ANTHONY CHISOM
I was born in the year 1969 and hail from the small West Texas town of Farwell, Texas. I have always had my sites set on life in the big city.
In 1987 my high school graduating class made a trip to Dallas which was the first glimpse of a major city lifestyle that I had experienced at that point in my life. As the bus we were traveling on made its’ way past the beautiful skyline, making its’ way towards Houston, something in my soul told me that I would be back someday and that Dallas would become my home. I did not know how or when, but I knew it to be an absolute that could not be denied.
In 1994 after prior years of living in the cities of Lubbock, Galveston, and Houston, I moved to Dallas. A few months after my arrival, I secured a position with the newest division in the Gap Inc. brand, Old Navy. At Old Navy I moved up quickly from sales associate to manager and served and 11 year career with them hiring, training and promoting employees.
In 1999 weeks prior to my 30th birthday, I established my business Anthony Chisom Interiors. This venture was developed to follow my dream of becoming a designer.
I worked my business on the side and continued to work for Old Navy. After about a six month time period of this process and a feeling that there was more in store for me and my life, I took a leave of absence from Old Navy to persue what truly could be in store for me.
In the early part of 2000, I took a part-time job at Cedar Springs Flower Market which sat on the strip where Zen Clips and Buli currently reside. I worked for Cindy and Sally, owners for about two years and continued to work my business on the side.
In 2002 I bean go include floral and event design in the scope of my business after having the opportunity to design the flowers for the opening of the John Vega Hair Salon. Word of mouth spread in regards to my work, thanks to John and others allowing my business and confidence to grow. Working with John also brought about the first opportunity for me to begin Holiday décor installations. Currently, I do the Holiday décor for two of the Bob’s Chop and Steak Restaurants in the metroplex, Grapevine, and Plano at the Shops of Legacy. I have done wedding and events in Dallas, Tyler, and Amarillo, Texas.
In 2004 I had the great fortune to meet my good friend and Spirit Sister, Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk. Through this association, Mary Ann gave me the opportunity to move from designing out of my apartment and into a studio/workspace environment with space in her building on Maple Avenue. This great gift has allowed me to persue my business dreams and life goals. It also brought about the opportunity to begin giving back. Through this friendship and collaboration, I have also had the opportunity to join Mary Ann and participate in the Diffa’s Dining by Design Event by creating two environments in both 2006 and 2007.
In May of 2006, I had the opportunity to travel to Africa as part of a study tour with Heifer International. It was through visiting with the citizens of Rwanda and Tanzania, and hearing and seeing the numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS that my desire to give back on a larger scale and the idea of the Anthony Chisom AIDS Foundation was born.
The mission of the Anthony Chisom AIDS Foundation is to bring support to those living with HIV/AIDS in a direct manner by paying the premium costs of those receiving their medical benefits through a Cobra Insurance program in addition to medication funding.
The Anthony Chisom AIDS Foundation founded the early part of 2008, is a global, collaborative non-profit organization and looks to combine its’ efforts with other non-profits around the world to increase the benefits given to those living with HIV/AIDS bringing about the greatest impact possible for sustainable healthy lives.
As part of my giving back, I have volunteered for DIFFA Dallas, donated to floral arrangements to various non-profit silent auctions including: Memnosyne Foundation, Fashion Group International, TACA, The John Philp Thompson Foundation for Brain Cancer Research, in addition to AIDS Services Dallas’s No Tie Dinner. My friend Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk and I are serving as Honorary Co-Chairs for the AIDS Services Dallas No Tie Event for 2009.
In addition to being the Founder and President of my own foundation, I also work as Assistant to the Directors of the Memnosyne Foundation which works to help people become conscientiously aware of how their decisions affect the global world around them. In 2006/2007 I served as Interim President of the Visual Arts Coalition of Dallas which supports and showcases the work of the visual artist of North Texas and still volunteer for this organization. In 2007 I helped to host and gave meeting space for the beginning discussions for the GALA Prom Committee for that year.
I have been featured on WFAA, Channel 8 for the Artist in Action Gala in April 2004, and on CBS 11 for a segment on Wedding Planning in 2007.
I was profiled in Eclipse Magazine in 2006.
I served as set director for the 2005 Memnosyne Documentary, Many Paths, One Source.
I was featured in the State Line Tribune, my hometown paper, in an article on the establishment of The Anthony Chisom AIDS Foundation in August of 2008.
As I continue to move forward in my life, in addition to growing the efforts of the Anthony Chisom AIDS Foundation and growing my current business, some of my other goals include both a magazine and television project and continued philanthropy.
I am currently working to complete my first book project.
