Honoring Legacy Through Art
For Cassidy Willey, theater has been a lifelong love—but painting opened up an entirely new creative world. Now, those two worlds are coming together at Thunder River Theatre, where she’s performing in Every Brilliant Thing while exhibiting her paintings alongside the work of her late mother. We got a chance to chat about her draw to the arts, motherhood, grief, play, and the powerful ways art can help us connect.
Cassidy with her parents, Bob and Michele Willey.
You’re bringing two creative practices together through this project—performing in Every Brilliant Thing at Thunder River Theatre while also exhibiting your visual artwork. What does it feel like to inhabit both sides of your artistic life in one space, and how do they inform one another?
“Theater has always been my first love. I was only a few months old when I appeared in my first role as “Baby in a Moustache” in a melodrama at Glenwood Springs Middle School, where my dad was the school counselor and drama director . Growing up, theater was a constant in my life. I was lucky to share the stage many times with my dad. My mom would often help with the lights, sound, or painting the sets. My mom was always a creative and visual artist, but my early artistic inclinations mirrored my dad much more.
Sadly, I lost both of my parents to different cancers by the time I reached the age of 30. My son was only seven months old when my mom died in 2018. He never got to meet my dad, who passed in 2014. Throughout the early years of grief and new motherhood, I continued to create and perform in theater productions. My artistic life and community is honestly what got me through.
After spending decades dedicated to the craft of theater, I started craving a creative outlet that could be more independent and mobile. I began painting and my whole world opened up! Apparently, my artistic interests are a lot more like my mom’s than I realized. For both my theater life and visual art life to coexist at Thunder River Theatre (TRTC) for the run of Every Brilliant Thing (9/11 - 9/27) is, well, brilliant! The role I’m playing in Every Brilliant Thing is a dream come true. Then for my art to be on the walls exhibiting alongside work of my mom’s … I’m thrilled. I feel proud and I know my parents would be proud - and honestly maybe a little surprised - too.”
Cassidy in “As Long As I Can” at Thunder River Theatre
Your artwork for the TRTC Artist Spotlight stems from your experience(s) with motherhood, which gives the work a deeply personal dimension. How did this concept evolve, and what have you discovered about connection, memory, and healing through the process of making art?
“Our partly-posthumous duo exhibition, "We Share This World, As We Share the Treasure of Each Other" is named for a calligraphy quote she created and framed that also served as part of my parent's wedding invitation in the early 1970’s. It’s a quote that inspires simple reverence and appreciation of where we are and who we share it with. A quote that beautifully captures the quiet magic of my mom.
In preparation for curating the exhibition, I sorted through my mom’s “lesser-known” (as in not already displayed around my house) work in my attic. The more I poked around, the more I started to see unexpected overlap with my own style and interests in painting. It was both surprising and touching. I’ve held this resonance in mind while putting the show together.
I often think how grateful I am for the opportunities I have as an artist in our amazing Valley. I also think about how my mom was an artist her entire life, showcasing work here and there, but never having an exhibition of her own. I like to think she’d be really proud of me – and, in this case, of us!
My works displayed here were neither created from nor inspired by my mom’s select works but they inevitably show the visual language, curiosity, and legacy that shaped me into the artist I am today. A legacy for which I am beyond grateful.”
We Share This World, As We Share the Treasure of Each Other on display at Thunder River Theatre
Both theatre and visual art can give us a way to explore things that are sometimes difficult to put into words. What role has art played in your own life experience?
Making art has been critical in getting me through the hardest times in my life. Grief, loss, joy, love, motherhood, climate change, imagination, aging, and finding purpose are themes I’ve explored in both theater and visual art. I believe in the importance of sharing our stories and the power of the creative process to heal us, connect us, and help us lead more meaningful lives.
Play is the key for me. My most grounded and inspired work - as an actor, director, and painter - happens when I am playful, without judgement or criticism, and leading with intuition. Honestly, practicing improvisation as a founding member of Consensual Improv for the last 10 years has clarified the power of play for me. That foundation has informed all of my creative practices.
Carbondale has a long history of artists, performers, makers, and creative thinkers contributing to a remarkably collaborative arts community. As both an emerging visual artist and an established performing artist, what does it mean to you to contribute your voice and creative practice to Carbondale’s art-centric community?
I am so grateful to call Carbondale and the Roaring Fork Valley home! To be able to live, work, and create here is so dreamy. I feel like there is a place for everyone in the creative fabric of Carbondale. It’s inspiring how many folks are here making their art. Theater has always been a tight-knit community for me. Diving into painting, I have been touched at how welcoming the visual art community is too. Through both theater and painting, I hope that my art connects people and helps people feel less alone. I love bringing laughter, levity, and wonder to folks through art, both on stage and on the “canvas”. I also think it’s important that art sparks conversation and invites us to go deeper. This is how I’d like to contribute to Carbondale’s art-centric community.
As you continue to grow as a visual artist while building on your experience as a performer, what are you curious about next? How do you hope your creative practice continues to evolve?
It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with painting rivers - abstract landscapes grounded in science and representative of the actual banks of real rivers. I am lit up by color and flow, the unexpected ways that various paints and water interact. As I develop more of this work, it is my goal to connect with people and organizations who are working to protect the watersheds that make life in the West possible. Next June, I’m curating a group exhibition at the Launchpad called Crystal Clear, which will feature my paintings, alongside my friend and collaborator Matt Ross’ data visualizations, redacted poetry by Anika Pyle, and original music compositions by Eric Lamb all with the Crystal River as collaborator and source material. I’m so excited to watch it take shape.
Apart from my river work and desire to connect science, conservation, and art, I’m continuing to play and develop my technique as a painter. I’ve been working with straight acrylic paint a lot more lately. I love creating abstract landscapes with unexpected color and a lot of movement. Canyon walls, river beds, mountain views, starry skies … these are the fabric of my life and imagination.
