Photo credit: Jeff Zmania
Deborah Wenzler Farris, Chief Executive Officer of Danceworks
With training in dance, theater, business and finance, Deborah Farris was hired in 2002 as the vulnerable young Danceworks’ first paid executive director. She wanted the job because, she says, “Danceworks was focused on taking the good work being done in the studio and theater into the community to people who wouldn’t otherwise have it.”
Now CEO, she’s spearheading a new era for the organization which serves over 60,000 people of all ages annually. “I wouldn’t feel good if we weren’t expanding; not necessarily bigger, but in our impact,” she said. “We’re committed to Milwaukee Public Schools and the city’s youth. We each have to accept our responsibility for reaching out to young people, to make opportunities available so they can have what we have had. It’s not rocket science.”
Danceworks is entirely women-led. “When you’re in a leadership role,” she says, “it’s about those around you. It’s about leaving your ego at the door. Through the real tough stuff—be it personal, programmatic, budget—you’re going to be tried and tested on what you value and who you are. You have to model what it means to risk, to believe in something, to fail well and learn from it; model what it means to value others, to acknowledge their incredible potential and strength, to be less in order to bring out the beauty of those around you. People need encouragement and as a leader, isn’t that our role?”
Editor's Note: This article is part of our annual Fall Arts Guide. For the 2018 Fall Arts Guide, we interviewed six women that have founded or taken a leading role within arts institutions in the Milwaukee area to learn about their experiences. Read more of the Fall Arts Guide here.
