Shanta Thake, Chief Artistic Officer at the Lincoln Center, joins ChedHER to discuss how she's reinventing this historic institution to better reflect New Yorkers and turn it into a cultural hot spot for New York City.

chedHER

Reinventing Lincoln Center in NYC as a Cultural Hub

joining us now, Shanta, thank chief artistic officer of Lincoln Center, Shanta, welcome to the show. I was telling you off the record for, especially for native new Yorkers, this is such an iconic, incredible place. Tourists love it here. What is the role of the chief artistic officer consistent. What will you be handling there? Well one, it's such a privilege to be in that space that has held so much incredible history for new york. And really for the entire country, it's this beautiful symbol of what's possible. And so what it means, my role is really to make sure that it feels like a place that's home for all new Yorkers as not just a cultural home but as a civic cultural space. So where they can really come and be fed emotionally, physically and culturally, I used to tell you and I was telling you in high school, I used to sit on the stairs sometimes because I just love that building. You want to encourage more new Yorkers to consider the Lincoln center as their cultural cultural home. Like you mentioned, how are you hoping to do just that? The disco ball, I think does the disco ball is the first step for sure. But it's really building these beautiful spaces. Last year we had Mimi Lien's the green, which transformed the plaza into this beautiful public park. And we saw the power of the plaza to bring new audiences. So we had over 250,000 New Yorkers, 25% of whom had been to Lincoln Center for the first time and 50% of which were under the age of 45. So we know what's possible. And so it's just building these beautiful spaces for people to really come and experience not just the work, but each other get out of their apartments. I'm looking at the video right now. It looks like everyone is having such a good time, huge smiles on their faces. The Lincoln center is the nation's largest performing arts complex. You've entered this role during a challenging time. The pandemic of course. So how do you move this project forward? Well, I think one we have to really make the case for live performance now and live performance one is entertainment, but really also as a way to connect to one another. It's this great d segregationist act where you get to see people that are outside of your neighborhood where you can come together around this common beautiful cause which is seeing work together. And so I think just making sure that we're doing that in a safe way that really allows new Yorkers to see themselves. See one another and being community is like a critical part of how we come out of this. And so that's the work right now. You mentioned what a privilege this is for you. What kind of responsibilities do you feel you hold, especially as a bipac leader in a cultural industry, This specific one especially. Well, I would say one my responsibility is to center artists to bring artists more into the center of our work. So we have two artists and residents at Lincoln center, Mimi Leanne and mahogany l browne, the great poet who really help us also guide that vision because I really do believe in artists as community centers. And then of course, paving the way for other young women of color, older women of color setting this idea of what it means to be a leader in the field and that it's possible. So being really visible and welcoming any challenges that you faced in your career. I mean working in the nonprofit arts is challenging for everyone. But I would say that I have had just an incredible journey. I think the nonprofit arts is a space where if you're really passionate and driven by the work, you can be successful. And so I would say that every day it is just full of beautiful challenges that I've been lucky enough to have incredible mentors and incredible teams working alongside me. And it's been it's been an incredible journey. And the work feeds itself. You know, you end up if you have a bad day, then you go out and sit under a 10 ft disco ball. How does that not cheer you up? Exactly? What advice do you have for young bipac women who may be watching you in obviously may be so inspired by you. Well, I would say find your find your mentors, find somebody to really and say to them, I really need your help. I really want you to teach me how to move through this world. Take care of yourself, get your rest to do things that really feed you. It really requires being the arts requires being a whole person. You know, really making sure that you have multiple facets of your life that you're feeding. So as we transition into our post pandemic summer hallelujah, what do we have in store for the summer at Lincoln center? Well, we have hundreds of free shows including band together which features five of the incredible new york city dance companies coming together in august. We have an all city wedding next weekend. So over 500 couples coming who weddings have been canceled during covid are coming and getting remarried at Lincoln center. It's going to be ethic and beautiful. How many couples are you expecting? 500. 500. So that's absolutely incredible. Before I let you go, I have to ask, you know, the last two years have been so tough as a society here in new york, especially when we were the epicenter of the pandemic. So how important is this role to you? Oh, I think this work is so urgent and I think it is the most critical thing that we say to people. Culture belongs to you. This is for you because we all needed to heal and to really remember why we moved to New york city, why we stay in New york city. And so that's that's the role. So I think it's more urgent than ever before. I love you representing Lincoln center in this beautiful city of new york santa fe, chief artistic officer at Lincoln center.