Meet Sam Ross: Owner and Executive Director Windmill Arts Center

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sam Ross and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sam, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
Always a tough question for an artist. Although many artists will declare: “I will follow my passion forever at whatever cost”, the realities of the arts business suggest otherwise. Especially coming off a year of COVID, performance space owners like myself (I own Windmill Arts Center) had to make some very hard concessions to keep the doors open in the last fourteen months. The amount of financial support from the government was limited (and the still pending shuttered venue grant is not guaranteed) so surviving the pandemic has required additional personal investment. For a space like the Windmill that was designed to provide low cost space to under-represented voices and new works, that commitment had not only a financial impact to the Windmill’s income statement but also to my personal finances. With the pandemic also hitting my family personally, the decision to allocate resources from my savings to the Windmill was not an easy one, It would be easy to say enough is enough. The Windmill is a passion project for sure as I do not take a dime from the operations of the space so quitting seemed like a viable option. So, I ask myself: Do I believe in the arts enough to risk personal investment and unpaid hundreds of hours of time and energy? The short answer is yes. Windmill serves a distinct role in our arts community that no other organization is addressing. Windmill is making low cost, state of the art space available to emerging artists who otherwise would not have the resources to create new work. I hope the worst is behind and the reality of this question is not felt as strongly as in the past year. But until the large arts organizations that have the real money and time make a commitment to these new artists, I have no real choice regarding such questions.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been acting since age 10. I went to performance arts schools and eventually was accepted into a first rate acting school only to have to turn down the offer because of a lack of money. I ended up taking a small scholarship at an in-state school for acting but left the program after a year. I was discouraged because I had seen my acting dreams rerouted due to a lack of money. So, I quit acting and decided to make money. I became an accountant and earned my Masters in Accountancy and finally my CPA. I “acted” as an accountant until I made enough money to fund my first theater. Down Right Theater was the first theater founded in North Atlanta (Gwinnett) and was very successful through its first 5 years. In the fifth year of running the theater, I was accepted into Trinity Rep Conservatory and left Down Right to pursue my MFA in acting. Down Right was handed over to a group who renamed it Aurora Theater and the rest of that is Atlanta history. After Trinity I moved to Los Angeles and did the TV and Film thing but my heart was always on the stage. In 2007 I was traveling Europe seeing theater and I saw a show at the Abbey in Dublin that effectively changed my entire outlook to art. Long after the show was over, I swore that night sitting in the lobby of the Abbey that I would not only never accept work from myself below my capacity but also that wasn’t new and pushing the edges of what we have grown to accept as “theater”. I went back to the stage with a purpose and started Vanguard Repertory Theater Company (VRC), VRC was dedicated to physical based acting and creating new work that challenged the conventions of theater and story telling. I ultimately wanted a “home” for VRC and realized that Los Angeles was not the right place for it and so I moved back to Atlanta and built the Windmill. The Windmill is dedicated to supporting new young artists who create new work or have a unique take on existing work. The name is derived from Don Quixote “tilting at windmills”.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in East Point and really don’t know why anyone would venture north of I-20 anymore. The tri-cities area has just about everything you could want in food and entertainment. Eat at Thumbs Up, Noodles or Brake Pad, anywhere in Hapeville or at Oz Pizza with a cocktail at Chairs after is a really good couple of nights out. But if I had a teleporter and never had to sit in Atlanta traffic (actually worse than Los Angeles in my opinion), I would see a band at Variety Playhouse or the Tabernacle or even Northside Tavern. Lunch at Upbeet or bartaco and dinner at Gunshow. After all of that food, maybe a run on the beltline. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t be as good an artist without the support of Matthew K Burgos. Our friendship and partnership help discover and develop many of my values I hold today in regards to the arts. Also, a shoutout to the resident artists at Windmill Arts Center: Fly on a Wall, ImmerseATL, Tiny Theater Company, Vernal and Sere Theater Company, Havoc Movement Company and Adinkra Dance. Each of the these groups continue to exemplify the mission of Windmill. Finally, of course my wife: Elizabeth G. Ross who is responsible as anyone of keeping me focused, happy and helping shut out the white noise.

Website: www.thewindmillatl.com