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PassinArt, Portland’s longest-running and most influential Black theater company, has announced that Constance G. “Connie” Carley, its legendary co-founder and managing director, has died. The company reported that Carley had passed away in a statement posted on the PassinArt Facebook page.
“With broken hearts and sadness, PassinArt: A Theatre Company announces the passing of our long-time colleague and co-founder Constance G. ‘Connie’ Carley,” PassinArt stated. “Connie’s unwavering commitment to the mission, vision, and story of PassinArt was an essential part of the 40-year existence of our theatre company.”
The statement on Facebook confirmed that details about a memorial service are pending and did not give a cause of death.
Carley founded PassinArt in 1982 with Clarice Bailey and Michael Grant. In 1995, Jerry Foster became the company’s artistic director (currently, he serves as board president). He and Carley ultimately became PassinArt’s most influential leaders, guiding the company through decades of successful plays, including a Drammy Award-winning production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running and annual performances of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity.
It’s impossible to overstate PassinArt’s impact on Portland. Since the company’s first performance (at the Matt Dishman Center in 1983), it has endured, even as other local Black theater companies, like Sojourner Truth and Portland Black Repertory Theatre, vanished. And while most of the city’s theaters have seen leaders come and go, Carley and Foster always seemed inseparable from PassinArt.
With the announcement of Carley’s passing, condolences poured in from Portland theater luminaries on social media. Some of the most effusive praise came from James R. Dixon (who appeared in Two Trains Running and The NO Play at PassinArt).
“The work and dedication to our community at Passinart continues in her legacy and she was such a blessing to the community!” Dixon wrote. “You changed lives and we will miss you, Miss Connie.”