Back in the summer of 2023, I had an idea for a new website, and I was looking for a pseudonym in order to have some anonymity with the venture. I wanted to blog with it, have a platform for sharing travel pictures and stories, and had thoughts about a lifestyle brand of sorts, with perhaps some clothing designs or home furnishings. I came up with the name “Manzo Dakota,” and registered the domain name. Now, you may ask, what kind of name is that? There must be a back story, right?
Of course there is … Manzo was the first name of my grandfather on my Dad’s side, and I’ve never met another “Manzo” in my life. “Dakota” came into play because Manzo lived in South Dakota, and – in the spirit of a name that included a location – think “Indiana Jones” – I thought Manzo Dakota had a nice ring to it – certainly something that would stick in people’s memories.
Fast forward a bit, and while I did put some time into it and started building an online presence, I just found myself stretched too thin. Between my “day job” of maintaining websites for clients, working on my art, maintaining this website, and other various responsibilities, trying to build up a new brand such as Manzo Dakota just didn’t get the time it deserved.
But then I thought, why not just fold Manzo Dakota into McKinney Arts? And that’s what I’ve done. I moved the posts about travel over here, posts about home/living here, and antiques here, among other things. While one may question why there’s travel blogging on an arts site, the fact is I’m usually enjoying art on these travels, and getting inspired by the travels to make new art (see Spain inspiration here, and Mexico here), and so I feel like it ties in just fine.
In the end, McKinney Arts isn’t just one thing, it’s a lot of things, and the catchphrase that I created for Manzo Dakota, “many interests, little sense,” is an accurate description of my creative thought process anyway. So I will close down Manzo Dakota soon, and the creative spirit will continue on here under the umbrella of McKinney Arts. I hope you like it and come back to read and see more!