We recently had the chance to connect with Sarah Greene Reed and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Sarah Greene, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Great question! Music. It’s always been music.
I grew up in a very musical household with my mother and sister being a professional pianist and cellist, respectively. I played violin into my teens and took up the drums in my 20s. My dad was a crummy clarinet player, I’m told, but his love for the medium presented itself by his becoming a radio DJ and general rock and roll enthusiast. My sister and I grew up with Dad’s records as our playthings: Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, the Stones…. There’s nothing like an impromptu dance party to reset your nervous system. I was just reminded of that this morning on my way to work when Robyn’s “Dancing by Myself” came on and shook me out of a funk.
Due to my long term relationship with yoga, I’m now able to understand some of the “why” of music causing a reset: vibration, rhythmic beats, and whatnot. But, let’s not overanalyze that. I’ve always loved the Mary Oliver quote, “Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable”. I’m into letting my musical experiences surprise me, and I’ve seen some badass music recently! Whether it was the French band Air performing their album, Moon Safari, cover to cover or an ambient music concert in an old gothic church in Brooklyn, I feel like my best self when I have a soundtrack. Music adds dimension to everything. Think about taking a roadtrip without music. No thank you!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Sure, I’m Sarah Greene Reed and I do lots of things. I think the defining thing about me is that it’s hard to define me. I’ve created a ton of businesses: some serious, some silly. I generally operate in the world of art and design but also spent a decade in weddings and events. I’m good at rallying people and convincing them to step outside of their comfort zone and have fun. Community is hugely important to me. I love Austin with a passion. I actually own the domain name lovelettertoaustin.com. Maybe one day I’ll do something with it.
I’m currently working for my alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, helping other alumni to stay connected and see the world. This expands on my experience in travel and retreats. For years I took women on adventures with my business, Women on the Verge Vacations. (Shout out to Pedro Almodovar for the name inspo! I’m still waiting for the cease and desist.) I also hosted yoga and creativity retreats in Marathon, Marfa & Terlingua with my friend and partner, Wilma Schindeler. We called these getaways Head West Retreats and are proud to have offered the first yoga retreats in West Texas. We hosted over twenty of them in the course of a decade.
I maintain a personal art practice, something I’ve done since I went to the North Carolina School of the Arts for high school. My current medium is drawing and collage focused, but I had a pretty successful run with digital work in the early 2000s. However, hands down, my favorite thing to do is to transform a space. Real estate is my jam. I’ve renovated houses all over America, from Marfa to Maine, and am constantly on the lookout for my next project. I owned an old church turned event venue called Pearl Snap Hall in Georgetown, Texas for several years. (I feel like everyone has one church redo in them and I’ve definitely done mine! A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into that hall.) My most recent project was a 1950s cottage in Rhode Island where I wallpapered the den with Interview Magazine pages from 1984 (hello, air brushed Rob Lowe!) and turned a problematic low ceilinged bedroom into a midnight garden. A few years ago my friend Teresa flew me to Prague to help her decorate her apartment. Talk about a dream job! We combed through warehouses of antiques to create an environment that was the perfect combination of chic, comfortable, and a little bit rock and roll. My dream is to go bananas with someone else’s credit card at the flea market at Porte de Clignancourt in Paris. (Just putting that out there for manifestation purposes!)
So, what can I do for you? Let me decorate your house, plan your trip, throw your party, or just share a chuckle. (Apparently I have a notable laugh.)
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I distinctly remember when I decided that art was important. I was visiting my grandparents at their beach house on Fripp Island in South Carolina when I was maybe thirteen or so. Their friends, Jonathan and Toni King, invited us over for drinks. Jonathan was an architect and their Fripp Island house was designed by their friend Bill Cannady, a fellow architect who taught at Rice University. I walked into the King’s cool home and came face to face with a piece of art by Robert Rauschenberg. It was a lithograph with a jumble of imagery including a vintage car. I was completely taken aback by the juxtaposition of high and low cultural symbols, the fresh exploration of the medium (I hadn’t seen prints with such life in them!), and just the general hipness of the piece.
