Meet Karen Altree Piemme

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Karen Altree Piemme. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Karen Altree below.

Karen Altree, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

In the work I do every day, I facilitate workshops in the creative process with a wide range of people within our community (people experiencing incarceration, people experiencing housing insecurity, youth in the foster system, seniors experiencing dementia, etc.). These workshops are designed to help participants access their imaginations and use the tools of theatre and storytelling to bring their ideas to life. And, in improvisation, we say “yes, and…” – “Yes,” I accept the idea you are offering, “and,” I will contribute another idea to build upon it so that we can create something together. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such a broad range of people on a daily basis because, I believe, if we are open to experiencing other people’s perspectives and creative contributions it expands our own creativity exponentially. The key is to remain open – which is easier said than done. Often times, in creative industries, you are working on a deadline: there is curriculum you need to get through, or an opening night approaching – which pushes you to focus on the product rather than the process. But I have learned that if you can stay in the moment in the process, the product will take care of itself. I delight in creative collaboration and, even if I am leading a process (as the director of a stage production, or a facilitator in a workshop series), I enter the space with the assumption that, not only are my ideas not the only ideas in the room – but they’re also probably not even the best ideas in the room. That allows me to stay both humble and curious. And to be open to discovery. It lets me be a contributor to the creative process in such a way that when the best ideas rise to the top they are collective ideas, so that we all rise together.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

As a theatre artist, I am a director, actor, dramaturg, workshop facilitator and acting instructor, specializing in social justice theatre, new works development, and community access to the arts. I am the Director of the Red Ladder Theatre Company – an award-winning nonprofit organization which amplifies community voices through the transformative art of theatre. I believe, wholeheartedly, that creativity is at the core of who we are as human beings and that when our creative impulses are revered, supported, and nurtured, positive change and growth occurs in our lives and our communities. What that looks like, day-to-day, is that you will often find me on the road, assisting our community members in making theatre in places where you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find it: be that correctional facilities, senior centers, transitional housing, recovery centers, or juvenile detention facilities. Just this week, three brand new plays – developed by the participants in our program – will be performed in some of our state correctional facilities. I believe that everyone has a story to tell – but that society has curated our information feed such that we only get to hear a very select few stories, from a very select few perspectives. If we can empower people in our communities – particularly those who have been led to believe that their ideas and their stories don’t matter – to live out of their artistry and to put their stories on their feet, our collective human narrative will be all the richer for it. When I’m not on the road, I’m keeping the wheels turning as a nonprofit arts leader endeavoring to provide meaningful opportunities for the talented artists in our community, particularly through the mentorship of early career artists of color. And, when I can, I take the opportunity to direct productions as a freelance artist. Though, at this stage in my career, I really only take on projects that hold particular significance to me, or to which I feel I have something unique to contribute.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I believe that three of the qualities that have been instrumental in my journey have been curiosity, compassion, and consistency.
More and more, we are led to believe that we are supposed to know where we are headed and how we’re meant to get there before we have even taken the first step of our journey. I see students applying for colleges who are expected to declare a major while they’re still in their junior year of high school. They’ve been denied the opportunity to explore, discover, and learn about the world around them, and what it is that truly delights and inspires them, before they have to make decisions that will impact their lives, careers, and futures. They wind up on a path that seems arbitrary, or selected by their limited experience, because of the pressure to make a decision. As children, we have an innate sense of wonder, and will often stop to explore something or someone that we encounter. But we’re rapidly told that we need to focus, set goals – and achieve them – frequently before we’ve even had a chance to figure out what it is that we’re drawn to, because we haven’t had the chance to explore, freely, all that life has to offer. We’re expected to have all the answers before we’ve even had a chance to ask the questions.
Curiosity goes hand-in-hand with compassion. So many interpersonal rifts that exist in our lives and our society come about because we have not developed into people who are others-centered. We are conditioned to acquire things and to focus on what we want – and what we think we need – often without thinking about others. We don’t take the time to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes (something that imagination and creativity affords us) and really listen to them – or to see things from their perspective. It wasn’t that long ago that the COVID 19 pandemic had people hoarding toilet paper out of fear that they wouldn’t have enough – without giving a thought to others who might need the same. If we take the opportunity to really listen to someone – not so that we can prepare to respond, but simply to receive and understand what they have to say – we’ll often find that we have a great deal in common; or, we’ll learn something we didn’t know before. That’s the power of curiosity and compassion.
Finally, consistency. I work with people every day who have never had someone else show up for them. And every time they thought someone might, they were disappointed. So, they have come to believe that they are not important enough for someone to do so. Just think about how it feels when you have plans with someone and they flake on you. Now imagine that that’s your reality every day of your life. That’s why, in the work that we do, with the participants we serve, we show up. If we say we’re going to be there, we’re there. Folks in shelters and prisons and the foster system have become far too accustomed to being forgotten. It’s a rarity for them when someone does show up, so they have difficulty trusting it. But when you show up, consistently, and people learn they can count on you it not only transforms your relationship with them, but it transforms their sense of themselves – as someone who is important enough to show up for.
So my advice: stay curious. Exercise compassion. And be consistent – be that person someone else can count on. You’d be amazed at how freeing it can be – for you, and for the people in your life.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

The nature of the work that I do is inherently collaborative. And I believe that in a true collaboration, everyone involved benefits from the input, expertise, and creativity of the other entities.

So – in collaboration – I/we am looking for others of like mind (meaning they, too, believe that collaboration and co-creation can yield something that any one entity cannot accomplish on their own) but differing experiences, strategies, or approaches. These could be cross-cultural collaborations, intergenerational collaborations, a meeting of multiple/differing art forms, someone with an interest in the practical application of creative strategies, etc. If someone is moved by what it is that I/we do and it has sparked an idea for them, I’d love to connect and see what we can build together.

The best way to reach out to me/us is through our website: www.redladder.org
People can learn more about us and can send us an email through the site.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.redladder.org
• Instagram: @redladdertheatre
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-altree-piemme
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@redladdertheatrecompany7530

Image Credits

Tasi Alabastro
Peter Merts