Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

Adam Schrimmer is a well-known and established part of the Greenville and Upstate, South Carolina arts community. Schrimmer holds a BFA in Illustration from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. His early career included work in illustration and graphic design in Miami, Florida. In 2011, Schrimmer and his family moved to Greenville, South Carolina and in 2015 Schrimmer established Blank Canvas Mural Company, of which he is now the lead artist and owner.

Through Blank Canvas Mural Company, Schrimmer designs and paints murals and is also a SmartArts Teaching Artist. Schrimmer sits on the Board of the City of Greenville’s Art in Public Places Commission, where he helps promote awareness of public art.

A community engagement artist at his core, Schrimmer inspires people through his mural projects that beautify communities, schools and neighborhoods. Schrimmer’s murals can be found at the One Miami and Vivo Living Apartments in Florida, Facebook offices in North Carolina as well as throughout South Carolina at Michelin, Fluor Field, Aloft Hotels, Hampton Station, Poe West, Ally Coffee, Birds Fly South, Wofford College, Christ Church Episcopal School, Goodwill Industries, and Shriners Children’s Greenville. Blank Canvas also works closely with schools to bring art-making experiences to students through artist-in-residence programs.

Schrimmer is an active participant in the Greenville community and has been asked to speak at a variety of engagements, including, Greenville Women Giving, SC Arts Educators Conference, South Carolina Governor’s School and the Community Built Association Conference.

Artist Statement

I have been making art for as long as I can remember.

Aside from something I was good at, it was also a place of security for me. Making art helped me in many situations, especially when words failed. Art was the overflow for my emotions—the outlet for energy that needed a home.

Art making became more than an outlet when I crossed paths with a small neighborhood of individuals in Greenville, South Carolina. I was asked to paint murals at a main intersection, but the work began far earlier. Through engagement exercises held at the local church, meetings with historical societies and grassroots efforts, I was openly welcomed into this community. During that process, we decided to invite the community out to paint over the course of a weekend.

What happened that weekend was nothing short of magical.

I had never created art alongside, or in collaboration with, others. Though unbeknownst to me at the time, that weekend I experienced what I now know to be my “aha” moment—I found my dharma. I learned that my innate abilities could be used for more than selfish purposes, but for the betterment of others and communities.

I realized that the same security that art had given me, was the same I could provide for others. I could use my ability to listen and be a space for people to share love, anger, sadness and ultimately, their stories. These stories could be transformed into art that beautified the same places they lived. I realized this was a powerful tool—not just for my own salvation, but for the salvation of others.

This was how Blank Canvas Mural Company began.

The company’s name is not just for blank walls that can be painted, but rather that WE are all blank canvases—made up of stories that we tell ourselves, we’ve been told, we’ve heard, we’ve experienced and stories we want to believe in and strive for.

Blank Canvas helped me realize I could write my own story, where I realized I was a creator, where I realized I could inspire others to create, dream, and believe. I began searching for opportunities to impact neighborhoods, which led me to schools, where I have had the incredible opportunity to work with youth as a SmartArts teaching artist.

Each experience in a school is unique and reminds me that what is happening is not for me, but happening for others, for these young learners. Kids are blank canvases and during these art-making experiences they are given the opportunity to ‘be’, to create, learn new skills, feel vulnerable and to build confidence—all while having fun.

Whether I’m creating art with communities, or kids, these experiences remind me to be fully present. Sometimes we’re given the opportunity to be the person that makes a difference, to remind someone that they matter, and to build community. My art has given me the ability to connect people through art and create real-time—all present— experiences that generate memories that last a lifetime.