When Barbara Chamberlain was a little girl she really didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up, she just knew it had to have something to do with the ballet and horse back riding.
“I was also interested in theater. I’d put books on my head for posture, then dance and sing around the house with my mother,” Barbara says.
This native Wichitan was appointed as the Executive Director of the Ballet Wichita in September of 2007. “I love what I do. I’m happy that I was able to be a part of the development of Wichita’s not-for-profit organizations with other staff and volunteers. This is a wonderful volunteer community.”
Barbara says there are even more opportunities for Wichita to enjoy the ballet. “Romantic Rhapsody is held Valentine’s Eve with dinner, a short performance and dancing. This year we had local musical artists play, so that couples could dance. Clara’s Tea was expanded to two afternoons, the Saturday and Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend at the Grand Chapel on Broadway. And of course the Nutcracker, which is the bread and butter for the ballet company, will be performed in December at Century II.”
Barbara is an established and enthusiastic leader in not-for-profit management. Her career includes seven years as Director of River Festival, two years as Director of Corporate Relations for Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Sedgwick County, and eight years as Director of Botanica, the Wichita Gardens.
She didn’t start out on the not-for-profit track, however. “I went to Kansas University and took environmental sciences. In the 70s it was just starting. I was going to figure out how to seed clouds so there wouldn’t be draught or hunger any more,” she says. “When I went to work for Wichita Festivals, and I was dealing with trash and port-a-potties, I realized I’m there!”
Her first job was as a secretary with the Home Builders Association. “Mother always said typing and secretarial training was good to have. She was also right about red lipstick,” Barbara says.
“I also worked nights and weekends at Henry’s and in 1981 I became a personal shopper for a local department store. It was fun. Someone would call with a gift request and a price and I’d pick it out and have it wrapped. I even trundled clothes down to the hotel or to the client’s house for them to try on. When Henry’s closed I went to work for Pizza Hut, Inc.” Her father had been a corporate employee so he was very pleased with her career choice, but it was not who or what Barbara wanted to be. After only seven months she left, jumping at the chance to be the assistant to the director of River Festival.
“I like to help re-evaluate where an organization is and it seems like every time I moved someplace they were thinking about change. I always add special events, because they not only raise money, but they make friends. If the special event makes sense for the organization, and is tied to your mission, then it works better and lasts longer,” she says. “Woofstock is a perfect example. I was on the Humane Society board the first year they did Woofstock and I chaired it for a couple of years. That event makes sense with the organization in every way. It can be a real struggle to find that perfect event.”
Until the age of 49, Barbara was a confirmed bachelorette. “It took a village and two decades to find the right guy,” she says, laughing. She and husband Mark have been happily married for nine years. “I’m attracted to humor or people who are positive and a good audience.” She admits to finding something to laugh about every day, including herself.
She reads, gardens and adores cooking. “My mother hated cooking,” Barbara says. “I think having been single and not required to cook every day, well, I learned to love it. I love the preparation and I’m very organized.” She enjoys entertaining, but says that the day-to-day things like housekeeping aren’t nearly as much fun. “I enjoy travel and planning things, like home decorating. I will build a page of ideas and colors for a room. It’s getting started that I’m having trouble with,” she says.
Once a week her brother comes over for dinner and they watch the Antiques Roadshow on PBS. “My brother and I are great buds,” she says. Barbara admires her parents who were big environmentalists. “Mom reused everything, especially water. We grew up in Riverside and huge Elm trees surrounded our house. They got diseased and we eventually lost all five. It broke my mother’s heart.”
Barbara’s mother also instilled in her daughter a love for animals of all kinds, so when a black lab was abandoned at Botanica, it became a part of Barbara’s family. “Don’t turn your back on things, Barbara, she used to say. My mother was so lovely and kind, she was my dearest friend.”
Her father is still living and is an extrovert and a collector. “We have lots of books. I’m making furniture out of the stacks of books,” she says. “They make a good bed stand. I have all the family’s books.”
She recently finished Sara Paretsky’s Bleeding Kansas, but her favorite book of all time is Snow in August by Pete Hamill. “I love it so much, I give copies to my friends. It spoke to me on so many levels.”
Her deep sense of caring is evident when she greets several people who enter the café where we’re doing the interview. “I adore this town,” she says. “I think Wichita is a phenomenal place for arts and culture, the ease of getting around and the amenities. It’s so much fun to see all this growth. We have a lot of good things here, and I love to be able to help it keep going and improve it in some ways.”
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