Michael Little
Small Business Owner and Artist in Denton, Texas
I grew up in rural Texas, mostly exploring the woods, reading sci-fi + fantasy novels, and drawing characters for games that didn't exist. I moved North, to Denton, after high school and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking and minored in Psychology.
When I finished my degree, I started a screen printing business in my garage with some friends. We now print for international businesses like ESL Gaming, some of our favorite touring musicians, and the best Texas locals.
While growing the business I worked in the gallery and museum industry. At the university galleries I started off as an attendant and was promoted multiple times until I was managing 4 galleries with 90+ shows a year total (aka: an insane amount). I also was a freelance preparator, or gallery installer. During this time I handled art for museums, commercial galleries, and university galleries.
I also started and managed a volunteer gallery space connected to a local venue, where we hosted exhibitions once or twice a month for two years. Maintaining it as a financially self sufficient entity, and coordinating an internationally touring show were some of the peak accomplishments before I moved on.
Eventually my business grew larger and needed more of my focus. We started with a garage and $1200. Now we have a staff ranging in size from 18-20 people and we're designing a new custom fit 10,000 sq ft facility that should be completed in 2019. It's a crowded market, but we've made it 9 years!
In my free time now I work on vintage motorcycles, add some stamps to my passport, and live-stream games on Twitch a few nights a week. I've also been known to LARP, roll a D&D character here and there, and play a strong goalie in hardcourt bike polo.