LISA UTMAN RANDALL was recently named the executive director of the United Theatre, based in Westerly. Utman Randall, who has served as the Jamestown Art Center’s executive director since 2009, will start her new position after the new year. Utman Randall takes over for Simon Holt, who served as the theater’s director from 2013 to 2017.
What made you want to be part of the arts scene? I started an arts center in Newport back in 1990 and I was really inspired by what I saw in a Montessori classroom, in terms of how children were able to use the arts and creating and making things, being involved in artistic experiences as a means of expression. I was amazed and thought, “What if you create art spaces where people have great access to the arts, and what would happen to both individuals and communities?” That was sort of the impetus thinking that it would be good.
What are your upcoming plans for the theater? We’re not going to be open until the fall [of 2020], so my initial work will be doing what I usually do, which is listening. We have an incredible board of directors. [New artistic director] Tony [Nunes] has already been with the theater for a while doing some small pop-up events. So, I want to hear and get a sense of the collective visions thus far. I want to meet a lot of people in the community and I want to spend some time just thinking strategically about how we’re going to use all that space and what are the opportunities for partnerships.
The theater is undergoing an extensive renovation. What is going to be added to the theater and any updated features to the facility? The space has never operated as a full arts center the way it will once it opens up starting [next] fall. The performing arts space is getting completely redone and will be 600-plus seats for all forms of music, dance theater. There will also be two screening rooms – one is a 90-seater and the other is a 30-seater – and there’s an adjacent Montgomery Ward department store building that’s about 11,000 square feet and that will be all arts and education. That is something I’m very passionate about. We’ll have all sorts of arts classes and some partners, [such as] the Rhode Island Philharmonic. We feel it’s ... going to draw arts lovers from all over the region.
How vital is arts education for the community? It’s essential. I think that what happens when you give both children and adults the ability to problem solve in a creative way when you’re learning in the arts, it’s just tremendous. We know that it increases everything from happiness to levels of civic engagement. It gives people a place to come together as a community and it gives people a place to find their own unique means of expression as an individual.
