Phoenix Center's New Director Embarks on a Visionary Journey

A New Vision for the Phoenix Center for the Arts

For Angelique Kane, the title of artist didn't always feel like a natural fit. She comes from a family of creatives — her husband is a photographer, three of her children are musicians, and the other is a dancer. While she enjoys creative writing and coloring, she hesitated to call herself an artist. Now in her new role as the Phoenix Center for the Arts executive director, she's choosing to see art differently. Rather than a creator of a finished work, she's defining an artist as "simply someone who manifests a thought."

"Anybody can be an artist," she said. "Anybody can express themselves. Anybody can show their creativity." She's guided by a mantra of sorts found in a quote from writer Elbert Hubbard: "Art is not a thing; it is a way." After years of volunteering with the center and months as the interim director, Kane is focused on building a way for art to make changes in the community.

"I'm concerned about the journey, because the journey is where relationships are built," she said. "It's where the lessons are learned. It's where you actually become the community you want to celebrate."

The Phoenix Center for the Arts and Its Role in the Community

The Phoenix Center for the Arts was started in 1975. It was operated by the city until 2011, when it was slated to close because of budget cuts. However, the community spoke out and fought for it to be saved. The center, visible from the Interstate 10 off-ramp at Third Street, may not seem like much from the outside. "From the outside, it doesn't look like the building is as big," Kane said as she walked through the halls on a recent weekday to show off the classes where community members were making art from metal and glass.

The center offers youth and adult classes in a variety of mediums, including ceramics, photography, drawing and painting, and performing arts. The classrooms, which are open, lively and filled with art, serve as gathering areas, learning spaces and connecting points. Marilyn Johnson, a teaching glass artist at the center, said the center is "like a little community."

"These classes are more than just classes where you're learning a technique and you're perfecting your art. They become a social outlet," she said. "I can do the art at home and enjoy it ... but I also like, I can't wait to get here."

Kane fits into that community from her exuberance as she walks the halls and interacts with the teachers and students. With her warm and bright personality, she instantly connected with the faculty and students she knew and introduced herself to those she didn't. "Angelique shows up every day with a smile, ready to roll up her sleeves and ensure that Phoenix Center for the Arts remains a vibrant, inclusive home for creativity and connection," Board Chair La Nise Hagan said in a statement announcing Kane's new position.

Transformations and New Perspectives

In the past few years, Kane said the center has been through some major transitions that have created "whiplash" within the community and the center's partnerships. "There was a lot of healing that needed to happen, which really I was excited about because I was able to bring in the experience that I had," Kane said. "The strategy that I'm using now is to really highlight how the arts is a vehicle for change."

The center itself has also seen some important physical changes recently, too. There are new floors and updated technology in the performing arts space, including the lights, sound system and the introduction of a livestream to the green room. The theater will soon have new seats. Kane is also focused on adding more color to the building and hallways with displays, murals and a reading nook.

Bringing a new perspective to Phoenix arts, Kane started as a community member and volunteer, initially stumbling upon the center by happenstance. She and her family were exploring the farmer's market shortly after relocating to the Evans Churchill neighborhood of downtown Phoenix from Baltimore four years ago. While strolling about, they heard music and began to walk toward the source. It led them to Margaret T. Hance Park, where the Phoenix Center for the Arts was hosting its annual December arts festival.

As her family sat and listened to the music, someone with the center asked if they could take a picture of the family. From that worker, Kane learned about the center and offered to volunteer. She went on to join the board and decided to "lean in" to her work at the center, taking on the interim executive director role after a change at her previous job left her with extra time.

Expanding Programs and Goals

Kane has a strong background in human services, having previously worked with the University of Maryland's School of Social Work program for early childhood development. She also had a strong volunteer background in Baltimore, working with the city, schools and other groups. "I am, you know, tapping into the social work aspect in trying to figure out how all members of our community can benefit from the community arts center," she said.

New programs and goals for Phoenix Center for the Arts include integrating her background in empathy, trauma-responsive practices and culturally sustaining systems to the center. "I spent a lot of time being in a trainer or TA capacity, and I'm in a space now where I actually have to apply it," she said. "It's not a simulated environment so I'm ... being challenged to actually apply all of the lessons and tools and things that I've been teaching."

She's looking to make sure arts and the center are a "tool for mental health and healing specifically within our community." In addition to ensuring those who use the center have access to mental health resources and services, she's designing new programs aimed at helping certain groups. One of these programs is for veterans, their families and their caregivers. Through art, she said she hopes the attendees will be able to connect and heal. As the daughter and wife of Army members, Kane said she understands the needs of veterans and active-duty service members.

Kane said this new program will be unique because a social worker and peer support advocate will present and be ready to assist anyone working through a difficult situation or needing more assistance. She's also looking for new solutions to help the unhoused community in the area. "We're really trying to make sure that they feel part of the community," Kane said, adding, "I want to be able to figure out an innovative way to provide services and be a resource to them also."

Art Unites an Ever-Changing Phoenix

Art is ever-present in Phoenix, especially in Kane's downtown Phoenix neighborhood that hosts First Fridays and is a public art hotspot. "I remember the first time that I visited Phoenix, and I was just blown away by the art displays, like the public art and having my first First Friday experience," she said. For a city that continues to grow rapidly, art plays such a vital role in connecting the community with such diverse backgrounds, Kane said.

"There's so much culture (in Phoenix)," she said. "And no matter what ... even if you don't get to see the artist who created a particular work, for a split second, you are introduced to them, because you're seeing the manifestation of their thought."

It's in this important, unique environment that the Phoenix Center for the Arts and Kane serve to form connections and impact the community. "Art is vital because it's a celebration of all of the different components that make Phoenix beautiful," Johnson said. "It's like a mosaic."