Jamie Enser, fifty, executive director of University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts (CFA), has about as much fun as one can have at a job and still call it work. She nods to dancers warming up as she walks from parking lot to office, through corridors connecting performance and classroom spaces. Some days, she hears lines being run and music playing at rehearsals. She might witness a sculptor at work in a studio, videos screened, lights being tested, costumes being sketched or fitted. In the atrium, she always sees an array of artwork from UB alumni, faculty, and students.  

“It’s a lot of fun,” says the Buffalo native. “I’ve had great jobs before—I worked at Nickelodeon Network, that was fun—but to see a bronze pour, something I’ve watched in the foundry we have… That’s really cool.” 

Though Enser assumed her current post in 2019, it’s only in the past year—since the return to full programming post-pandemic—that she’s ramped up efforts to make CFA a university/community hub where students can fully engage in arts career development.  

What’s new and different here?

This atrium is a public space where arts can convene and expose people from across campus and the community; creating a hub where art is made and experienced is what we are trying to do. I had just taken over as director, and we were re-envisioning ourselves when COVID hit; we are back to full programming now. As an arts center, we help bring everything—the efforts of several different departments—under one umbrella. Trying to create the best opportunities for our students, we amplify what each department is doing. And with our touring professional performances, we’ve added in student components from master classes with jazz artists to free tickets for concerts. From visual to performing arts, we showcase a wide array. And students are building sets, working on lighting. We have all this awesome academic work being done, and we are also making community memories. We oversee the theater, main stage, drama, and public space, and we also do a lot of university and community events, from symposia to commencements and receptions.  There is always something going on.

Tell us about recent collaborations.

The artist known as FUTURA2000, a pioneer in graffiti-meets-art, had his Breaking Out retrospective on display in the CFA Gallery and UB’s Anderson Gallery until February 11. When it opened in September, we had a reception in the atrium where a subway wall mural tagged by the artist, colleagues, students, and community members is on prominent display. In collaboration with Buffalo AKG Art Museum’s Public Art Initiative, the artist created a mural at 712 Elmwood Avenue. Last November, Art in the Open showcased music and dance performances in the atrium, as well as film screenings, installations, and rehearsals in progress, all free and open to the public, who were also invited to view artists at work in their studios. We are excited about our spring programming, including Urban Bush Women, which brings untold and under-told stories to light through dance, and is in residence here beginning March 11, with a performance March 13. On March 23, platinum-selling and Grammy Award-winning blue-grass/folk trio Nickel Creek will be here.

Let’s talk about your own career as an artist.

I got interested in art in sixth grade when I learned about Georgia O’Keeffe—so inspiring! In college—I went to Ithaca—I got interested in film. I am still a filmmaker. I left Western New York and had jobs managing large-scale, diverse television productions, working in various roles at CBS, ABC, TV Land, MTV, and CNN, living in Orlando, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. My husband, who’s also from here, is an athletic director; we met when we were both working at Channel 2. We decided to raise a family here, in Clarence, so we came back when I took a different position at UB in 2002. Now we have two daughters, a sophomore at UB studying neurology and a high school junior who is a great golfer and may pursue that at the college level. We all love the outdoors, sports, the four seasons, skiing. We have two dogs. We are so happy to be back in the Buffalo area. And being at UB, where I’ve worked for two decades now, is great. I feel such energy and enthusiasm in my work and at being part of an incredible team of artists and facilitators who spend their days helping people realize their vision. I am always learning, and there is still a lot to learn.