Director Reflection: Amanda Leaveck
What struck me the most about this summer was the large amount of people involved. The team portrait we took at the very first meeting in June must’ve had close to twenty people in it. Twenty passionate, motivated, extremely capable young business professionals, artists, and social activists all eager to work towards a common goal. They all seemed genuinely eager to learn and embrace the communicative and inspiring power of using performing arts for social change.
I’ll keep my thoughts brief, but I do have to say that Face Forward would not exist if I was the only person running it. I’m often met with gratitude from artists and audience members after various events, and while the kind words mean the world to me, I cannot emphasize enough that Face Forward is a collaboration; our work is a team effort. My role is only to orchestrate the big picture. Without the individual paints and tools necessary to create, the canvas would never come to life.
Reflecting on this past summer, I cannot believe we booked two festival stages (Project Earth & Summer Set), planned two shows (Kidventure & Thursday Night Live), graduated a team of 5 incredible interns, picked up two clients for our Partner Program, booked weekly music for the Linden Hills Farmer’s Market, completely rebranded and rebuilt our graphics/website, and significantly expanded our Advisory Council, core staff, artists roster, and audience following.
The craziest part: this all happened in three months.
A sincere THANK YOU to the Face Forward community. It is with highest regards that I compliment you on your passion, involvement, and desire to build a socially conscious community around the arts.
Keep Facing Forward!
Written by Amanda Leaveck, Creative Director