I was fortunate to meet Constance White a few years ago when
my work was selected for a solo exhibition, ‘Floating in Space’ at
Terminal 2. White is the Art Program
Manager for the San Diego International Airport. On the morning of our
interview, she rushed in a few minutes late, understandably because of the many
commitments she has to her work as well as to her family in Texas who she
visits regularly.
White grew up in Avinger, Texas, a town of a few hundred
people in the eastern part of the state. She talked about walking to elementary
school down a dirt road, and spending her free time playing with the ten children
she shared a home with as she was raised by her grandparents. It was there she
began drawing with crayons and making things out of whatever objects or things
were lying around, never really thinking about them as “art” per se. Many of
the children in her home were boys so she played a lot of sports and this
influence saw her through fourteen years of playing softball. When she
graduated high school, White moved to Dallas.
White attended Dallas County Community College where she earned
an Associates Degree in Arts and Sciences.
While at college, she took art history classes with Gordon Young, an
instructor who became her mentor and friend. There, she was also introduced to
arts and culture as a whole, as well as taking drawing, design and other studio
art classes. After completing her Associates Degree, Constance went on to
Southern Methodist University where she first majored in Journalism but felt a
stronger pull to art. She studied Art
History and that became her major, and English her minor. Together with school
and working to pay for all her expenses, Constance was a single mom of a
daughter, Asia. Still, in spite of these
challenges, she successfully completed her BFA in Art History.
White describes herself as a very spiritual person and
talked about a woman who she met in a statistics class who became her close
friend as well as a pivotal person in setting the course of her career. Matilda
Robinson was an older affluent woman who was involved in the arts and culture
of Dallas who took Constance under her wing, thinking of her as her daughter.
Robinson knew the Director of Cultural Affairs in Dallas and introduced White
to her. She interviewed with Margie Johnson Reese, and was hired as Public Art
Assistant where she remained for a year. She was then promoted to Public Art
Coordinator, a job she worked in for eight years. There, Constance
managed projects with a budget ranging from $3,000 - over $1 million, many of
which were design team collaborations resulting in integration of public art
into the city's infrastructure. Arts-based community development and community
partnerships were important to the success of the many projects she managed.
When talking about
her career goals, White stated “I wanted to do something to impact the place I
live.” And that, she
definitely has accomplished. Since obtaining her position as Art Program
Manager in July 2006, she has successfully completed the Airport Art Master
Plan which included formalizing the framework and guidelines for the three
components of the Airport Art Program: Temporary and Rotating Exhibits,
Performing Arts and Public Art. In
addition to overseeing renovations on existing faciilites, Constance manages
public art projects for the “Green Build”, the airport master plan for adding
ten additional gates, and other improvements. When working with the many
artists, engineers, committees, etc., White asks folks to not bring any
preconceived notions to the table, but asks them to “imagine the possibilities”.
Managing
multi-million dollar public art projects simultaneously, White says that her
biggest challenge is in navigating the many committees, public relations,
marketing, engineering, maintenance and other departments involved in the
highly complex universe of the San Diego International Airport. We look forward
to seeing the fully realized installations coming in the years ahead.
