Q&A: By Richard Rodriguez with Nina Orm on Project 2026 and the Fight to Feed — and Free — the Starving Artist

 

Nina Orm- Orm Muse Collective’s Art Gallery is curating Project 2026: America Reincarnated (Courtesy Photo)

Q&A: By Richard Rodriguez with Nina Orm on Project 2026 and the Fight to Feed — and Free — the Starving Artist
By Richard Rodriguez

Nina Orm doesn’t just want starving artists to eat—she wants them to own the table, the building, and the block. And right now, she’s looking for 13 of them. The Orm Muse Collective’s Art Gallery is curating Project 2026: America Reincarnated, an unapologetic exhibition that will feature artists whose cultural histories are tied to the United States.

This is the chance to confront and rewrite America’s narrative, honoring the sacrifices of our ancestors and telling the truth history books have tried to sanitize: we belong here, we’ve always been here, and we are what makes this country great.

The deadline to apply is September 5, 2025. ormmusecollective.com/artistsubmissions

Picture a painter with nothing but lint in their pocket, finding a way when there is no way—canvas under one arm, hustling across the city to set up on a street corner, hoping someone will stop, look, and maybe buy—or at least donate. This is the grind. The reality. The romanticized “starving artist” stripped of glamour, laid bare in sweat and hustle.

Orm knows that life, and she’s offering a way out that doesn’t just cover rent for the month but teaches artists how to build wealth. The collective will be teaching creatives how to scale their ideas, secure funding, and protect their work. The aim: to make artists unshakable in a world quick to exploit them.

Her background—finance, government, media, creative entrepreneurship—isn’t a footnote; it’s the engine. She moves at the intersection of money and imagination, structuring capital deployment for the arts, building accelerator programs for emerging talent, and pushing the creative economy forward.

Here’s what Nina Orm shared with me about why she’s stepping in with faith to make changes.

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RICHARD RODRIGUEZ:
You’ve said this project is about more than helping artists survive—it’s about helping them thrive. What do you mean by that?

NINA ORM:
I won’t give you money for you to make change, but I will give you a network that will stretch your buck and allow you to step—if you listen—into generational wealth using your art as the seed.”

Project 2026: America Reincarnated is the Orm Muse Collective’s answer to Project 2025—a political blueprint that would strip away human rights, dismantle integrity, and scorch the very idea of an inclusive America. If Project 2025 is the wildfire, Project 2026 is the garden—where we reclaim our identity and plant the seeds of empowerment.

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RR:
And how many artists are you looking for?

NINA ORM:
“We’re looking for 13 artists whose cultural histories are tied to the United States—BIPOC, Queer, immigrant, and underrepresented creators are especially encouraged to apply. Just as the original 13 colonies shaped the nation’s beginnings, these 13 voices will shape its reimagining. They will show the beauty, complexity, and truth of what it means to be American—unfiltered, unapologetic, and impossible to erase.

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RR:
What inspired you to create Orm Muse Collective in the first place?

NINA ORM:
I started Orm Muse Collective because I was tired of watching brilliant creatives—especially those carrying rich cultural histories—hit walls, not for lack of talent, but for lack of access, resources, and community. Our culture celebrates the finished product but rarely invests in the artist’s journey or the preservation of our stories. The artist Flaco Waters embodies this perfectly—a beautiful depiction of the African American experience in America throughout our nation’s history, a nod to our ancestors on canvas. Orm Muse is my way of building an ecosystem where the creative class can produce their best work while also protecting cultural legacies, amplifying voices often left out of the record, and ensuring our narratives are told with authenticity. For me, it’s about creating the space I wish had existed when I was starting out—one that fuels both the art and the legacy it leaves behind.

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RR:
What painting best summarizes your personality?

NINA ORM:
Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi.

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RR:
Why that piece?

NINA ORM:
I love this piece because it embodies autonomy, liberty, justice, and the refusal to let society define you. Judith Slaying Holofernes carries two stories: the biblical tale of Judith, who saved her city by beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes, and Artemisia Gentileschi’s own life, marked by personal trauma and defiance. Gentileschi’s Judith is no passive heroine—she’s fierce, deliberate, and unyielding. Like Judith, I’ve faced entrenched power with nothing but conviction, strategy, and will. Like Artemisia, I’ve refused to let the world dictate my worth. The socio-economic barriers I’ve faced have been my own Holofernes, and I’ve cut them down—not for vengeance, but to make space for something better. My fight is to build Eden as I see it, where beauty, intellect, and justice are tools of liberation. Hell hath no fury like a woman determined to win.

Artemisia Gentileschi's 'Judith Slaying Holofernes'

Artists can apply at ormmusecollective.com/artistsubmissions.