Victoria McConnell wears a lot of hats for the Fremont Abbey – from curator, to performer to administrator. Her upcoming show, dubbed Abbey Grown, a dance and music performance featuring the likes of Julia Massey and Pepper Proud, is slated for March 28 in the Abbey. We had a chance to talk with Victoria – asking her three questions – about the show!

 

What’s your role with the Fremont Abbey, how long have you been working there? 

I fell in love with the Fremont Abbey the very first time I volunteered there. It was a magical evening in 2009 that I jumped in to help with Grand Hallway’s CD release show for their album “Promenade”. The Great Hall was packed, candles were lit, the music was pristine, and everyone there (musicians included) were friendly. The whole concert was unlike anything I’d experienced before and I was hooked. Since that fateful concert, I’ve been involved at the Abbey in a variety of ways from volunteering, to admin work, from teaching to my current focus as dance curator and a working artist in the Abbey community.  

Can you give me a sense what the mission of the Abbey is in terms of the shows it produces? 

Sure! Our mission is to curate welcoming arts & cultural experiences where people of all ages and incomes can explore and grow. Abbey Arts focuses on local music, contemporary dance, interactive visual art, spoken word, and even some culinary arts. Formats include multi-arts collaborative performances like The Round, intimate close-up concerts, new dance performances with live music, community gatherings like The Moth storytelling event, dance classes, plus a variety of workshops and artistic life celebrations.

The Abbey has been around for over 100 years. And currently it’s hosted people from Lindy West to Shelby Earl to up and comers like Joseph and Julia Massey – what does it feel like working in such an historic place? Do they people there wear the years on their sleeves? 

It’s exciting and inspiring to create within the community and in the actual space of the Fremont Abbey. I think there are vestiges of all of the artists and performances, whether well-known or unknown, in the atmosphere there. Seeing or hearing their stories and successes is so encouraging. Combine that with the actual architecture and warmth of the Abbey and its unlike any other studio or performance space in Seattle. That generative energy is so palpable sometimes! For me, this place and the people in this community have become my creative home. So through the Abbey Grown show and other Abbey Artist opportunities, I’m honored to be able to invite more artists to find a supportive homebase to create from at the Fremont Abbey.

I think one of the wonderful things about the Abbey and the people who are involved here, whether working, volunteering, or creating (the Abbey Family, as we call it), is that people don’t wear the years on their sleeves in an insider’s club kind of way. Anyone can come to a show, anyone can volunteer and feel welcomed immediately and you might find yourself stacking chairs at the end of the night alongside the director or chatting easily with one of the performers.

See a video for the show here: