Good afternoon.

My name is Curtis Minter, Jr.

I am senior fellow of Third Space Action Lab and president of the Akron Roundtable.

I hope that you feel welcome in this place.

And you are enjoying your meal.

Needless to say, today is a good day.

We counted and honored that you all would choose to be here with us.

Certainly.

It is a reflection of our excitement for today's speaker.

Akron Roundtable began in 1976, when the Columbus Kiwanis Club of Akron saw the need for a public forum and was given encouragement to continue its efforts to the city of Akron by the late John S Knight, nationally known editor of the Akron Beacon Journal.

A significant partnership was birthed thereafter by counties with the Akron Beacon Journal and the Akron Regional Development Board.

Which propelled us into the future.

This month marks 50 years, 50 years of Akron roundtable.

And with your support, I am glad to report we are still doing the work of inspiring and promoting community dialog by inviting speakers to share about diverse, topics of importance, representing the region, the country and the world.

With that, we would like to thank our 50th anniversary sponsors, Huntington Bank and the Bellows Funeral Home.

Paul Tazewell will take questions from the audience following his presentation today.

Akron Roundtable board member, co-founder and chief catalyst of Art and love will moderate.

To submit a question, please refer to the QR codes inside of your brochures at your table.

Are those on the side of me on the screen?

Trey, would, you please make your way to the stage?

She will be introducing our speaker here today.

I had the privilege of meeting this man, last fall as a part of the Akron Urban League Young Adult Council and was profoundly impressed by his curiosity and creativity.

Respectfully, I would run out of breath if I shared his bio here today.

But for the sake of time, he is a Firestone High School senior, performing arts student.

So there you have it.

A performing arts student and also a fashionista.

And a guest, on Kelly.

Clarkson.

Thank you.

Show this past fall, where he first got to meet Paul Tazewell as well.

In addition, we'll have John Fiume, moderating today.

The John S. Knight director and CEO of the Akron Art Museum to, lead our discussion.

John leads one of our region's most important cultural institutions and has played a key role in shaping the growth, programing and community impact there.

Through his work, the museum continues to connect artists and audiences while strengthening Akron's role as a center for arts and culture.

John, thank you for your participation here today.

Trey, you have the floor.

Please take us away.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Yeah, you can do better than that.

You all look amazing.

Thank you for being here.

Because you could be anywhere doing anything.

But you're amongst great company this afternoon.

Excuse me.

That may be why you responded as such.

Good afternoon.

I'm honored.

I want to say thank you to everybody in this room for being present.

Thank you for the Akron Roundtable.

For having me.

Thank you for Mr.

Tazewell being such an inspiration.

Thank you to my mother for birthing me.

You know, you birthed a goat.

Appreciate you.

You know, it's it is an honor.

It is an honor.

And while we are here today, I want you to be sure to hold in the back of your mind that amongst you is a master of his craft.

A man that understands the language of needle and thread that understands that clothing says everything without saying anything at all.

A genius.

I am at a loss for words when it comes to me thinking about Mr.

Tazewell, because to say he is an idol is an understatement.

Put yourself in my shoes.

I want to be fashion designer in the world we live in today.

And you come across as a 13 year old.

You come across this man and you're watching Harriet for the first time, and you're looking at these costumes and you understand that?

Dang it.

They have taken a lot of work to do a period piece such as this.

Then Hamilton drops.

Hamilton is a hit.

Let me tell y'all, they love the music.

I love the costumes.

Okay.

Imagine watching Hamilton, hearing the music and watching the production and following the plot.

But the only thing you can focus on is the master work and the cut and fold of the fabrics.

Imagine when you understand and you come to do your research.

Who's the work behind this?

Who is this?

Imagine finding out being a kid from Akron, that is a kid from Akron that grew up less than five minutes from me, that went to Buchtel high school.

And I'm a falcon, you know, falcons fly furthest go birds you know but went to Buchtel high school and he made it out and he made it up straight up.

Just imagine and imagine you get a call one day that you have the opportunity to not only sit amongst Kelly Clarkson, the American Idol, but you get to sit right next to and hold conversation with the man, the myth, the legend, the one who you've been watching on these screens all this time, but not being on camera.

You've seen his work and you come to understand his work.

You can imagine how my heart is bursting with thankfulness to the Lord for this opportunity, but also to Mister Tazewell for being such a force to be reckoned with.

