by Celia Hughes

Alt Text: Portrait of Liz, with a large smile on her face.

1. The term Artist can evoke so many different images. How would you define yourself as an artist? What has been your evolution over time?

Artist is a critical role in society as a visionary communicating how one interprets the world reflectively for audiences to experience. I started as a child model in Thailand and got into theatre in middle school, explored experimental theatre at Austin Community College for a while before graduating with a BFA in theatre performance and production at Texas State University in 2010. I have been a writer since I won a UIL creative writing competition in 3rd grade. (see footnote for explanation of UIL). I also fell deeply in love with musical theatre experiencing Les Miserables at Bass Concert Hall.

All of my experiences built into my core love for supporting, developing and creating original works especially with a focus on theatre of the oppressed. I view my role as an artist to educate the audience about different points of view, hidden history/untold stories, and create a safe space for conversation and growth.

2. Tell me about a creative project that you are most proud of. What about a creative project that turned out quite differently than you envisioned?

Two recent ones stand out that I’m incredibly proud of and they both have to do with addressing accessibility in the theatre for people with disabilities. I am the executive director and co-founder of TUBU Fest – Theatre for Us By Us, an award winning disability short fringe play festival that premiered at the Ground Floor Theatre July 2024. Next year’s festival will be September 18-20, 2025.

The other project I’m immensely proud of is directing Waiting for the Bus by James Burnside that premiered at Ground Floor Theatre. This play was a labor of love for 4 years by Art Spark Texas. As Director, I approached the play from a disability-forward lens.

One unplanned thing that happened that was that a cast member got very ill during the run. Ms. Boye had spent 4 years on this project and performed 3 out of 6 performances. It became clear she couldn’t perform the second weekend and I didn’t have the bandwidth to try casting someone else as an understudy, so I performed the role. She passed the week after the show closed from pancreatic cancer. It has devastated and shocked the entire production team and communities that knew her.

Alt text: Portrait of Liz smiling outdoors, with wavy brown hair and wearing a blue-green top.

3. You had a radio show on KOOP Community Radio for many years. Why do you think radio is an important equalizer in society? Or is it?

Yes, I had a show called The Sex Ed Show on KOOP Radio 91.7 for almost 5 years. It’s incredible how time flies. I was also a board member for 6 years and helped guide the station through the pandemic to a place with a more active board. I finished my board membership this year to take a break and see what life presented to me. I also genuinely believe in giving other people an opportunity to have a seat on the board and see what they do with it. Rotation mixes up stagnation. I’ve met so many incredible people, developed relationships, and helped establish a clinic partnership with my school because of KOOP. It’s not just a radio station. It’s a place that gives back to the community constantly, a million times over.

There’s nothing like live radio. I recorded an episode where my friend who worked at an abortion clinic called in as they were packing up the clinic. I remember announcing Roe vs Wade being overturned and explaining what that meant. It was devastating. I have so many live interviews that wouldn’t be the same as podcasts or listening to them later. They are critical lives because of their social and political relevance to the moment in time. I knew my show was important, unique, and was unlikely to ever win awards. I did it because adults are highly under-educated about sex, have questions they are afraid to ask and don’t have enough time with doctors to get the information they need about things like STI’s. So, I’d talk about everything from menopause to erectile dysfunction, to queer sex and more. I also discussed how critically important it is for people with disabilities to receive comprehensive sex education.

Sex Education is something I’m incredibly passionate about, and it disturbs me how uncomfortable our society continues to be discussing something that is natural, and that science continues to prove that education leads to prevention of STI’s, unwanted or unplanned pregnancies, and more. Also, consent is a huge thing people don’t discuss enough or know how to fully discuss in society. We are horrible with boundaries and still figuring this out. People fear setting them and having conversations about consent. This has to change.

4. You just completed your studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine – Acupuncture and Herbology and are currently studying for your exams. What are the qualities of a healthy life that traditional medicine practices offer individuals?

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) teaches you to treat the whole person, not just one aspect of the body. Though people do specialize, it’s comprehensive integrative treatment. We work with patients’ other doctors, document their medications, and can prescribe herbal formulas. I am also licensed to do bodywork in Tuina and Shiatsu, additional therapies like cupping, guasha, and moxa. TCM can help people with pain, that’s the main reason people end up going to acupuncture in the first place. There are countless health issues we address on a regular basis such as gut health, mental health support, fertility, reproductive health, bell’s palsy, post stroke, post-concussion syndrome, and so much more.

The qualities of a healthy life from a TCM perspective are focused on preventive care, healthy home cooked meals, routine exercise, healthy routine dreamless sleep, drinking room temperature water (no ice), and daily hot teas. Qigong offers a good movement option for people of all ages to practice together and get daily exercise.

Alt Text: Liz standing in front of the Taj Mahal on her travel to India.

