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Randy Engstrom
Founding Director
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
Seattle, Washington

Randy Engstrom is a dynamic arts leader with a vision for the new frontier. Originally from Chicago, he first arrived in the west in 1995 to attend Evergreen State College and moved on to Seattle post graduation. During his time in the Pacific Northwest region he has helped found numerous creative ventures and organizations. Now, as founding director of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center and chair of the Seattle Arts Commission’s Facilities and Economic Development Committee, Randy continues to develop innovative programs that help support and nurture vibrant communities. Amanda Ault caught up with him just before the October event of the Puget Sound Creative Conversation series.

You seem to have a strong vision of building community through art. Can you tell me how you came to connect art to community building?
I feel that our sense of community in this country is in peril. We live in a world of fences and subdivisions, and our sense of shared experience has been fractured. I think that the arts are the most powerful and compelling way to bring people together, and are our best hope for finding a renewed sense of community.

Can you describe the Puget Sound Creative Conversation series and who comprises the network of organizing partners?
The goal of the Emerging Leaders Creative Conversation series is to sustain active public dialogue among arts communities in the Puget Sound, and to create a platform for people to come together. After the initial Creative Conversations in October of 2006, three main topics were identified for further discussion: 1) New Administrative and Fund Development Models, 2) Advocacy in a Changing Market, and 3) Creative/Adaptive Space and Facility Models. The Creative Conversations are run by a group of like-minded emerging arts leaders from 4Culture, The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, The Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, The Capitol Hill Arts Center, The Shunpike, and The City of Bellevue.

Outside of the arts community, who do find are your most valued allies in the community building work that you do?
Neighborhood advocacy groups, environmental sustainability organizations, social justice advocates, sympathetic business owners and developers, educators, and anyone else who wants to create a better world. We want the same thing, and just have different paths to arrive there. 

What was revealed in the Puget Sound Creative Conversation series that you believe reflects the emerging voice of the Puget Sound community?
I think that people are more interested in finding creative ways to solve our problems and also in coming together to do so. The sense of opportunity is very clear and compelling.

You mentioned people "coming together" to solve problems and I find that much of the discussion around contemporary leadership methods focuses on collaboration and shared leadership. Are these ideals reflected in your leadership style?
Collaboration is fundamental to the way I approach any project. We need to rely on each other’s strengths in order to overcome an increasingly challenging and complex marketplace. As such, I feel we are stronger as partners than as adversaries, and it often just takes some creativity to find out how to get there. I think that the Pacific Northwest is a natural home for this type of work, with its progressive politics, environmental awareness, business innovation, and historic artistic influence. 

Innovation often requires embracing change and taking risks. What inspires you to take risks?
No great rewards come without risk, and every failure holds the promise of growth and learning. The opportunity to affect change in my community and in the world is at the heart of every substantial risk I take.

All three of the Puget Sound Creative Conversations were documented on film and an edited film portrait of the three conversations will serve as the main report for your Creative Conversations series. Why produce a short film instead of a written report?
We felt we needed to do something dynamic, rather than produce another report that could potentially sit on the shelf. We also wanted to produce a final piece that could reach a wider audience and that could appeal to a diverse population.