Two years ago, islander Amanda Westbrooke thought she might volunteer for Open Space for Arts &Community. Having left behind a successful career in both the corporate sector and with nonprofit arts organizations, she wanted to “give back to this beautiful community” where she’d lived full-time for the previous year. Believing she’d start small, helping out wherever needed, perhaps tidying up after a “groovy” Club O event, Westbrooke never imagined a role beyond occasional volunteer.
Open Space founders Janet McAlpin and David Godsey had a different idea. After an initial hour-long interview with Westbrooke, the creative and visionary couple offered her a parttime job as administrative assistant. What followed was an organic partnership of talent and experience forged in an evolving and expanding organization, with Westbrooke serving next as Associate Director of Programming and most recently as Deputy Director.
“Amanda is a powerful choice for executive director,” Godsey said. “Her experience, knowledge, integrity and can-do spirit are a great match for the mission and long-range vision of Open Space.”
It’s a natural evolution for founders to pass on the organization’s leadership, McAlpin added.
“We are confident in this shift because we have such a great team — many who have been with us for a decade — and Amanda’s been part it,” she said. “We’ve developed a very solid vision of mission and purpose over time. Amanda has the training and experience and skill to do this job 10 times better than David and I ever did.”
Westbrooke brings 20 years of experience in arts advocacy to the job as a founding member of the We Are Creative Foundation, dedicated to bringing the arts into diverse cultural and socio-economic groups, and as a board member of several Tacoma organizations, including Metro Parks Tacoma South End Community Center, City of Destiny and as board chair of the Arts Advisory/Cultural Heritage Metro Parks Tacoma.
As education director of the Tacoma Little Theatre from 2003 to 2007, Westbrooke developed the artistic education program, increasing program enrollment nearly 90 percent, while also initiating and managing the theater’s fundraising, outreach, public and media relations, and public, private and government partnerships.
In the corporate sector, Westbrooke held positions in human resources with The Pace Network, Microsoft and KLM Airlines.
And when she is not in her office upstairs at Open Space, Westbrooke can be seen as the on-air co-host of Tacoma TV’s weekly program, “Cityline.”
Hiring Westbrooke as executive director, a position McAlpin and Godsey have shared for the past year, will allow the duo to refocus their considerable energy as founder-visionaries.
“As we grow and get bigger, Janet and David need to be more accessible to develop donor relationships and garner new works to fill the new rooms,” Westbrooke said, referring to the renovation of the building into a Black Box theater, five multi-purpose rooms plus new bathrooms and heating, beginning in May 2017.
“Under Amanda’s leadership we’ll continue to fill these new spaces with creativity, innovation, education and joy,” Godsey said. “We have a lot of fresh, powerful and extraordinary things planned.”
McAlpin added that a core part of their vision is an increased capacity for partnership and flexibility.
“We want people to come in with their ideas and do them,” she said. “We want to be partners and that makes us different from being either a venue or a theater home.”
Westbrooke concurred, saying Open Space knows its mission and will continue to serve the arts and community, adding that her greatest challenge will be to “harness all the creative energy we have and get it placed in the appropriate spots for sustainability in the future.”
