Jan. 4, 2009 — Seated on the floor of a tiny Frenchtown house, surrounded by stacks of tile, Denise Humphrey looks up with her characteristic huge smile and says, "OK, I'll tile and you write."
Humphrey, co-director of the University of the Virgin Islands' Reichhold Center for the Arts, is applying her technical skills to the task at hand: restoring the wooden structure to its original architectural character. It is a bit of theater for her, actually.
The 37-year-old director, teacher, artist, builder, stage technician and movie director works strictly behind the scenes.
"I had to study acting in college," she says. "But, never, never have I wanted to be on that side of the stage.
Humphrey deftly fits a tile into a tricky corner.
"I've always liked to work with my hands," she says. "I learned technical skills in college. In theater, we learn to build things that can quickly be taken apart. It's part illusion, but the same basic principles apply."
In the sturdy wooden structure where she lays tile, it's just the opposite.
"This is built to last," she says.
Humphrey grew up in Frenchtown, raised by her grandparents, Octavie and Willie Hendricks, after her mother died when she was 10.
"I was raised right here," she says, with pride.
A high-tech professional at Reichhold, Humphrey is rooted in the traditional French community. She indicates the former Bar Normandie across the street.
"Though I was never allowed to go into there as a young girl, I think it's a shame that it was not preserved," she says. "It's so much a part of the island's history, going so far back. It should be a historic landmark."
The small house will fit into one local tradition.
"It's right in front of my grandparents' property, where I live now," Humphrey says. "It's going to be a bakery for Linda Greaux, whose mother, Julianana, used to bake cakes next door. I grew up with them."
After graduating from Sts. Peter and Paul High School, Humphrey went to the University of the Virgin Islands for two years, where she was studying computer science when her plans took a more creative turn.
"I was living on campus then," she says. "Rosary Harper and Dennis Parker put out a call for theater volunteers, and I thought, 'Why not?' My interest was really piqued by the experience. I'd always had an interest in art, and sketching came naturally to me. I wondered if I could make a career in theater."
Humphrey is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts and Careers and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where she earned a bachelor of science degree in drama with an emphasis on technical theater.
"I had an almost full scholarship to UWSP," she says. "I was excited. I'd never been to the States. My neighbor, Carol Malo, told me, 'You know, that's cold country.' I didn't know — I didn't even know where Wisconsin was."
She laughs.
"I just wanted to get as far away from St. Thomas as possible. There was no real theater training at UVI in 1989."
Humphrey soon found herself in the midst of cultural as well as climate shock.
"I was one of about 35 black students in a student body of 10,000," she says. "It was a very diverse campus. I met my first native American there. We were at the center of the state, and we were able to work together."
She graduated in 1991, the only woman to graduate in the UWSP design program.
"I was afraid to tell my aunt, Ann Hendricks, about my change of major," she says. "She'd said she didn't want to support a starving artist, but in the summers, David Edgecombe, then Reichhold director, asked me to tour down island, with his play 'Smile, Natives, Smile,' doing all the scenery and backstage work.. It was the hardest work I've ever done, but I showed her I could make a living."
When Humphrey returned to St. Thomas in 1995, there was nothing available in her field, so she taught drama at Charlotte Amalie High School for five years before returning to the Reichhold.
"The school hadn't put on a play for a long time," Humphrey says, "and Jeanette Smith, the principal, wanted to change that. I started with Shakespeare. We would read an entire play until everyone understood it, and then we presented it in their own speech. It's a program called 'Shakespeare Unplugged.' The students learned and they loved it."
Though she does her magic behind the scenes, Humphrey has definite ideas about theater performance.
"It is to create an illusion of happiness," she says. "That's what happens when people create a world to entertain you for two or three hours."
She cites a performance of Cirque Du Soliel she saw in Las Vegas: "You walk in and there's two huge harps being played. You are immersed in a different world. Actors walk around you. It's an incredible experience."
Humphrey applies her discipline to the annual Youth Moviemaking Workshop she created. It's a seven-week course for local students 13 to 21 years old. It puts the youngsters in front of and behind the camera lens. They learn to use the latest media technology while developing teamwork and filmmaking skills. And they produce their own films, which are shown at the Reichhold center. (See "Action! Aspiring Actors Wanted for Youth Workshop.")
Humphrey won't own up to a particular mentor who has influenced her. She smiles, reflecting on the question.
"It's everybody, " she says. "It's not typical, not a big star. It's the students, their ingenuity, my Aunt Ann Hendricks, my friend Carol Malo. It's all the people who have given me inspiration, a person who comes up with an idea and pursues it."
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