There is no other work of art.

There's no other catalog.

There is no other collection.

I am talking Versace, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana that I look at just as I look at Mr.

Tazewell.

So it is with an immense honor.

I am able to welcome him to this stage on today, and I will welcome you to give him a standing applause, because it is what he deserves.

Thank you so very much.

Oh my God.

That was about, like, winning the Oscar.

That was good.

Trey, thank you very much.

It is.

Such an honor to be here in this room with all of you.

It's also overwhelming to be back in Akron with all of you and with everyone who came to say hello.

Before this event started, just briefly, I am so greatly moved, to be here, to be back here.

Because it's been a long time since I've been back here.

I apologize that I'm going to read, something my, presentation just because I want to make sure that my words are, succinct.

Thank you for welcoming me back.

And thank you for inviting me back to place to a place that has shaped me in ways I'm still discovering.

Akron, Ohio, standing here today.

I am deeply honored.

Little did I know at the time, but the rigor and practice of art that was manifested in me here with then and now become a meditation that I lean on throughout my life, even at the most challenging times.

This place has been a haven for me.

It helped me grow into the black man that I am today.

There was struggle.

There was growth.

But more importantly, there was community.

There were people who saw me before.

I fully saw myself.

People who recognized my potential and carried me through moments of doubt.

It was here that I first began to love myself, to trust my own voice, to trust my own vision of myself.

And that love has shaped everything since.

Over time, I've learned that my work as an artist goes far beyond craft.

I'm a visual historian.

I'm an architect of identity.

I'm a culture keeper.

My work, it it signifies.

It challenges.

Hopefully it inspires.

True artistic leadership is about more than talent.

It's how you show up, how you treat others, and how you push the work forward with integrity.

Art does not happen in isolation.

The best work I've ever done, the most fulfilling projects came out of experiencing life collaboration, listening, and trust.

Many people know me for a large scale productions like Hamilton that become Sarah MJ on Broadway and most recently, the internationally acclaimed Wicked.

I'd like to speak to people that were involved in that, in those experiences and the collaboration that that that was for each, individual production with Hamilton.

What I carry with me is my collaboration with Tommy Kail and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

And how important that engagement was in the, authenticity.

The truth that we were able to create and therefore, what you receive off the stage with Jon M. Chu, the director of both Wicked films, Wicked Part one and Wicked for good.

His generosity of spirit, his full heart.

What resonated throughout the the cast.

All of production, and there for myself and how it affected how I, felt centered, and empowered to deliver the Wicked that hopefully you now know and, I would hope love as well.

My collaborations with Steven Spielberg, and West Side Story, and also the upcoming closure day that will, open in theaters in June.

Each of these directors, the leaders that they are, set a tone that trickled down.

So for all of you in this room that are leaders, I urge you, to be your best self because it has an effect on the product that you get from those that work with you, that those that work under you.

And your end result resonates with the joy that you create with your leadership.

Also my collaboration with Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande Day, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, these wonderful and talented artists that each of them individually have huge hearts and beautiful personalities.

And I want to urge you to understand how much they bring to their work.

And therefore, that collaboration, coming together affects the work that I do as well.

And, you know, the tone was set indeed by John Lim Chu and how he related to his cast and therefore how it, connected to my work and how as a leader of my department, it resonated out, as well.

But before those incredible opportunities arrived, I moved to the world by saying yes to what came my way.

Starting early on that met working alongside classmates, I graduated with some of you here in this audience.

Other times, it meant building new relationships with collaborators who are now part of my extended creative family.

These connections have carried me forward, rooted in trust, sustained by curiosity, and strengthened through the discovery of new ideas.

Together.

Theater.

Film.

Dance.

Opera.

Music, fine art.

These are communal forms.

They demand that we show up for each other not only with our heart, but with our humanity.

I stand here to urge all of you to invite more of the analog world into your creative life journey.

Let your education expand beyond the screen, beyond the scrolls and the algorithms.

Seek out libraries, the archives, those handwritten notes.

Take the longer path.

Have conversations that don't come from filters or easy exits.

Allow yourself to sit in discomfort.

Sometimes that's where growth happens.

These real world experiences are what shape your instincts, your empathy.

Your considered.

I though give your life depth and set your part in a world full of shortcuts.

I want to take this opportunity to call out because of how meaningful these people were in my history.

Coming up in Akron, and how I carried them with me, throughout my life.

