Take 10 with a Triton: Liz Bradshaw on ArtPower and WOW

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• Catherine Poland - [email protected]

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Name: Liz Bradshaw

Pronouns: She/Her

Title: Director of Artistic Programs.

Years at UC San Diego: Twelve years.

What she does at UC San Diego: Bradshaw originally was hired at UC San Diego in 2008 as The Loft Curator where she helped launch the venue for ArtPower. She left UC San Diego a few years later but returned to campus in 2018 to join Special Events and Protocol producing events such as the opening of the Epstein Family Amphitheater. In 2023 she rejoined the ArtPower team.

"At its core, my work is about connection - bringing performances, stories and experiences to audiences who might see themselves reflected on stage for the first time," Bradshaw says. "What makes doing that here so special is the reach we have."

"The job sits at the intersection of creativity and organization - that's where producing lives, and it's where I thrive," she says. "There's something deeply satisfying about the logistics and relationships that have to come together to make an artistic moment happen."

Currently, she is responsible for curating an entire season of between 45 and 60 concerts and events - everything from dance to speakers, to global music, to a jazz series, to nostalgia events - that take place at the Epstein Family Amphitheater, The Loft and the Conrad Prebys Music Center, as well as the Jacobs Music Center and the Balboa Theater, which are both in downtown San Diego. In addition, she and her team partner regularly with campus academic departments and student groups such as the UC San Diego Theater and Dance department, the Department of Music, the Stuart Collection, the Symphonic Student Association, the student improv group Foosh and many others.

As part of her work, she also helps with UC San Diego's partnership with the La Jolla Playhouse on its annual WOW Festival. This year, the ArtPower contribution to WOW will be three performances by the Canadian singing group Choir! Choir! Choir!

"WOW is all about immersive experiences and Choir! Choir! Choir! embodies that," Bradshaw says. One of those, "Take a Walk on the Choir! Side," will take place on Friday, April 24 at 7:20pm. The performance will begin at the base of the Snake Path by the Geisel Library and Choir! Choir! Choir! will collect participants to join in a sunset sing-a-long as they walk to the Epstein Family Amphitheater to finish the performance on stage.

"The WOW Festival is really joyful and it's about being in community and experiencing art together," she says. "So for us, Choir! Choir! Choir! felt like a really natural fit as our offering for this year."

What she loves about UC San Diego: For Bradshaw, who grew up in Lancashire in the northwest of England, the UC San Diego campus culture is what she loves the most. "We're really at the intersection of arts and academia and that's so well celebrated and lifted up on campus," she says. "There's an incredible community and you can't beat the location. I'm always blown away by how many amazing places you can walk to."

"The growth and opportunity here over the last 15 years has been remarkable, and watching that unfold up close has been wonderful," Bradshaw says. "The university's commitment to the arts makes it a deeply rewarding place to do this work."

Best advice received: Always "take a chance and go for it," says Bradshaw, which applies to everything from asking a hard question, to applying for a long-shot position or collaboration.

"If there's something that you really want to do, it's so easy to talk yourself out of trying, but just start somewhere. Do some research, find out who the right person to email is, ask the question," she says.

Something unique about her workplace: On any given day, Bradshaw might be at the Epstein Family Amphitheater or The Loft or the Conrad Prebys Music Center, backstage at the Jacobs Music Center downtown, at a campus dining facility for a pop-up performance of an ensemble, or a studio. "The 'workplace' is wherever the work is happening," she says.

And the people whom she works with "are pretty unique too," she says. "The majority of our staff come from artistic backgrounds - dancers, actors, musicians, designers. That shapes everything about how we approach what we do."

Favorite spot on campus: The Epstein Family Amphitheater. "It's such a great space," she says. "It has the trolley stop connecting us with the rest of San Diego and the border region, residences, the Department of Visual Arts in the background and the Design and Innovation Building. It just feels amazing to be nestled in that space - somewhere that was literally a dirt canyon a few years ago."

"I honestly can't believe that we get to work in such a beautiful place. And it's always so exciting when you get to show somebody around who has not been to the campus before."

Something most people don't know about her: That she can surf and, as she puts it, "get by" on a skateboard. Bradshaw says she first learned to surf in the United Kingdom and being able to surf more was one of the big draws of relocating to San Diego.

If she had one day to do anything she wanted: "I'd spend the day in a tiny coastal town somewhere like Italy. A little bit rustic, a little bit rural," Bradshaw says, noting that a small cove and excellent food in a clifftop restaurant with amazing views would be involved. "That's the way I would happily spend my time," she says.