A Day in Recreation & Entertainment with May Southavilai

Fuel the Fire in Your Heart

May Southavilai, the daughter of Lao immigrants, says her parents always expected her to become a doctor, lawyer or another high-paying professional.

“They have that stereotypical immigrant thinking that making the most money is what defines success,” she says. “(But) I have grown to realize that the fire in your heart is what makes you successful. Your happiness is what makes you successful.”

What fuels the fire in May’s heart?

Art. Self-discovery. Connecting with community.

She’s been able to pursue all three happiness generators in her role as Volunteer Assistant Manager for ArtPrize, the global arts competition that draws 1,000+ artists and nearly one million visitors to Grand Rapids each fall. She’s delivering hospitality on a grand scale – and serving as an example of what a young person with relatively little experience can accomplish in this field.

May grew up in Holland, the youngest of eight children. Though their house was full, she struggled with loneliness. That led to an interest in psychology, a parents-approved profession that would allow her to help other people with issues of their own.

“I love how the brain works,” May says. “I love that you can come from and be resilient to so many things. But I realized that I feel too empathetic for people and (being a therapist) probably wouldn’t have gone great.”

She found another outlet for helping people when she started creating her own art. “Art is healing,” she declares, touting its benefits for both artists and their audiences. “Art is a universal language that people don’t realize”– a way of connecting with individuals and communities on a deeper level.

Finding Your Community

Defying her parents, May moved to Grand Rapids to attend Kendall College of Art & Design in 2023. The transition was challenging. “I didn’t know if I was a true artist yet. I didn’t know anybody in the community. I didn’t have any friends yet. I didn’t know if I fully belonged.”

She decided volunteering would help her become more involved in the fabric of the community. ArtPrize was a natural choice, given her artistic ambitions.

“Once I was able to get to know the volunteers and staff, I realized they have different views than the people I grew up with,” she recalls. That made her feel welcomed and accepted in a way she’d never felt before.

It also gave her the confidence to reach out to ArtPrize staff to offer help for the following year. Internship and Exhibitions Manager Kailey Smith-Barth was impressed with May’s ideas and ambition, and encouraged her to apply  for an events internship. May got the position and was honored with the MVP Intern Award in 2024.

She was promoted to Volunteer Assistant Manager in 2025, working with 170 or so volunteers to make sure the event runs smoothly. She received the MVP Contractor Award for her efforts that year.

What is it about ArtPrize that keeps bringing May back? “ArtPrize is filled with so many surprises, you just have to be prepared for what comes. But that’s the beauty of it.  I run on the adrenaline rush, I love it.”

On any given day during ArtPrize, “I’m running all over the city. I probably get in 10,000 steps a day” – dropping off snacks and water to volunteer stations, transporting maps to various locations, popping in at events and running other miscellaneous errands. She says it’s very much like an events management position. “Whatever they need me for, I’m there.”

Making Connections

May says ArtPrize was a great way to get to know the city, the community and the local arts culture. It helped her come to believe that she is a true artist with something important to say. And it continues to fulfill her desire to connect with people and make them feel less alone.

“Community is what makes us humans stronger,” she says. “We’re not supposed to be in solitude. Everybody craves human connection, whether they admit it or not.”

May also explores human connection through her art. She’s formed an art collective called “Product” with a group of friends, through which they stage art installations, raves and other gatherings. “We bring the community together through art and music.”

Art ties into hospitality through that human connection, she says, similar to the way events like ArtPrize – and World of Winter, LaughFest, the Tulip Time Festival, Grand Rapids Pride Festival, Cider Week GR and dozens of other local events – do. Weddings, reunions, corporate meetings and the like foster human connection on a smaller scale. Events large and small are a vital and growing part of the hospitality industry, and virtually none of them can happen without talented, committed people like May being involved.

ArtPrize isn’t May’s only hospitality outlet. She also works in restaurant and retail positions –  at Boba House, Field & Fire, Urban Exchange and Crow’s Hold Vendor’s Market (opening in May 2026) – all of which fuel her passion for connecting with and helping people.

“I just like to work with people,” she says. “I feel like communicating and connecting with all these different people (I encounter) have helped me grow more and better as a person and opened my eyes to new experiences and new views on life. They’ve helped me become more confident as a person as well. If you told me five years ago, or maybe even graduation during high school, that I would be at this point in my life, I would say you're lying. But you just never know.”

Her advice? “Follow your heart and everything will play out like it’s supposed to in the end.”

Hospitality is about connection, community and self-discovery. It’s as much about finding yourself as it is about serving others. Consider a hospitality career if you want to discover more about yourself and the community around you.