We recently connected with Kathleen Culebro and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kathleen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
It’s hard to choose one project that is “most” meaningful. There are so many collaborations I’ve had that are truly life-changing. I really treasure projects that take me out of my comfort zone and scare me a bit, so I’m going to say that the project I’m working on now is taking me in new directions I’ve never tried out before. My theatre company, Amphibian Stage, has received funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts to produce an augmented reality art walk through the Near Southside area of Fort Worth. I’m getting to know so many new artists of various disciplines and that’s the best part. Fort Worth is teeming with creativity and I love being a part of bringing different people together to make something entirely new. It’s a very technically complex process and everything has to come together perfectly in order for it to work. But if we get it right, thousands of people will be drawn to the neighborhood and, we hope, be moved by the work that they see. The theme of the project is The Power of Creativity, specifically the way it heals people and transforms communities.
Kathleen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I grew up in Mexico City and have been obsessed with theatre ever since I saw my first Broadway play at the age of 10 when my mother took me to see PIPPIN. We sat on the first row, which most people would consider bad seats, but I was in heaven watching those actors sing and dance so close I could see them breathe. I consider myself first and foremost a playwright, but I also have had the privilege of being the Founding Artistic Director of Amphibian Stage since 2000. I had no idea what I was doing when I first started 22 years ago, and I continue to learn new things each day. I believe good theatre makes people more compassionate. The best plays reveal stories about the human condition, full of difficult choices, triumphs, failures, and disappointments. Plays let us see people in difficult situations try their best and confront obstacles, allowing us to understand ourselves and others better as they reveal situations that we hadn’t considered before and immerses us in the drama of being alive. I’m proudest of the opportunities we give to artists who have so much talent but just haven’t had any doors opened for them. What a tremendous feeling it is to see a creative person grow and reach their potential and then find even more opportunities because you gave them a platform to show what they can do. I also adore bringing people together at Amphibian. We’ve had patrons meet and marry at Amphibian or gain a whole new circle of friends. There’s so much the arts can do to connect us to our best selves and to new friends and collaborators.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
There are two books I ask every staff member to read when they join our team. The first is “The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations” by Michael M. Kaiser. Having run many major organizations, including The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Kaiser shares the strategies that helped him save multiple arts groups at times of crisis. Perhaps the most important lesson he taught me is that you should never play it safe by making art that is ordinary. In order for an organization to thrive it must set itself apart through excellence and a unique product. In times of difficulty, the greatest work is needed to pull an organization back to safe ground. The second book is “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” by Dan Ariely. I’ve used his case studies to shape everything from donation appeals to marketing campaigns. It’s a powerful tool for understanding human behavior. “Decolonizing Wealth” by Edgar Villanueva has opened my eyes to the well-intentioned, but inherently flawed practices of many major arts organizations and non-profit funding sources.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I get bored easily, so I work very hard to constantly change the way we make theatre and the type of theatre we produce. Limited time and resources can create efficient systems for making work, but systems don’t produce innovative work. I would like to think that Amphibian Stage is a trend-setter. We take a lot of risks and chase a lot of new ideas in an effort to make something better–something that surprises and delights while also feeling strangely universal and familiar. That is so hard and we frequently fail. But when we get it right, people notice…and they follow. There is no reason to make the same work everyone else is. If you do not innovate are you an artist?
Contact Info:
- Website: amphibianstage.com
- Instagram: @amphibianstage
- Facebook: @amphibianstage
- Linkedin: @amphibianstage
- Twitter: @amphibianstage