Hi, my name is Brittany Muse, I am raising funds for my business building to stay afloat. My company name is Artofficial Makeup And Photo LLC. We are a black owned lgbtq+ friendly creative space and studio offering creative content shoots and makeup for people in our community to express themselves freely through the art without judgement.

There is so much of ourselves that we have to suppress in our daily lives so I created Artofficial to help people find and express themselves fully, every single aspect. I struggled with identity and self image issues all my life and found myself through the medium of makeup and photography. So I wanted to give that to other people within my community. I wanted to take a spotlight and shine it on the parts of people that have been rejected or abused in the past. I wanted to help others be fully seen and to fully express themselves.

It’s been hard being in business on church street in the heart of midtown, Nashville for 5 consecutive years now. The property taxes have tripled here. And being that I am the owner and operator pretty much doing this on my own is hard work. And when you pair that with being a single mother of two, and a black woman that just makes it just that much more of a challenge.

I am the only black woman owned business on church street now and I see why. Because it’s extremely tough these days. Businesses are closing left and right in this area. I use to have a much better flow of income however, due to the current state of economy that we are in it’s hard to find artists and workers who are able to afford space in my studio anymore. My business now has only 1 Artist which decreases the flow of traffic from once having a fully packed place.

I am so very passionate about this space. I want so badly to keep this running and alive because Nashville needs this! I get approached so much about how this space has impacted lives and I want to keep making that and even more of an impact. I have lived in my studio before, I have given this space my complete all over the years. I have poured literal blood, sweat and tears, into this space and I just will not let go without a very serious fight. I left my home and moved in with my partner just to go just to keep my head above water and buy myself some room to renovate and pivot as necessary.

I have some really amazing plans for this space. However, it just won’t be possible without my community’s support. I am asking that you please give to your heart’s content. Any amount will be appreciated beyond measure.