Evoné Walters – The show must go on

EVONÉ Walters is walking briskly into 2021 and taking centre stage. Having spent 30 years waiting in the wings and developing her character, the entrepreneur knows her role, has studied her lines, and is not afraid of the spotlight. She is energised and ready to perform. She anticipates that the year may be a tough one, but the show must go on.

“One of the things I had to learn in 2020 was to breathe, to release what I can’t control. That’s one of the things that I’m going into 2021 with,” shared the founder and managing director of Artribute Performing Arts, a company focused on using the performing arts as a medium of education and behaviour change. “I’m coming in with an open mind in 2021. I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I am calm. I am releasing whatever fears and negative feelings I might have felt in 2020, and just being very open in 2021.”

Though the pandemic forced the curtains to close prematurely on her budding business last year — and it’s still not over — Walters told All Woman that she remains optimistic and prepared for a busy year ahead.

“March will make it a full year since we have not put on anything,” she lamented. “But still, a part of me feels like the year is going to be a very busy one nonetheless. When it comes to balance, after having 2020 so slow, I expect that things will go faster when we resume, so I am on standby.”

When Walters, being an active member of the theatre community since she was attending high school, decided that she wanted to start a business in the field, she was encouraged by those closest to her, but she still had no idea where the funding would come from.

“The first time I pitched my business, I was just trying to find funders to continue the business. I didn’t even have much confidence in pitching,” she shared openly. “I know that when it comes on to the arts in Jamaica, some persons are very sceptical. I didn’t think that a lot of people would support and believe in what I had started. The first pitch was really just to find something, anything, to get the project off the ground.”

But when she won a grant from her first pitch with DIA Urban Lab’s Innovation Camp and Pitch Tank through the Institute of Law & Economics, she realised that not only were investors interested in her idea, but that she could use the feedback from experts to improve her business.

“Artribute focuses on using the performing arts as a vehicle for learning,” she explained. “Currently we focus on English literature, but ultimately we want to look at infusing performing arts into the high school curriculum overall with all kinds of subjects. We use the arts to engage them visually and verbally, and by building their imagination. By using a more creative approach to grab them so that they understand, we are also helping with their comprehension.”

Walters then began to participate in more business development workshops, such as the Young Entrepreneur’s Association’s Business Model Canvas workshop and the US Embassy’s Academy for Women Entrepreneurs programme, in both of which she has pitched successfully.

“I’m really focused on higher learning, so I also do these training programmes to become more educated,” said Walters, who attended the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship before launching her business. “One of the things I’m looking forward to is my master’s in business and performing arts, and then my PhD, for the purpose of using drama to teach.”

Like the rest of her colleagues in the creative industry, Walters suffered a huge blow to her finances and livelihood due to the closure of theatres. Having left her last nine-to-five job in 2017 to focus on developing her business in the performing arts, she watched her income stream dry up before her eyes. But despite sudden changes to the script, Walters is not exiting the stage until the show is over.

“I love what I do. It’s just that simple,” she said readily. “Everyday I get up and choose theatre because it honours my spirit. I am happy. I smile. I enjoy my work. So many people are in jobs that they don’t like, for various reasons. I didn’t want that for myself. Especially being a creative, social entrepreneur, this was in my spirit and I am passionate about it.”

Though she appreciates the time she has got to reflect, plan, and catch up on her reading and meditation, and the relief she received through grants such as the Catapult Arts Grant, the businesswoman is eagerly looking forward to the reopening of the theatre.

“I miss going to work. I miss the space. I miss the people. I miss the productions. I miss the energy and the laughter,” she said, yearningly. “I also hope that our Government, especially after COVID-19 where we are hit so hard, really looks at ways to create structures to support us, and that we as creatives ensure that we are available to those supportive structures, and that we play our part as well.”

On a personal level, she credits the unconditional support coming from her parents, Evon and Karla Walters, who have always been pillars of strength and encouragement for their only child. Her father, especially, has always encouraged her to pursue her passion, and supported her when she graduated from Holy Childhood High School and decided to enrol into the Edna Manley School of the Visual and performing Arts at 16 years old.

“As a child, I used to watch TV shows, and I was very fascinated with the acting and the lives of the celebrities. I wanted to be famous!” she laughed. “So I joined the drama club in high school, and I felt like I belonged.”

Even after she graduated from college and went on to work with non-profits in underserved communities by using drama for social change, and then in media as a broadcast producer, Walters never left the theatre scene.

Now more than ever, she is happy that she stuck to what felt right within her spirit, and is excited to see how the future will unfold.

“A lack of jobs is stifling our industry, and I dream of the opposite,” she said soberly. “To fulfil this dream, I had to become a transformative leader in my field. It is not common for a young woman to start a commercial theatre company, but I want to be the change I desire to see. The name Artribute signifies my contribution through the arts to Jamaica, and it motivates me to use the arts in new, innovative and visionary ways to create new services to build my industry.”