Karen Hughes be who was my choir teacher growing up at a local high school, Arnold Thomas I just saw Riva Henderson.

Vaughn.

I just saw you.

These are people that I was at book tour with.

And, you know, those beautiful hearts that, helped to create who I am.

And that I now have the privilege to share, with the rest of the world?

With everything that I do.

And that, you know, just speaks to, in a small way, how Akron has inspired how I moved through the world.

Definitely with my family.

Unfortunately, they have all, moved to other places in Akron.

But I, I feel the resonance of their spirit here, in Akron with all of you gathered together.

You know, so it's a huge privilege to be a representative of Akron.

As I move out in the rest of the world and share my work, globally.

And then I also want to thank the Book tour alum that is here, the book tour high school alum and anyone who stepped into the doors of Perkins Junior High School and rank in, grade school as well.

So thank you so much for having me here and for honoring me today.

Wonderful words.

Paul, thank you very much.

You've made collaboration sound a lot more elegant than it usually feels.

I like to stay.

I just was experiencing that this morning, actually.

I'd love to stay with that idea of collaboration and creative leadership.

And, I was actually with Paul last night when he was speaking at the Meyer School lecture series.

And you had mentioned about, leading large teams and what it takes to be able to do that.

So I if you could describe for the audience, how does that all come together?

It's not as simple as saying, here's some sketches.

Go try this on and you know.

Right.

So if you could describe a little bit more and then why collaboration is so important because of all of the different variables and pieces that are in play.

Sure.

I'm going to start it by saying, you know, it it was a, a long, sometimes painful road to realize that, I couldn't do it alone.

You know, when I think about, you know, and.

Yeah, again, some of you might remember this.

You know, when I was asked to design The Wiz at Buchtel High School at the age of 16.

What a huge privilege it was.

You know, because Buchtel at that time was a magnet school, and I don't even know that it's always.

But it was a magnet school.

And so there was, a good amount of money that was poured into the school for the, you know, the means of integrating.

And with that, there were different programs.

And the one that I gravitated to was performing arts.

And Arnold Thomas, when he was there, realized some of my, you know, my interest, lean towards costumes.

At the time, I was also interested in being an actor and a dancer.

So I played The Wiz in that production.

But, he offered me the opportunity to design my first fully realized production.

But I was doing it basically alone.

And then my family, you know, chipped in, and, I think that there was some other, you know, helpers.

But essentially, you know, I was up until, you know, two and 3:00 after I did my homework, working on costumes.

But that was set a tone that this was on me to deliver.

And the only thing that saved me was to realize that I needed to delegate, that I needed to be able to communicate.

And this is what it's about.

Communicate what my idea is to someone else, and trust that they will manifest it, in a way that I will approve of.

But that means that I have to let it go.

And that was a hard lesson to learn.

I didn't learn, really, until I was, you know, already designing as a professional, you know, so I, you know, I'd been through eight years of school and then I, you know, was invited to into different, regional theaters to, you know, to, to design.

And mainly, you know, it's, you know, it was life saving because of, you know, it's it's completely destructive to try and spend that amount of time so greatly necessary to, use the talent and, and actually, you know, I realized that it was beneficial for me to use the talent of other people because it's additive and to embrace that.

So, you know, to then carry that experience, you know, if you, if you could, you know, follow the idea to what you might have seen in Wicked, you know, each of those, pieces, you know, I wasn't, you know, I wasn't making it under the singer sewing machine like I did when I was in high school.

That wasn't me.

It was my idea.

And it was the the collective, research and sketches and more sketches and detail work.

And, you know, that I communicated to someone else in order to then realize something that could be really extraordinary, and to capitalize on the expertise of amazing tailors, of hand embroiderers, of hand beaders.

Weavers, knitters, you know, you know, so, you know, to have access to that, you know, it was a golden moment, but, it required that I trust let go, of the control of making it happen.

And the benefit is that, together, in collaboration, something amazing can be born.

And so that that is where I am now.

You know, and that's I think that's about maturity.

So approximately what size of a team would come together for, productions such as Wicked or Hamilton?

We had a full time, shop or our workshop.

Our costume workshop was 70 people, full time.

And then we would go up to 150 people.

And, you know, because we had some days of background that were about 400 people, on set, 400 people plus, so required that we have, you know, a huge team.

That's great.

So I'm going to stick on the topic of leadership here as well.

