Matty Draughter - April 2025
For the month of April, we would like to turn the spotlight over to Matty Draughter ( @HeyDraughter) for our artist highlight. Matty is a multidisciplinary artist with backgrounds in poetry/writing, film/photography, and acting/modeling. He is also the CEO of @Saturnreturn.studios, and the founder of @augmented.fit. He is from the New Orleans area and claims the areas of Uptown and Avondale. Growing up, he gravitated towards writing. His mother taught him how to type at age 6, and by age 8, he was typing his own stories. He would attend Lusher Charter School, where he would take up a certificate of artistry class for creative writing. For his senior project, he wanted to do a fully immersive artistic experience, which would incorporate multiple fields of art. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to do that, but was given the option to choose a secondary artistic discipline. He ended up doing his project, combining creative writing and media arts. He would make a short film with the poem he made being the script, and taking photos to create a reel of sorts. Upon going to college, he would take a long hiatus and attend the business school.
Many people thought he would go on become an English major or continue focusing on writing. He wouldn’t pick up the pin again until 2018 when he moved to California. He states “ I just didn’t have anything to say”. He would go through a period of living life which included coming out to his family. “I took time to walk into the meaning of what it is to be me”. After a hard break up, he says the only way that helped him get through. It would be to write a poem as he woke up every day. At this time he would have his first corporate advertising job and his coworkers really wanted to collaborate with him. He would do a production centered around a poem that he made while in Paris. This would incorporate him modeling, executive producing and doing spoken word. This is something that he is always envisioned even since high school. He believes that his mission is to visually detail stories through poetry. You would stay in California for almost 3 years then moved to Portland after finding a new job. This was where his modeling career really took off. He would also find out he had family in Portland and that they too have artistic backgrounds. Matthew is first inspired by Jesus Christ, knowing that nothing will be possible without him. His family is also great inspiration, especially his nieces and nephews. As he grows seeing them become more comfortable with themselves, and learning really brings him joy. Other influences include James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Virginia Woolf, and Kanye West to name a few.
Matty has three special moments that he holds dear to him. The first is having his photos presented in the Ogden museum last year. He said that when he was taking the pictures in City Park at the time, he knew that they had the be in Ogden so it coming full circle is truly a blessing. The second is the creation of his first book “ In Blume”. He knows that he’ll make other books, but with that one being his first baby it holds a special place in his heart . The last is an EP launch that he has in the works with an artist that he can’t quite talk about just yet. This is also something that he has done for the first time, which is why it’s so special for him. Going forward Matty is currently working on frames two and three of his book that he hopes to have fully completed before 2026. He also has an other book he plans to work on, but doesn’t try to plan out his life too far ahead. He has learned to appreciate things as they come and the unexpected. If you would like to find out more about Matty and his multiple forms of art, you can follow his instagram, or subscribe to his website www.Draughter.art. Do you have a favorite poem by Matty Draughter?
If you can dream it, that means you can see it, that means you can do it, and you can be it. -Matty Draughter
