Cultural Engagement
“Art experiences insist upon a restructuring of ordinary perceptions of reality so that we end by seeing the world instead of numbly recognizing it.”
- Dorothy Heathcote
In the works.
Swarm Artist Residency
Curator for Swarm Artist Residency, a retreat for artists in the midwest to share open space, open hearts, solitude, and community while making the work of their dreams.
We invite artists of any race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability, and religious affiliation to take part in our mission to embody our core values: flexibility, generosity, humility, curiosity, and care. We're committed to providing underrepresented artists a radically generous place to create art and nourish one another through shared meals, shared dialogue, and shared inquiry. To honor our commitment to interrupting and destabilizing oppression in our own community, we offer training opportunities for collective learning around power, privilege, and oppression.
Visit our website to learn more.
Past projects.
Civic Engagement
We Will Chicago
Pillar Hub Artist, Lifelong Learning
"We Will Chicago" is a three-year, citywide planning initiative that will encourage neighborhood growth and vibrancy while addressing social and economic inequities that impair Chicago’ s legacy as a global city.
The City of Chicago, led by the Department of Planning and Development (DPD), joined with its partners to launch a public engagement effort in fall 2020 to solicit feedback on the broad, overriding goals of We Will Chicago and the process for the initiative itself.
These initial steps included dialogue with planning, corporate and community partners in other cities as well as a series of virtual topic forums for Chicago residents.
Misfits for Democracy
Misfits for Democracy is a volunteer-based phone banking team that utilizes empathetic community building to advocate for justice, equity, and a better world. Our members hail from all across the United States, sharing one common goal: to uphold democracy and fight against fascism.
We’re a radically inclusive group which welcomes anyone who shares our values into our community with excitement and celebration. No matter where we’re located or where on the political spectrum we identify, together, we are united in an epic quest to save democracy. Our swords are our words, and our shields are our open ears and open minds.
The Misfits achieve victory by operating on the core principles of honesty, integrity, and radical transparency. We educate ourselves on the communities we want to serve by immersing our team in research and connecting with local citizens to get boots on the ground perspectives that inspire voters of all stripes. In a unique space of vulnerability, the Misfits offer support to each other, as well as the opportunity to learn new strategies and tactics towards victory.
Community-Created Performances
Lyric Opera of Chicago
EmpowerYouth
Program Facilitator, 2019-2021
EmpowerYouth!: Igniting Creativity through the Arts is a groundbreaking partnership with the Chicago Urban League that immerses teenagers in the creation of an original performance.
In the 2020/21 Season, EmpowerYouth! continues virtually, and consists of members of the 2019/20 ensemble. Similar to previous years, participants work with professional artistic staff and program facilitators in learning how principles of performance, the written word, music, and dance can translate to their everyday lives. Their work over eight months will culminate in the creation of an original performance that tells the story of their lives as young, Black Chicagoans, and how they deal with issues that are pertinent to them. The story and its final performance will include singing, rapping, acting, and dancing. Kristiana Rae Colón returns as EmpowerYouth!'s librettist and Lyric welcomes Shawn Wallace to the program as this year’s composer. Jacob Watson returns as program facilitator with Tanji Harper, Osiris Khepera and Emorja Roberson serving as artist mentors.
Chicago Voices: Community Created Performances
Animateur, 2016-2017
Community Created Performances are original music theater works created and performed by community groups using a core element of opera: storytelling through song. Participating groups throughout Chicago, regardless of background or experience, create and develop these original works which are driven by the participants and supported by Lyric Opera professional artists and staff.
Collectively, we asked, “what is the untold story of this community?” Over 16 weeks, we created, rehearsed, and performed original works based in the participants’ real-life experiences. In the first year, I worked with members of Tellin’ Tales Theatre to create FREEDOM: Out of Order, which has evolved into a new musical project called Always Greener. The second year, I partnered with older adults from the North Center Senior Center in the Irving Park neighborhood to create Off Our Rockers, a piece about finding new beginnings later in life.
Sexuality Education
FYI Performance Company at
Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health
Founding Member, actor, director, curriculum designer & facilitator, 2011-2017
FYI designs participatory theatre experiences that activate the creative potential of health education to improve the wellbeing of youth and their communities. FYI is focused on using creative approaches to improve the sexual health of young people in the Chicago area. FYI collective members, facilitators, and performers are a diverse group of professional teaching artists, health educators, social workers, and reproductive justice advocates.Together, we create health-based performance workshops in close partnership with youth partners and other Chicago-area organizations.
Notable accomplishments:
Designed the organization's landmark Creative Capacity Building training series for adults
Cultivated partnerships with a diverse array of organizations, both locally and nationally
Devised, acted, directed, and toured in two participatory plays for young people
Arts + Learning
“Teaching is a performative act. And it is that aspect of our work that offers the space for change, invention, spontaneous shifts […] to serve as a catalyst that calls everyone to become more and more engaged, to become active participants in learning”
- bell hooks
Teaching Artistry
2011-present: Urban Gateways, Redmoon, Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, Metropolis School of the Performing Arts
I believe that art is the way that we make sense of the world around us.
Creating art allows us to engage with and respond to our lives and the lives of others. And it is an inherently communal experience because it affects everyone involved, from creator to participant to viewer. Theatre in particular is a uniquely experiential art form, which makes it a powerful tool for dialogue.
Taking part in the artistic process allows us to take ownership of complex ideas and topics. Through their participation in artmaking, young people can come to view themselves as the authors of their own story, empowered to effect positive change in the world.
Program Management
Manager, Project AIM
The Arts Integration Mentorship Project (Project AIM) exists to explore the relationships between arts and academic learning, with the intention of creating opportunities for deeper, more meaningful, and more personally-relevant learning experiences in the classroom. Classrooms are transformed into studios and performance spaces where students are engaged in a powerful learning cycle in and through the arts.
Notable accomplishments:
Spearheaded creative documentation initiative for artists and teachers
Designed, facilitated, and documented school-wide professional development in executive functioning, culturally-relevant curriculum, and restorative practice
Analyzed data to produce preliminary impact piece summarizes our alignment with the school district's strategic plan
VIEW IMPACT REPORT FOR EVANSTON SCHOOLS 15-16
Coordinator of Digital Pedagogy & Mentorship, Convergence Design Lab
The Convergence Academies initiative aims to raise student achievement, increase students’ and teachers’ 21st century technology and media skills, and build students’ college and career readiness skills. The project will advance youth learning by building media literacy and digital media skills through real life inquiry-based projects in and out of the classroom.
Notable accomplishments:
Developed ongoing and responsive training and coaching modules for our cohort of digital media mentors
Analyzed data to produce regular progress reports and a final paper on the role of digital media mentors in the school environment