Frances McGarry: Featured Guest on Artistic Resilience

January 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Be realistic. Be transparent. Be authentic.

I was featured as a guest on Artistic Resilience, a new online community that is designed specifically tounite different types of creative people. In this community artists,scientists, entrepreneurs, educators and more can share ideas and collaborateon new projects to improve the world as we know it. Artistic Resilience provides a platform that incorporates ideas, dialogue, connectivity and hard work.  The interview with Claudia Walters, the founder of Artistic Resilience follows:

Name: Frances McGarry.
Stage: East Coast.
Creative drug of choice:Theater, Theater Education, Acting, Singing.
Random fact:I have struggled my entire life with the correct spelling of myname:There is the masculine spellingFrancIs and the feminine spelling FrancEs.As a way to thwart the shame and embarrassment I felt tovalidate my identitywhen the incorrect usage wasmade I decided to address this and other issues that come with growing up in anItalianfamily of 10 (6 girls and 3boys) by creating a cabaret act Frances With An E.Now, what do you think about THAT?!!
Tell me something good:As of March 2011 my position as Education Director waseliminated from a not-for-profit arts organization due to budgetaryconstraints.My entire professional lifehas been devoted to promoting the arts on many different levels.For over 30 years I’ve worked as an education practitioner:first, as a classroom k-12 English and theater teacher, then asan adjunct professor, and finally as an education director for not-for-profitarts-in-education organizations.I’ve conducted a variety ofdrama workshops across the nation, and now unemployed for thefirst time in my life, I have found my new niche as arts activist:raising awareness of the vital inclusion of the arts in ourevery day lives through the launching of my new website.
Where can we witness your creativegenius:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Frances-McGarry-First-Online-with-Fran/297833316931497

aR: Define artistic resilience inyour own words.

