Episode 65, ACT 2: Carmen Kelly - A Soft Place

Courtney continues her conversation with Carmen Kelly, an inspiring human with a rich history in arts education and current Program Director of the Brooklyn-based NIA Community Services Network's after-school program. The first portion of Act 2 acts as a kind of “rewind” moment that offers context for Kelly’s journey from childhood to school, to her career trajectory. It holds simplicity and complexity as it focuses primarily on two things: the importance of play and finding community at a young age. As the episode moves forward, Kelly really talks about her journey into the arts and to New York City. We don’t want to spoil too much about this rich second act. What we do want to highlight here is that our guest, the joyous Carmen Kelly, really digs into her past to bring us back to her present. In between those two points in her life (thus far), there are so many touchstones and flashpoints that truly highlight what so many of us already know and understand on the deepest of levels—if we’ve found ourselves in the arts, in any way, shape or form, we know what it feels like to have been called to this field and to have landed in spaces that we have needed and have needed us.