SANTA MONICA—Corie Mattie, the self-proclaimed #LAHopeDealer left the East Coast for Los Angeles 5 years ago. Since then she has been spreading positivity and hope through her brightly colored murals throughout the Los Angeles area.She received her Masters degree from Georgetown University and worked in the sports industry. “I had a typical 9 a.m. to 5p.m. job, but eventually, I realized I wasn’t happy and I felt suffocated.” She found herself painting for several hours, as it was the only thing that gave her peace of mind. Mattie told Canyon News, “I thought to myself ‘If this is what the rest of my life is going to be then I’m good, and it was at that point I made the move in 2015 from the east coast to Los Angeles to pursue art.” She left everything behind, a steady job, a place to live, and all that she had known. She added, “I had to make some sacrifices to get where I am.”
When Mattie moved to Los Angeles she started working on client based commission projects. When the Coronavirus made its was to the United States, the work slowed down but the art did not. She connected with Beautify Earth a non-profit organization who’s mission is to “connect artists, landlords and funding sources to convert our world’s outdoor wall spaces into public art galleries, unlocking the economic and social benefits of art for both businesses and communities, while giving brands an authentic, organic way to engage consumers,” as stated on their website.
After finding an available space, she was able to bring all of the ideas she had in her notes to life. “I had this idea of being a neighborhood hope dealer, that deals out positivity,” said Mattie. #LAHopeDealer was born. “I started a piece on Tuesday, finished it on Wednesday, and on the Thursday it was in the LA Times.” She added, “It was my original work that was getting recognized, and the people were seeing it and they were affected in a positive, it really opened my eyes.”
When asked what Hope meant to her Mattie told Canyon News:
“Hope to me is being open to the possibility of change and change in a positive way. Not enough people are willing do that, assuming that they are too afraid of the unknown as well as failure, but the only failure you face is when you stop trying.”
“With hope during this pandemic is to look towards the future and focus on the positive things that we can do for one another. Knowing that we are capable of getting through this together, we just need to have faith and know that even though bad things are happening then they all soon pass.” “it applies to so many different situations. you have to be open to change if you want to get to your final destination,” she added.
“I still wake up and think to myself, “What the Hell am I doing! I am 100k in debt for student loans! I stop and I think to myself, ‘you are doing this, because this is what you love’. I have never been more satisfied in my life, money isn’t important to me, because this is what fulfills me.”
Mattie added: “This didn’t happen over night you have to be will to stick you neck out and you hear people tell you “No”, but you can’t give up.”
For more on Corie Matties work visit, www.lahopedealer.com.
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