“MEET LAKE ENCHANTO PARK RANGER: TORI KUYKENDALL
National Park Ranger & Equal Opportunity, Youth, and Arts Advocate
Kuykenall is the visionary behind Peter Strauss Ranch’s (PSR) recent development as a space for the intersection between art and ecology. As a National Park Ranger she is responsible for the Santa Monica National Recreation Area and with PSR, she saw the opportunity to highlight a conversation between arts and culture & nature and sustainability. For a list of full programming this summer at PSR, see www.samofund.org and to support our Lake Enchanto performance at PSR click through here: http://lakeenchanto.eventbrite.com
See our full interview with Tori below!”
HDDT talks with TORI KUYKENDALL
HD: So, let’s start with the basics…how did you become a park ranger?
TK: Being a Park Ranger wasn’t really on my horizon. My experience and interest were with urban youth, but when I saw that there was a ranger position specifically about reaching out to the greater LA area and connecting youth to nature I was hooked.
HD: How do you see art playing a role in the national parks?
TK: Art has been part of the history of national parks since the 1870s and through their awe-inspiring works, the public came to see these special places in America for the first time. The works captured their imaginations, spurring them to preserve these lands for future generations. Parks are now called to take the arts a step further and engage diverse audiences, especially young people, through the arts. The arts offer a means for self-expression and a way to reflect on ideas and experiences that matter and we’re hoping to tap into this for new audiences.
HD: What inspired you to make Peter Strauss Ranch a venue for performance?
TK: The site is just too cool and widely underused for all it has to offer. It had been a place of entertainment and leisure for the wealthy and at it’s peak could see 3000-5000 visitors in a day. The visitors would stroll the property, hang out in the largest pool west of the Mississippi, listen to Johnny Cash (and many more) at the amphitheater, play baseball, row around a lake, watch a clown perform magic tricks, picnic and enjoy the exclusive space.
Our amphitheater has been used for concerts for many years but the empty pool has been locked away behind a fence and this space has the capacity for so much more. Three performances, starting with Lake Enchanto, will activate this space for the first time since it became public property, managed by the National Park Service as part of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
HD: What’s a special fact about the Santa Monica Mountains?
TK: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is part of the National Park System with over 500 miles of trails, open to the public, non-exclusive, welcoming, and hoping LA’s residents know and come and visit… over and over again!
HD: What are you excited to see in Lake Enchanto?
TK: The empty pool living, breathing, entertaining and engaging the audience through incredibly talented dancers, thinkers and artists.
~May 2017
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