The Museum of Contemporary Art Westport has appointed Kristen Young as its first director of performing arts. Young, who previously served as music associate for the museum, will curate performing arts experiences, regional music programme collaborations and music education events. The museum has also created a performing arts committee and is renovating a 7,000 square foot gallery for this programming. Young plans to expand the museum’s programming to include new genres and collaborations, while the committee will advise on programming. Young will also emphasise educational events for both children and adults with music, dance and theatre programming.
As reported in The Hour, the Museum of Contemporary Art Westport has recently appointed Kristen Young as its first director of performing arts. Young, who previously served as the museum’s music associate, will now be responsible for curating theater, dance, and music programming for both children and adults.
The creation of Young’s new role comes as the museum is renovating a 7,000-square-foot gallery to accommodate performing arts programming and forming a performing arts committee to advise on programming decisions. Ruth Mannes, the museum’s executive director, hopes that these efforts will establish MoCA as an “artistic epicenter” for both visual and performing arts, education, outreach, and community engagement.
Young has a track record of bringing emerging artists to MoCA, including jazz musicians from Jazz at Lincoln Center, Scottish folk band Talisk, jazz singer Samara Joy, and children’s music artist Stephen Fite. She plans to continue expanding the museum’s programming to feature new genres and collaborations.
In addition to entertainment, Young also plans to emphasize educational events for both children and adults with music, dance, and theater programming. This is especially important for the community, as high-level voice, dance, and acting education is often only available in larger cities like New York, Hartford, and New Haven.
Gary Singer, a MoCA member and founder of the Gary and Susie Singer Arts and Culture Foundation, believes that Young’s appointment will enable the museum to better serve its community with a greater focus on performing arts. He says that having a dedicated director of performing arts will provide a point of focus and implementation to achieve the best and quickest results.
To end with a flourish, the creation of Young’s new role and the formation of the performing arts committee demonstrate MoCA’s commitment to establishing itself as a leading cultural institution in the region. By expanding its programming to include theater, dance, and music, the museum hopes to attract a wider audience and foster greater community engagement.
