Former Glacier Park botanist cultivates the arts in Whitefish

You can take the girl out of the city, and in Jen Asebrook’s case, that girl will be just as happy in the wilds of Montana.

Until a year ago, Asebrook, executive director of the Whitefish Theatre Co., had enjoyed a 26-year career working as a Glacier National Park botanist. For the last six years she’d successfully dovetailed that seasonal work with working winters for WTC.

But Asebrook’s background and education began back East, far from Northwest Montana. Born in Wisconsin, her family moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, when she was 10. Less than a two-hour drive from Boston and three from New York City, and having parents who were passionate supporters of the arts, her family made regular treks into the big cities to see live performances and take in Broadway shows.

“I grew up going to musicals, plays, you name it,” Asebrook said. “We did it all. “It was my parents’ love of the arts that’s responsible for my own love of them.”

But it would be 20 years before Asebrook would find herself once again immersed in the arts.

Before pursuing her master’s degree in plant ecology at Duke University (Class of ’94), Asebrook had done several years of sea turtle conservation work, first on the island of St. Croix and later with the Nature Conservancy in Florida.

“I’d lead night walks on this barrier island off the coast of Florida to see the turtles laying their eggs,” Asebrook said. “We’d monitor their nests and research their predation and plant restoration.”

Asebrook first came to Montana in 1993 to collect data for her master’s thesis on establishing native plant protocols in Glacier National Park.

“I started my work on the coattails of work that had been done by such visionaries as Rachel Potter who’d established the park’s Native Plant Nursery in the early ’80s,” she said.

That summer Asebrook fell in love — with both Northwest Montana and her future husband, Richard Menicke, who was working at that time, and still is, as a geographer for Glacier Park.

After they married and started their family here, Asebrook also settled into a career with Glacier Park, researching everything from seed genetics to grassland monitoring, to the impacts of humans on the park and how to protect its landscape.

“I loved my work in the park,” Asebrook said. “I was always out in the field doing my own projects.”

While seasonal work permitted her to remain available to her family, the schedule kept changing, and eventually she was working full time during the summer.

Living then in West Glacier and lovers of live music, she and her husband were annual Whitefish Theatre Co. season ticket holders.

“I can remember us driving through the canyon in winter storms determined to hear some live music,” she said.

In 2013, with their two sons in school, Asebrook heard WTC was looking for a part-time marketing person. Already acquainted with the company’s past and present executive directors, Carolyn Pitman and Gayle MacClaren, she interviewed and was hired.

“I sort of dove in.”

IT WAS serendipitous that Asebrook’s scientific background was also a perfect fit for Whitefish Theatre Co.

“I could see how my science brain and skill set fit,” she said. “I offered to try grant writing — it’s a lot like science writing. I like math, so I offered to do the financials.”

By the end of the year Asebrook was appointed the theater’s development director.

“I could see how my job as a seasonal worker for Glacier Park was naturally coming to an end. I so enjoyed all my years there. But it’s like going from a big organization with big organizational issues to a small, intimate group of people who all have a seat at the table.”

In 2019 yet another opportunity presented itself to Asebrook.

“Gayle (MacClaren) had been with WTC a long time and was wanting to retire,” Asebrook said. “I was ready to move on to a new career and honored to step in as executive director so everyone could shift positions and stay on.”

Asebrook said she never thought twice about her new role even amid an emerging global pandemic.

“All of our staff are willing, able and good at problem-solving,” she said. “I’ve always felt fully supported. The company has always been in such good hands — our board of directors and staff have taken such good financial care.”

Still, as shows had to be canceled beginning in March due to the coronavirus, money issues became increasingly paramount.

“We were able to get a PPP (federal Payroll Protection Program) loan secured right away,” Asebrook said. She applied for every grant as they came open, but funds were limited, plus she was competing on a national level with organizations such as the Metropolitan Opera.

Asebrook is thankful for the state of Montana grants and Whitefish Community Foundation’s Great Fish Challenge, which helped WTC piece together its funding this summer when the company wasn’t doing shows.

The theater company’s staff quickly pivoted to choosing shows with smaller casts for its 2020-2021 lineup, which were more easily managed with pandemic safety protocols. They also began filming their performances and offering them as an alternative online, while still maintaining a socially distanced live audience at a highly reduced capacity and requiring patrons to wear masks.

“It’s hard to do live theater without an audience,” Asebrook pointed out. “It’s a changing season and we will continue to evolve.”

What first drew Asebrook to live performance art and continues to drive her is its social aspect.

She applauds Flathead Valley audiences for their generosity, authenticity and high standards, and how performers from around the world come to the valley and are treated to an amazing experience in an intimate theater.

“Live performance brings people together in live time, laughing, crying, escaping, being entertained and interacting with each other,” she said. “Even more so with community theater. Families get built. I see a lot of joy and camaraderie.

“This is what theater can and does do for the world — it puts forth other people’s stories to share with our own.”

Community and Entertainment Editor Carol Marino may be reached at 758-4440 or cmarino@dailyinterlake.com.