FM: Artistic resilience means topersevere at creating a deeper, richer, compassionate world through the artsdespite the obstacles; artistic resilience requires re-inventing, re-imaginingour world through the gift of our innate ability to make art and seek solutionsto the ills of our society.
aR:When you’re feeling a little discouraged in your creative work, whattools do you employ to get yourself back on track?
FM:I make lists:Monthly goals; a one-year plan; 3-year; 5-year plan. This servestwo purposes:first, it forces me to focuson realistic goals and objectives and second, it offers opportunities for me toreflect on how far I’ve come since that last month. It’s also a great tool to“punt” during the course of the month and shift paths without feeling like I’mgoing in too many directions.
I have also learned a valuable lessonsince losing my job:surround myself with aninner circle of friends who are 100% FOR me.Not necessarily in an ingratiating way, but to selectively havethose persons who truly value my talent and believe in my potential andcanprovide insight and balancewhen I feel like a failure.
aR: Yes a support base is essential.You also perform right…? Do you wish to continue that as well as yourbusiness? Are one of these professions a bigger passion for you or moreimportant to you?
FM:I am an actor.I would always apologize and refute that declaration of truth,but after performing in an Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologueswith an amazing cast of talented women, I have accepted that this is somethingI’m good at and one that I will continue to pursue.It’s not necessarily a matter of importance; nevertheless, it’sa part of my genetic design and well, why not use it?
aR:You seem to be in love with storytelling. Can you name 2 of yourfavorite storytellers and tell me why you think their way of bringing a storyto the surface is so awesome? (Can be anyone. Singers, song-writers,playwrights, directors…)
FM: Mr. Fred Rogers. The best of allstorytellers for every age. E.B. White.I still weep at the end of Charlotte’sWeb. Any Irish playwright/citizen/actor. The ultimate spinner of tales,Shakespeare.
aR: A few of my favorites as well.So what do you ultimately hope to accomplish with your newwebsite?
FM: To raise national awareness ofThe Arts so that funding remains intact. To keep The Arts as a staple of achild’s education. To keep The Arts as a core mission of government as comparedto road repair. And to keep The Arts as a cultural investment because theNational Endowment of the arts conducted a federally funded research thatshowed $278 billion in economic activity was spun off by the arts in 2009.
aR: Wow!How do you plan to accomplish all of that?
FM: Phase One:Let’s Get Loud:Raise AWARENESS
The purpose of the first phase willbe to establish an audience by focusing first on The Arts and its critical rolein defining our humanity. First Online With Fran will serve to be the soundingboard to let the world know that, “We’re angry as hell and we’re not gonna takeit any more!”
Phase Two:Spread the Word:NETWORK
To prepare a list of guests, I amsetting up appointments with people who I feel are getting the job done. I aminterested in the work you are doing and would like to feature you and/or yourorganization on First Online With Fran. We can talk about goals and objectivesand the obstacles you confront either as an individual and/orby the organization. I am particularly interested in yourpersonal commentary and why you have chosen to pursue this cause.
Phase Three:Go Global:GO OPRAH!
Who better to get the job done, thanOprah?We need to convince her thatthe Arts need her support and know-how to thwart the decline of arts inclusion.Her new programming network:The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) will be the means to the end.Here’s how:
To redefine the shape of television,CEO Christine Norman summed up the programmingmix in simple words and phrases:“Aspiration. Nurturing. Newness.In short, Winfrey’s fans want to see their hero helping makepeople’s dreams come true in a new, always-on TV environment.” (The PostStandard January 1, 2011 page C3).
First Online With Franwill be the FIRST TV Talk Show that will bring sustainableNational attention to the vital inclusion of The Arts in people’s lives byinviting guests from all walks of life – the school custodian, Lincoln Center,struggling/successful actors, lemonade stands:ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things to make thearts the fabric of our existence. Let’s make The Arts FIRST ONLINE WITH FRAN.
Phase Four:Change:Alternative Solutions
By raising awareness of how the artsare important to our existence through First Online With Fran we can change theperception that The Arts are viewed as optional, an extra – fluff.No Arts? That’s like saying let’s cut the air for which webreathe.Through the program, FirstOnline With Francreative alternativesolutions that are being implemented can be offered to show how The Arts are avital component for educating the whole child.
aR: Well you definitely have it mappedout! You mentioned before that you thinkthe arts enhances the professional as well as the personal lives of others. Forinstance, having exposure to the arts can make a businessman a bettercommunicator, etc… When did you first come to this revelation?
FM:Personally, it transformed my life from a shy, insecure child toa protector of the ARTS UNIVERSE.Seriously, after writing an integrated arts curriculum for ahigh school program I began to get feedback from students after graduation.How Theater Troupe saved their lives; helped them to acceptidentity issues; helped them to be a better lawyer, architect, manager, etc.I have witnessed over the years how theater can provide lifeskills through hands-on learning.I’ll never forget a student, Lauren, who was the designatedproducer for a our first major drama production on the school auditorium stage.There were a lot of politics and problems she had to face inorder to get approval for the use of the space.I told her, “Welcome to the world of business. Figure out howyou’ll get past the red tape.”She returned a few days later with a dispenser of red tape.“Here it is,” she said.I laughed, not at her, but at my assumption that she understoodthe idiom.Priceless learningexperience both for her and for me. It was these kinds of challenges thatafforded each student to experience and allow each of them to take ownership oftheir learning firsthand.
aR: What’s the most important adviceyou can offer to another creative person trying to seek their own goals?
FM: Be realistic.Be transparent.Be authentic. Know your strengths, weaknesses, and enemies. Besurrounded with an inner circle of friends. Be vigilant.Be diligent. Be willing to turn your will over to your spiritualCreator, whoever and whatever that may be to guide you to your ultimatedestiny.
aR: Thanks for being so realistic,transparent and authentic in this interview.And best of luck to you in your new and exciting venture.I believe your goals for your business are relevant to us all.
FM: Thanks so much for this. Takecare.
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Filed Under: Arts Advocacy, Educational Theater, First Online with Fran, Publications Tagged With: , ,

An Interview with Tricia McDermott

January 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The Little Theater Who Could…
An Interview with Tricia McDermott.
Founder/Producing Artistic Director Airmid Theatre Company.

This following article recently appeared in the 2012 January/February Arts and Entertainment issue of GEM Magazine.

Despite arts advocacy groups’ efforts to prevent the decline of arts inclusion, the budgetary solution remains to be that the arts are perceived as an amenity. To challenge that notion, my blog First Online With Fran interviews ordinary people doing extraordinary things in The Arts to make our world a richer, deeper, better place to live. The Founder and Producing Artistic Director of the Airmid Theatre Company, Tricia McDermott shared her thoughts and vision for women in the theater and how the work at Airmid enriches our community.

Although Tricia was adamantabout NEVER starting her own theater company, the professional director/producer/consultant/educatorfelt compelled to promote classical works of women playwrights when theopportunity arose.  After the success ofthe Broadway revival of Ibsen’s A Doll’sHouse reaped Tony-Award winning accolades with Janet McTeer’s performance,McDermott found an original source called TrueWomen and wanted to present the play. When she was unable to find aproducer she pioneered the idea of a production company that would bespecifically devoted to classics by women. Founded in 2000, Airmid Theatre Company creates a safe home for womenartists, igniting broad public recognition of the essential contribution womenhave made to the worlds of theatre and dramatic literature.

One of Airmid’s missions isto establish the history of playwriting by women by professionally producingtheir work with actors of both genders, and to thereby broaden discussions ofwomen’s roles today.  Tricia shared ananecdote of a 60 year-old man who supported the theater and attended a readingof a piece called Making a Scene, acompilation of scenes of 16th to the 20th century womenplaywrights.  Although he consideredhimself to be a male feminist, and believed that he saw women as equals, “hedidn’t quite do that as much as he thought he should.”  In an email he told Tricia “He recognized thatseeing this same event told through the eyes and experience of a woman [made it]a different world.”

Airmid has an intern programwith college age students and works with some high school students in variousprograms.  A public reading of two playswritten by the German nun from the tenth century, Hrosvita of Gandersheim, wasattended by a high school English and Drama class from Babylon High School.Students were enlightened to learn through the reading that “all things of areligious nature are not strictly about religion.”

Tricia commented on thevalue of the arts, particularly the theater: “Theater lands in a very unique place. It makes people well-rounded.  Andno matter what time you start your child off, or even yourself, and getinvolved in theater, you get an opportunity to collaborate with people andcreate a team.”  As far as the new CommonCore Standards is implemented across the nation’s curriculums to prepare studentsfor college readiness Tricia felt that working in the theater fulfills thatgoal:  “You have to do it on a lot ofimagination and very little money.  Youhave to work within a budget.  You oftenhave to create something out of nothing. And you then have to market it and sell it to the world.  Theaters have an accounting office and oftena contracts department, a development department that writes grants.  We have every other aspect of business; itjust happens to be that the product is a piece of art.” 

This construct is to createjobs, to create an economic and tourist destination. Tricia explained howtheater is community based:  “The communityhas to be engaged.  It’s people speakingto each other, breathing each other’s air. It’s experiencing the same moment. For me, there is a great affinity to finding a spiritual life within thetheater whether it’s as a participant or as an audience member. But whetheryou’re participating in the actual creation or the experience of it, there’s acommunion that happens.  And you findyourself engaged with people in a way that you don’t in any other art form.”
Let us Know:  Airmidcontinues its search for performance space and is presently looking at sitesboth on the South and North shores of Long Island.  To learn more about Airmid and their programofferings go to www.airmidtheatre.org

If you’re an ordinary persondoing extraordinary things in the arts, then be sure to arrange an interviewwith First Online With Fran at www.francesmcgarry.com

Filed Under: Educational Theater, First Online with Fran, Interviews, Publications Tagged With: , , , ,

Still Advocating for Arts

December 12, 2011 by 4 Comments
Still Advocating for Arts
by Lisa Mancuso.
Northport Observer.
December 12, 2011.

Dr. Frances McGarry taught English and theater in the Northport‑East Northport school district for more than 25 years and loved every minute of it. She loved helping her students discover their hidden talents, cultivate their creativity and instill in them a love of the arts.

During her long, successful career in the district, Dr. McGarry, 60, taught such courses as Playwriting and Literature Appreciation. She created theater programs for her junior high school students and eventually brought the programs to the high school: Theatreworks Troupe for 11th and 12th graders and Theatreworks for students in grades 9‑12.

