Art Expert in Residence: Playwright Shares her Experience
By Amy Brierley, BEAM Assistant Director for Frosh/Soph Career Communities
We talk a lot at BEAM, Stanford Career Education about our charge to cultivate career communities at Stanford. Farouk Dey introduced this concept as part of our Vision 2020 in the summer of 2014. I’ve often wondered, and even grappled with, what the term “career community” means. I don’t have to wonder anymore, however, because I experienced first-hand an arts career community at our Arts Expert in Residence event on May 1st, 2015.
On a Friday evening of week five in spring quarter, 13 students came to the Harmony House to hear A-lan Holt, ’11, artist and playwright, share her experience in creating a sustainable artistic practice post-Stanford. Her objective was to facilitate a workshop to “help young creative manifest their deepest artistic desires”. There is no doubt in my mind that she successfully achieved that objective.
We began the evening with a casual dinner in the cozy living room of the Harmony House. A few minutes into the event, A-lan pulled me aside and asked if we could start the program with a physical activity because she sensed that students needed a burst of energy. A few minutes later we were out on the front lawn of the Harmony House participating in yoga exercise that was a lot harder than it looked, and it was clear that afterwards the students felt invigorated. She connected the rigor of the exercise to the importance of commitment in the artistic process.
We returned to the living room, and A-lan started by sharing her journey at Stanford as a budding artist. She talked about her productions at Stanford, particularly her senior thesis. She described the excitement she experienced when she landed an internship in New York City after her senior year and the disappointment when it didn’t turn into a full time job. She spoke about her two-year residency at the Public Theatre, and how she was able to produce The Bottomwith Lupita N’yongo (Academy Award winner for 12 Years a Slave). She shared about the value of cultivating a daily creative practice, and taking risks in an uncertain world. As students asked their questions, A-lan answered with a perceptiveness and wisdom well beyond her years.
Next, A-lan introduced our activity in which we were to write our obituary. She said that although it sounds morbid, it’s a powerful way to think about what one wants to accomplish as an artist. For the next 15 minutes, you could hear a pin drop as the students wrote their obituaries. A-lan brought the group back together and asked them to each read their obituaries aloud. There was a bit of nervous laughter, but without hesitation, students read what they dreamed of achieving artistically and personally. It was powerful to witness these students, some of whom didn’t know each other, express their deepest desires.
After everyone (including me!) read, she asked students to share about their experience with the exercise. One student said, “I actually feel like this is realistic, like I could really do it. I didn’t even know this is what I wanted.” Another shared, “Stanford can be hard for artists because you feel like you don’t belong. But after writing this and hearing everyone share theirs, I have hope”. At the end of the program, one senior, with tears in her eyes, asked, “I didn’t realize that this is what I want to do until this year. Is it too late for me?” To which A-lan compassionately answered, “It’s never too late. You can do this.”
A-lan closed the time by graciously inviting students to contact her by email with any questions or if there was anything she could do to help. After the event, one student asked if we could take a group photo with A-lan. We all went out to the lawn where we had done our yoga, and with big smiles and A-lan at the center, we captured our experience of an arts career community.
