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36 APRIL 2015 | PARKCITIESPEOPLE.COM
C O MMUN I T Y
CEO Shares Passion For Art, Scholarship With Schools
By Meredith Carey
Special Contributor
Eight years ago, Mickey
Ashmore’s son asked a simple
question: “Why don’t you go to
Booker T. to look for art?”
For Ashmore, CEO of Universal Commercial Realty, the
idea to look for gifts for his most
valued clients for his company’s 20th anniversary was novel. Now, seven years later, the
simple question has led to a legacy of art advocacy among high
school students in the form of
Retail as Art.
The scholarship photography competition, a charitable
T R AV I S L I L L E Y
Ashmore thanks supporters and announces 2014’s winners.
initiative of UCR, presents a
number of high school students
with prizes for images that cap-
the doctor is in...
ture their interpretation of the
essence of retail. From fish markets to store racks, past winners
have varied in
subject matter,
but all feature
a high level of
style.
“A lot of
these kids don’t
have an outlet
Mickey
for their creAshmore
ativity or don’t
get recognition for these kinds
of things. The people who get
recognized are usually the athletes,” Ashmore said. “But we
get to give these young people
an opportunity to grow, express
themselves, and increase their
creativity.”
Ashmore, who enjoys pho-
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tography in his spare time, realized after the contest’s first year,
with seven or eight entrants
from Booker T. Washington
High School for the Performing
and Visual Arts, that the contest
was special, and that UCR needed to continue the event.
“Getting involved with these
kids, and hearing their parents
say, ‘thank you,’ it’s a big deal.
The rewards we get are just as
important as the kids,” he said.
For 2014 winner Abigail
Chang, the contest pushed her
from thinking of photography as
just a hobby and into believing
she could pursue it as a full career. She submitted photos every year of high school and won
for her entry, “Lobster Dinner,”
during her senior year.
“After the first year I was
able to explore photography on
a more professional level rather
than just as a hobby,” she said.
“Retail as Art has given me a
platform for positive exposure
starting out. Having a bit of
competitive edge makes it more
real, because photography is a
very competitive field of work.”
Ashmore hopes that students
involved in the program can realize the creative professional
opportunities available in retail.
“We’re really trying to make
young people aware of the job
opportunities in graphic design
and retail. It’s such a great opportunity that doesn’t necessarily need a four-year college,” he
said.
This year, top images, as
judged by a panel of photography experts, will be on display
for three days at the Goss-Michael Foundation Gallery, culminating in a gala on April 25,
which is open to the public. The
images are sold, with the proceeds going back toward the
scholarships.
“They now get the opportunity to show off their work to
their friends. They have something to truly be proud of,” Ashmore said.
For the second year, Retail as
Art is also accepting Instagram
submissions — a sign of the
changing accessibility of photography.
“We realized that a lot of
students didn’t have access to
a photography class or a camera except their phone,” he said.
“The Instagram images are just
amazing, and we’ve upped the
number of contestants by letting
them apply through the app.”
Now, Ashmore expects more
than 300 at the upcoming event.