for? A large, Plexiglas panel covers the painting so people can leave memos answering these questions. "I went there the other day and looked and it just brought tears to my eyes," Sweatt says. "You see the kids' handwrit- ing." Sweatt's had his studio space at LVA for about five months. Natural light pours in from the square windows near the ceiling. Half-finished canvases stack on a side table, a combination of pencil sketching and paint. Sweatt wears a beanie and holds a thin paintbrush loaded with green. "I feel embarrassed because all I do is paint," he says, looking around at the other studio spaces. "I walk around…and I get inspired." Open Studio Weekend started five years ago as a way to raise money for LVA's Children's Fine Arts Classes "When I'm working from life or from any sort of source material, focus is key. When I'm working on abstract, stream- of-consciousness artwork, the content is undetermined and the process is much more fluid. I try to have a dialogue with the piece and together we decide where it will go and how it will get there. It sounds hokey, but I think it's how truly original work in any art form comes to be. (In my studio at the Art Sanctuary), I can stick a thumbtack anywhere. It's got good energy. It's a designated studio, so I can focus on making art rather than on not making a mess. I tend to return to the same music until a piece is finished for continuity's sake. There's no denying its presence in the piece. Recent obsessions include the Cave Singers, Wussy, Kronos Quartet and Zoë Keating. I can't imagine going over 12 hours (in the studio). At a certain point I stop making progress and start making a mess." — Britany Baker, painter (and other media) "I've owned my studio since 1995. It's an old two-story redbrick firehouse (on West Main Street in Portland). I have quite a bit of room and a lot of privacy. It's a home away from home. Every day I work in my studio; it's a full-time career for me. I've worked around the clock for a 24- to 36-hour stretch, at least, but it's been a while since I've done that. I generally like to plan ahead on my projects, where I'm not having to kill myself. I work the best and I'm more creative when I have a fresh mind. Music really motivates me a tremendous amount. Canadian music like Matthew Good." — Bryan Holden, sculptor