TACA Arts Insider with Kate Newman
You serve in leadership roles across several of Dallas’ most impactful organizations, including TACA. What fuels your deep commitment to community service and your ongoing advocacy for the arts?
I suppose every person feels themselves treated as “other” at some point in their lives, struggling to find a way to both connect and stand out. I was no exception. I hated that feeling and want to ensure no one else has to experience it. This drives my near obsession with equal rights and my work in the community. The arts, theater mostly, provided a way to make myself into something or someone else. My stage debut was in third grade, where I performed solo the song and dance, La Cucaracha. My sister gave me a book to read at the same time, and I’ve been a voracious reader since then. This opened new worlds for me. It breaks my heart to see arts being pulled from schools these days. Without art and the stories it tells, the emotions it elicits, and the exposure to new ideas and experiences it provides, a community is diminished. Arts provide a communal experience, bringing folks together and diminishing that feeling of “otherness.”
With your extensive experience in fundraising and development, what do you believe is the most meaningful way we can cultivate lasting support for the arts in Dallas?
Offering opportunities to experience the arts is key. If a person can find a medium that speaks to them, makes them learn, experience new emotions and grow as a person, they will have automatically developed a lifelong love of the arts in whatever form that takes. TACA provides exactly that because we seek out and showcase arts organizations that are not well known in addition to those that are stalwarts of the community, giving everyone the opportunity to discover what all the arts has to offer. Tapping into that exquisite devotion created by a transformational experience will provide continued support for art in all its forms. The return on the dollars invested is exponential since so many can partake in and grow by experiencing the arts.
Do you have a moment that sparked your love of the arts? What’s your “arts origin story,” and how has it shaped your journey?
From that first stage experience in third grade, I sought out arts opportunities every chance I got. Vocal solos, theater productions and books have filled my days and taught me more about life than anything else. Wherever I’ve lived, the arts were an integral part of my world and Dallas is no exception. Performing with the Dallas Symphony Chorus here and around the world (including seven stops at Carnegie Hall), the Junior League of Dallas Follies (Carmen Miranda) and the Press Club Grid Iron Show (winner of the Lucifer Award for best actress in the late 1990’s for my portrayal of The Church Lady), I’ve had a ball. I want to make sure everyone has a chance to experience these seemingly out-of-body opportunities, and I do so by supporting TACA among other arts organizations.
What’s the most memorable book you’ve read in the past year — and what about it left a lasting impression?
WEST WITH GIRAFFES by Lynda Rutledge was the most delightful, astonishing book I’ve encountered recently. I normally read about seven books a month; this one I deliberately slowly walked, as I wanted it to last as long as possible. And when I put it down after finishing it – I sat for a good ten minutes with the most amazing grim on my face. It was a fantastically enjoyable book about the first giraffes in the U.S. being hauled across the country to the San Diego Zoo in the 1930s. It made me laugh, cry, smile and THINK. That is what good art does.
Kate Newman is a retired CPA with a deep passion for community leadership and civic engagement in Dallas. She currently serves as Vice Chair of Nominating and Governance for TACA’s Board of Directors and serves on the boards of The Resource Center, Uptown Players, and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. Kate’s commitment to service is driven by her belief in the power of the arts, advocacy, and inclusion to strengthen and uplift the community.