CAROLINA PILAR XIQUE
Afro-Latina Theatre Artist - Los Angeles, CA
THEATRE ARTS ADMINISTRATOR
Keeping the Community Connected Through Arts, Events, and Storytelling
As a mid-career Arts Administrator, Carolina Pilar Xique has worked with multiple local & nationwide arts organizations, such as Independent Shakespeare Co., La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Thumbprint Studios, Chicago, The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative, Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative, BLKLST, and the recently disbanded LA STAGE Alliance, and currently, The Music Center. Though she maintains a broad range of administration experience, from marketing to development to venue management, she is particularly skilled in the departments of programming and DEIA, two of her great passions. With her relentless drive, dedication for equity, and commitment to truth-seeking vulnerability, her process innovates what it means to be an arts nonprofit administrator in the 21st century.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
(UN)DEFINED ARTS COLLECTIVE
Co-Producing Artistic Director
In December of 2023, the company of (un)defined arts collective are proud to launch under the leadership of Victoria Melkonyan & Carolina Pilar Xique as Artistic Directors, and Jesse Bosworth as Production Manager. (un)defined arts collective is committed to bridging the gap between the arts and community by exploring various artistic mediums, redefining storytelling outside of western practices, creating spaces where artists can advocate for themselves and flourish in their artistic practice(s). Upcoming events include: the 2nd premiere of the devised production Generation X, Y, Z, for Long Beach Playhouse's Studio Collaborative Season; the New Works Pipeline feature Malachi dré Beasley; and the retrun of Chiu’s Haunted Drive-Thru - the interactive, theatrical Halloween attraction experienced from the (dis)comfort of your car.
GLORIA MOLINA GRAND PARK (THE MUSIC CENTER)
Program Coordinator
Carolina Pilar Xique joined the programing team for The Music Center's Gloria Molina Grand Park in 2022, jumping headfirst into her inaugural major park event, Grand Park's 4th of July Block Party. Since then, she has worked on over a dozen Gloria Molina Grand Park events ranging from more concert-like celebrations of music genres, like Sunday Sessions, to the family-friendly, festival-like extravaganza that is Easy Mornings in Spring, and massive multi-thousand person staples like 4th of July, NYELA (New Year's Eve LA), which have historically garnered around 40,000-50,000 folks in attendance.
In the summer of 2023, she was instrumental in forging partnerships between Gloria Molina Grand Park and the Lorraine Hansberry Initiative to create a summer event series during the national touring of the sculpture entitled To Sit A While, by sculpture artist Alison Saar, which features the figure of Hansberry surrounded by five bronze chairs, each representing a different aspect of her life and work. The tour of the sculpture brings awareness to the Lorraine Hansberry Initiative's $2.5 million endowed fund for women and non-binary writers of color enrolled in graduate dramatic writing programs. Carolina coordinated partnerships with Grand Park, The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative, WACO Theater Center, Center Theatre Group, and Support Black Theatre to host multiple summer events throughout the city of Los Angeles surrounding this sculpture and scholarship, including a panel and reception titled On the Shoulders of Lorraine, in which BIPOC women and non-binary writers in the arts field shared their reflections regarding access, representation, and forging one's own pathways.
Carolina is also heavily involved in The Music Center's DEIA Staff Leadership, advocating for more career development initiatives within the organization and even being chosen to attend the inaugural Equity Fluent Leadership Academy cohort at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
Marketing Assistant
Carolina Pilar Xique joined Independent Shakespeare Co. as Marketing Assistant back in February 2020 as a Marketing Assistant and, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, grew her role beyond her original job description. In the beginning months of the pandemic, she worked with the team to create a podcast for the company called ISC: Art Break, which had since grown into multiple segments that consist of interview-based episodes about Shakespeare's relevance in today's theatre community, titled "Art Break," short story readings by ISC Ensemble members titled "Off the Shelf," and a monthly Community Action Updates hosted by Carene Mekertichyan that informs Angelenos how they can become involved in social initiatives and action locally and nationally.
Along with podcast production and the role as Marketing Assistant, Independent Shakespeare Co. served as Assistant Director to the company’s first feature film and Special Event Coordinator for the company’s annual Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival.
