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Stories of Stillness, Connection, and Moving Art
- Phyllis Sanders
- Jul 6
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 10
Artist of the Month July 2025 | Darnel Marley
Listening to Darnel Marley talk about her photography feels like stepping into a world where time slows down and the moment pauses. Her passion grew from a deep desire to observe and find healing in nature. She describes sunsets spent alone on empty beaches, moments when the air is still, and the world seems to welcome you to a fleeting moment. These experiences bring a sense of restoration and presence. Her images evoke a sense of tranquility that reminds us to breathe more deeply, slow down, and reconnect with what’s around us. Light filtering through a canopy of leaves, the quiet resilience of moss-covered stones, the fleeting perfection of a golden hour sky, each photograph, a meditation on being present.
This September, Darnel’s nature photography will be featured in the Our Wild World Art Exhibition, dedicated to exploring our relationship with nature and rediscovering wonder in the everyday. Her photographs remind us that beauty can be found in subtle details that reveal themselves when we take time to look closely. Inviting viewers to find peace in impermanence, to see strength in decay, and to remember the simple joy of noticing life as it unfolds.
Yet Darnel’s creative journey doesn’t end with quiet landscapes. As our conversations deepen, she opens a window into the fascinating world of benching: the practice of observing and documenting trains and the graffiti they carry across the country. This subculture, unknown to many, is rich with stories and connections that span cities and states. It’s a world where a piece of graffiti painted in New York might roll through Kansas days later, sparking a connection with an artist they’ve never met hundreds of miles away.
Spending time with Darnel has revealed the fascinating community that grows around benching. The stories she tells are filled with wonder: familiar art reappearing miles from where it started, the hush of waiting along tracks, the sense of shared excitement when a train finally rolls by. Benching has its own language of lines, color, and movement. It’s a community built on patience, curiosity, and respect for both art and each other.
What’s extraordinary is how benching brings people together across vast distances. Artists in California celebrate the work of those in the Midwest; photographers share sightings with one another, creating networks of friendship and support. There’s no barrier of fame or status, only a shared love of art that moves. Darnel describes this community as one that uplifts and encourages, even from afar, embodying what it means to connect through creativity and art.
We connected with Darnel during the final preparation stages of launching our Brand Sponsorship Program alongside the Artist of the Month program, creating the perfect opportunity to collaborate meaningfully. Both of us are on a journey of refining our crafts and exploring creative possibilities, seeking a community of people to grow with while doing something that feels purposeful.
Through our collaboration with Darnel, we are diving into the world of trains as moving canvases, and the deeper cultural significance of this underground art form. Together, we are building The Art of Benching Collection that will debut in January 2026. Under our Brand Sponsorship Program we will share the untold stories of benching with audiences who might never have imagined the richness and depth of this culture. Preparing this collection has been an educational experience in itself, revealing dedication, creativity, friendships, and support that inspire us to immerse ourselves too.
The Brand Sponsorship Program is designed to offer zero-cost brand development opportunities for nonprofits, artists, and environmental communities, engaging them in a year-long partnership to find their voice, develop a distinctive visual identity, and tell their stories in innovative ways rarely seen in traditional marketing and branding.
Having programs like this helps us better support these collaborations by providing clear direction and structure, which in turn helps us define our relationship and goals. One of our goals is to uplift creatives by leveraging our own creative and technological skills to make opportunities more accessible, affordable, and truly meaningful. This isn’t about selling a branding package, it’s about saying: we’re here to understand you, dream big with you, and help remove the technological barriers that might stand in your way.
As creatives ourselves, we believe in thinking outside the box and creating with intention. Through this program, we hope to inspire collaborative relationships across art, nature, and community spaces, providing access to professional-level marketing and design services without the prohibitive price tag. The program also offers opportunities for interns and emerging artists to gain real-world experience in branding while directly supporting communities in sharing their messages with the audiences who need to hear them.
We’re excited to welcome Darnel Marley as the first artist piloting this program. Together, we’ll immerse ourselves in the world of benching, learning about its unique culture, legal and ethical considerations, mindfulness practices, and the thrill that draws people to this underground art form. This partnership isn’t just about building a branded collection; it’s about seeing potential, inspiring ourselves to dream of what’s possible, and crafting a creative journey grounded in care, community, and authentic storytelling.
Throughout her Brand Sponsorship Program, we will explore ways to make this an expansive, immersive experience, from virtual galleries to in-person exhibitions, rail fan events, and proposals to share these stories with aligned galleries and museums in other cities. By doing so, we hope to honor the culture of benching, celebrate its artists, and help more people discover the art that travels quietly across the landscapes of America.
