Performer and writer Chris Wells is the artistic director of The Secret City, a non-profit organization that since he founded it in 2007 with his now-husband, painter Bobby Lucy, has been presenting ecstatic community art celebrations featuring storytelling, visual art, guest performers, a live band, a community choir, and playful interaction. Participants with religious backgrounds might call it a church where the only thing worshiped is art. For everyone involved, it is a community of artists, creative types, and conscious people who seek a deeper engagement with the world. In 2010, The Secret City received an Obie award in recognition of its service to the creative community.

Now, 13 years since its founding, The Secret City hosts regular celebrations in New York and Los Angeles and makes special appearances throughout the country. It also hosts an annual summer gathering in Woodstock, NY, where Chris and Bobby now live. Chris also hosts a weekly Secret City radio show in nearby Kingston.

In this interview with Pier Carlo Talenti, Chris discusses how he expanded what had once been a vision for a “church of art” into the community and creativity hub it is today and how he has both married and adapted his artistic practice to his role as an artistic director.

https://thesecretcity.org/

https://www.facebook.com/wearethesecretcity