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On June 20, 2024, the Arlington Center for the Arts (ACA) in Arlington, Massachusetts, awarded the 2024 Anne Briggs Artist Award to Vanessa Schukis ’82 for her long career as a performing artist, educator, visual artist, and ACA volunteer.
Her story begins in high school, where she sang under such an accomplished choir director that she was nervous about what she’d experience in college. She chose to study music at Moravian, and under Monica and Dick Schantz, who shaped the music program, all her fears were allayed. “I loved Moravian—the music professors, theater under the direction of Dr. Ramsey, the beautiful campus, Potts’ hot dogs . . . I received a well-rounded education that stayed with me throughout my career as a performer and teacher.”
Schukis’s voice was not her only instrument. While at Moravian, she played violin and percussion in the orchestra, and flute and percussion in the band. A ballet dancer in high school, she learned modern dance from Dawn Ketterman.
Immediately after graduating, Schukis was offered a job at Moravian Academy, where she taught until moving to Massachusetts to teach at a middle school.
“Then I decided to give it a shot and try to establish a career in the performing arts.”
She took a job as a singing waitress at Romie’s Oyster House and Quarterdeck Lounge. “The director was a singer at the Met,” says Schukis. “One day, he pulled me aside and said, ‘I want to make you the funny lady.’ He worked with me and got me on my feet as a paid performer.”
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Schukis was chosen for a role with the Boston National Company of Nunsense. “Then I fell into the opera world and enjoyed a 25-year career as an opera singer,” she says.
Schukis is also an award-winning teacher with more than 35 years in arts education. Most recently, she taught at the Murphy School in Dorchester and the Harvard-Kent School in Charlestown through the Community Music Center of Boston. She has served as a member of the guest faculty at New England Conservatory and the visiting faculty at Longy School of Music. Schukis is a recipient of the MacDill Award for excellence in teaching.
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At ACA, Schukis served as a teaching artist in the camp program for more than 10 years, leading classes for children in musical theater, creative play, and visual arts. A certified playmaker, she taught a workshop for camp staff this past spring, focusing on the healing power of play and informed by trauma-based care for kids. This summer she is teaching creative movement.
During COVID, Schukis taught herself mosaic art and has exhibited several pieces at ACA.
With a long career behind her, what does Schukis see ahead? “As an educator and lifelong learner, you never stop. I don’t want to stop performing or teaching performing arts—I love to bring joy into the classroom.”