I heard you mention that you are a world builder.

And can you describe that for the audience?

That was a it was a wonderful take away, from a presentation that I heard.

You're there, there are two I mean that that operates on two different, levels, world building.

As a designer.

I see myself as one that, crafts the overall vision of a world, a world of a story.

So when you think of Wicked again, you know, to use that as a as, as an example, you know, this world of Oz that we all have a preconceived notion of from the Wizard of Oz.

Was the, the Wizard of Oz book, the Wizard of Oz film?

With Judy Garland, The Wiz, Wicked, the Broadway show.

You know, there's a preconceived notion of what that is.

Our job was to create a new version of what that vision would be, and in doing so, we were world building what that whole vision might be so that you can engage with it as an audience member.

You can engage with it and, step into something that is plausible.

That meant that everything about it needed to, be defined.

We needed to create rules of, decoration, of architecture, of clothing style, accessory, the kind of shoes what you know, that we were defining and creating rules about every element so that when you saw it, when you saw this world presented you, you could, believe for those two hours that this actually exists.

And that's the magic of, of, filmmaking and also the magic of theater making or, you know, you you let go of the fact that, it doesn't necessarily, you know, it's not real time and they're all on stage, but you're still as a designer, hoping that you're creating this world that you can lose yourself in as an audience member so that you can experience the story as, as directly as possible, as closely as possible.

And that and, in doing so, you're creating a world that is a consistent vision.

You know, that's where, you know, one thing is talking to another.

On a more spiritual side.

I'm world building in that the work that I do, I'm a singular person creating an idea about a story, and I'm telling a story.

But that story is being heard by all of you.

And then everyone that you know gets to hear a bit of it, as well, either through you or because you said, you should go and see this show.

You should go and see this film.

So there's a resonance of the work that I do.

And with that, hopefully the energy that I bring to the, the, intention that I bring to my work.

The beauty that I hope to bring to my work as it affects you.

It also affects those people that are connected to you.

And so that it is that kind of world building as well.

That is very important.

And how did how did it, growing up in Akron help influence that?

I know you've mentioned wonderful people that were mentors or coaches along the way or influenced you, but but what were the biggest things that you you feel like you took away?

I think that it was, the sense of community, I mean, the sense of community that started with, my, my family, and how I was raised and a center of love, a center of nurturing and, you know, and feeling okay in myself, you know, because I, I grew up, you know, when I was very young.

And some of you may know, I mean, I, you know, I was, a fat kid struggling to understand who I was.

And, it, you know, I wasn't in sports.

I didn't do that.

I didn't, you know, like my brothers, they did.

You know, I had three, three brothers, and they they excelled in sports.

They were outgoing.

I found myself within the community of theater making.

That's.

I knew early on that that was where I could find space.

And it also allowed for me to express as a designer, as a crafter, as a designer.

And it has been a performer.

And as I matured, I realized myself and, you know, fully understood who I am.

You know who I am.

You know, as far as my sexuality, who I am as far as my a creative person, how I want to relate to the world.

It was the, that bubble of, of protection from my family, that, you know, that allowed for that to happen.

And then, you know, my, community of theater makers and, all of those creative people in high school and, you know, that's, you know, so that is where I develop the skills to be able to feel.

Okay.

Moving on to New York, moving on to North Carolina School of the Arts, moving on, then to NYU and then out into the world as a designer.

And, you know, so that's how I, you know, it's Akron at that time, there was just enough.

So it made me hungry to reach out in other ways.

You know, it wasn't so, scary.

You know, I, I received messaging that felt like, you know, I can be empowered to do this, you know?

And thankfully for my mentors, for my teachers, I was encouraged to continue to go forward.

And, I, you know, I'm hugely grateful for that as well.

So your family in Akron did you?

Well, yeah, I love that.

I love that.

So as a black gay artist and leader, and given the world that we're living in today, what what role do you think communities, should play in investing in the next generation?

And I know Mayor Malik is listening and, You know, time and time has really, you know, and, and all of us, you know, realize this, you know, time is so different from, the, the the, you know, our existence is so different from when I was coming up.

I think that it is absolutely necessary to prioritize honesty, to prioritize love and acceptance, to prioritize creativity and culture.

Because all that is, all that we have.

That we can hold on to, that is authentic.