I must have mentioned this to my mother because she later took me to Washington, D.C. when the National Gallery had a Rauschenberg Exhibition. We saw the show and had lunch in the cafe, risotto and cappuccino. I remember feeling super sophisticated, I was a lady who lunched! Anyway, my introduction to Rauschenberg was a gateway to a lifelong love of contemporary art, particularly collage. I would go on to attend many, many years of art school in the height of postmodernism, so Rauschenberg’s ethos of “anything (visually) goes” was a perfect precursor to my studies. Plus, the D.C. experience was a glimpse into a world I wanted to inhabit. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good dive bar, but it’s even better when balanced with some culture. Mom and I continued the risotto and cappuccino tradition over the years and then I ended up working in the arts. So, I can honestly say that a chance interaction with a Robert Rauschenberg lithograph paved the way for my creative life.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
When I was in my early twenties I moved to Houston from New York City for a job at an art gallery. I had vacationed in Texas before relocating but didn’t really know anyone there, other than the boyfriend who moved with me. When we broke up after a few months in our new city I remember thinking, “Well, my stint in the Lone Star State sure was brief!”. I was ready to bail. My parents were in England for the year, Dad was at Cambridge, and I called them up and said “I think I may move in with you”. Mom, kind of uncharacteristically (she was usually pretty indulgent with me), told me flat out, “Nope!”. I guess they were empty nesters having fun and didn’t want or need an unemployed daughter harshing their mellow. So, I had to live with my decision to be in Texas. Fortunately, Texas is a very welcoming place. I hacked away at it and eventually made friends and found community, opportunity, and a ton of adventure. I call Texas the “Why Not?” State. As opposed to questioning why you would do things, like one might back East, the entrepreneurial spirit of the state encourages a certain “go for it” mentality that really jibes with me. Although I eventually left Houston for a ranch in Wimberley and then a downtown bungalow in Austin, I’ve ended up spending close to three decades in my adopted home state. This experience taught me that sometimes you have to sit with uncomfortable things in order to be rewarded.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Let’s see: beauty, color, laughter, and living life creatively on my own terms.
When I was a teenager my favorite movie was the Merchant Ivory film, Room with a View. There’s a scene where the beautiful Julian Sands climbs into a tree in the Tuscan countryside and hollers his creed, “Beauty! L’espoir! Trust! Joy!”. I can get behind that. I like all of those things and the older I get, the less shy I am about walking the walk and thrusting that energy unapologetically into the world.
I think that my friends would also say that *my friends* really matter to me. One of them, Alicia, says that I should be a “professional friend”. I assume this is because I really value my relationships and put a lot of effort into supporting the people I love, most of whom are freaking hilarious, so the return is tenfold. So, let’s also add humor to this list. It really is the best medicine!
And, finally, I believe my friends would mention my sense of adventure. I live a large life and want to see and experience as much as I can during my time on this earth. You know that cheesy phrase, “a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet”? Well, I feel that way about places. I just haven’t gone everywhere yet, but I know that I will.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
That I was fun! That I bubbled over with joy! That underneath the costumes and bravado I was a kind person.
I write a blog about my late mother called Dale Knows How to Host. It came about when my father sent me my mother’s recipe files a few years after she died. I knew I wanted to commemorate her in some way and the recipes gave me a good opportunity to share her amazing food along with some photos and stories. When I first started the blog I was talking with my teenage daughter and she volunteered that when I die she’s going to write a blog called Sarah Likes to Party. First of all, I object to using “party” as a verb. (I hail from generations of English teachers!) And, second, I have definitely calmed down some in my recent years. But I do like to have a good time, I know that my friends would agree, and I think that it’s good that my daughter sees that as well. It’s important to have fun at any age.
I recently spoke at a PechaKucha. (For those of you who don’t know the format, it’s a gathering where speakers each discuss 20 slides which are held for 20 seconds a piece.) My topic was, “You Know You Wanna: How to Get People to Have Fun”. Basically, I shared tips and tricks for creative events. I mentioned some parties I hosted in Austin that became fairly well known. But, I’m also talking about having fun every day, in little ways. There’s always a pleasure upgrade, you just have to find it! In the end I hope that people will remember me as creative, independent, adventurous, joyful, generous, loyal, friendly, and, well, just nice.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://sarahgreenereed.com
- Instagram: @sarahgreenereed
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-greene-reed-552368134/
Image Credits
Sarah Greene Reed