5. I know that you love to travel. Is there one place that stands out in your memory? Tell us about it.

India was incredible and very special to me. I went 1.5 years ago while I was still in Grad School. We went to New Delhi for Holi Festival and explored Old Delhi. Then we went to Agra where we saw the Taj Mahal. After that we went to Rishikesh where we stayed in an Ashram on the Mother Ganga and established a free acupuncture clinic for a week.

6. What do you see for yourself in the next 3-5 years? Any big projects on the horizon?

We will continue to grow TUBU Fest as an annual Festival. I am writing a Guide to Theatre Accessibility for Art Spark’s Waiting for the Bus project. I’m launching a health and wellness company with my friend from Grad School called Inclusive Herbs. Once I pass my boards, I’ll establish my own clinic where I’ll treat people. My partner and I plan to move to New Zealand in a year or so, where I’ll transition my practice to Aukland. We are doing an exploratory visit next year and going on a vacation to Rome this December.

I plan to spend more time writing, directing and producing. I would love to write/direct a musical or opera, especially an original work challenging many of the problematic tropes that exist within each genre. The work I’ve done this year has significantly boosted my confidence as an artist and I plan to expand to directing a full length feature at some point in the future as well. I have several written works I started and haven’t had time to finish.

I study languages and linguistics quite a bit, and try to learn some of the language of each country before I travel there. My goal is to be more fluent in the languages I’ve studied and add more languages over time. Italian has been easier to learn since I know a great deal of Spanish and French. It has felt like the easiest language I’ve ever learned so far. Getting the tonal variations of Asian languages for accurate communication has been a working challenge.

Travel is incredibly important to me so when I travel I develop international friendships and relationships for the potential of future projects or travel expeditions. I aim to travel to at least 2-3 countries per year minimum. Major hikes and international marvels as well as local food is key to me when I travel. Some things I plan to check off my list are the Camino de Santiago, seeing Hobbiton next year as a major LOTR fan, learning how to surf in New Zealand, etc. I’m sure more will pop up. I don’t have a strictly regimented 5 year plan, that’s not how I was raised. Most of what has happened in my life is because I was open to it and it spontaneously happened. People either reached out, or I was in the right place at the right time.

7. What other notable things from your past have you done?

I was a delegate for Obama in 2012. The hat I made and wore to the DNC is now a permanent donation to the Smithsonian. I helped cofound Occupy the NRA after the Sandy Hook Shooting to counter the NRA and get gun violence prevention on the ballot. Now it is. People have been elected across the country on the issue. People talk about it now, when I started people in Austin were afraid to express their opinions out of fear of being shot. I was at the state capitol inside the gallery the entire time Wendy Davis filibustered. There was a point in time I was at the capitol so often capitol officers thought I worked there, though I didn’t. I’ve helped organize countless rallies, events, etc. Then I shifted to education and awareness. I tracked bills for Texas Gun Sense determining which ones to act on or not. It taught me a lot about the legislative process. Sometimes a bill passes because one side does nothing.

For 7+ years I headed Women In Games International Austin and eventually built a conference that ran one year because I saw more potential in the organization than the people above me. It would have been easier to start my own organization than to continue working within the limitations of the existing organization. It was hard to walk away, but I had to. I also heavily left gaming because it was very toxic and I needed a break. Gaming is incredible in what it can achieve, how it can provide tools to teach, and they can be inclusive. However, there are millions of games out there with mostly men in power positions making the key decisions. It is slowly changing, but all prior decisions had a devastating impact and true inclusivity takes time. I continue to play games, trying new ones out regularly. I was a product manager for Town of Salem for a while and did voice over of 3 characters in Wasteland 3 along with some audio editing.

I’ve done everything in theatre in no particular order from costume design, set design, lighting, stage management, playwriting, acting, directing, producing, audio, marketing, etc. Theatre has taught me endless skills that I’ve used in the various industries I’ve worked in: politics, tech, gaming, film, radio, and now healthcare. I have a history of underestimating myself and fearing my own potential which leads to me being underestimated. However, in those moments that I have true clarity of vision, I know what I see and how I see it. That it is possible and I just have to get everyone else to see it too. When that beautiful vision happens, there’s no peace like it.

My life quote: Life is a constant metamorphosis.

Alt text: Photograph from Liz’s recent exhibition at the Ground Floor Theater featuring Liz in a bathtub surrounded by prescription pill bottles. Liz explains: I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 10 after 2 seizures. One was in the bathtub where i almost drowned and had to be resuscitated and another in the school computer lab, It changed the course of my life forever.

Footnote: The University Interscholastic League exists to provide educational extracurricular academic, athletic, and music contests. The UIL was created by The University of Texas at Austin in 1910 and has grown into the largest inter-school organization of its kind in the world.