And I, you know, I believe that those people that are leaders, those people that, are in positions of power in different, you know, in different, business and, you know, other, you know, structures, you know, that it's imperative to, start to value that kind of thinking in how we team up and how we organize, you know, our, our, our, interactions with each other, you know, it's and it's, it's me, you know, working firsthand with, you know, many, many, you know, an army of, of creators for every project that I'm working on, it's a different set of of, players.

You know, I don't work with the same people all the time.

I might work with them multiple times across a period, you know, years.

But the players are always shifting and changing.

The cast is always shifting and changing.

The the director is always shifting and changing and I'm still myself.

But I have to figure out how do I fit into this puzzle of creative people?

So, you know, I'm often in a position of leadership that requires flexibility in who, you know, who are the players that I have and how can I, maximize what they bring to the event?

And I think that that's, that's about creative leadership, you know, that's, you know, being able to, you know, manage what you have access to and make the most of what you have access to.

So related to that, then what's what's next on the horizon for you?

Well, I, on Broadway, there's a, we're in previews for Joe Turner's Come and Gone.

So that is in August Wilson play.

It's a revival.

It's the second revival of this play.

It's a beautiful story, about a boardinghouse in, 1911, in Pittsburgh.

So, about very humble, aspirational people, much like my family.

My, my, some of my ancestors, but it also speaks to love and connection in a very poetic way.

So that is one of the things that I'm working on.

Disclosure day is a new film that Steven Spielberg directed, and that's opening in theaters in June.

So I designed that as well as my second time working with Steven and, Ben.

I'm, busy, with a revival of Dreamgirls, which is the first Broadway revival.

And that will happen in the fall.

So speaking of the work that you do in the artistry, you know, many people you and I were talking.

May people assume that you were.

You are a fashion designer.

And can you explain the difference between a fashion designer and a costume designer?

Yeah.

I, when I left Buchtel, my, the first time the, college I went to was Pratt Institute, and I entered into Pratt Institute as a fashion design student, and that was because I could, you know, I thought, oh, fashion.

It's kind of connected to costumes.

I really just want to be in New York City.

I'm going to, you know, take any opportunity that I can to live in New York City so that I can start to, take dance class and and audition and and work on my my career towards being a Broadway star.

That didn't happen.

And fashion was not a good fit.

That part of it was the personalities that I ran into in fashion.

There's a, you know, there's a strong elitism.

That was part of the fashion culture at that time.

You know, you might sense some of that even today, but it's, you know, it it it it is also it was a time, at that time, there was a homogenization of fashion that seemed to be happening, where now, today, it's much more individualistic.

You have more of a, a, more expansive, quality in our, in the fact within the fashion industry, which is fantastic.

But at that time, I felt hemmed in and because I was, you know, coming from the world of theater and theater making and costume making, so, you know, that said, I decided to transfer to North Carolina School of the Arts.

And, you know, started by, you know, progress in costume design directly into costume design.

You know, I had lost that thought.

What was your.

Your gender that quite, you know, often people will assume that, oh, you're a fashion designer.

That was just that.

I got it.

Right between the two.

Yeah.

So, You get the, you know, a bit of the gist of what I was saying.

The fashion is an industry that is created for, for, you know, to represent trend and for marketing, a visual element that you will purchase.

Everything about it is about making money in the end, you know, and it is creating beautiful things and beautiful ways of representing our, you know, each of us, you know, ourselves, you know, each of you in this room, you got up today and you thought, oh, I'm going to the roundtable today.

Maybe I'll dress in this because I want to show up in a certain way.

And so, that we each make choices every day about how we want to present ourselves to the world.

It's our outer surface.

It's our armor, it's our decoration.

It's meaningful.

It says something about our personality that is what fuels fashion.

But I want to, as a costume designer, I take that and all of your connections, each each of you in this room, your connections to clothing or how you judge other people and their clothing.

I'm using that as a medium and that's my language for how I, costume, you know, because that draws on your connection to a certain silhouette, a certain color, a quality and fabric, how it is fit on a body.

And you as an audience member, are able to make a judgment about what you see and relate that or connect that to the person that's in the role.

And wearing the costume, and that says something about who that character is and that what their role is within the story.

And then one character in a costume next to another character in a costume, and what that relationship is and how that works together.

So it's manipulating the imagery of clothing.

As a costume designer.

So that's a scientific way to look at that.

So, my last question, I want to build upon that, and that is that you say you've said at times that costumes can, tell lies.

