A Harker alumnus spoke to a group of 13 certificate students from grades nine through twelve about his own experience in theater and gave advice about finding a career in the arts during long lunch today in performing arts teacher Jeffrey Draper’s room.

Steve Boyle (‘06) stood in the center of the room, surrounded by a semicircle of eager students. As he talked, he walk around the room, and he allowed students to interrupt him to ask questions.

This workshop is a part of the “life in the arts” series that has been happening throughout the year. Life in the Arts workshops are meant to educate those interested in pursuing the arts. They are held every two years and have been going on since the founding of the upper school.

“When we have life in the arts workshops, we invite professionals in a variety of different areas to come and speak to our students about what their journey has been like to their current life as an artist,” Laura Lang-Ree, director of Performing Arts, said. “Steve [talked] about choices he made in high school and how he made his decisions about his directing career and his current career.”

During the workshop, Boyle discussed his experiences as a student at both Harker and New York University, where he studied in the Tisch Drama undergraduate program, his stints at theater programs on the West Coast such as Santa Cruz Shakespeare and the San Jose Repertory Theater, and his current project, a company called Epic Immersive that creates large-scale, interactive theater events.

Freshman Marina Logue, who volunteered at one of Boyle’s shows as a part of Epic Immersive shared her thoughts on the experience.

“I actually volunteered to work at the show he said he just did a few months ago, his first big Epic Immersive show,” Marina said. “I would absolutely be interested in doing something like that myself because it just looked so amazing and fun and I think it would be pretty cool to be a part of all that.”

Boyle then gave the students advice on having a career in the arts. His first piece of advice was to be kind, meet people and contact them to ask for opportunities.

Boyle also told his audience to maintain a good reputation throughout their careers. Finally, he emphasized the fact that artists should plan to make money at a steady job while pursuing the arts. Boyle realized the importance of having a second job when he realized that college students who worked in engineering were earning more than some directors. According to the United States Bureau of Labor, producers and directors of stage, television, radio, video, or motion picture shows earn an average of $90,300 per year, while software engineers earn an average of $106,050 per year Boyle himself has worked in tech sales and created immersive experiences for tech companies.

Boyle told the students that having a second job does not compromise one’s art and that it will be very beneficial in the long run.

“I wanted them to know that there is no true career path for success, other than to be nice and work hard, to do favors for people, and keep putting themselves out there,” Boyle said. “I want to encourage people to feel confident and comfortable thinking of how they are going to make money and feel like they can forge another career without being a traitor to their artistic self.”

Sophomore Karina Butani is not sure whether she will be pursuing a career in the arts, but she approved of Boyle’s statement.

“I’m probably not going to pursue a career in the arts, but I think that what he recommended is a very practical approach that applies not only to the arts but also many other career options,” Karina said.

Boyle ended his talk by asking all the students to come and greet him one more time, and he encouraged them to stay in contact with him, as he is looking for apprentices from Harker in particular for his company.