Artist Jay Etkin’s passion is celebrating life — but it looks a lot like community instead
“What I say to artists, and I’ve said it many times, is that your life as an artist isn’t your time in the studio; it’s how you live your life,” Jay Etkin said. “So that means family, friends, business, community. How you act out in all those areas is who you are as an artist.” (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
Rodney Wells considers himself a good judge of character — and he’s always liked Jay Etkin.
They first met a decade ago when Wells worked as a parking valet at Alchemy in Cooper-Young and he would visit Etkin’s art gallery next door. Etkin was kind and welcoming, and they talked not just about art but their lives, how Wells had come from Los Angeles and Etkin from New York. And it wasn’t long before they visited each other regularly.
“I thought he was a pretty awesome dude,” Wells said. “We just hit it off, right off the top, and became very close friends.”
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