What do you mean by that?

So I think it's drawing upon, it's a little bit costume.

I mean, I can, let's say with Wicked, and we think about Elphaba.

On the surface, you can see her as a reflection of the Wicked Witch of the West, and you can decide to stop there.

What I was searching to do was to understand what's underneath that.

What is underneath that archetype, and how did she get to be who she is?

So the idea of a person dressed in black with a pointed hat is an image.

And yes, it might be scary.

And yes, even today at Halloween, that is the scary image for some, you know, some young child.

But indeed, the hat was a gift from a friend who, you know, in giving that gift, this friend felt empowered.

The the choice of black clothing was because she was in mourning for her mother at a very young age and never let go of that.

So therefore, what it says about our character is that she's stuck know.

And until she meets someone else, until she's put into a dormitory room where she has to butt up against the exact opposite of where she's coming from, you know, she doesn't.

She's not shifting, and she's still hearing the same tape or, you know, the same recording from from her parents, you know, a lack of love and in that engagement, she softens.

She opens up, she moves away from black, but then finds it again in order to create a statement.

So she's then empowered in the image that she, is embracing.

So that's where it you know it.

It tells lies only in that, I'm manipulating what the imagery is and trying to direct the untold story, for the audience.

And that comes from a place of assuming that you'll get it, you know, and and I can only rely on what my relationship is to the imagery.

That's as far as it goes.

So I know that 70% of you will get it.

You know, the other 30%.

It may take a little bit of time, but then after you see it over and over again, you will hopefully get it.

You know, so that's.

How it work.

That's that's a great response.

So I hope I, become part of that greater percentage next time.

Watch a movie.

I'm just going to be so into the costumes and completely forget about the storyline.

Right?

So Mac, I think we're ready to move to some Q&A right, Paul, thank you very much.

Of course.

Thank you.

Great question.

Paul, first of all, I just want to say thank you so much for, you know, bringing Akron to the world through your work and through all the things you do, you know, bringing the world back to us.

It's such a treat and delight to be able to follow your work.

So thank you for the inspiration for all of us here today.

We had so many excellent questions.

I'm going to try to get through as many as I can.

The first is from a young black artist working in Akron who says they're really focused on building building something meaningfully meaningful locally.

What helps you stay rooted in your identity and your voice?

As your work reached bigger stages?

It was the passion for the work, because, I mean, there was a lot of time where, you know, being a freelance designer, being a freelance artist, those of you in this room who are, it is no joke.

You know, it is on you to generate the work.

It's also on you to say yes to opportunity.

But it is imperative to, lean into, the and that place that, you know, knows that you will be okay, that trusts that, everything will work itself out.

And I think, you know, it's, it is all of those elements.

And, you know, much of that.

I, attained from my parents, and my family.

And today, this was a very interesting one.

Do you know who you are designing for prior to creating your costume?

How does that influence your process?

Sometimes you do, well, sometimes you don't know what to lead it with that.

Oftentimes you don't know, just because of how the timing works itself out.

I mean, I'm, I was working on, Wicked and even West Side Story about nine months to a year before we were actually in production.

So at that time, you know, people were being cast as I was developing ideas.

So the idea shifts and changes once you add the I mean, always, what once you add the actor into the mix, you know, the, the image that you're going to have, you know, that that will take precedent into the mix.

I, I had the, you know, that the gratefully, I, Jon Chu shared with me, he was sharing, you know, the, you know, tapes of the different actors that he was saying.

And then Cynthia Erivo came up and I had already been because I knew Cynthia from Harriet.

She had been in The Color Purple previous to that.

In the revival of The Color Purple.

So I knew she was a force.

But, it, it in that moment, it aligned with how I was seeing her because I was seeing myself as Elphaba, as I was designing and mystery trying to figure out, I mean, who is this person and why is she the way that she is?

And, and really, you know, that, you know, this speaks to, you know, really how I, how I grew into being a designer because of, you know, the fact that I was an actor and a dancer.

I carry that with me into how I design, and that allows for me to have an understanding of what is the, you know, the character development.

Where are they from?

What is their backstory?

How are they going to move through space?

All of that is, is information that goes into my design.

But I wouldn't have been able to do that as intimately if I didn't come from a place of having been a performer.

And I can understand, and standing side by side with an actor in a fitting room, I have a better sense of what they're working towards and how I want for my clothing to then support that.

Yeah.

