WAM stands for “where arts and activism meet,” a fitting summation of the organization Kristen van Ginhoven co-founded with Leigh Strimbeck in 2010.
While she’ll step down in December, van Ginhoven hasn’t stopped dreaming about its potential.
“I think there's a depth to the relationships, a depth to the ways in which we contribute to solving the gender equity issues in our community, the ways that we are of service to those frontline organizations who day in and day out are trying to tackle gender equity in particular around issues affecting women and girls," she told WAMC. "There is so much more potential for WAM to collaborate with those frontline organizations to use our art as a way to be a spoke in the wheel of highlighting the issues and finding solution to the issues.”
WAM’s mission statement is comprised of two tenets: “producing theatrical events for everyone, with a focus on women theatre artists and/or stories of women and girls,” and “donating a portion of proceeds from those theatrical events to organizations that work to benefit the lives of women and girls in our communities and worldwide.”
van Ginhoven, a regular panelist on WAMC’s Roundtable program, says the theatre’s work with Pittsfield’s Rites of Passage and Empowerment Program through a production of Lauren Gunderson’s “Emily” encapsulates its mission in the Berkshires.
“They were going to use the donation from that 2013 play to take their cohort on a college tour to many of the historic Black colleges and just colleges across the country or across the Northeast," she explained. "And knowing that we had put on a play by a female playwright that provided jobs to local professional artists, the majority of whom were women identifying, and that it was a story that our audience was both entertained and informed, and then it was also going to provide this opportunity for some folks who might be the first in their family to step on a college campus, and to know that now, some of those who went on that college tour are at college and graduating from college and knowing that we had a teeny tiny part in that through our art activism- I mean, that's just magic, there's really nothing better than that.”
van Ginhoven says three major factors informed her decision to step down.
“I want to be clear that one of the reasons I'm stepping down is, I'm 51 years old, and I have to think about how I'm going to provide for my retirement, and I've worked in the arts for 30 years, at the grassroots level," she said. "And so, while I am incredibly proud of growing WAM to a place where I can provide myself a salary of $57,000, and there's a managing director who has a very similar salary, and we have part-time employees who are all making above $20 an hour and most are making more like $25, it still hasn't grown to a place where I could sustain this for the next 20 years and be able to retire as a single person with the with the middle-class lifestyle that that I know that I would really like and that I've been trying to grow for myself.”
WAM’s fast approaching 15th anniversary also influenced van Ginhoven’s choice to leave.
“I am not a leader who believes in founding a company and staying forever," she told WAMC. "I believe that WAM is ready. The foundation is strong that we've built in the first 15 years and WAM needs somebody with new energy, or a group of folks with new energy to come in and build the walls.”
The last reason is more personal.
“I'm somebody who's had a lot of different working adventures in my life," van Ginhoven said. "I started as an actor in Toronto, I then became a teacher in the international school system. I then moved to the Berkshires and started this incredible, impactful organization, which has genuinely been the most impactful and most fulfilling experience of my personal and professional life. And as I contemplate the last chapter or two of my working life, I simply wanted another adventure.”
As for WAM’s future, van Ginhoven says the theatre must continue to adapt to Berkshire County’s changing demographics — as well as to expand its finances and ability to support its employees.
“We're a $500,000 organization, and hopefully in the next five to 10 years, that can grow three or four times so that folks can be all paid a living wage or a thriving wage, all have the benefits that they require to pay their mortgage and feed their families and work towards retirement,” she said.
WAM is undertaking a national search to replace van Ginhoven with the goal of naming her replacement by 2024. WAMC asked her what message she has for the next generation of Berkshire County women making their way in the arts.
“I'm a proponent of being heart led, and of breathing and being authentic through perceived challenged moments or difficult moments," van Ginhoven told WAMC. "So, to always come in with curiosity, inquiry, vulnerability, and of course, persist.”
