Feelin’ ‘judgey’

Actress returns to first love: art

Editor’s Note: Inspired by the creation of a YouTube cooking show by two area actors, this summer series of stories looks at hobbies people have undertaken — or continued to work at — while quarantined at home by covid-19. During July and August, we’re going to learn about bird watching, bicycling, dog training and who knows what else. Stay tuned!

Fans of Arkansas Public Theatre are convinced Caity Church can do anything on stage. She’s played Sandy in “Grease,” Janet in “The Rocky Horror Show,” the title character in “Peter Pan,” Roxy Hart in “Chicago” — oh, and Donna Sheridan in the Pilot Arts production of “Mamma Mia” — all the while developing a voice that just gets better with age. “I discovered APT — then Rogers Little Theatre — in 1995, when I was 17,” Church remembers. “I played in the ensemble for a few summer musicals until I earned my first lead as Sandy in ‘Grease.’ Each role I’ve played has helped me grow as a performer. ‘Peter Pan’ was fun because I got to fly, and I learned to be a bigger presence; Roxy Hart taught me to be bold and belty; Donna Sheridan helped me dig into developing a vulnerable character. Honestly, I can’t think of any role that I didn’t enjoy playing.” But those same fans might not know that Church was a visual artist first and in fact entered college as an art major. “I’ve been surrounded by art my whole life,” she explains. “My dad went to art school and became an architect; my mom has always enjoyed painting and started a hand-painted dinnerware business. I grew up with their art in our home, so I started creating visual art at an early age — mostly drawing. I used to love coming up with cartoon characters and drawing comic strips.

“I started my college years taking the required drawing classes,” she continues. “I drew a lot — so much so that I felt my desire to create drained by the weekly sketch/ large project requirements. I switched majors my sophomore year and finished with a ‘more practical’ psychology degree. I still would create — draw, paint, clay, sew — but on my own terms.”

Both art and theater took a back seat when Church became a single mom to daughter Maysie while also working full time as a middle-school teacher.

“There were several years where I did not create much,” she admits. “I missed it. It was almost like that part of me was trapped somewhere behind my grown-up responsibilities, buried in parenthood, calling to be let out. I started to make it a point to find time and space to be creative so I wouldn’t lose that part of my identity.”

Now, Maysie is 12; Church has been working from home since mid-March; and without community theater, she’s had plenty of time to flex her art muscles. She’s started

(Courtesy Photo) Caity Church is well known to Northwest Arkansas theatergoers, but she’s also a visual artist who has found time while sheltering at home to return to her first love — and create a new series of artworks guaranteed to make viewers laugh.