“I was born and raised inNorthport, my son went to Northport schools and my husband, also a retiredNorthport teacher, was born and raised here,” said Dr. McGarry. “I had amazingteachers at Northport. They were truly my inspiration.” Dr. McGarry said shewas a shy girl, but an English teacher encouraged her to try acting and afterplaying a Holocaust survivor in a classroom improvisation and receivingapplause for her efforts, she was hooked. “I was always grateful to my teachersand always wanted to come back to Northport to teach,” she said.
But teaching wasn’t the 5’2”Northport native’s only focus. Along the way, she earned her doctorate ineducational theater at NYU, directed and acted in plays, did voice‑over workand taught as an adjunct and visiting professor in a number of collegesincluding NYU, Nassau Community College and Brooklyn College.
In 2005, Dr. McGarry decidedto retire. It was time to move on, she told herself. Although sad to leavebehind her students, Dr. McGarry was excited to begin a new chapter of herlife. She knew she wanted to remain active in the arts so she decided to pursuea career with not‑for‑profit arts organizations. She landed her dream ob as aneducation director but after four years, the position was eliminated due tobudget cuts.
Losing that positionconvinced Dr. McGarry even more that the arts in schools was in danger and isoften perceived as a luxury and not a necessity especially in these tougheconomic times. Never one to remain inactive for too long, Dr. McGarry decidedto fight back. She turned her energy and efforts to create a website whosemission is to advocate for the arts not only in the classroom, but in the homeand in the world.
After working on it for a fewmonths, Dr. McGarry launched her website, http://www.francesmcgarry.com and she isexcited for what she hopes to accomplish through her new venture. The site isfilled with information and resources pertaining to the arts and includes alink to Dr. McGarry’s latest project, her blog ‘First on Line with Fran’ whereshe asks people to “. . . join me in discussions on how ordinary people aredoing extraordinary things in The Arts to make our world a richer, deeper,better place to live.” Dr. McGarry is hopeful the blog may turn into atelevision talk show in the near future. She has also started ‘The First 100Stories Campaign’ on her website and here you can tell Dr. McGarry your ownstory about how the arts have impacted your life. (Check out the testimonialfrom one of Dr. McGarry’s former pupils, actress and Northport native EdieFalco.)
Although maintaining herwebsite is nearly a full‑time job, Dr. McGarry is also continuing to pursue heracting career and will soon begin a film project “Ava’s Short” in January. Sheis also currently appearing on stage in New York City this weekend in a production of At the Topof Our Lungs: An Uncensored Collection of Scenes, Songs & Monologues at theTriad Theater, 158 W. 72nd Street.For tickets to the upcoming show and more information, visit Dr. McGarry’swebsite.
Filed Under: Arts Advocacy, Educational Theater, First Online with Fran, Publications Tagged With: , , , ,

Remembering those Dog Days of Summer . . . or What I Did Over My Summer Vacation

November 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

They say that when one doorcloses, another opens.  Read about mypersonal predicament of joining the ranks of the unemployed in an articlepublished in the November 2011 issue of Incite/Insight. 

I hope it will provide alittle inspiration for anyone facing challenges in this [non-existent] jobmarket and that there is light at the end of the tunnel:

