Q&A with new Greenville Center for Creative Arts CEO
Jess Burgess says it didn’t take long for her to fall in love with Greenville when she arrived to begin her new position as the chief executive officer of the Greenville Center for Creative Arts.
She joins GCCA with more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit arts administration, most recently as Executive Director of Dogtown Dance Theatre in Richmond, Virginia.
Burgess takes the reins from Kim Fabian, who retired earlier this year after two eventful years as executive director. Despite the disruptions of the pandemic, GCCA completed a multi-million-dollar renovation and expansion of its studio, classroom and gallery spaces at the Brandon Mill complex’s Cloth Building. The new spaces opened to the public in February.
Now GCCA enters what Fabian termed the “third phase of its evolution -- philanthropic growth and financial sustainability.”
Burgess says that’s her area of expertise: formulating strategic fundraising plans, managing fiscal responsibility, and planning for and leading growth.
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Born in North Carolina and raised mostly in Danville, Virginia, Burgess is a Dance and Communications graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, She currently serves on the executive board of directors of the university’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.
During her time at Dogtown Dance, Burgess led its evolution from a struggling startup to financial sustainability and creative innovation. In a panel review, jurors from the Virginia Commission for the Arts said: “Jess Burgess is a strong and active advocate for the arts at every level.”
Burgess says that when arts organizations have financial stability and strong community relationships, their programs can emphasize diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. “Art should be a fundamental right, not a privilege,” she says.
She says she is thrilled to call Greenville home and looks forward to helping GCCA excel for years to come, making a lasting impact on the lives of artists and those who love art. She spoke to us in May.
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Talk Greenville: You’ve only been in Greenville a few weeks. How’s the experience so far?
Jess Burgess: I went to Artisphere, one of the first things I did. Music on Main on Friday night. I went to the Farmers Market that first Saturday. My entire family is of Scottish heritage, so I signed up to volunteer for the Gallabrae festival. I feel like I’m just diving in. But it’s a city that allows you to do that and that’s what is so cool. … It’s just such a welcoming, inviting city. Even the woman who checked out my groceries at Swamp Rabbit (Café and Grocery) had so many pieces of advice about what I should check out. It’s been wonderful. The city stole my heart in about 48 hours.
TG: How did you connect with GCCA?
JB: I had been interviewing and looking all over the country, I mean I was interviewing in California, Florida, New York, Kentucky, you name it. I had zero problem moving anywhere. I’m not married, no kids. My life has always been about my career. It’s a joke, but not really, I’m a crazy cat lady. I remember that I had just gotten home late from the theater in Richmond, and I’d sat down with my glass of wine and my kitty cats, and I was, like, “Oh, this looks interesting!”
TG: Talk about a little bit about the process after that.
JB: I want to work on growth and sustainability and activating a really sound strategic plan. And it was a CEO position -- you could tell that GCCA is taking it to a level that some others weren’t. So that was intriguing. I applied and within about two or three days, I had the first conversation. This was in February. Kim (Fabian) contacted me and then within another week I had my first Zoom interview with Kim and several members of the board. And then a week or so later, there was another interview on Zoom with Kim and a couple other members of the board. Then they flew me down here and they offered the job during my final interview in-person here. I accepted pretty much on the spot. So, then it was back to Richmond to start the process of leaving that life and starting a new one.
TG: What’s the biggest thing GCCA has going for it right now?
JB: I think the renovation of the space has been absolutely transformative. That’s so important, because it allows us to highlight and give voice to and space to artists who call Greenville home. A lot of those artists are considered emerging artists. Their work is phenomenal! You look at it and you’re just like, that’s emerging? We want to be accessible, to be open. Art transcends barriers and language and I think that is really what (GCCA) has got going for it. There’s a lot of momentum right now because this space has been so beautifully done and renovated and that it is supporting the artists in the way that we should be.
TG: So, physical space actually aids creativity?
JB: Physical space always does. … We were able to increase the number of resident studio artists, so that these artists literally have a home. That’s important. It’s a definite need that we are meeting in this community.
TG: Is there a creative art you’d like to see more of at the GCCA?
JB: We want to support art that is not just necessarily paint on canvas or ink on canvas or photography. I mean art that is beautiful and valid and has purpose. I think art knows no boundaries and that’s what’s exciting. That’s why I love artists and being an artist and working with artists.
