Creating Culture: Driver of Change

“There’s a lot of old meets new here.”

Michelle Mac Lennan is leading a tour of Chandler Center for the Arts. The center’s cultural arts manager, she talks about all of the renovations the building has undergone and what the future holds. As she strides through the center’s event space, rehearsal rooms, set design workshop and underground tunnels, Mac Lennan peppers in anecdotes about the building that only someone who has worked there for 24 years can.

The center was built in the late 80s through a collaboration between the City of Chandler and the Chandler Unified School District. Its turntable divisible auditorium boasts a revolutionary architectural design, allowing two rear sections of seats to turn 180 degrees into smaller, more intimate theaters. At full capacity, the mainstage seats 1,508 patrons, while the two smaller theaters seat 346 and 250, respectively.

Since 1999, Mac Lennan has been a strong presence and driver of change at CCA through her multitude of roles. Throughout her career, she’s felt compelled to give back to the theater, the craft that captured her heart as a child, aspiring to make it more inclusive and accessible to all.

“It’s always been my personal mission, whether it was as a volunteer coordinator or as the program director, to build equitable practices into everything I do,” she said. “For 20 years, I’ve been working on diversifying our programs.”

Today, as the cultural arts manager, she focuses on directing and collaborating with the center’s core team, fostering strong community relationships and “everything in between,” she said.

During her tenure, Mac Lennan has been instrumental in diversifying thecenter’s board, artists and audiences. In its early days, the center primarily catered to an older audience, many hailing from the nearby senior communities. This is common for arts centers, Mac Lennan said, citing that the demographic generally has more disposable income.

“I really wanted to change that,” Mac Lennan said. “Not to not include them but to also include people who historically had not been included.”

Under her direction, CCA has made significant strides in fostering inclusivity by actively connecting with the community through their many outreach programs and strategic partnerships. Embracing the belief that art should reflect the community it serves, the center brings together patrons and artists from various backgrounds to share in the transformative power of the arts.

“Where can you get 1,500 people to agree on anything?” Mac Lennan asked. “At a concert. It’s that experience that can never be replicated; no matter what people say, it can’t.”

Two years ago, the center took on its first multiyear resident in Michael Mwenso. A Sierra Leone native, Mwenso is a band leader, activist, musician and educator. In his residency, he is dedicated to connecting the community to the arts through outreach, speaking engagements and live performances.

“We profit on the backs of artists, so they should have a seat at the table,” Mac Lennan said. “Without the artist, we’re nothing. We learned that in COVID; we are nothing without the artists. So we really shifted to where we’re going to be artist-centricas much as possible.”

Their residency program isn’t the only new venture for CCA. In 2022, the center stepped into co-commissioning with “NORTH: The Musical,” a theatrical production following a mother and son’s journey escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad. Co-commissioned with three other arts organizations in the U.S., the show has its sights set on Broadway. And this year, for the first time, the center is co-producing a show, “Beauty and the Beast,” with Showtune Productions, slated to hit the stage in March 2024.

Behind Mac Lennan stands a strong team, and she doesn’t miss an opportunity to acknowledge their contributions to their shared vision. A natural leader, Mac Lennan has focused on creating a culture of collaboration, inclusivity and respect. In 2006, she was chosen to join the Piper Fellows program, an opportunity that proved instrumental to her success as a leader.

“If you’re a great leader, then you make leaders and you empower leaders. That’s what leadership is to me,” she said. “I owe what is here to the team. My job is to empower them to be the best leader they can be and I learned that from the fellowship. Hands down, it changed my entire leadership style.”

The tour ends with Mac Lennan pointing out signed photographs from past performers on her office walls. Among the images are the smiling faces of artists and audiences from all backgrounds, a testament to the center’s mission of inclusivity and excellence. The photos prove that when old meets new, the power of the arts is limitless.

To learn more, visit chandlercenter.org