After more than six years leading Theatreworks, Caitlin Lowans is leaving to head up another theater company.

Lowans, only the second artistic director in the 49-year history of the professional regional theater company, will depart for Ten Thousand Things Theater in Minneapolis, Minn., where she’ll take over as artistic director in February.

She’ll direct Theatreworks’ last show of the year, “Sense and Sensibility,” which opens Nov. 29. But she’ll stick around through early February to help shepherd the company’s production of “The Heart Sellers,” before joining Ten Thousand Things in February.

Her time in town has enriched her theater making.

“First is the opportunity to learn a community, like Colorado Springs, where we have different influences of the military, faith communities, the long tradition of the American West, and the arts community,” Lowans said. “Contemporary Colorado Springs is a different artistic and communal and political mix than any other city I’ve been part of. It’s taught me a lot about building coalitions and listening to folks across different communities.”

In her wake she leaves behind a trove of productions, including ACT OUT, a community tour of performances she created in 2019 inspired by the Ten Thousand Things model, which takes theater to the people, doing shows in the round at shelters for the unhoused, correctional facilities, low-income retirement communities and after school programs, among other locations, as well as traditional theater venues.

“I wouldn’t have been ready for it (Ten Thousand Things) without Theatreworks,” Lowans said. “Theatreworks has made me the leader I am. I wouldn’t have felt equal to applying and stewarding the idea of that company’s mission without the leadership and knowledge Theatreworks and this community has gifted me.”

During the pandemic, Lowans found ways to continue making theater, including bringing Katy Williams Design and JParkerArts on board in 2021 to do shadow puppetry in “The Mitten” at Ent Center for the Arts, where indoor puppeteers were masked as they created shadow plays for patrons who watched from outdoors. She showcased her directorial skills in “A Christmas Carol,” “Lumberjacks in Love,” a gender-swapped “Taming of the Shrew,” “The Little Prince” and “Into the Woods in Concert,” a collaboration with Chamber Orchestra of the Springs.

Other Theatreworks productions during her tenure included “Aubergine,” a fully bilingual production of Julia Cho’s play, with subtitles in English and Korean, to help embrace the Pikes Peak region’s Korean community.

Ent Center and the Theatreworks board will conduct a national search for a new artistic director.

“Caitlin is a remarkable artist and leader,” said David Siegel, executive director for Ent Center for the Arts, in a statement. “Ten Thousand Things is among the most influential theater companies in the country. While I am sorry to lose Caitlin, I am thrilled to see a Colorado Springs-based artist rise to this celebrated role on the national stage. It is a meaningful example of the extraordinary artistic talent in our community.”

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