Let's see.

Looking back, were there pivotal moments or environments that allowed your work to gain traction beyond your immediate community?

It was Akron.

I mean, it was, you know, it was, it was growing up on Ava.

I spoke on this last night growing up on Avalon Avenue, which was dead in the street.

The dead end dead ended in to the football field of Buchtel High School.

At that time, between 1972 to 1982.

So that was my the peer going through grade school into junior high at Perkins High, junior high and then into Buchtel.

That period of time was a time of great integration in that neighborhood.

You know, there was there was Avalon, there was, Dorchester.

Glendora.

There was Morley was on the other side.

You know, it's like all of this, there was great change.

But also within that, there was support for who I am, who I was, and in that, I, you know, in engaging with this multicultural community, neighborhood feeling, well, within this community, held within this community, I could then in a safe way find to I am find, you know, I find myself and then be able to walk out into the world, with great confidence again, led by my parents, my back, my by my family, my mentors, my teachers.

You know, all of that was, you know, imperative as well.

But it resonated with the, you know, the environment that I was growing up in.

There are a couple questions on this, about the arts as a viable career.

Can you speak a bit about the importance of the arts to the economy and to society overall?

The, the arts in every different form.

Our storytelling, our, our creative and artistic expression.

Our architecture and spaces, that is who we are.

And that speaks honestly of who we are.

And I, you know, I and it is, for the most part, humanly wrought, as you know, as soon as we let that go, as soon as we no longer value that, then we have no human connection.

And then who are we as a culture?

So in that it's imperative for us to raise up our arts and culture.

I don't know if these two questions can be tied together, but one is, what is one mistake you made earlier, early in your career that taught you a lot?

And what is the best advice you would give a young person today?

Read that again.

What is one mistake you made early in your career that taught you a lot and what is the best advice you would give to a young person today?

I don't know if it was a mistake, but I would say it took me a long time to, find my voice, and, to.

Value my voice for myself and therefore to be expressive.

And it was deep into being a costume designer and being a professional, and so I wish that I had gotten to that place and that my I see it as a mistake or a missed, a missed opportunity that I didn't really lean into, valuing who I am and all that I bring to the event of theater making or film making.

My point of view, my opinion, all of those I held back because I didn't trust myself.

And I wish that I had realized that earlier.

So for any of you out there who are still struggling with that, you know, it's worth to realize that, because.

You know, it's necessary to share, you know, and especially if it's coming from a place of love, kindness, generosity.

It's imperative.

It's imperative.

Especially now.

So there a couple great final questions here, but we only have a minute.

So I'm just going to ask what gives you the greatest peace?

I think that it is, Having someone, say that they they were moved by my work.

That is, because that's the reason that I believe that I'm here.

So it's probably about.

Yeah.

That's beautiful.

Well, we are all very moved by your work.

Please, everybody.

Thank you so much.

At this time, I would like to invite Michael to, vice president of our awards sponsor, Gardens Wealth Management.

We would like to present you, with a token of appreciation.

Paul, as the featured speaker here today, in my hands, this is our appreciation from Akron.

So something that you can take back home with you.

Thank you for sharing your time.

Thank you.

This is beautiful.

So wonderful.

Both contemplative suns have been designed by, again, legendary artist, Don Drumm.

And you also have the special edition for the 50th anniversary.

And so, again, Hamilton and Wicked, costume designer, Oscar and Emmy Award winner, world builder, Buchtel alumni and Akron native Paul Tazewell.

Ladies and gentlemen.

I applaud you, Paul.

Between John and the Q&A, those were some great questions and you persevered.

And so with that, we would like to also show a token of appreciation to John.

Feel me, for moderating today.

This.

Thank you both.

Nearly finish off next month.

We'll be featuring the president and CEO of co and acting president and CEO of Summa Health.

At our Signature Series luncheon on Thursday, May 21st at Quaker Station.

We recognize Schumer Health as an anchor institution, as one of the largest employers in the county with deep roots in the local community.

Mr.

Daryl Tol will be sharing about the progress Summa Health has made in the past eight months and into its partnership with HATCo, in addition to the new vision for the community based lifelong care of our community, the presentation will highlight how innovation, connectivity and deep local commitment are strengthening health care in Akron and positioning the community as a national health care leader.

We are greatly appreciative for all of you being here today.

That is it and have a good one.

We are adjourned.

Thank you.