August 2011 ASCA Communique

 6th in a series by Dawnell Smith.

Ryan Conarro

Theater arts, art education,

Acting, directing, teaching

Where do you live and how does it influence your art?

I've live in Juneau since 2003, and Nome before that as an AmeriCorps volunteer. I am originally from Georgia. I studied acting and worked in New York. One thing I appreciate about Nome and Juneau is that art is a part of the community, and artists are part of the fabric of the community. The consumers of art in New York seem like a narrow percentage of society, partly because of the expense of seeing theater. It's a huge city, so as an artist you feel like your work is making less of an impact. I appreciate being in a smaller town because it seems like the work, whatever it might be, might have a broader reach. My favorite experiences have been on projects that really have a sense of place, such as the Perseverance Theatre production of "The Blue Bear," an adaptation of a book by Lynn Schooler about events in Alaska. It was about where we live. It was about an author who is a wilderness guide. It pulled in people from lots of walks of life and vocations.

One thing I feel about both Nome and Juneau is that while they're relatively small, especially Nome, people welcome a newcomer. I visited a small town in Maine last spring where it takes generations to be accepted as being from there. I spent one year in Nome and I feel connected.

Do you have a favorite neighborhood?

My favorite place is downtown. I live downtown and I love it. There's an urban feel at the same time that it's a small town feel because people bump into each other all the time. And you can be in a coffee shop in town and walk just ten minutes to a trailhead or forest. There are times when I would like to be alone in nature and times when I would like to be in the hum in a caf�. I love that I can do that here.

Explain what versatility means to you and why it matters in your work.

One thing I'm really grateful for in Alaska and Juneau is that I can work in the art form I chose to pursue. I spent a year with a theater company in New York, and when I started auditioning, I realized that was not the life I wanted. I spent time in offices and temp agencies. I came to Juneau to do a show and see what happened. I had worked in radio in Nome and thought about going into journalism, but I got involved in the high school through the state's Artists in the Schools program my first winter in Juneau. The ball got rolling and just continues to roll. The arts education work gives me a chance to try stuff out and experiment, and take risks that I might not take with adults. I like interview-based drama, for example, where we interview people and make drama out of that. I feel like a school can be supportive place, and maybe a place where it's easier to make that happen.

Where would you send visitors to your community and Alaska in general?

One trail I love is the Treadwell Ditch trail. It's a trail in Douglas that gets you up in the trees pretty fast, and there's a spot on that trail where you're looking at downtown Juneau framed by trees. I've gone there several times when working at the theater and needing to get away. I also like the paddling trip to the Tracy Endicott Arm. Beautiful. A truly lifetime experience.

Where do you like to go when you want to think?

You know, I want someone to open a coffee shop in Juneau that stays open late because that's where I might go. I like being at my house. It's got windows looking over the channel and the mountains. I've done a lot of traveling with this teaching artist work, so I value being home. I've been doing a lot of traveling in the Bethel region and Northwest Arctic, and lower Yukon and lower Kuskokwim areas. I travel about 14 weeks during the school year.

What would an Alaska arts itinerary look like if you designed it?

Again, I would have to say it would focus Juneau. I think it has some statewide perspective and a really active artist community. And I think the quality is really high. Something that is wonderful about some places like Bethel and Nome is that you can get more intimate with art from those regions.

Describe a perfect day as an artist, as a human being.

Well, it would include coffee in the morning, some time to stretch, and some time outside skiing, kayaking, hiking. It would include time working on a challenging project, and hopefully a new theater piece.

Where do people run into your art in the course of their daily lives?

In schools, Perseverance Theatre, the Juneau high school.

How is Alaska important to your art?

I think for me as an actor, I value the possibility of being an actor who is also a human being and has a life outside of the theater. I think Juneau in particular has really afforded me that opportunity. I don't think it would have happened in New York. My personal community, friends and family are more diverse here than in New York where all my friends are actors in their 20s. Being here helps me get some perspective. I'm also drawn to rural-urban challenges, the uniqueness of that Alaska challenge, so I'm grateful I lived in Nome before Juneau. I think important things are happening in rural Alaska, like global warming issues, like land use issues. As a writer and director and a person, I'm really interested in what's going on outside of theater.

Something I value about Juneau is that my sister lives here too. She's a visual artist, and we get to collaborate on occasion.

What three Alaska art venues matter to you most?

Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Lucid Reverie (a group of artists/graphic web designers in downtown Juneau), and the Canvas Community Art Center (a coffee house, gallery and community art studio). I also like the Alaska Native Arts Foundation in Anchorage.

What might surprise visitors about your hometown?

I think one thing that would surprise people is that in the arts scene at least - though maybe not in the kind of clothes you can buy - people in Juneau really have a finger on the pulse of what's happening in the world. And people in Juneau are going to those places and bringing Juneau to those people, and that Juneau merits as much attention as bigger cities.

Is there a local or state art venue that you think deserves more recognition than it gets?

One of the first organizations that springs to mind is CrossSound. What they do tends to be avant-garde and multi-cultural. It's contemporary classical music. I don't think it's likely that that stuff is going to become popular, so the question is, recognized by whom?

Does the way you work change with the seasons?

Basically it seems that the theater season and school year are lined up with each other. I spend August through May visiting schools and working at theatre, and May and June figuring out my schedule. Summers are quieter in both of those arenas, so I have a pattern of going to a workshop or some kind of travel experience that's arts related. I did a South India artist intensive. This year I'm doing a puppetry workshop in Connecticut. I've never considered myself a visual artist and I'm not drawn to making stuff with my hands, but I like the idea. So I thought this would give me a way to get my toes in. One reason I appreciate leaving Alaska and going to a conference is that I get to hear what other people are doing or struggling to do and this setting reminds me that opportunities don't always come as readily as they have for me in Juneau and different parts of the state. I think there's a lot of strong arts support in Alaska compared to other parts of the country.

What do you do in your free time?

One of my top priorities is spending time with friends and family, spending time outside, cooking, and I guess keeping my own yoga practice going.

How does coming/being from Alaska influence how others respond to you in other parts of the state/country/world?

It's really interesting for me. Most people from outside the state think that spending eight years in Alaska sounds like a long time. People who don't do theater work are the most likely to make a judgment about me doing theater work in Juneau rather than New York. Their simplistic impression is that New York is the best place for theater. I went to school there, and one of my big discoveries was that that there's a lot happening in New York, but a lot of it is bad. People in regional theater don't jump to the same conclusions because they either know about Perseverance Theatre, or they know that regional theater is high quality theater.