CAATA Welcomes New General Manager Kayla Kim Votapek and Programs Manager J. Ching-Irvine

Kayla Kim Votapek
CAATA General Manager

J. Ching-Irvine
CAATA Programs Manager

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT
Kayla Kim Votapek, General Manager
Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists

Monday, January 8, 2024 (New York, NY): Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) announced today new changes to its staff, welcoming Kayla Kim Votapek as its new General Manager and J. Ching-Irvine as its Programs Manager. The appointments come as part of the CAATA’s plan to rebuild and redesign the organization after the pandemic.

“Our strategic planning process has led to our first post-pandemic hire of Kayla Kim Votapek as our new General Manager out of a highly talented applicant pool,” said CAATA Board President Leslie Ishii. Ishii continued, “Kayla brings in-depth insight and passion regarding producing and financial experience that will support the design of this position.”

In addition to Votapek, J. Ching-Irvine has joined the CAATA staff as its new Programs Manager. Said Ishii, “J., with his incredible range of talents and a deep sense of community, is supporting our May 2024 ConFest in Mānoa, Hawai‘i, our first in-person convening and festival after the pandemic.” Ishii continued, “J. will work with our ConFest Co-Chairs, Dr. Haili’ōpua Baker (Professor, Theatre & Indigenous Performance Studies, University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa) and Leilani Chan (Artistic Director, TeAda Productions), to support and amplify the voices of Kānaka Maoli and Pacific Islander theater practitioners of the Hawaiian Archipelago. This support is especially needed now, in the wake of the devastation and continuing recovery efforts from the August 2023 wildfires in Maui.”

Prior to the pandemic, CAATA conducted its ConFest on a biannual basis and originally planned to present an in-person ConFest in Hawai‘i in 2020. In June 2022, CAATA presented an online, Virtual Showcase that served as a step towards forming deep, long-term connections between Hawaiʻi artists, artists throughout the Pacific, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander theater artists on the continent.

“Mahalo ā nui to CAATA’s board of directors for their hard work during this hiring process and our ongoing pandemic recovery and to Kayla and J. for joining our team!” said Ishii, “Their gifts will move CAATA forward into a healthy and sustainable future 2024 HICONFEST, May 24-28, 2024, Mānoa, Hawai‘i.

Watch for more information coming soon!

ABOUT CAATA’S NEW STAFF

Kayla Kim Votapek (she/her), a Korean-American Adoptee, received her Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts, Psychology, and Education as a Social Science from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and her Master’s degree in Creative Producing from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, UK. Since 2021, She has been living in Seoul, South Korea. In addition to her work at CAATA, Kayla is an Anti-Racist consultant and Creative Producer. She works with artEquity, Nicole Brewer, Kim Pevia, Rutgers University, and more. She is also a proud board member of ArtPride, NJ. 

Votapek is “beyond excited to celebrate this full circle moment,” serving as General Manager for The Consortium of Asian American Theater Artists (CAATA). With respect to accepting her role as General Manager, Votapek says she is “coming back home to take this position in an organization that started my journey of coming home to myself.”

J. Ching-Irvine (he/him) was born and raised in Kailua, Hawai‘i. He is a queer trans man of Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Irish ancestry. In addition to his position as Programs Manager for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA), J. is a Program Assistant at the PA’I Foundation in Honolulu, Hawai’i. J. also works for the Intercultural Leadership Institute as the Technology Coordinator and The Blueprint as a Core Collaborator. 

ABOUT CAATA

The Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA) envisions a strong and sustainable Pan Asian American community, that welcomes and includes Central/West Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander American theater communities, all of which are an integral presence in national culture—evocative of our past, declarative of our present, and innovative towards our future. Our mission is to advance the field of Pan Asian and Pacific Islander American theater through a national network of organizations and artists. We collaborate to inspire learning and sharing of knowledge, and resources to promote a healthy, equitable, and sustainable artistic ecology. We hold national conferences and festivals biennially in different parts of the country, reaching as wide a range of Pan Asian and Pacific Islander American populations and communities as possible. CAATA held its first-ever National Asian American Theater Conference in Los Angeles in 2006. The most recent Conference and Festival was held in Chicago in 2018. For more information, please visit www.caata.net​. 

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