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GREG HELGESON |
Growing up in northern Minnesota, Tom DeCaigny '98 discovered that theater was a way to learn about the world beyond his small town.
"My parents both worked at a local supermarket," he explains. "They weren't particularly interested in the theater or the arts. One of my high school teachers encouraged me to get involved in the theater program at my school. This gave me the opportunity to interact with other creatively minded people. It helped me understand that there was so much more to see out there. When I got involved with drama, I really started seeing the connections in the world around me. A powerful thing happens to young people when they have access to the arts."
Today, DeCaigny helps other young people blossom through his work as executive director of the Performing Arts Workshop, a 41-year-old, San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression and basic learning skills through the arts.
While DeCaigny's organization serves inner-city kids whose life experiences are much different from his own upbringing in Cloquet on Minnesota's Iron Range, he still recognizes the personal and social transformation that young people experience when engaged in a comprehensive arts program.
'Through [Professor] Beth [Cleary], I learned about theater's historic role in bringing people together around an issue and building community.' |
"You can see it in their eyes. When they make that connection, when they realize that this is a way they can find their voice, they get such a feeling of hope and power. I have the opportunity to witness that nearly every day. I didn't grow up in the inner city, but the power that theater had to expand my horizons was very similar."
DeCaigny, who was the first in his family to graduate from college, knew early on that he would major in dramatic arts at Macalester. "I had heard it was a strong program. The faculty were accessible and it felt right for me to take part in it." And take part he did, acting in and directing a wide variety of campus productions during his college career. He was particularly inspired by his adviser, Professor Beth Cleary.
 "Beth even helped me draw connections between my interests in theater and social activism. Through Beth, I learned about theater's historic role in bringing people together around an issue and building community. Through theater, I learned how to see the bigger picture and create change."
Nearly 10 years later, DeCaigny's professional life is still shaped by those intersections between the arts and activism, by the voice that he discovered as a teenager, cultivated at Macalester and put to work for others at the Performing Arts Workshop. He began working there in 1999.
"It doesn't get old for me," he says. "Nearly every day, I see amazing things happen through the arts. Nearly every day, we're able to make change in a young person's life. It's a way to make the world a better place one step at a time, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do that."
Andy Steiner '90
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