I’m planning to highlight teaching artists, staff members, artists and students who work with us at Hubbard Hall at least weekly. There are so many great people who make up Hubbard Hall and I hope you’ll enjoy meeting them each week.
Darcy is one our secret super stars at Hubbard Hall. She does so many great things to make the Hall run on time – and to make the Hall dance. So many kids have grown up under her tutelage in our Irish Step Program. She is humble but brilliant. A great illustrator and painter as well as an amazing teaching artist and choreographer.
I often think of her as the Heart of Hubbard Hall.
Who are you?
Darcy May (wife, mother, illustrator, artist, dance instructor, staff member at Hubbard Hall, volunteer).
What do you do at Hubbard Hall?
My title is “Assistant to the Director”, but my job involves many things including phone answering, information, box office, data entry, thank you letters, ordering supplies, mailings, proof-reading, etc, and many creative things like set painting, sign painting, props locating, scenic design, costume help, directing, window design/advertising, costume shop management, etc. I also volunteer at HH, serving, bussing and doing dishes at events, baking and donating food items for fund-raisers, teaching and participating in holiday dances, bar-tending, box office/ticket-taking, concessions, and taking the Irish dancers on the road for community outreach of all sorts (as I am also the Irish dance instructor).
What are your biggest challenges at Hubbard Hall?
Biggest challenges, well, I don’t know that I would want them mentioned anywhere, but they would include IT abilities, and understanding of computer language and retaining the skills I don’t use every day (so that I wouldn’t have to rely periodically on Anne). Though I am learning all the time, and already doing much better the longer I am here.
What else should people know about what you do?
That a lot of it is fun, thinking-on-my-feet kind of stuff, like how to make liquid in a jar look flammable? How to make a miniature cherry-pitter? How to make a giant mushroom look like it is blocking a secret chimney? That kind of challenge makes the job interesting. But also that a lot of what I/we do here relies on other people, many people coming through, with help, music, dancing, baking skills, props and furniture, carpentry skills, poster hanging, ticket taking, sewing, concession-selling, board-membering, mentoring, and so much more, and for that I am incredibly grateful.
What do you love most about Hubbard Hall?
The things I said in my “I am Hubbard Hall” profile, that it is a hive of activity with several things going on at the same time in all of the various spaces, and that all those things involve creativity, music, drama, dance, visual arts, martial arts, yoga, meditation, gardening, storytelling, singing, foods, and people of all ages! It is a space where people of every experience level can learn, grow, and express themselves. My kids grew up at Hubbard Hall and it has had a huge impact on their lives.
What should someone who comes here to class, a performance or just to hang out know about Hubbard Hall?
That it is a community center and a non-profit that survives on donations and volunteers and heart; and that art and community happens here. And if they have something to offer, or something to learn, (or are just ready for an experience) that they are welcome!