Elementary-school performances of established works on piano and in theater gave Samantha Westlake-Hart ’25 her first exposure to creative arts. Just a few years later, in high school, she realized she enjoyed behind-the-stage experiences just as much as being in the spotlight.
Fringe Festivals held in her home country of Canada introduced Westlake-Hart to the world of writing and production. “People were premiering new and experimental works at these festivals, and I thought, ‘I can do this, too!’ ”
Inspired to create her own production, she wrote her first show and recruited some high school friends to perform it. Everyone had such a good time that they did it all over again the following year, and then once more after they had all moved on to college.
Attending Wayne State University, Westlake-Hart majored in music composition and minored in theater, also playing piano for university theater performances. After graduation, she moved to Chicago to become more involved in improv theaters and festivals, including The Second City and the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival.
To continue to sharpen her writing skills, she decided to earn an MFA in Comedy Screenwriting from DePaul University, a new program launched in partnership with The Second City. During this time, she also volunteered as a teaching assistant and was a graduate ambassador for the program.
“I graduated with my MFA in 2020, when the world was on fire,” she explains. “Nothing was happening. Performances had either moved to Zoom or stopped indefinitely.”
After working a few temp jobs to make ends meet, she landed a full-time position at Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Although she started as a program assistant, she’s now an assistant director for the Department of Economics, putting the skills she built as a volunteer at DePaul to good use by helping students understand, plan for, and meet degree requirements so they can graduate on time.
One of the perks of working at Northwestern is the tuition benefits—and, after learning more about the MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises (MSLCE) program, Westlake-Hart decided that adding this master’s degree to her creative-arts résumé was the next logical step in her career. 
“I had formal music training and education on how to write music and scripts, but I also wanted to be able to market myself as a creative person,” she explains. “I knew the MSLCE program would help me apply my abstract art knowledge to today’s arts industry.” She enrolled in the program on a part-time basis so she could continue her career while earning her degree.
Westlake-Hart enjoys not only learning from professors and industry experts in the classroom, but also getting to see them in their element beyond the walls of lecture rooms. For example, in Understanding the Creative Industries, a course led by adjunct Lecturer Freda Love Smith, she’s learning about a variety of creative industries through various guest speakers.
“John Strohm, an arts and entertainment lawyer, was one of those guest speakers,” says Westlake-Hart. “He and Freda Love Smith ended up performing in Evanston together a few months ago: She read from a book she’s launching, and he played music from an album he’s debuting. It was amazing to get to meet them both outside the classroom, see the art they talk about in practice, and watch them actively work in the arts.”
She’ll carry this idea of practical application forward as she continues to choose courses that provide new perspectives into how creative industries operate. This insight will be especially helpful as she and a fellow classmate focus on launching their own enterprise: one that combines their passion for film and media performance with an education component.
“We envision our company having a production branch and an education branch, whether that involves high school outreach, providing additional arts-education resources to those already in film and arts, helping those in non-arts-related careers who want to pivot into the industry,” explains Westlake-Hart. “The MSLCE program will help us prepare to lead an enterprise like that and grow our business from the ground up.”
Three things Samantha Westlake-Hart appreciates about the MSLCE program:
1. Its strong entrepreneurial focus. “The program is tailored to arts industries, which operate differently from other corporate industries, but it’s also helping me learn more about what I need to do to launch my own creative arts business.”
2. The ability to balance full-time work. “At first, I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t do all the classes at the same pace as my classmates. But, by taking one course at a time, I can focus on the course material and not feel like I’m being pulled in too many directions as I continue to work full-time.”
3. Flexible course content. “I’m finding unique ways to get my coursework done. I can read the Kindle version of a textbook on my iPad during my commute. I can listen to course podcasts or interviews as I’m multitasking. I can pretty easily incorporate coursework into daily activities.”
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