Interview by Gainesville High School Junior and Abernathy Cochran Intern Kate Willis
Meet Grace Leahy! Grace grew up in Pennsylvania and later pursued a career working in the film industry in Los Angeles. After a year, her partner, Juan, acquired a job at Brenau University, and they moved to Gainesville where she started working for the Atlanta Film Festival. Now, she runs her own illustration and design business here in Gainesville.
We want to thank Grace for spending time with us recently and telling us more about her life and love of Hall County.
Question: What inspired you or led you to your current career?
Answer: “I’ve always loved art and the creative aspects of it, but what has always kind of ‘clicked’ the best is design and having the individual challenges that come with each client.”
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County, and what do you love there?
A: “I like going to Dilletto’s for their London Fog and Dulce de Leche Argentine kind of pastries.”
Q: How long have you lived or worked in Hall County?
A: “I have lived here for about a year and half, but I’ve worked in Hall County for around 7 months.”
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met in Hall County and why?
A: “I’ve met a lot of amazing healthcare staff working at the District 2 Public Health clinic in town. A lot of them have a lot of inspiring stories and it’s really moving to hear their journey to Hall County.”
Q: What is your favorite childhood memory?
A: “When I was a kid, I would make sculptures out of whatever I could find in my parent’s recycling bin. Our dining room was filled with the most random sculptures for the longest time.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
A: “I’ve always wanted to go to Japan and see their art. There are a lot of famous prints made with wood blocks, and every single line is very delicately crafted and detailed. It’s very fascinating to me.”
Q: What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “I don’t remember the first movie I ever saw, but I remember my first date at the theater. We were in the 6th grade, and he took me to see ‘Smurfs 2′ with our parents.”
Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A: “Life is better and richer when you think that people are inherently good.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “I would love to design labels for wine bottles.”
Q: What is your favorite music/ three bands you would like to see (dead or alive)?
A: “I would love to see the Fleet Foxes, ABBA, and Fleetwood Mac.”
Q: What local business makes you the most nostalgic about your childhood and why?
A: “I love going into the Storybook Market on the square and seeing all the older books I had when I was a kid and all of the beautiful illustrations in some of the newer books.”
Q: Choosing anyone (past or present and a non-relative) with whom would you love to have lunch? And where locally would you have this lunch?
A: “In the earlier years of Disney, there was a team of women called the ‘Ink & Paint’ women working behind the scenes in mass to paint each individual frame for each film. I would probably take some of them to lunch, and I’d probably take them to 2Dog.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “People are really nice, open and welcoming. Juan and I have also just recently joined the pickleball community here in Gainesville, so I’ve really been enjoying that.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “I don’t really have a specific plan, but I hope I’ve got a good body of work that I can look back on and be proud of.”
Q: What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: “When I lived in L.A., I worked the Oscars Red Carpet and got to meet Bill Murray, Maya Rudolph, and a lot of famous filmmakers.”
Q: What three words mean “Home” to you?
A: “Molly, Jack, and Brian; they are my younger siblings.”
Q: If you were cast into a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your co-star, who would you choose?
A: “Saoirse Ronan or Greta Gerwig.”
Q: If you had a full time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose?
A: “I would probably just want a business manager to take care of all the contracts and the numbers side of things.”
