Artist Laureate will bring community support to the state through theater

Artist Laureate will bring community support to the state through theater

Kevin McClatchy is second faculty member to hold engagement post

When a group of visitors stopped by Kevin McClatchy's class earlier this month, he thought they were incoming students on a campus tour. It wasn't until he recognized the faces of Dana Renga, dean of arts and humanities, and Nyama McCarthy Brown, associate professor of dance, that McClatchy, associate professor of theatre, film and media arts at The Ohio State University, knew something special was happening.

"They said, 'Trust me. You'll be glad we interrupted,'" McClatchy said.

McClatchy's colleagues were right. The assembled group of faculty and staff were there to congratulate him on being named the university's Artist Laureate for the 2024-2025 academic year. Brown was the university's inaugural Artist Laureate. She arrived wearing a gold laurel crown and had one for McClatchy as well.

"I was grateful and thrilled," he said. "It was special to share that moment with my students as well."

McClatchy will focus on two projects while he serves as the university's Artist Laureate: an expansion of the Shakespeare and Autism Project, which he directs, and sharing his one-person show, "Scrap Heap," with audiences across state.

"Kevin's work with the autism community and military veterans has already been extremely impactful," said Lisa Florman, vice provost for the arts. "My hope is that, in his role as Ohio State's Artist Laureate, he will have the resources he needs to grow his efforts, adding new partners, and touching even more lives than he has been able to reach previously."

McClatchy is eager to begin. He finds his work rewarding, both in terms of what he is able to share and what he is able to receive.

"The secret is that we get at least as much as we give," he said. "The inspiration and what we learn from autistic children and the families in the autism community, it dwarfs what we can offer. The same goes for veterans and the military community."

The Shakespeare and Autism Project is a passion for McClatchy, he said. The program trains artists, educators and others on how to use the Hunter Heartbeat Method, a theater-based intervention that helps children across the autism spectrum improve social and communication skills through games using the rhythm of Shakespeare's language, which is anchored by the sound of a heartbeat.

Already a success in Columbus, the Shakespeare and Autism Project's next stop is Ohio State's regional campuses. McClatchy will take the training there as well as to other community sites to spread the program throughout the state.

"We want this to be a foundation of growing this work in those areas," he said. "We're bringing those tools and that transformative experience to new places. And we'll be a resource to people as they continue to grow and deepen the work in the community."

Another group that McClatchy works with is veterans. With close friends and family members serving in the armed forces, he is familiar with just how difficult readjusting to civilian life can be.

His one-person show "Scrap Heap" is based on the experiences of a friend who served in the 1980s and 1990s. McClatchy performs for local audiences and then facilitators, veterans themselves, lead a conversation about the play.

"I don't facilitate the conversations," he said. "I provide an artistic experience and atmosphere where we're coming together as a community, bringing people together who might not normally be in the same space."

So many veterans he's met "wouldn't change their service but had these challenges [when they came home]," he said.

"I asked myself, 'What can I do with whatever skillset or talent I have to be of service to them?'"

As with the Shakespeare and Autism Project, McClatchy's goal is to lead workshops that will facilitate spreading support for veterans across the state, through art.

"The main function of art," he said, "is making community experiences. We share those experiences in a different way than we go about communicating most of the day. When we look through an artistic lens, it feels like we can express things in a richer way. The Artist Laureate position allows me to do that, to foster those kinds of circumstances. That is a significant charge, a significant responsibility."

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