ACE

Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy

Creative POC

Creative Beginnings: Angelique Powell

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[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”none” src=”https://www.upstatecreative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IMG_0825.jpg” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][cs_text]Angelique shared her advice about growing within your organization. We talked about the limited roles/jobs available in arts nonprofits, and how that can lead to high competition and discouragement for people trying to break into the industry.

Where are you from, and where do you live now? I’m from Latham, NY and I live in Albany, NY

Where did you attend school? What did you study? I graduated from Shaker High School and then graduated from Ithaca College with a BA in Psychology.

Family? I’m the oldest of six kids and really only grew up with my immediate family, but they all live locally to this day.

What Job titles have you held? I’ve been at the Palace for a year and 7 months. I started in the Box Office as a Ticket Seller and then after 6 months I was promoted to Part-Time Event Night Supervisor and 10 months later I was promoted to Development Manager and Community Events Coordinator as a part of the Development Department here.

What got you interested in performing arts and acting? I honestly feel like I was born this way. I am the oldest of a tribe of children and I always turned our play time, into full scale productions in which I did costumes, constructed the set, directed and was the lead actor, hahaha! Everything I was involved in, until I finally began to perform in middle school, I brought to it, this very dynamic, performance aspect to it until I finally found my home on stage.

Do you have a favorite role you’ve played? Which? Last March, I played Mrs. Mueller in DOUBT at Schenectady Civic Playhouse.

As an actor and an administrator, how does this impact your daily life and how do you find balance? I wish I could answer this in a more beautiful and inspiring way but the honesty and transparency is that I don’t always succeed at finding the balance. There are some days that I’m learning my lines frantically, backstage, as I’m awaiting my scene to approach. There are some days when I arrive to work two hours early because of the guilt of not being able to stay later the night before. There are days when I’m so exhausted, I feel like I feel it in the very tips of my fingers and toes and I’m just praying to get through the week and I ask myself, why do I continue to do this? The answer; I can’t NOT do this. On days when I am unsure about everything, that is the one thing I am completely certain of; I was meant to be an actor.

What does your job at The Palace entail? What do you enjoy about your job? I have a really big, community relations, aspect to my position here at the Palace. A key component to my roles and responsibilities is being the point of contact for all of our non-commercial events and help engage and potentially reengage the community in a way they may not have otherwise had a relationship with the theatre. I love the community. I truly and genuinely enjoy and am filled with immense gratitude to be afforded this opportunity to truly serve my community and through arts engagement. I have been so impacted by the arts and the ability to use the arts to connect, include, build, rebuild, and heal and to be able to share that with the community as both a professional and an artist; let’s just say the beauty isn’t lost on me.

Many people leave a job in order to grow and move ahead in their career but you’ve been able to grow and see opportunities for growth in your field while staying at the Palace. How have you navigated that? Well, I actually had a long-standing, retail managerial career that I left before I ended up at the Palace. I took a major pay cut and decided, that it was time to think about and take a chance on myself and what truly makes me happy.

Life is so unimaginably short and we only get one; what is the point if we don’t take every gift, privilege and opportunity afforded us and do something really amazing with it? My time, here at the Palace, has been relatively short in comparison to that eight-year career, but it has been so rich in experience and fulfillment. From working in the box office and getting to give amazing customer service and be a part of how excited people would get over their favorite artists or children absolutely beaming at the opportunity to see a movie or performance for the very first time in a theatre, to working in Development and getting to put together a film screening of, “I Am Evidence,” during Sexual Assault Awareness Month to call attention to the significant number of cases that have had justice impeded by backlogged evidence and then to take on the amazing, “Summer in the City” Program, to allow the community children a free movie series, incorporating their favorites, that allows them to enjoy the place that has really become my second home; this has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.

I truly believe in the mission and vision of the Palace Theatre and what we have and will continue to contribute to the local arts community and now, when I’m at home, still working or thinking about something work related, it’s not simply to hit a sales goal. I have a real opportunity to make a difference, in my own, totally unique way. That being said, it’s easy to think of longevity here instead of moving on to another job, because here, I can create opportunities for myself and others.

What’s one thing you want the community to know about the local arts scene? It’s larger than you think and probably just a Facebook invite away. [/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

Solving Diversity Issues in the Creative Economy

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[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][rev_slider OpalkaDiversityEvent][cs_text]Photo credits: Jenn Baumstein/WMHT and Amy Griffin/Opalka Gallery

Guest post by Ashleigh Kinsey, owner, AK Design

On April 11, 2018, ACE had a Creative Economy event with the subject “Open Forum: Diversity in the Creative Economy.”

The purpose of this meeting was to engage members of the community and have a conversation about diversity in upstate New York’s Creative Economy. Although this is the fourth largest employment sector, providing over 35,000 jobs to Capital Region residents, there is an issue with diversity. U.S. Census data reports that in July 2016, 76.9% of those who took the census reported they identified as white alone, with 13.3% identifying as Black alone.

As a lifelong resident of Troy and Albany NY, I can tell you those numbers seemed accurate when I was in grade school, but in 2016 I personally saw much more diversity. And in 2018, my daughter attends an elementary school with students from all over the globe, in a predominantly non-white classroom. I would love to take the time to sit with my daughter one day to really research our family history – we might visit here for starters and take a look at old census records to see what that can tell us. I want her to only be proud of who she is and where she comes from.

Although there are many groups and organizations in the Capital Region that cater to Creative Industries, they are quite separate culturally. Organizations like ACE and Power Breakfast Club have been instrumental in providing ways to bridge the gap and truly work towards a greater, more inclusive creative economy. However, nationally recognized organizations, of which I had a membership, did not make me feel welcome as a woman of color.

The Open Forum, moderated by Ada Harper of 518blk.com, had 5 panelists:

Panelists shared their experiences in the Creative Economy, and the successes and struggles they have overcome to get where they are today. Many of the stories shared were successes that have come out of the need to create something for others like themselves, as many times they were the ones being left without a seat at the table. The conversation went on. How do we create a truly inclusive environment for creatives of any race, culture, gender, etc. to come together and share their gifts and voices in a way that benefits the entire community?

After a formal discussion, the audience asked their questions of the panel, and many were of the same common thread. What do we need to do? How do we do it? What would the next step be? Organizations need to be more inclusive and not just plan a diversity event, but make diversity a part of the planning for every event.

One of my suggestions was to create a community within ACE that would provide a digital Rolodex of sorts, and include the freelancers and professionals involved with ACE between event times. A network where these creatives could share their ideas and collaborate with one another. ACE networking events have been a wonderful resource for me as a creative to meet other creative folks and has lit a fire in me when it comes to creating change in my community. I appreciate the event, and the opportunity to share my thought on it. I certainly hope this conversation does not die as mere words and ideas, but lives and thrives on the energy it has been given to make the Capital Region one of the most diverse, and creative regions in the country.

If any part of this article has stirred you, feel free to write to me by clicking here. I encourage you to take action and get involved with ACE and your Creative Economy. For other events and more information, visit https://www.upstatecreative.org/.

This is a guest post contributed by a member of the ACE community. Guest posts do not necessarily reflect the views or represent official statements from ACE or ACE partners.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

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