We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kari Lebby. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kari below.

Kari, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I am a chronic risk-taker.

I started graduate school about a month after my father passed away suddenly in late July of 2019. I moved away from my hometown for the first time in my, at the time, 28 years of living. I moved to New York of all places as a first venture from my birthplace. I had to rebuild a community and network in a brand new place in the middle of grieving a lot of new losses. In addition to losing my father, Larry Lebby, a world-renowned visual artist and a huge influence on my creative and personal life, I had lost my final living grandparent, my Grandmother, and had to move hundreds of miles away from my 6-month-year-old son, whose mother and I had broken up earlier that summer, to pursue graduate school and further my professional career. I have often ventured off on little more than a whim or dream to create events, festivals, and theatre. I’ve directed a play in a living room. I’ve recorded and released multiple albums from multiple music projects. I’ve started a musical festival to charge my local tastemakers to provide more opportunity for more diverse patrons in Columbia and hire more performers of color and other marginalized groups to showcase their talents on a major local stage.
The risks I had taken, the losses I had endured, and the relentless pursuit of my passions had all led me to this point. They had shaped me into someone who could navigate the complexities of a city like New York, who could find beauty in the chaos, and who could continue to dream big, despite the odds. My journey had been anything but easy, but it had been incredibly rewarding.

As I look to the future, I am filled with a sense of optimism. The risks I have taken have not only helped me grow personally and professionally, but they have also allowed me to make a small but meaningful impact on the world around me. I am more determined than ever to continue this journey, to keep pushing boundaries, and to keep pursuing my dreams, no matter how daunting they may seem. For in taking these risks, in facing these challenges head-on, I have discovered my true strength and my true purpose. And I am eager to see where this path will lead me next.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

With experience in music, acting, design, and more, I showcase adaptability across artistic mediums. From community organizing to live entertainment production, I excel in project management. My passion for storytelling and commitment to diversity drive meaningful narratives. By infusing personal experiences into my work, I create authentic and relatable content. Thrilled to bring my multidisciplinary skills, varied experience, storytelling passion, empathy, and personal connection to every project!

My goal is to create impactful American theatre that reflects the diverse experiences of marginalized communities. As a multidisciplinary metamodernist director, I draw inspiration from various mediums and constantly strive to improve my creative team management skills. I am passionate about pushing the boundaries of traditional theatrical tropes and standards, while also creating a safe and supportive environment for all performers and designers. My ultimate dream is for my work to challenge audiences to question their own identities and perspectives, leading to reflection and potential for change. I believe in showcasing the complexity and nuance of humanity in my characters, rather than relying on purely evil villains. Overall, my work aims to promote compassion and accountability for all individuals as we navigate this complex and fascinating experience of life together.

I am a career creator. I write music, I am a director, I am a performer, and I am a graphic designer. My biggest influences are Damon Albarn, Joan Jett, my father, Larry Lebby, among other eclectic and DIY-by-need creatives.

My projects include my music project, “sandcastles.”, any stage or screen I have directed, including “The Glass Menagerie” at Workshop Theatre of South Carolina and “Is God Is” at The New School, and the music video for “Mad Love” by Mel Washington. I am also a graphic designer, having rebranded “Sid and Nancy”, a re-sale clothing vendor in Columbia, South Carolina, among other businesses (shopsidnancy.com). I have been a booking agent locally and regionally in the American south, booking festivals and annual events including “Sid & Nancy’s Hollaween Explosion” and “Hoechella”, as well as a DJ, holding a few local residencies over time in Columbia, South Carolina, including “Bootleg Fireworks” and “BreakEdge”. I have also done some modeling and have provided hosting and/or MC services for events occasionally, including the Big Freedia concert for the Indie Grits Film Festival. I have also hosted a few podcasts, and taught classes on amateur podcasting at Richland Library.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

My friends never understand how hard it is for me to make money at this stage of my career. Nobody is Issa Rae until they are Issa Rae. I have spent countless hours and years in various industries and places of learning to pursue my career.
It’s a challenging journey, one that’s often underestimated or glossed over by those looking around from the outside. They see the glitz, the glamour, and the end result, but rarely the sleepless nights, the endless hustle, or the sacrifices made along the way. It’s a path filled with rejection, self-doubt, and constant evolution, pushing you to your limits while demanding creativity and resilience in the face of adversity.
Existing is Exhausting. Which is why chasing the things that matter to you is worth it. It is worth it for my family, my audience, and the world.
I have always said that I will keep creating as long as there is one person listening, watching, feeling. I live to create, and sometimes It hurts that said needs make financial or emotional security easy or even seem viable.

I keep swimming in hope that one day it will change.
I know it will.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

People need to understand that artists are here to help question and really interrogate things about our world, life, and society. Even the afterlife. We are here to pose questions, not to tell people things.

My wish is for people to consider those questions and ask themselves how they feel about it. I want people to converse over my work. I want us all to understand each other more. That is on of the central goals of my work.
Part of how I work involves a high level of collaboration and in effect, agency. I want us all to have agency over the creative work we encounter so that we can approach difficult topics with confidence, safety, and the necessary level of comfort. Art, especially Theatre, begs for a level of discomfort. This discomfort is meant to sit with the audience and creator in my opinion. “Why does this make me uncomfortable” is a beautiful starting place for a conversation.
Speaking from experience, that question is often the launching pad for most original work or even adaptations that interest me to dive into and build from.

Contact Info:

• Website: bakarilebby.com
• Instagram: @karilebby
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089778066476
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bakarilebby/
• Twitter: x.com/bakarilebby
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sndcstls

Image Credits
Bakari Lebby, Jeni McCaughan, Sean Rayford and Deon Turner