Kathy Liu reflects on a year of accomplishments and challenges at Edmonds Center for Arts

When newly arrived Edmonds Center for the Arts (ECA) Executive Director Kathy Liu first saw Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains while driving on Caspers Street in fall 2023, she said her first impression of Edmonds was that everything looked so green and breathtaking. She added that after using New York City’s public transit system for more than 17 years, having a car is a major lifestyle change in Edmonds. 

“I appreciate being able to get a gallon of milk and a case of water at the same time at the store,” she said.

Looking back on her first year as ECA executive director, Liu said that 2024 was a “really, really big year.” She and the ECA staff organized and presented more than 44 performances, 90 rental events and 40 community and educational events, including the return of Kidstock! and the Spotlight Gala and Benefit Concert with singer-actress Renée Elise Goldsberry.

“One of the things that I’m very proud that we started last year and are continuing this year is expanding our free programs and providing more opportunities for our entire community to engage in the arts,” Liu said. “Pamyua had the first pre-show talk/workshop that we opened for free to anyone who was interested. We had two more [free events] last fall and three more lined up for the spring.”

Liu has served as ECA’s executive director since November 2023, replacing longtime Executive Director Joe McIalwain after he retired.

She is now guiding ECA as it plans for events in the next five years, including the center’s 20th anniversary in 2027. And she is working to help the performing arts center overcome some “operational struggles.” 

“Audience habits have completely changed since the pandemic,” Liu said. “People just don’t go out as often. There are some people who [are] affected by COVID and are not able to be in large crowds. We’ve just found that, industry-wide, [people] don’t come as often or they need a really strong reason to go out. We want to give them that strong reason, but that’s something we’re all facing.”

Liu said she feels most fulfilled when she sees the faces and reactions of the audience to the programs, such as the ECA’s Dementia-Inclusive Series, which provides meaningful creative experiences for people with memory loss and their families.

“When we have a presented event, and I’m in the audience, I’m looking at the audience themselves, and I want to see their reactions,” Liu said. “We would be nothing without the audience, and the artists know about that, too.”

Another memorable moment for Liu is when local high school and college students sang the chorus from the musical Hamilton with Goldsberry at the 2024 gala. 

“[Goldsberry] had a real gift for connecting with the audience,” Liu said. “I think that was why we need to have this connection, to be able to be a source of that inspiration, is why we exist.”

The daughter of Kexi and Cindy Liu, she was raised in Joplin, Missouri. Her father Kexi is a former music professor at Missouri Southern State University, and her mother Cindy is an accountant. Liu said her father was a first violinist with the National Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra and China Philharmonic and earned his doctorate of musical arts at University of North Carolina in 1991.

Also, Liu’s mother’s older sister is a ballerina, and her maternal grandmother was a voice teacher and chorus director in Beijing, China.

After Liu graduated from Swarthmore College in Philadelphia with a degree in English literature, she lived in Missouri for a few years before working for more than four years at American Ballet Theatre in New York City as a grant writer and institutional giving manager. Liu also worked at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera as the director of major gifts for seven years and at the Asian Cultural Council for more than a year.

“I wanted a career in arts administration,” she said. “I really enjoy making the arts possible and happen. I did a lot of performances, got my hands and feet wet in a very real way…in all these different genres.”

She added she was happy to bring her administrative experience to Edmonds and “open some new networks and resources to our team and organization.”

Despite being in the arts, Liu said she knew she was never going to be good enough to perform in front of an audience. 

“So I very much wanted to be behind the scenes and make the arts possible for as many people as possible,” she said.

As an amateur violinist, Liu said she is looking for a local music group to play with, particularly one that plays chamber music. “Saying farewell to my regular groups [in New York], including a very dear piano trio, was one of the hardest parts of the move,” she said.

Liu also said she is grateful that the Edmonds community has been welcoming to her personally and supportive of the ECA.

“There’s a lovely combination of neighborhood warmth and worldly sophistication here,” she said. “It also seems like everyone is constantly reading, and I love that we’re a city that prides itself on arts and culture.”

“The thing that drew me here [to Edmonds] strongly was the dedication and the commitment that the entire community had for ECA, and I certainly experienced that over and over again,” Liu continued. “And as we move forward into the new year, our commitment to our community and our audiences remains strong. I want anyone seeking inspiration and creativity, looking for opportunities to engage with each other and the world around them and enjoying some of the best arts and entertainment around, to have a home at ECA.”

Outside of work, Liu said she enjoys hiking and intends to visit all U.S. National Parks. “I’ve been to more than 25 already, including Mount Rainier and North Cascades after I moved, so the Olympics are definitely on my list for this year. I’ve ended up in the perfect location for this!”

— Story and photos by Nick Ng