Filmmaker Lucy Eagleson finds her voice through the camera

The family flower shop in Escondido served as a kind of third space for Lucy Eagleson and her cousins to feed and explore their creative sides. She calls it a “highly creative environment” where her mom and three aunts ran the show, filled with ongoing conversations she overheard about what was up next.

“My cousins and I always joke that the back of the flower shop was a one-of-a-kind place for us to be wildly creative, do our homework, and connect with the family, all while learning the foundations of building and running a business,” she said. “I feel like I grew up around three types of conversations in that space: projects we were working on, projects we would be working on in the near future, and projects we dreamed of working on. By being around constant conversation around big ideas for the present and the future, I feel like I had the chance to grow up in a highly aspirational environment, where no idea was too big to become a reality.”

Eagleson, 39, lives in La Jolla with her 2-year-old son, Lazar, and previously served as the organisation’s director of advancement before her current position as executive director. She took some time to talk about her work at ARTS, empowering young people in San Diego.

Why did you want to work with ARTS?

The work at ARTS really aligns with my passion to co-create shared opportunities at the intersection of youth, creativity, and economic mobility with a vision for relevant, sustainable, and future-focused impact within our region. Right away, I saw that the team here was interested in the same values that align for me: social justice, creativity, equity, and radical inclusion, and that they were here, in the community, doing the work to re-think, re-mix, and re-imagine what the future can look like for young people in South Bay and beyond. I knew I absolutely had to be part of that.

Can you talk about your time living and working at an orphanage in Bosnia-Herzegovina?

I lived and volunteered in an orphanage there from 2007 to 2010. I didn’t get the chance to study abroad in college, so when I graduated from undergrad, I knew I wanted to gain some type of international experience and really immerse myself in a place very different than the one I come from. I figured, what better place than one aligned to my own cultural identity? It was a trajectory-bending experience. I went to work and create art in the on-site art gallery at the orphanage and, less than a month into my time there (and without much time to prepare), a 3-month-old baby arrived and needed around-the-clock care.

They assigned me to take care of her. She had special medical and behavioral needs, which really challenged me to be the best caretaker I could and to give so much of myself to support her wellbeing, all while navigating a new country and learning the Croatian language. While I was there, I felt like I was completely immersed in a new place with a unique way of life in the village, and I was surrounded by such interesting stories that I had never seen before, which inspired me to really dive into filmmaking and to bring stories which are often untold to the screen.

What I love about La Jolla...

In what ways has that work in eastern Europe influenced the work you’ve been doing at ARTS?

A: My time there really taught me how youth and community on the other side of the world can be so different, but also that people are people. We share so many things in common, in terms of our humanity, hopes, and dreams. Having worked with young people, both in San Diego and in Eastern Europe, has really instilled in me what has become a mantra in my work: “If you have seen one learning environment, you have seen one learning environment.”

That means that I believe that each place and space where the work happens is different, with its own history, complexities, needs, ideas, and dreams. I work with our team at ARTS to really understand that, through exposure to different art forms, methodologies, cultures, and practices, we have a wide range of tools and understandings for working with young people through creative art engagement. As artists, mentors, and educators, we can then best respond and adjust how we teach and engage to the nuances of different classrooms and learning environments.

Tribune News Service