Today we’d like to introduce you to Devon Fromm.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up immersed in creative outlets which organically evolved into a career in Interior Design. I kicked off my career by working at an architecture firm after school every day my senior year of high school. When high school ended, I moved to Boston to study architecture at Northeastern University. During that time, I co-oped at two firms, one in New York City and one in Boston. During my second co-op, I learned that Interior Design was the true niche I wanted to be in with a focus on renovations and construction. After graduating with my BA in Architecture, I earned my Masters in Interior Design from Suffolk University. Upon graduating, I worked at a design firm in Cambridge before moving to Chicago in 2015 to work at Perkins+Will. A year and a half into my career at PW, I realized I really wanted to be working on my own, so I left and formed Devon Grace Interiors in 2016. As the creative director for DGI, I focus on residential and commercial design throughout Chicago and have even had the opportunity to work on projects in NYC and Delaware.
Please tell us about your art.
Being an Interior Designer can feel pretty powerful at times. I get to create spaces that people interact with every day. Places that people look forward to coming home to at the end of the day. Places that people create their lives in. Places that take people’s breath away. The difference between an Interior Designer and a more typical “artist” is that while I am creating a design of my own, I also have my client’s unique needs and desires in mind during the entire creative process. My priority is to always create a space that reflects its users (my clients) as much if not more than it reflects me. I don’t ever want a client to feel like they are living in a staged space. Instead, I make it my mission to create a space that feels customized for my unique client. It adds an extra challenge to the process but it makes it so much more rewarding in the end.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
Working for yourself, especially as a creative, can be terrifying at times. When I was first starting out, I said yes to just about everything and figured out how to make it work. I was always worried that the work would stop coming, but with time I’ve learned that if you focus on the work, and deliver a good product, the work will continue to show up. I’ve had the fortune of not having to do much advertising or marketing and have had a steady organic growth. While this is great, I think another important step to business growth and development is focusing on your systems and adjusting them to meet your ever-evolving needs. Just this month, I brought on a new business partner to take over the business-side of things and start focusing on marketing and targeting bigger jobs that are more in line with the vision I have for our long-term goals. While he puts the energy into that, I get to focus on the creative side of things, so it’s really a dream come true for me. There’s still that fear that every artist has that the work will stop, but as you grow and take control a bit more, the fear seems more and more distant.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My design for Ford Model’s office in New York City was featured on Mydomaine and I’m hoping to have the design I just wrapped up for their Chicago office published somewhere as well. Otherwise, I’m still pretty new so haven’t had a ton of work highlighted yet. I typically direct people to my website www.devongraceinteriors.com or my Instagram @devon_grace_interiors where I feature a lot of behind the scenes looks and highlight the entire design process. I’m also a contributor for Girl Meets Party and post about two blog posts a month on her site.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1 North State St. #1500
Chicago, IL 60602 - Website: www.devongraceinteriors.com
- Phone: 872-529-1538
- Email: info@devongraceinteriors.com
- Instagram: @devon_grace_interiors
- Facebook: @devongraceinteriors
Image Credit:
Bathroom photos are by Dustin Halleck
Living/Dining room photo is by Dustin Halleck
Portrait of Devon is by Katharine Hannah
Portrait of Devon and Mike is by Lauren Clark
Ford Models photo, Open Shelving photo and Built in Shelf photo by Emma Ressel
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
