I have spent my entire career, and in fact most of my life, at the intersection of arts and community development. While I spent my childhood and the first 15 years or so of my professional life in theater, I have always believed creating and presenting art, regardless of discipline, is about community building, storytelling and social change.
As the leader of Silicon Valley Creates — Santa Clara County’s arts agency and a convener, promoter, incubator and funder of the local arts ecosystem — it is this belief that drives my focus on building a regional network of leaders, artists, culture workers and funders that harnesses the power of the arts to build bridges, empower youth, fuel economic activity, activate public spaces, nurture joy and address some of the major challenges we face as a community. It is not a modest set of objectives, I know, but one worthy of our time and resources and we do this work with many partners.
We are lucky to partner with leaders in our local municipalities and at the state level who understand the importance of art.