Of all the announcements I received recently, one that really caught my eye was for the 10th Annual Maker City Summit, a weekend-long gathering of makers, dreamers, and doers in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The get-together is scheduled the weekend of January 31-February 1, 2026.
Phillip Collins, founder of Good Black Art and one of the summit’s keynote speakers, said the weekend brings together painters, potters, brewers, bakers, performers, fabricators, and more. Through workshops, keynotes, and panel discussions, attendees learn how to grow their business, attract customers, and build sustainable brands.
I presented Phillip a scenario that many of us might relate to about the desire to make something versus, well, reality.
“I’ve had kids, I was married, I’m divorced, the kids are grown … I have a spark that I’ve harbored in my soul for 25 years, but never explored it, except in my very most private times. It’s an art, it’s a craft, it’s jewelry.”
It’s … creating something.
“Can a person with that story come to the summit?”
“That person should absolutely be at the summit, and I think that’s part of the conversation that I’m planning to have on the stage,” he said.
“The title of my keynote is, borders are suggestions … There is a geographic element to that, and we want to encourage openness and exploration and this drive, to your point, to encourage people to just take the leap,” he said.
“But I think that there is this other part to it, of [how] we internally create walls, and internally we create borders, or sometimes life just happens and we have to suppress certain things,” he said.
“The power of creativity is that it unlocks and removes those barriers! So I would encourage anyone who’s ever thought about exploring art to attend,” he said.
And in this case, art is music, art is making baskets, art is dancing, art is film. Art is watercolor, or postcards.
“Art is everything, and sometimes, you have these ideas in your head, and for whatever reason you’re not [yet] able to fulfill them,” he said.
Life happens.
“But I think that there are moments—like this summit—that allow you to think more broadly about who you are and what you can do. And that is why I agreed to do this summit, because I know what it is like to go through life and tick boxes, and then you wake up one day and realize that you are in the wrong position. You are not using your talents boldly. You are not using your skills and your experiences for good; you’ve left out your community. You are disconnected and siloed, even though it might be comfortable, and it’s one of the reasons why I created Good Black Art, because there is a sense of urgency to get to people, especially when they’re young, to get them to understand who they are, why they exist, and what their purpose is, so that they can move through the world more intentionally, with purpose, and have the impact that … can change the world. And I know that sounds big and lofty, but that is actually what I believe,” he said.
As a keynote speaker, Phillip brings decades of experience connecting legacy industries with historically excluded communities. His global career spans Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America, where he worked with some of the world’s largest organizations to open doors to new ideas in new places.
Other keynoters include:
• Debbie Millman, an author, educator, designer and podcast pioneer, host of ‘Design Matters,’ one of the first and longest running podcasts in the world.
• James Victore, a creative thought leader known for his provocative style as a graphic designer, art educator and dynamic, in-demand speaker on creativity.
• Sarah Sewell, a small business strategist, writer, and the founder of Flourish, a supportive e-commerce training community for product-based business owners.
The summit is designed for makers of all types—from illustrators to innovators, tinkerers to full-timers, and everyone in between—who are looking for maker business education and creative inspiration.
It’s hard to think of a better place for such an event than Southern Appalachia.
For further details, visit www.themakercitysummit.org.
Happy making.
—Jonathan Austin