As an educator, summers were always a time to leisurely pursueprofessional enrichment, read junk novels, and capture the calm breezes of theseason. Not unlike T.S. Eliot’s Prufrock whose life was “measured in coffeespoons,” my teacher’s existence was structured into 42-minute segments, 5 daysa week, 10 months a year, carefully pacing myself to the next day off tore-boot my energy. This inner balance worked for me for over 30 years.When I left teaching behind to pursue other goals, it was challenging, yetthrilling. How would I monitor the next 30 years of my life?
Using the lyrics from the Spice Girls’“Wannabe” tune as a source of inspiration, I sought to reinvent myself witheach new endeavor with the query: So, tell me what you want, what you reallyreally want? With every new day, I wanted …
To be acollege professor!
To devise a newcurriculum!
To serve as aneducation director for arts organizations!
To presentworkshops at conferences!
To teachteachers!
To work withyoung people and promote their voices throughplaywriting!
As I successfully transitioned from onecreative pursuit to the next, I finally landed a job as an education director;no sooner did I begin to savor the challenges of this career phase when theposition was eliminated due to budget constraints in March of 2011. I shouldhave seen it coming; the handwriting was on the wall: continued budget cuts,declining arts funding, selectively competitive grant awards. Schools, thoughsupportive, were unable to allot monies and relinquish class time for artsprogramming. Despite acknowledging its merits, schoolsperceive such programs as “extras” and they easily become targeted to reduceexpenses with the rationale that donations from philanthropic patrons wouldreplace any losses. Sounds like a feasible compromise until you begin to thinkabout the long-term effects. I’ll come back to that dilemma, later. Stay withme.
So, here I was, at age 60, unemployedwith a Ph.D. and over 30 years teaching experience, with no prospects, or so itfelt at the time—after all, this was during the highest unemployment rate inour nation’s recent history. In this economic downturn, who would hire me atthis stage of my life? I sulked … for an entire week lapsing into a regimen ofeating Mallomars with a quart of milk. After glutting myself with such internal pleasures, I took astep back and asked: So tell me what you want, what you really really want?
Within the soul of every teacher lies adeep commitment to making our world a better place to live in by educating ourfuture citizens—those young minds whose imagination and talent shape the nextgeneration. It has always been my strong belief that the arts define ourhumanity, and that they are an empowering supernatural gift givento us in order to make our world a richer better place to live.

So. Now. What. Are. You. Going. To. Do?

It was time to put my [unemployment]money where my mouth was and take charge. Subverting all fears aside, “Whatmakes you think you can make a difference?” echoed in my psyche. I was remindedhow I used it as a mantra for all my students—why not for me?
After an acting stint in an Off-Broadwayproduction of The Vagina Monologues, I realized the only way to moveforward and effectively utilize my time and talent would be through thecreation of a professional website. Thus began an arduous two-month examinationof the scope and scale of my career arc. As a result of this self-reflection, Iwas able to define my next challenge: to authenticate the arts and alter its perception as an amenity. I started tocollect stories of artists “in the trenches,” so to speak, who were makingthings work and garnering amazing outcomes: 12-year-old Olivia Bouler of Islip,Long Island, who raised more than $175,000 for the Audubon Society; an Artspaceloft to energize Patchogue, Long Island; the Airmid Theatre Company working withNew York Assemblyman Steven Englebright to create a permanent theatre space on the sprawlingformer grounds of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center.
On a national scale, I was horrified andoutraged by a particular story related by Erika Nelson, an artist in Lucas, KS who makes miniature models ofgiant pieces of Americana, puts them in a van, and drives around the country toshow people. She called her mobile museum “The World’s Largest Collection ofthe World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things.” But this year,Kansas, which has one of the country’s smallest state artsbudgets, decided to shrink it even further, to zero, cutting off all ofNelson’s state support. This was just one story among many. While nationaladvocacy groups fight to keep the arts as a core mission of the government, therising sentiment is that it’s an optional staple of sustenance. Instead oftaking polite nibbles to offset this spiraling trend, I decided to bite back!
Since the launch of my website in lateAugust, I’ve initiated The First 100 Stories Campaign, entered blogs onsubjects ranging from literacy, CORE standards, and professional development,and proposed an education program for class field trips to the 9-11 memorial.Additionally, I conducted two interviews for First Online With Fran: atalk show solely dedicated to honoring ordinary people doing extraordinarythings in the arts to make our world a deeper, better place to live. Soundslofty, doesn’t it?

Alas, it’s the stuff that dreams are madeof.
And THAT is what I did over my summervacation.
More to come. Stay tuned.
Frances McGarry, Ph.D. has been teachingtheatre for more than 30 years. The Young Playwrights Festivalin New York City became the subject of her doctoral dissertationin the Program of Educational Theater at New York University. She haspresented Young Playwrights Inc.’s Write A Play! curriculum at local,regional, and national conferences. Her new website, http://www.francesmcgarry.com offers discussions on how practitionersare utilizing the arts to make our world a richer, deeper better place to live.
Filed Under: Arts Advocacy, Publications, Resources, The First 100 Stories Tagged With: , , , , ,

Why Teach Playwriting?

July 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This column was written for wordplay the Young Playwrights Inc. March 2010 newsletter .

Filed Under: Playwriting, Publications, Resources