Q&A With Miquon Brinkley
I couldn’t tell you exactly how many years I’ve known Miquon Brinkley, It’s absolutely been well over a decade. It’s easy to think you actually know a person based on how frequently you may see them at a function or in traffic. And honestly, I wouldn’t feel confident to say I known him all that well even with the amount of time in. But over the years I’ve seen a tender and creative core in Miquon that for some casual observers, may have been easy to overlook - their loss.
Interviewing Miquon and highlighting his goals and mission for himself and the Thinker Makers Society make so much sense for Black & Local’s first profile. In recent years, Miquon has placed more emphasis on visual art and curation and has begun to make a name for himself in this particular section of the creative scene in Philly. To say that I am proud of him is an understatement.
Enjoy this Q&A that Miquon & I had over a few beers while at Thinker Makers Society at 320 Race Street. We chat about his change in focus from music to curation, beautiful organic moments in the space, and being crazy enough to bring your ideas to fruition - all of them.
Melissa Simpson: I'm recording now. Alright. So boom.
Miquon Brinkley: You know, we've done this before, right?
Melissa: Have we? When? I had to be like young as hell. It was probably like over 10 years ago.
Miquon: I cringe at the thought of how I probably answered some of the questions.
Melissa: I cringe at the thought of how I probably asked some of those questions - I ain't even gonna hold you. All right so boom. I interviewed you a while ago related to music, so tell me about how you went from music to visual art and began navigating that space.
Miquon: I’ve always loved the arts in general. When I was younger, my parents encouraged it. We literally were allowed to draw on the walls. It drove my mother crazy, but my father didn't want to hinder our creativity. My father was an architect, so it was always pens and paper around. We were always taking his papers and just going crazy. I always had a hand - I would always create comic book characters.
Later in life, I fell in love with Hip-Hop. I started MCing in high school. The guys in the Cypher who were really good with the words were superheroes to me, and I wanted to be one of those superheroes. Later, I got jaded with music stuff.
Melissa: So, in some ways you pivoted from music to visual art. What was the catalyst?
Miquon: It came during the pandemic actually. I’d think about how many hours I gave to other people's dreams. I've been working for people my whole life. So many people were dying during the pandemic and I want to at least try to do my own thing. If it doesn't work out, I can always go back to work for people, but, it would suck to die without having ever tried. I love art, I love music, I love cooking. So I was thinking about either doing a food truck or a space like this where I can marry all my passions. The idea of having an event space and a retail space made the most sense. I could sell the books I love. I could sell the records I love, I could kind of put everything in one pot,
Melissa: That makes sense. People contain multitudes and I think a lot of times society tries to make us silo ourselves into one specific niche. But I feel like people will find more joy if they try to do it all.
Miquon: 1000%. Especially artists. There's nobody I know that just makes beats or just DJs or just does visual art. They almost always do three or four other things creatively - they never have one outlet.
Melissa: Do you feel like you're well received now that you made this pivot to curation and visual art?
Miquon: A lot of people have been pretty receptive. I haven't had anybody be funny with me, to be honest. There was this thing with this one guy?
Melissa: What was his issue?
Miquon: I think he was mad because I wasn't open during my normal hours or something. And I was just like, bro, I'm not sitting in here for eight hours. Because I did that the first year we were open and I might sell a print or a t-shirt.
Melissa: Yeah. It's not sustainable.
Miquon: It's frustrating. Some days I was paying people to be here and it wasn’t adding up. The math wasn't mathing. And most of the large pieces I've sold have been private tours.
Melissa: That's interesting.
Miquon: People like shit like that. “Oh, I know the owner of this art gallery, we went to get late-night drinks, and I brought a piece. I get it 'cause I like shit that.
Melissa: It makes you feel exclusive.
Miquon: Yeah, exactly. I mean, as opposed to just walking into this space and buying you a t-shirt, walking out. But a piece of art you want - it's more about the experience.
Melissa: So what does the name Thinker Maker Society mean? Where did it come from?
Miquon: I've always had issues with not taking action. I’d always have like a lot of great ideas, but I never really did the making part. I did the thinking part. I never brought shit to fruition so I wanted the title to remind myself and others to go beyond just the concept and just do that shit. Just do it. Just do it. What’s the worst that could happen?
Melissa: For someone who has never been here or never heard of Thinker Maker Society, how would you describe the space and the brand to someone who is unfamiliar?
Miquon: I would say it's a safe space. We welcome all types of people. We've had people bring their pets in here. We definitely pride ourselves on being one of the few art galleries that showcase a lot of Black artists who have not shown work in galleries before local artists.
Melissa: What's been your proudest moment since having this space?
Miquon: The first thing that comes to mind is a poetry slam that happened in this little back lounge area. It was an event happening in the front and some people just wound up vibing in the back room and it was super organic. It got to the point where it was like everybody trying to crowd in the back room for this little random poetry thing that was happening. And that for me was like watching your baby walk. It wasn't curated, it was just, creative people doing what creative people doing. If given the space, that’s what’s going to happen.
Melissa: What are your hopes for the future of this space and the Thinker Maker Society brand?
Miquon: I want the brand to go beyond the space for it to be a literal society where we’re doing bigger shows and take up like the whole Icebox. I want it to be a platform that helps artists grow their brand and add legitimacy to what they're doing. Just be a platform for local artists of color and L G B T Q I A, and underserved communities. I hate that term, but you know what I mean.
Melissa: You hate “underserved”? What would you say?
Miquon: I don't know. “Underrepresented”?
Melissa: I like, “underserved”, and "underrepresented", because the onus isn't put on the people who are underserved. A lot of times when we try to use catchall phrases they can be problematic because don't fully encompass what’s happening. Underserved, it's like, yeah, “y'all niggas ain't serving us for whatever reason.” I mind that one a little bit less. But that's beside the point.
Miquon: People who lack access.” You know what I mean? I think it's always easier, to go into a space when you find out the owner looks like you and talks like you, you like. A friend of mine who knew about the space but didn't know it was my space. He was like “I knew it was nigga who owned this, but I ain’t know it was a nigga.
Melissa: Is there anything else you want the public to know?
Miquon: Do what you love. Pursue the passion. Be a crazy person. I'm definitely a crazy person. I want to be around crazy people.
Melissa: Anything else?
Miquon: My father did a lot of work in the community, and I wasn't. I didn't feel like I was adding anything of value to the world.
Melissa: And you feel like you're adding value now.
Miquon: Yes. 1000%
Melissa: Expand on that.
Miquon: I feel like I could be adding more. I need to do more work in North Philly and with the youth. I mean we've done art shows and like events here for children, but that's how often? I want to do something where I'm more hands-on and building actual relationships with kids. Like, as opposed to like, y'all here for a day and then what?
