Interview: Kerri Martinsen, costume director

 

Stage shot from Cinderella at the Carolina Ballet

Sorry I missed out posting a profile yesterday--it was a busy day and by the time i got time to focus on it, it was 6pm on a Friday. Because today's profile is on the leader of an organization serving my own community by paying furloughed costumers to make masks for at-risk populations, I didn't want to give it the short shrift of a Friday night post.

Today's interview subject is a friend and colleague, Kerri Martinsen.


What is your profession in non-pandemic times and how has it changed? 
  
Costume Director/Resident Costume Designer for the Carolina Ballet. Our final 2 shows of the season were rescheduled to the fall, so we are currently not performing. I am working remotely attending to end-of-season paperwork and trying to rework next season's budgets and designs to adapt to the necessary changes.

What sorts of projects would you be working on, were we living in normal times?

We were in process of remounting a show for the first time in 4 years and then reworking (making new) costumes for our next program (Cinderella). My team of 3 seasonal staff would be running shows and making new costumes and doing a slew of fittings.

You're now affiliated with CoveringTheTriangle.com. How did you and the Ballet connect up with the doctors from Duke?

Dr. Eric asked on a medical mask making group how to go about paying for masks for public distribution. Since it wasn't in the scope of the group, we took it offline. He was looking for a non-profit to help with grant paperwork and needed a supply of masks. The paperwork side didn't work out, but we were able to figure out how to do a temporary work around until he could find someone able to help. I manage the mask makers, they handle distribution.

What groups/populations does CTT distribute masks to?

All masks are distributed to "vulnerable" persons - residents of Housing Projects, clients of the Durham Rescue Mission and nursing home facilities - these populations don't have the funds or connections to be able to provide for their own masks and live in situations that make social distancing difficult if not impossible. No funds are expected from these groups in order to receive masks.

How can people donate to support CTT and what kinds of donations are you accepting?

Monetary donations can be made at the GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/free-face-masks-for-triangle-residents. Funds are used to order supplies in bulk and to pay the makers to produce masks. 

Materials can be donated by contacting kerri.martinsen@gmail.com distribution to the mask makers. 

If you have masks to donate, there are no-contact donation locations in Raleigh and Durham at present.

Thank you for making space in your day for this interview. I appreciate your valuable time, and may CTT continue to raise funds and operate in the Triangle area. It's admirable, necessary work.