Program 322
Robin Sokoloff is a lifelong theater professional, and activist: Passionate about building platforms for women and minority voices. Robin holds a BA in Sociology from New York University’s College of Arts and Sciences, she is a graduate of NEW (Non-Traditional Employment For Women), and a former member of The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America w/ Local 157; proud to have built this city she loves.
Please check out your subjects more carefully before you present them. This woman is not an artist in the real art world. She’s an entrepreneur out to make money. There’s no problem with that, but there’s a difference between an artist and an entrepreneur. Listen carefully to what she’s about and you hear a business mind. Just because she throws around words like “theater,” “audience,” and “canvas” doesn’t make her an artist.
Yes, the arts and business world, though they touch, are SEPARATE. It’s preposterous to pretend the kinds of people who are artists are somehow the same as business people. What’s the quality of this artist’s “work”? Where’s the track record of peer reviewed assessments of that putative “work”? “Mix it up” and “experience the arts and business in a whole new way” are code words for for making money by artificially attaching any endeavor that comes along to the “lofty” idea of art.
Hi Laura! Thanks for reaching out with your concerns. However, we made it very clear during the program that Robin was interviewed because she is an entrepreneur and a business owner. I don’t believe I ever used the word “artist” to describe her. We discussed the challenges of finding space for “nontraditional” businesses and the business partnerships Robin has developed. We also talked about how the space will be used, which includes cultural, business meetings and non-theatrical uses. It was very clear that Town Stages is a for-profit business entity.