Darnel Marley’s photography captures the serenity of nature and the dynamic spirit of trains, teaching us to look closer and find meaning in moments most would overlook. Her work reminds us that art isn’t only about what we see, but about what we feel, and how it connects us to one another. We’re honored to share her vision as our Artist of the Month, and we’re excited to continue this journey together.
As we look ahead, it’s important to recognize the real value of what we’re creating together. Programs like Artist of the Month and the Brand Sponsorship Program require countless hours of professional-level design, writing, planning, and strategy, resources we’re committed to offering freely within these programs, so artists like Darnel can focus on their work, not their wallets, or their learning curve of technology programs, and marketing. Below, we’ve outlined the estimated fair market value of these programs to show what it truly takes to build meaningful, immersive opportunities for artists and communities.
Value of These Programs:
Artist of the Month Program (1-month feature)
What’s included:
Custom social media graphics & announcement assets
Minimum of 10 featured posts with curated captions
Artist bio/profile page on our website
Professional blog article/interview
Dedicated virtual gallery page for their work
Coordination of artist assets and follow-ups
Mini-zine with content from the program about the artist
Ongoing updates to the virtual gallery throughout the month
Certificate of participation
Estimated value (market rate):
Professional social media content creation & copywriting: $1,000-$1,500
Website bio page & virtual gallery buildout: $500-$700
Blog writing/interview feature: $300-$500
Free Downloadable Mini Zine: $150-$300
Project management/admin/coordination: $700-$1,000
Professional Marketing and branding: $500-$700
Total estimated fair market value: $3,000 – $5,000 USD per Artist of the Month
Brand Sponsorship Program (12-month engagement)
What’s included:
Zero-cost brand strategy and visual identity consultation
Brand development deliverables (logos, visual assets, design support)
Ongoing creative collaboration on exhibitions, storytelling, events, and outreach
Proposal writing for galleries, museums, and funding opportunities
Event planning and co-hosting (virtual or in-person rail fan gatherings, gallery events)
Strategic marketing support & campaign planning
Professional-level mentorship on brand positioning & communications
Opportunities for interns or emerging creatives to gain real-world experience
Creative Collective print store setup and product design
Ongoing, customized project management throughout the year
Estimated value (market rate):
Brand development & strategy: $4,000–$7,000
Design deliverables (logos, brand guides, assets): $3,000–$5,000
Content creation & copywriting over a year: $2,000–$4,000
Marketing and campaign strategy: $1,500–$3,000
Event and exhibition support: $2,000–$4,000
Ecommerce store setup: $1,500-$3,000
Project management/admin: $2,000–$3,500
Total estimated fair market value: $16,000 – $30,000 USD per year-long Brand Sponsorship
These estimates reflect rates for professional marketing/design/branding firms or freelance professionals with expertise in:
Visual design
Social media marketing
Content writing
Event planning
Branding strategy
Community engagement and DEI-focused programming
They also account for the layered, high-quality, and customized nature of our programs, which go far beyond a standard “feature” or paid ad placement. We are building relationships, co-creating experiences, and providing both tangible deliverables and intangible benefits, like community, mentorship, and support in curated spaces.
Get Involved: Sponsor, Learn, or Collaborate
If you’re interested in sponsoring an Artist of the Month, participating as a designer or creative intern, or collaborating on the program, we’d love to hear from you.
Our Artist of the Month and Brand Sponsorship programs are built with passion, dedication, and professional skills, but without any current funding, corporate sponsorships, or grants. Everything we do is fueled by the power of our own creativity, time, and a drive to support artists in meaningful ways.
As we continue to develop these programs, we’re seeking partners and collaborators who want to grow with us. Whether you’d like to help research or write grants, sponsor an artist, contribute your design skills, or gain hands-on experience in professional branding and marketing, there’s a place for you here.
By working together, we can build opportunities that don’t just showcase art, but also support artists, writers, designers, photographers, and many others who enrich their communities and care for the environment. Future funding and collaborative efforts will help sustain programs that provide access, mentorship, and creative growth for everyone involved.
We have strategies in place to help generate funding within these programs and give back to participating artists. This includes offering artist prints through our Merch with a Mission Creative Marketplace, which is designed to minimize barriers, time, technical setup, and ongoing maintenance of an online store for artists. We’re also creating mini-zines with free and donation-based options, making it easy for people to support artists in ways that feel personal and accessible. Our Brand development, web design, graphic design, and other professional services are available for paid projects and consultations as well.
If you’re ready to be part of this journey, whether as a sponsor, collaborator, intern, or participant in the upcoming Brand Sponsorship Program, please reach out, explore our website, join our creative collective, or follow us on social media. Let’s create something together as a community, something that values supporting one another, and using our collective skills to empower each other to grow.
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