Growing up in the U.K., Charlie Jones staged scenes with tiny toy figurines that sparked her imagination.
“As I got older, I’d go into my room to play with them, embarrassed that I still liked them,” she said.
Today, Jones continues to stage things – film screenings, choir practices, letter-writing groups. She even constructed a little mouse house (for a clay rodent named Myrtle) that’s tucked in one corner of her desk in the Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts.
Her busy workday involves juggling the needs of three departments – Visual Arts, Music, and Theater and Dance – as an office assistant.
“I work closely with Victoria Rotondi, the arts coordinator, and assist her with all the weird and wonderful jobs we get tasked with. We have many events between all three departments, so it’s quite a fun and varied job, plus all the faculty and students are lovely to work with.”
Jones grew up in the bucolic New Forest region in southern England, about 3,200 miles across the pond as the crow flies. She earned a performance management degree at the eponymously named University of Winchester in the U.K. A few years after graduating, she met and fell in love with a Capital Region filmmaker. The couple toured throughout Europe with their traveling short film festival.
As a creative omnivore, Jones has tried her hand at everything from creating digital music and films to acting, singing and sculpting. She is especially drawn to collaborative, community events.
“Most have earned me very little money but have been extremely rewarding and fun.”
Jones joined Union in 2022 and lives a stone’s throw from campus. She runs a correspondence club where participants meet at Arthur’s Market to practice pen-to-paper letter writing. Her living room doubles as a rehearsal space for the grassroots choir she founded. She also curates a monthly movie challenge that solicits five-minute films that are then shown at the College.
She and her husband, Eric, share their home with their three precocious cats, Olive, Fern and Ruth.
The couple are expecting their first child in August.
FIRST APP YOU LOOK AT IN THE MORNING:
The New York Times app, but I can't face the news right away so I go right to the mini games. I start with Connections, which most days has me livid, then I aim to complete the crossword in under a minute, and then I end with Wordle. Quick boast, a few days ago I got a “perfect” in Connections, completed the crossword in 36 seconds, and Wordle in 2. What a day!
GO-TO BREAKFAST:
Oatmeal, or as I call it, “porridge.” I make it with milk, why on earth would you make it with water? I cook it low and slow. I usually heat up some frozen blueberries for the bottom of the bowl and add some banana on top. If in the U.K. I'd add a little golden syrup, but here, I use maple syrup.
WHAT’S THE LAST GREAT BOOK YOU READ?
Lately, I've been reading a range of books about babies and how to give birth. The last novel I enjoyed was an audiobook, “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett, narrated by the incredible Meryl Streep. Shout out to Michelle Filkins in the mailroom, an avid reader who recommended it to Arts Coordinator Victoria Rotondi, another avid reader, who then recommended it to me. If you ever don't know what to read next, ask these two.
BEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED:
I was once about to play a solo show. I had a vocal looping project and it was only the third or fourth time I had performed my own songs, I was nervous and I felt really vulnerable sharing in front of a bigger crowd. Just before I went on stage my friend Biz told me to just “get in my bubble.” She said “imagine you are at home just playing for yourself and visualize a bubble around yourself.” It worked instantly.
FAVORITE PLACE TO VISIT (AND WHY?):
Brighton, England. I lived there for a couple of years and I miss it. Even though most of my friends can’t afford to live there anymore, I love to go back and visit. I love the stony beach, the amazing vegan food and the lanes. My partner and I first met in Brighton, and we renewed our vows there for our ten-year anniversary last summer on the beach.
WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING RIGHT NOW?
Not watching any great TV shows at the moment, mostly “Top Chef.” The last series I binged recently and loved was “Bad Sisters.” If you haven't seen it and you like dark comedies and great Irish actors, then I highly recommend it.
ONE SKILL YOU WISH YOU HAD:
I wish I could speak fluent French. I’d love to have a bilingual household so my soon-to-be born kid can grow up knowing two languages.
THREE DINNER PARTY GUESTS:
John K. Samson, my favorite singer-songwriter, Olivia Coleman, one of my favorite actors, and last but not least, Adam Buxton, a British comedian and writer who hosts my favorite podcast, where he has rambling chats with unique humans. I feel like I could be friends with all three of them, and that all would get along. It might be a little awkward at first, but Adam is such a good interviewer that he would get the questions rolling, and before you know it we’d all be chatting away about all sorts of things.
FIRST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED:
One of the first shows I went to with only friends and not family was a gig at The Joiners in Southampton, U.K. when I was 15 or 16. Some friends' bands were opening for an American ska band. Even though I'd probably think that band was pretty awful now, it was an exhilarating night. I feel like this was the beginning of me getting into shows and the DIY punk scene, which has been a big part of my adult life.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT YOU:
I once stage managed a circus. We headlined the Big Top at Glastonbury Festival. It wasn't an ordinary circus; there were straitjacket escapes, chainsaws, flaming whips and piercing weightlifting. Charles Batson, we should talk about your Circus Arts class, and then I’ll tell you what my clown name was.