Kris Tucker
M.A. Whole Systems Design, 2006
Kris Tucker says her job is at the intersection of state government and the arts.
As executive director of the Washington State Arts Commission, her career is devoted to talking about and documenting how the arts matter. Tucker is a community-based political activist, appointed to her position by former Gov. Gary Locke.
With a staff of 18, she cultivates the arts statewide with outreach and education efforts, grants and a state arts program. Those are what she describes as the tangibles. Less tangible is how to advocate for the arts when state budget crises are as common as black ice in a Washington winter.
"With every class I take, I'm surprised by the openness of what happens."
"When we talk about the economics of the arts are we selling out our integrity and meaning? The value of things is not about art. The arts are about chaos and order, beauty, harmony and balance," Tucker says.
Antioch turned out to be a great fit for her. "I came to Antioch to provoke my thinking as well as to channel it. Antioch is a non-traditional school and I'm a non-traditional student."
She applies her studies in whole systems design to many aspects of life. A holistic systems approach opens rather than narrows one's thinking, she notes.
"With every class I take, I'm surprised by the openness of what happens. It's my responsibility to make a class work for me, which makes it that much more demanding. I can't expect the instructor or fellow classmates to do it for me. That's as exciting as it is daunting.
"Systems thinking is so complex yet so simple. It's very rich stuff," Tucker says.
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