Staff Creatives: Mia Gomez-Reyes
Creativity runs high among College of Fine Arts staff members, both in their day jobs in the college supporting our research and educational mission and in their personal lives. The college has an unusually high number of practicing artists, musicians and performers — many of them alumni — on our teams.
Mia Gomez-Reyes (B.A., Theatre and Dance, 2022) is the student success program Coordinator in the Dean’s Office.
How many years have you worked in the College of Fine Arts?
As a full-time employee, I've worked in the college for a little over a year. As a Fine Arts student, however, I did work at Texas Performing Arts in the Education department.
Describe your creative practice.
I am a theatre maker! Primarily a stage manager, playwright and arts educator, although I have done a little bit of everything. I am particularly drawn to new work, especially nontraditional stuff that really messes with the perception of “American Theatre.”
How did you get started in your creative practice?
When I was a kid, I mostly performed, I sang and I took dance lessons. I started acting when I was 14, when I did my eighth grade UIL One Act Play Contest. I come from a smaller town, so if you want to be trained, it’s either UIL or community theatre. So, I did both! After high school, I moved to Austin to go to UT and was trained deeply as a stage manager and a writer, and now that’s what I love doing most.
What does a typical day look like when you’re balancing both your work and creative passions?
Very, very, very busy. Typically, I start with an iced coffee, check my personal emails and then head to campus. I meet with students, attend meetings, send a ton of emails. I take a working lunch in the sense that I’m attending virtual theatre company meetings or sending out reports and emails. After lunch, I keep on with my UT work. After 5 p.m., I head home, endure about 25–45 minutes of traffic, change into some comfier clothes, grab my script, stage management kit, my prepackaged dinner and drive another 20–30 minutes to the theater. Rehearsal will go from 6 to 10ish, with a few breaks, and I will eat dinner during rehearsal. After, I drive home, do a quick nighttime routine and am usually in bed by 11:30 p.m. to wake up and do it all again the next day at 6 a.m. On show nights, it’s on occasion an earlier evening, but rarely. As a writer, the time I find in between shows is dedicated to writing new drafts and revising old ones.
Any advice for students as they think about their professional pathways?
This is a marathon, not a race. Being an arts professional is a skill that grows as you grow, and you’re only going to get better from here. Practice patience, practice consistency, practice humility. The things that are meant for you will find you. I think the world often sells you this idea that being the youngest or the first at something is how you make your mark, but that’s just not true. You have so much beautiful time.
How do you define success as an artist? How has that definition evolved over time?
Oof. I think the magical thing about theatre is getting to feel your audience and feel their reactions to the piece, and that to me is success. As a teenager, the best feeling was hearing people laugh or cry or clap and know that that was them talking to you, the performer. I chased it! As my interests in the industry shifted, so did my understanding, but I never wavered on this: Theatre is something that can only exist in conversation with an audience. Over time, that’s just become my whole philosophy as a theatre maker. Did my audience feel something? Did they enter this space and experience humanity here? If the answer is yes, then that’s success to me. That’s the whole point.