An Interview with Kristy Edmunds: Democratizing the Performing Arts
As an artist, curator, artistic director and frequent keynote speaker internationally, Kristy Edmunds has a reputation for innovation and depth in the presentation of contemporary performing arts. In collaboration with master artists, she has curated unique platforms that survey the breadth of their artistry, while placing equal emphasis on the support and commissioning of new work by some of today’s leading performance creators across disciplines. She is the Executive and Artistic Director of UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance and recently sat down with Greg Kastleman, Editor in Chief at Cadenza Magazine.
"When those of us in th elive performing arts field are asked to contemplate how internet has impacted our field, I imagine a lyric from the classic 80's tune "Video Killed the Radio Star": "in my mind and in my car: we can't rewind we've come too far". If you're familiar with Los Angeles, you know how quintissential the automobile is for both its transportation, and for its culture. Mind-numbing traffic patterns divide this city more than any other natural geographic feature. Since we cannot rewind to an era when ticket-buyers had just a few options to access live performance arts content, how do we continue to engage the audience to whom we seek? When almost every adult has access to seemingly infinite variety of virtual performaing arts choices on their mobile devices—how does the live performing arts sector compete for attention? How do we (can we? should we? democratize and increase access to the live performing arts?
To help answer these complex questions, we turned to the accomplished and dynamic Kristy Edmunds, Executive and Artistic Director of UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance. As an artist, curator, artistic director, and frequent advisor, Edmunds holds a reputation for innovation and insight within numerous art practices. Kristy is responsible for the artistic vision, programs and creative initiatives of the Center as part of the UCLA public mission. Under Edmund's leadership since 2011, the Center has evolved as one of the nation's most respected and versatile organizations for contemporary performing arts across all disciplines. She is widely regarded for championing the role of artists in a dynamically changing world, and for her depth in the presentation of their work."— Greg Kastelman, Nov. 8, 2017
Read the interview here.