Author: Regina Carillo
Falling for Art Again
I reaffirmed that I was falling for art again the moment I listened to my classmates talk about their artistry. Their passion was contagious. Choosing art instead of law or business felt like a decision my heart had been waiting for years. This choice opened a door to a world of new projects and to Seattle’s lively arts scene. Suddenly I was receiving invitations to talks, panels, workshops, opening parties, plays and art walks. It felt as if I had said yes to art, and art had said yes back.
Me and “The Square in Front of Les Halles, 1880” from The Seattle Art Museum’s Farm to Table Exhibition
Seeing Creativity With New Eyes
Seattle has shown me that art is not only something beautiful we enjoy in the present, it is something we build for the future. Creativity carries responsibility. It responds to the people who live in this city, to their histories, to their questions. Creativity has a purpose, and I feel inspired by it.
Inside The MFA
From the inside, the MFA feels like anything is possible. It feels like having a network that holds you, challenges you and supports you. Being surrounded by so many different opinions, backgrounds and identities has taught me to listen and remain open. My faculty and the alumni show me what it means to grow and to find your own path. This program feels like a reminder that I am not alone and that my ideas have a place to land.
Me and and part of my cohort at Pioneer Square Art Walk
Moments That Reignited My Passion
This fall has been full of exposure to art in many forms, yet three key moments stand out.
The first was singing together with a large audience during “Our Brains on Art” with Susan Magsamen. We sang “Blackbird” by The Beatles. This song carries many memories for me and singing it in a room full of strangers felt strangely intimate. As our voices blended, the distance we kept from one another shortened. A small wall dissolved. For a moment we were simply humans remembering something together. It felt freeing. I felt joy.
The second moment was visiting the Tacoma Art Museum to see my classmate Lauren Iida’s artwork. The first thing I felt when I saw Lauren’s work in the museum was admiration. I had never been so close to someone who not only earned a place in a major museum but who could speak about her work with such honesty and detail. She was glowing with pride, especially being featured alongside eighteenth century Japanese prints by one of her favorite artists.
As she walked us through the exhibition, I was struck by how much thought lived inside every cut of her paper, every shadow, every gesture. Hearing her speak about both her challenges and successes filled me with awe. It reminded me that I am surrounded by people whose stories and courage expand my own sense of possibility.
At Tacoma Art Museum “Echoes of The Floating World” Exhibition
The third moment was attending the play “Everybody”. When I walked into the theater and saw the cast playing the same passing game I used to play in my own theater group, it felt like stepping back into a part of myself I had forgotten. Later in the play, there was a moment that felt almost suspended in time: when “Love” speaks to “Everybody” before their death. She asks them to repeat, “I don’t love change”, “I surrender”, over and over. Hearing those words onstage felt personal, as if the play was quietly asking me to listen and to let go of control myself.
With such a small venue and such a simple production, they created something magical. I could feel how much everyone in the room had been moved. There was laughter, sadness and everything in between. The randomness of the role assignments reminded me of the unpredictability of life and all its possibilities.
“Everybody” Presented by the Cornish College of the Arts Theater Department
Studying Art in a New Way
Studying Arts Leadership is very different from studying art. It focuses on what happens behind the scenes, the world that supports art and its existence. It invites me to find the leader within myself, the one who stands for a mission and works with the community toward a shared goal.
Being an artist used to feel lonely. Now I feel a connection with others who care about art as deeply as I do.
Fear and Unexpectedness
What has surprised me most is how much fear can hold a person back, and how important it is to build routines that shape who we want to become. I am surprised by how much I can create. I am surprised by how much I missed being surrounded by artists and creative people. I feel alive in a way I did not expect.
Living in Seattle and Learning From its Seasons
Seattle is a special city. It is surrounded by mountains and water and people who have come from many places to build a home here. The city reinvents itself with the seasons. Fall turns everything orange. Winter brings bare trees and gray skies. Spring returns with birds and flowers. Summer brings long, sun-filled days.
Seattle teaches you to embrace change. To try new things. To build community. To soften and find yourself.
Fall at The Cornish Playhouse
Embracing The Unknown
My biggest challenge is accepting that I don’t know what the future holds. It can be intimidating to express myself in English, to stand among people with impressive artistic backgrounds, and to want to support communities and organizations without knowing where to begin. These things scare me, yet they also spark something within me. They remind me that possibility is not only uncertain but exciting.
Transformation in Progress
This journey is transforming me. As a professional it reminds me how much world there is left to discover. As an immigrant, it reveals both the opportunities and the complexities that shape this city and country. As a woman, I am learning to step into my power, and acknowledge the importance of nurturing relationships, building community and creating a better world for the people I love. The version of myself that is emerging is an arts leader, someone willing to do the work, understand the issues shaping our city and advocate for a mission I believe in.
Looking Forward
I hope my work contributes to placemaking, inclusion and belonging. I hope people feel that their voices matter. I hope to build community with the people I meet along the way and help artists challenge themselves as I continue challenging my own growth.
I want my future self to be proud of the person who chose Arts Leadership. I want to remember the lessons of graduate school. I want to remember that I pushed myself in every way and that falling in love with art again was one of the greatest gifts of this chapter.
Regina Carillo | Music Reporter