Laurel Redington is one of those people you are glad to know. She is endlessly gracious, enthusiastic, supportive, and well-connected. With deep roots in the community and breadth of knowledge about the Island, she is the perfect person to fill the brand-new position of programming and community outreach director at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
Redington first came to the Island with her father in 1989, when she was in college. Her connection to MVY Radio began in 1991. “I started listening to the station, and after I graduated that fall, I just kept showing up, and was told by Jeff Damon, program director at the time, to go into the production room and start practicing.” Redington recalls, “It was a completely different time, when we had reel-to-reel, and you were slicing tape and were using razor blades.” She nailed a part-time job, which became full-time the following year. The rest, as they say, is history. Redington’s radio career has spanned 32 years, 24 of which were at MVY.
In 2015, with the support of P.J. Finn, MVY executive director and program director, Redington built a community outreach department: “P.J. opened the door for me to have the creative space to be able to do that, and to develop programming that allowed the radio station to be recognized for the work we are doing in the community, winning nine Massachusetts Broadcasting Soundbite Awards in seven years.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a more creative environment and a more fun career than the one I’ve had in radio,” Redington stresses. But in the back of her mind, when in college, she wanted to intern at a museum. Little did she know that this would become a reality. “Radio will never leave me, but an opportunity came up last winter when Heather Seger and I were having a casual conversation, and she asked if I would ever consider coming to the museum. I thought, ‘This is a pretty amazing opportunity.’”
For Redington, it felt strange closing out a major part of her career to start something new, yet she says, “The community outreach I’d done for the station seemed to fit very much with the trajectory the museum was on.” The conversation initiated a lot of soul-searching and conversations. But Seger, executive director at the museum, told Redington that just as she told stories on the radio, the museum is also about telling stories, and she would be applying the same skills. “She assured me it’s not a stretch. It’s about the deep connections we all make in this beautiful community,” Redington recalls.
It helped, too, that MVY was able to find the perfect person to add to the department. Perry Dripps is now the community outreach producer at the station. Redington explains, “Everything needs an infusion of fresh energy. I felt I had taken the department as far as I was going to be able to.” Redington speaks glowingly about Dripps’ extensive background, as well as his personality. “What he also has is youthful energy, that fresh perspective that I felt was going to raise the department to a whole other level through a different perspective. I was looking for someone to take over that had this depth of empathy and compassion, and ability to speak with people, that Perry has.”
MVY isn’t losing Redington completely. She will keep her hand in things, supporting Dripps, and continuing to produce her weekly show, “Night Casts.” Redington reflects, “I feel really blessed to have these relationships with both these amazing organizations.”
Seger says about Redington joining the staff, “As the museum continues to grow the ways we serve our incredible community, we decided we needed someone focused full-time on programming and community outreach. In the past, these responsibilities were shared by various staff members, and as a result, they were no one’s highest priority. With Laurel joining the team, we now have someone with deep, meaningful connections across the Island who brings a warm, creative, and collaborative spirit to her work. She is ready to jump right in. I am really excited about all of the new ways she will help us to engage with and expand our audience.”
In her new position, Redington will be overseeing the visitor center, visitor services, and existing programs, as well as developing new ones. Just some ideas that are brewing include music in the Linnemann Pavilion, bringing PechaKucha back, and offering a non-bar-related experience, with trivia, for the recovery community. “We want to make sure the museum is creating programming that speaks directly to and engages the Island,” Redington says.
“I’m grateful for being able to keep a hand in radio, but really sinking my teeth into a whole new version of myself. I grew up in an era where you picked a career and did it your whole life,” Redington shares. “But it’s a new world we’re living in, and to keep things moving forward, you have to recreate yourself. This Island is proof you can recreate yourself over and over and over again. There’s a learning curve, and everyone at the museum is so open and supportive and loving. It’s going to be quite an amazing journey.”