Karla Estela Rivera: Telling the Stories

By Danny Maggs


This Capstone Project, “The Starving Artist: An Investigation into Multihyphenate Artistry” by Summer Resident Danny Maggs interrogates the concept of a “starving artist” and “true artistry” through literature review and interviews of multihyphenate artists. Through this capstone project, Danny creates and exhibits a profile for each of the artists interviewed, along with an artistic journey mapping of their artistry, and an analysis of the project’s main inquiries. Read the profiles for each artist here: Karla Estela Rivera, Thomas Kurtz, and Simon Phillips, and a complete overview of the project here.  

Karla Estela Rivera is a storyteller. Not just by trade, but in the way she comports herself and communicates—she weaves a narrative with her thoughts and opinions that is entirely compelling. Being a multihyphenate leaning into writing and performance, it is no wonder that storytelling skills are important to her as an artist and professional. 

“The thing that I noticed growing up was that there weren’t enough stories.”

Working at the intersection of the arts, social justice, and organizing, Rivera has set out to amplify voices and create spaces and material for stories that haven’t been heard: “affirming stories that [reflect] the very different aspects of our reality.” 

“I infuse storytelling in just about everything I do. Because that is the way that I best connect to folks.”

Rivera recalls how her mother, a single parent, couldn’t afford numerous private lessons for Rivera’s artistic practices. So, she says, what she had was free programming (like school choir and theater), words, and her body. Rivera’s grandmother was a writer, she explains, and she authored the only existing first hand narrative of Puerto Ricans of her generation. She was a major influence in Rivera’s life and artistry: “There were no shortages of pens and paper.”

Rivera realized early on that conversations were an accessible artistic medium. She found joy in using what she already had to articulate her passions, thoughts, and feelings. Growing up and consuming media was also a huge influence; the way films communicated resonated with her. She even ended up attending film school. 

Postgrad, with her storytelling being a significant part of her own artistry, Rivera was able to come up in the nonprofit world. 

“I parlayed my artistic sensibilities and brought them into the work.” 

Her theatrical skills came into play as she worked with youth to help community outreach work, and her writing skills allowed her to write for grants. And so she began her multihyphenate career—by necessity rather than choice, she says, but she has stayed with it. She can, “see the power of how [she] can operate within those [multihyphenate] spaces.” 

Rivera describes her work as being in “seasons” that she navigates. Her work last year, writing Rita Finds Home—the first ever young audience piece for the Joffrey Ballet and the Miami City Ballet—was a completely new and exciting experience for her. Now, she’s moved forward and focused on her work at the Arts Administrators of Color Network, as Executive Director. Working in these seasons makes space for new opportunities and balances the spaces in which she works. 

Rivera also notes her work at Free Street Theater as being particularly notable and influential in her career. Having been involved with them for over a decade, she first started out as a member of a “think tank” brainstorming and advising the future of Free Street. She’s performed, advised, and acted as executive director, but what she loves most about Free Street is its connection with and responsiveness to the community in which it resides. 

Oftentimes the performers for Free Street were people with jobs outside of acting, who were then able to act for pay with Free Street. She proudly states that, in a time where non-union performers in Chicago were making less than 2$ per hour, Free Street was paying all their artists at least 15$/hr. For a company with a budget under 500k, she says, that may seem impressive or even impossible – but it just shows where their values lie. It’s possible, and necessary, she says, for larger institutions to do it too.

“There are all these narratives that larger arts institutions like to lean on and lean in. And, you know, a part of that is that it’s the same people who will accept a starving artist’s narrative…if little Free Street Theater can do this, then all of these other larger institutions can do it too.”

Her lived experience subverting the narrative of the starving artist has emboldened and empowered her to fight for values of equitable wages and good working conditions for all artists.

While Rivera lives in this multihyphenate world, she also acknowledges that the desires of those who want to live only in a performance or creative world are valid, and they should have paths to do so. She works so that people, no matter their privilege or background, should not have to worry about the “massive sacrifices” prevalent in the industry. Rivera also says that she herself would prefer a more arts-dominated life, but she brings up how important it is to work to create and develop spaces and resources for all to have equal access. She recalls conversations she’s had on racial equity and rooting herself in social justice—it’s a necessary part of her work and all that she does. 

“I would be more than happy to put the gloves down if we had nothing to fight over.”

But, being that there are not enough spaces and avenues for people to exist as they are, it’s a fight that is important to her. 

“It’s not just about me.” It’s about everyone; the collective. So, Rivera says, “it would be a misuse of me as a resource to not utilize what I have right now towards those initiatives.”

The heart of the problem, she says, is that not everyone is able to do work that is aligned with their values. She, however, is lucky enough to do work that is rooted in her passions. The work she does supports artists and arts administrators of color, and that brings her joy. 

Her objective in her work is to foster an environment and create conditions such that people like her can tap into their artistry and have a place to do so.

“My work is designed to invite people in.”

Rivera intends to use her art to affirm and welcome those who are of the global majority, and do not see their stories told. Her work advocates for those whom it reflects, gives others a window into their stories, and an invitation to aid in solutions and support. 

“I think all art is storytelling, no matter what discipline it is.”

Rivera’s multihyphenate artistry is a testament to the power of communication and belief in the self. Her love of her background, her words, and the body she calls home—and belief that others should have the same love for theirs—inspires change and growth. Rivera’s stories are new and old, joyful and filled with struggle, and commanding to be told. 

Explore Karla Estela Rivera’s work: