Segerstrom welcomes Natalie Graham as VP of community engagement
Natalie Graham, the newly appointed vice president of community engagement at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, wants to focus on conversation and connection.
“There two things that I keep thinking about, and the first one is inviting community members into the conversation about what they want to see. What they love, what they miss, what voices are missing?” said Graham. “The second thing is expanding into places we haven’t been.”
Graham is tasked with growing the Community Engagement department’s programming, which includes the expansion of Studio D’s inclusive arts curriculum and the addition of new cultural programming at the center, including on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza. Strengthening community partnerships is another goal.
Graham said she’s looking forward to engaging with arts and other organizations that serve underrepresented communities.
“We have this program called Center without Boundaries. We want to be in community centers, we want to be in arts and recreation programs, we want to reach out to organizations throughout Orange County and expand our reach beyond Costa Mesa and Santa Ana,” said Graham. “We have a lot of relationships in those two places, but I think there is so much more we can do and collaborate and build the pathway back to the center.”
Graham is well-versed in cultivating programming for the center. She worked with its Community Engagement department as artistic curator and consultant for “Freedom in Full Bloom: A Juneteenth Celebration,” the center’s first Juneteenth Celebration in June 2021, and she led art activities for the “Rock, Paper, Scissors: 80s!” event on the plaza in October 2021, through KayJo Creatives, an artistic event planning and management company she co-founded.
“I loved everyone I worked with and everyone I got the chance to meet,” Graham said of her previous experience with the center. “I felt like there was a genuine sincerity and trust. And also a sincere commitment to see growth and transformation … meeting people I felt were committed to following through on changing their organization from the inside, that was really attractive to me. ”
SCFTA President Casey Reitz said Graham made a good impression as well.
“I first met Natalie when she worked with the center and our Community Engagement team to create the first ever Juneteenth celebration at the center. I was blown away by her passion, intelligence and commitment to the work and our mission,” said Reitz. “She has incredible taste and an innate sense of how the center can positively impact our home in Orange County.”
Graham comes to the center with a strong background in the arts in her own right. A native of Gainesville, Fla., she earned her master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Florida and has a doctorate in American Studies from Michigan State University.
Last August, Graham was appointed Poet Laureate of Orange County. She has toured nationally with her collection of poems, “Begin with a Failed Body.”
Most recently, Graham served as a faculty member in the Department of African American Studies at CSU Fullerton, where she was chair of the department and co-founder of the Institute of Black Intellectual Innovation.
“Mostly, the work that I have done that is public is poetry,” said Graham. “I taught for many different universities including Cal State Fullerton, Michigan State and University of Florida, and in all of those places it was really important to show students the mechanics behind the art so they could see that it was something they have access to.”
In her short time since starting in her new role, Graham said she already has much to look forward to.
“We do have a great event on the 28th that I have been working on, featuring South Side Symphony, so that will be in the Samueli Theater,” Graham said.
The show, “The Love Below: The Heart Song,” will feature South Side Symphony and composer Marcus Norris for unplugged orchestral-fusion performances of R&B, hip-hop and neo-soul. Tickets start at $10.
Graham said she is also looking forward to continuing to honor people who are not part of the conversation — yet.
“I look forward to amplifying voices that haven’t been heard and creating new space for the songs yet to be sung,” said Graham.
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