TheLumberyardCenter for Film and Performing Arts lives a double life.
Rental profits and performance tickets fund art and community projects.
Adrienne Willis runs both sides of this non-profit venue as Executive and Artistic Director.
My professional background includes multi-faceted positions in theater, strategy, and communications.
This fall/winter, we are hosting residencies for five artists.
Take us through a recent workday.
We provide arts and self-expression instruction in hopes that young offenders can find new paths through the arts.
Besides your phone, what apps, gadgets, or tools cant you live without?
The two apps that make life doable for this working mother areDoctor on Demandand Instacart.
Whats your workspace setup like?
I have a big desk and a sofa for all the meetings I take in my office.
Working in the arts I need inspiration so I have a work by my favorite artistmy sonalways close by.
Whats your best shortcut or life hack?
A Kindle in a Ziploc bag!
Also: I never buy fancy sunglasses.
Take us through an interesting, unusual, or finicky process you have in place at work.
This way, everyone is accountable.
I have a wonderful executive assistant, Kathy Ordonez, who keeps the trains leaving the station on time.
My management team all have different fortes and perspectives, which I value.
How do you keep track of what you have to do?
I live and die by my Outlook calendar.
How do you recharge or take a break?
While building a studio, we decided it was a great time to remodel a house in Hudson.
I can find 5 minutes of quiet there.
Nothing especially original but it is certainly restorative.
Whats your favorite side project?
What are you currently reading, or what do you recommend?
On the aforementioned Kindle, youll find a selection utterly readable page-turners I discover by following@reesesbookclubxhellosunshineon Instagram.
Who else would you like to see answer these questions?
So, Id love to see this answered by Shonda Rhimes, Dick Wolf or JJ Abrams.
Oh, and Barry Diller.
Whats the best advice youve ever received?
And non-profits die when their dedication to mission doesnt take into account their relevance.
He said leaders need to do the same constantly or they will lose the courage of their own convictions.
Whats a problem youre still trying to solve?
Funding the arts is hard to do.
Everything we do is based on that.
I also think that the arts can revitalize communities.
Answers have been edited and some links have been added.
