"I really do believe that the arts are critical to how we move forward together, and live performance in particular, I think, is a way of us practicing how to move across our ideological boundaries and find one another and imagine these new worlds together and create together.
The point is that if we are moving through this world and we want to enjoy what it means to be fully human, I think then you have to be fully human and creation is part of that. This idea of thinking through, moving through, expressing yourself in your body and your words and your voice, through your paintbrush, those are all part of the human experience. And to imagine that we have something to offer each other, this act of generosity that creation gives us, I think is deeply important."
Shanta Thake is the Chief Artistic Officer at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts—the nation's largest performing arts complex. Before stepping into this role, she spent nineteen years at The Public Theater, shaping the city's cultural landscape through Joe's Pub and expansive community initiatives. Today, she is tearing down walls—both the literal barriers separating Lincoln Center from its neighbors, and the figurative ones that dictate who belongs in our cultural spaces. She views the arts not as a luxury, but as essential civic infrastructure. We are pleased to have Shanta Thake to discuss her journey, the power of radical curation, and the future of public performance.
(01:30) The Gift of Pause
(04:19) Art as the Oldest Technology
(07:12) Reimagining Lincoln Center
(09:35) A Collective Caretaking
(10:13) The Curiosity of Childhood
(15:19) San Juan Hill and The Wall
(17:57) globalFEST: Music and Connection
Episode Website
www.creativeprocess.info/pod
Instagram:@creativeprocesspodcast
