Today we’d like to introduce you to Renuka Rajagopalan.
Hi Renuka, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In the year 2019, I was invited to attend a dance concert in Bangalore, India. It was a quiet little suburban place. The venue had a small black box stage setup and simple floor seating with other audience members. I personally felt the energy between the artist and the audience. This immersive intimate energy is lost in big stages. And I craved for that intimate experience here in Dallas. The intimacy with the artist and the energy I felt that evening while watching a mesmerizing performance of an Indian classical dance artist up-close eventually led me to this vision of the Garage Arts Project.
After I returned from India, I started to nudge my husband to convert our garage to a dance studio to host small space events and provide that immersive experience for Dallas audiences.
The journey of the Garage Arts Project thus began in January 2020. My first event was a Yoga workshop conducted by an artist from India. It was attended by six people. The next event was low-key, intimate Afro-Cuban live music with dance lessons. Eight people gathered to enjoy the second event. Conversations flowed naturally between the artists and the attendees and the whole evening was magical. Soon everyone realized how the experience transformed their view of such curated intimate events. During COVID, we stopped in-person events and hosted several online sessions to economically help artists survive the economic devastation caused by COVID to the Arts industry. We recently started our live events again. The first post-COVID in-person event – BRIDGES (A Collaboration Festival) took place in Plano, TX on Oct 30th, 2021. This event was attended by around 150 people with 20 artists and 5 innovative music and dance cross-collaborations.
GAP has now grown into a community of artists, hosts, members getting together to curate events, both in-person and virtual. Our goal is to support and promote the work of performing artists by creating opportunities to network, collaborate, develop and advance their art.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have had our fair share of struggles to get the organization up and running. We started GAP just before COVID in March 2020. The whole mission of the organization was hard to sustain due to the pandemic. We primarily focus on small community-based event gatherings to showcase immersive collaboration-based performances. We had to quickly get creative and adapt to the virtual medium and not lose the momentum we gained with our patrons. We re-launched in May 2021 with 4 new board members. Since then, we have been collaborating with various local artists and organizations, bridging the GAP between cultures and art forms one event at a time.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I grew up in India and started learning dance early on in my life. Sometimes dance presented itself overwhelmingly upon me. Other times, I longed for its company. Nevertheless, art has always been there for me as a friend with just a beat away.
After years of mostly being an observer and not a doer, I created this narrative for myself: “I’m too old, it’s way too late to change my career now…” But something in me changed and I wanted to undo that narrative because it was holding me back from experiencing, doing, being so much more. I also saw resistance in me to take risks in my career because I was afraid of being judged by others. I slowly got to think that resistance is good… it finally meant I am doing something that is important to me! This resistance slowly transformed into a passion. So, I quit my cushiony 8-5 corporate IT job (thanks to my ever-supporting husband) and dwelled deeper into Arts, and started a nonprofit. This led to my quest to not only find my happy place but also provide a space for other performing artists to collaborate, engage and build a phenomenal network.
I then quickly formed a team with like-minded women who share the same passion and interest to develop a community-based arts program. We wanted to set ourselves apart from other cultural organizations in the region. So, we decided to give focus on the exploration and experimentation aspect for artists to collaborate with one another and explore concepts and ideas outside their genre by creating a non-judgmental space. That has opened a flood gate of curiosity and willingness to come experience art like never before by the audience! They loved our first-ever Collaboration festival – BRIDGES concept and we received a tremendously positive response and reviews. We are now in the process of gearing up for BRIDGES-2022!
I am so proud of what we have accomplished so far… But we have a long road ahead of us and are excited to see where this takes us!
As the poet, Rumi beautifully quotes “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you truly love. It will not lead you astray.”
Who else deserves credit in your story?
The biggest credit goes to my team! I cannot imagine this organization without them. Their creative energy, talent, dedication, and hard work are something that I am so grateful for! Two members are from Houston and the third member shuttles between Bay Area and Plano. Still, they will pour every ounce of their energy and time into events happening in Dallas. Now that is selfless love for the arts!
Deepa Ramachandran, Sandhya Raghuraman, and Vaishnavi Rajagopalan are the best team members one could ask for!
Deepa is a classical violinist, music teacher and teaches science for undergrads at the University of Houston. She is extremely creative and hardworking! She manages a lot of music-related technical aspects for our events. A smart, caring, and one of the most humble people you can meet!
Sandhya is a dancer, choreographer and works full-time in the healthcare industry. She has a dynamic personality and her enthusiasm and creative energy for ideas are unbeatable! Rightly so, she is our strategy lead and programs director! She steers us ahead with the vision of the organization in mind.
Vaishnavi is a dancer, choreographer, who works full-time in the financial industry. She is an excellent writer and brings young, fresh ideas to the table. Although she is the youngling of our team, her thoughtful inputs and financial advice are extremely valuable for us.
Divya Ganesan is our social media specialist. She lives in India and a full-time marketing head for a FinTech company. She has tremendously helped us with creating a buzz for the Bridges Festival. She has a way with words and adds popping color to our stories!
Nothing of this would have been possible without the support of my family and especially my husband, Hari. He always encourages me to go after my heart and gives me the best advice and resources to back up the operations of a non-profit. He is my biggest cheerleader who I can always count on!
Our organization thrives on volunteer help! A lot of the credit goes to the most amazing and loving people (family and friends) we’ve had in all of our events.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.garageartsproject.org
- Instagram: @garageartsproject
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/garageartsproject
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfKRKMPfcNizOAC6I40c_Q
Image Credits
Cory Haynes
