Role Model
Leah Hamilton Jenkins takes the spotlight as the new executive director of the Springfield Regional Arts Council.
Leah Hamilton Jenkins’ cannot escape the arts. She’s played the part of avid fan, performer and teacher, and now, at 27, she’s taking on her biggest role yet as the newest executive director for the Springfield Regional Arts Council. “The arts and culture [in Springfield] is just amazing,” says Jenkins. “There’s such diversity, from classical arts to the urban.”
For Jenkins, being immersed in art is nothing new. She grew up singing to the sound of her father’s jazz guitar and accompanying him on the piano, and her mom is a retired art teacher and painter. Jenkins describes her younger self as energetic, and singing, composing songs and playing the piano helped her to focus her energy into a creative outlet. In high school, Jenkins paired her artsy side with involvement in sports and student council.
During her senior year, she landed the role of Reno Sweeney in the classic musical Anything Goes. “It was that first night, at curtain call,” says Jenkins. “I knew then I wanted to be a performer.”
From there, Jenkins went on to study music education and performance at the University of Kansas. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Jenkins applied for a Rotary Ambassador Scholarship that sent her abroad to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance.
While in Scotland, Jenkins had her first taste of teaching. To fulfill the requirements of the scholarship, Jenkins began teaching music to underprivileged children and started to see the impact of the arts in a child’s development. Jenkins shifted her focus from the chaotic life of a performer to the structured business side of the arts. Jenkins finished her degree at the academy and moved back home after being away for nearly eight years.
Intent on staying in Springfield for two to three months then moving to New York City, Jenkins applied to the arts council as an administrative assistant. Three weeks after getting the job, she met future husband Jeff Jenkins, founder of the Skinny Improv, at a mutual friend’s wedding. The two hit it off discussing their favorite operas, then got to know each other during rehearsals for the Springfield Little Theatre’s production of The Full Monty. “It started to hit me that I could be happy here,” says Jenkins. And she’s glad she stayed. “Had I moved, I wouldn’t have had all the same opportunities.”
While Jenkins’s new gig may keep her from performing as frequently as she used to, she hopes to find time for a few stage appearances. But in the meantime, at 27, she’s busy learning the ropes of being the executive director for the Springfield Arts Council. “I’m honored and humbled that at my age, people think I’m capable of taking on this role,” says Jenkins. “I feel the drive to prove myself and be patient.”
Jenkins hopes to continue the strong education programming that her predecessor, Sandra CH Smith, helped create and sustain. She’s also dedicated to seeing the Creamery succeed. I’d like to see the value of an arts education no longer be a question,” says Jenkins, who plans to become more familiar with the visual arts and literary scene and promote such events as First Night and the Missouri Literary Festival. “I look forward to walking into the Creamery every day and working with these people who are dedicated to the arts,” says Jenkins.
