INTERVIEW: How Hettie Barnhill is Fearlessly Creating Change for Artists in the Capital Region
06/04—06/14 @ Capital Repertory Theatre, Albany (Wedding Band)
“Art is meant to not just fit into your life. It’s meant to enhance your life. It’s meant to give purpose, groundedness, and direction to your life.”
Hettie Barnhill is a person of action. She fields this interview from her car, dashing between classes and rehearsals. Yet when she speaks, the world slows down: it seems to meet her where she’s at, and she’s just about everywhere these days.
“Art is action; art is active,” says Barnhill, explaining her progressive approach. “Art is participatory; it is dialogue, either with yourself or someone else.”
Right away, Barnhill wants to discuss the Activated Artist Fest on Aug. 9 at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy. The excitement is evident; the free festival will bring together artists, educators, activists, and community members and feature live performances, interactive workshops, wellness sessions, and keynote speakers. The community is encouraged to join as a presenter, sponsor, or volunteer.
This festival is the triumph of Barnhill’s organization and of Create A Space NOW’s daily efforts, which are causing extraordinary changes in the art scene in the Capital Region. They utilize performance, education, film, movement, and community engagement to address systemic oppression, racial inequity, and collective healing through the arts.
“It’s been truly a gift to not just live here in the Capital Region or just perform here but start this company,” says Barnhill. “It was important that I had a company that comprised what I see here in the Capital Region. There is so much movement and so many beautiful artists here.”
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Barnhill began dancing at age three and hasn’t stopped since. She is an award-winning educator, filmmaker, director, choreographer, and activist with over 20 years of professional experience.
Movement and mindfulness affect every part of her life, from using dance as therapy for young students to planning choreography for shows. “For me to do this work, I know myself that as a creative and as an artist, I am inspired by others,” she says. “I have to be present because I involve others in my work, and when I involve them, it’s not just me. I have to actively be a participant.”
Barnhill’s life is lived simultaneously, not consecutively. She works on multiple shows at once: wrapping up Aunt Pookie’s Girls — a one-act play she wrote and directed — she launched straight into Wedding Band for the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY, which will run at Capital Repertory Theatre from Jun. 4 to 14.
When she isn’t in the theater, she’s visiting schools. An instance of Create A Space NOW existing at the intersection between education and entertainment is their collaboration with schools in Schenectady to bring the immersive production, The Head of the Table, into classrooms. The production helps students to engage in meaningful dialogue about consent, power dynamics, and communication.
“The Head of the Table is a perfect example of bringing what people think only exists in the theater to schools to continue conversations around these topics of abuse and consent,” says Barnhill.
Carrying these vital themes of social justice back into the theater setting, the Barnhill Movement Collective will host its inaugural concert of What We Carry on Sept. 27 at Proctors Theatre. As the show weaves together themes of identity, resilience, power, and healing, the fact that it will be a ticketed performance honors Barnhill’s commitment to paying artists.
“We are working very hard on this, and we’re excited to show and invite the public to see what professional dance looks like here in the Capital Region with a diverse array of dancers,” she says. “Our dance company is composed of an array of beautiful bodies that are diverse in age, ethnicity, race, ideology, and sexuality.”
This mindset feeds the philosophy of Create A Space NOW and The Barnhill Movement Collective. “Access is important,” she states definitively. “It is important for my company members to have opportunities to learn the movements, to study, and to perfect the work that they are doing.”
By staggering rehearsal times so everyone has an opportunity to practice, she accommodates the dancers at the Barnhill Movement Collective, many of whom work 9-to-5 jobs or night shifts. Breaking down the barriers to exclusivity creates opportunities for artists who can’t afford to carve out a full-time career.
“There is so much beauty because everyone brings their own lived experience,” she says. “Nurses, doctors, teachers, and caregivers. It has been extraordinary because when we come together every week to rehearse, we’re also talking about how life is. I don’t know if a lot of these individuals would ever be in a room hugging each other, dancing, and asking about each other’s families. Most likely they wouldn’t be walking in the same paths.”
Providing the physical space required to rehearse is a surprisingly difficult task in the region. Barnhill was startled after living in New York City, which had ample but expensive rental options, to find very few accommodations for dancers upstate.
“It is important for artists to have spaces where they can create,” comments Barnhill. “There are many spaces [in the Capital Region] that are starting to pop up… but there is a lack of spaces for people to rent out in a commercial way for movement-based practices, from dance to theater.”
Space isn’t the only issue. A 2024 article by the higher education research group Degree Choices noted how graduates of the performing arts major now face an underemployment rate of 65.9%. Create a Space NOW not only provides the physical space required to practice but also offers critically needed work opportunities.
“There are a lot of things that artists are lacking here, but it’s not their ability to make art,” she observes. “It’s not their ability to create things that beautify the neighborhoods that get tourists excited. That happens a lot here in the Capital Region, but how that gets made — the finances and time that are needed for that, paying the artists — that’s what’s lacking here.”
She wants to turn the Capital Region into an environment where a full-fledged career in the arts is possible. “It is important that people make a direct decision to support the arts. Not [a passive one],” she emphasizes.
Making the conscious choice to not just support but also be an artist amid a chaotic and busy world is a massive challenge for some; Barnhill acknowledges this, noting how time is easily consumed by our daily demands.
“Sometimes we jump to ‘I can’t do this because I can’t stop my job.’ We automatically go there. Art is meant to not just fit into your life. It’s meant to enhance your life. It’s meant to give purpose, groundedness, and direction to your life,” she continues. “It’s not about stopping things to become an artist; it’s making small or big decisions to add art to your life. You have time. You have enough space for it. It is for everyone.”
Barnhill narrows what holds people back from pursuing art into three central issues: time, money, and worth. “I always think about what the fear is. What makes me hesitate?” she questions. “Usually, the answer to those questions has nothing to do with the art. For anyone who feels that taking that first step is what is stopping them, talk about the fears, the worry, the what-ifs. Then find who inspires you in your community and talk with them.”
For many in the community, Barnhill is that inspirational pillar in the community. That is the culmination of her work: to serve not only as a foundation for current creatives but also as a resource for those who aspire to be artists someday.
“That simple action of moving forward is going to open up so many doors of possibilities that you don’t even know yet,” Barnhill says, and the words ring true: no door is closed to her that she cannot open for herself or the world.
For more information, visit www.createaspacenow.org, www.barnhillmovementcollective.com, and www.hettiebarnhill.com.