TG: How do you like the Village at West End?
JB: It’s got this vibe. Like you walk to that little coffee shop, (the Village Grind) and there’s a vibe. I think what drives the coolness, the uniqueness of this part of the city is the artists’ voices – there's this community making up the fabric of this part of the city. That’s got to be because it’s rooted in loving and creating and producing and supporting art.
TG: Your background is in dance. GCCA is a little change of pace, isn't it?
JB: Of course. This was a visual arts center versus what I’ve always done. But that was really attractive to me. One of the biggest things in life is that we never stop learning and I think I was at a point in my career where I kind of did stop learning, because I just know dance so intimately. So this was a challenge to me. It was exciting. It was brand new dynamics and personalities of artists that I get to work with.
TG: You’d been in Virginia for most of your life, right?
JB: I was born right outside of Asheville, but I only lived there until I was seven or eight and then my whole family relocated to Virginia. So, I grew up in Danville, Va. I went to undergrad at JMU -- Go Dukes! I’m on the board for the JMU school of visual and performing arts, so I stay very involved. I spent a little time in London, and then when I came back to the ‘States, I heard Richmond had a cool art scene and I thought I’d go check it out. I thought I’d live there a year or two and figure out what I wanted to do. Then you blink your eyes and 18 years have gone by. This is all such a huge change for me. Professionally, but personally too. It’s a whole new world, but it’s really exciting!
TG: How did the cats like the move?
JB: You know, the drive down was traumatic, for both them and me. That’ll never happen again.
TG: How many cats do you have?
JB: Let’s say … several. It’s kind of like tattoos. Once you get one you can’t stop. They’re my babies.
TG: Is there some aspect of visual art that you especially relate to? Are you a painter or a sculptor?
JB: Not really. I mean, like, Sip and Paint classes. As a kid growing up, I definitely dabbled in throwing paint on a canvas, thinking I was Jackson Pollock. I wrote a lot, I was a big writer, creative writing, especially poetry. But, as a performer and a choreographer, one of my biggest things was we always tried to work with visual artists. I choreographed the entire Dark Side of the Moon album, Pink Floyd, and worked with a visual artist in Richmond (on the set and the visuals) … I told them all of my crazy ideas. I said look, I want a 15-foot slide that is a piece of art and I want a human-sized hamster wheel and I want 16 boxes that are on wheels, but the audience doesn’t know they’re on wheels and they move around stage when (the song) Money hits -- and we did it, we made it work.
TG: What is the first thing that you notice when you look at a piece of visual art?
JB: There’s very few pieces of art where I don’t have some sort of visceral reaction to it. I would assume that is what the artist is going for. We just launched “Step Out of Stigma,” where every single one of those pieces is geared around putting mental health at the forefront and understanding why that’s important. There’s a couple pieces that, the more that I look at them and the more that I take them in, they really choke you up and make you feel something deep inside of you.
TG: How do you think your staff would describe you so far?
JB: I think they would say “she’s energetic, she’s got a good vibe but she’s also going to support us.” I think they know that I’m here to get it done. I’m here to do a good job and I want to help the center grow. But I think they also know that I’m laid back. We’re going to support the artists, we’re going to support the work, the art school, the community, and we’re going to have a good time while we do it.
TG: Where is your favorite place to go in town so far?
JB: Swamp Rabbit Café and Grocery. I went there three times in the first three weeks. I’ve also really liked SIP Whiskey and Wine.
TG: What is something you haven’t done that you want to do?
JB: One of my favorite parts of my job is networking, it’s meeting people. That shut down for two years of my life with Covid. The last two years in Richmond I couldn’t even do my favorite part of my job.
TG: Any of the classes at GCCA you especially want to try?
JB: I have already. I’m really interested in taking a jewelry class. Some jewelry making classes. And then I really want to try my hand at print making.
TG: What would you like people to think of when they think of GCCA?
JB: I want them to think that this is a hub for free, accessible, high-quality art and for affordable art school classes. No matter your age, no matter your income level, no matter what you want to do, there is a way to engage with this organization. There’s a lot of art in this city. But this organization is doing it in a very unique way from the rest of the community. Which I think is really cool.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Jess Burgess joins Greenville Center for Creative Arts as its new CEO
