Theater
Allied Media Conference incorporates all varieties of media to incite social change
This is the first in a series of artist profiles featuring the work of artists around social justice, policing, and activism. Look for more profiles in the coming weeks. The Allied Media…
No One Can Do It Alone: How Working with "Disability" Enabled a New Artistic Ability and Approach
This is the first story about work coming from the PLACE (People, Land, Arts, Culture and Engagement) Initiative of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Read Executive Director Roberto Bedoya’s introduction…
PlaceBase Productions builds rural communities through participatory theatre
Ashley Hanson grew up spending much of her childhood in Aitkin, a small town of fewer than 2,000 people in northern Minnesota. Like many young people who grow up in small towns, she was dying to get…
Valuing Artists, In All Senses of the Word
You may have read that the rise of the creative entrepreneur is leading to the death of the artist. That’s not our experience. We’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with people in communities…
Joi Sears leads the Theatre for the Free People on the world's stage
Joi Sears is a lot of things; stationary isn't one of them. She started out as a dancer, starting with the Cincinnati Ballet then moving on to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York and…
Sam White makes the Bard's enduring themes on the human condition relevant to Detroiters
Shakespeare…in Detroit? Sam White not only thought it could happen, but also that it should. So, in 2012, she founded Shakespeare in Detroit. White – an actor, comedian, journalist, marketer,…
Asian Arts Initiative shepherds community engagement and integration in Philly's Chinatown North
Gayle Isa started working at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia in 1993. This was in the aftermath of the infamous Rodney King verdict and the riots in Los Angeles that followed. Racial…
Welcome to Creative Exchange (again)
"I believe in the magic of storytelling, not only for teller but also the listener," says agrarian artist Nikiko Masumoto, who lives and works in California's Central Valley. "The possibility of…
An artistic X-ray: Adam Stone and Screw Tooth
Screw Tooth Artistic Director Adam Stone will take the stage solo for his new original comedy, 2GD2B4G-10, a dramatic departure from the 17-member cast featured in his production company's first…
The weird world of Andrew Novick: Blood, pancakes and punk rock
"If I'm not back in a few hours," I said to my husband on an otherwise ordinary Saturday, "let the police know I was having coffee with the man who makes art out of human blood." My fears were put to…
Buntport Theatre Company is the kookiest and most inventive theater troupe in Denver
Wildly original. Brilliant. Intellectual nitrous oxide. Crazed creativity. Riotously funny. These phrases are just a small sampling of the breathy reviews of Denver's own Buntport Theater Company's…
Denver's itchy-O Marching Band: Chaos of the best variety
Imagine this: It's late on a weekend night and Denverites are out and about. Maybe they're hanging out at the latest hipster bar along South Broadway or enjoying an adult beverage at a popular…
PAR Projects is building a home for arts education and programming in Cincinnati's Northside
Things don't always work out the way you plan, but they do tend to work out the way they're supposed to. Jonathan Sears is the co-founder of Professional Artistic Research (PAR) Projects, though he…
Artists as community leaders
What a journey! Three years ago, Springboard for the Arts launched Irrigate, a creative placemaking project in partnership with the City of Saint Paul and the Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support…
Artist/educator Asia Ward: Creating the unexpected through a singular blend of art and science
Bre McGee Science, magic, memory and art: These are among the tools artist and educator Asia Ward brings to her work. She’s a longtime developer of educational experiences for the Learning…
Bunker Projects is an experimental gallery and live/work space for artists to engage the community
Artists Jessie Rommelt, Abagail Beddall, and Cecilia Ebitz all graduated from Penn State University in 2011. The three friends decided to head over to Pittsburgh afterwards, the closest city with an…
Artists U teaches artists how to make a life
The hardest thing about making a life as an artist is actually making a life as an artist. That's where Artists U comes in. Andrew Simonet is a choreographer and a writer who directed the Headlong…
Ryan Myers-Johnson founded Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts to showcase alternative arts
When Ryan Myers-Johnson left Detroit after graduating from the Detroit School of Arts in 1999, she was already planning her return. At first she didn't go far -- just down the…
Experimental performance group The Hinterlands explores the outer limits of identity
In contemporary usage, "hinterland" is defined as "an area beyond what is visible or known." And this is why Richard Newman and Liza Bielby named their experimental performance group, headquartered…
Teo Castellanos never thought of himself as a writer until he started winning awards for it
Teo Castellanos never thought he would be a writer. In fact, he was writing professionally for several years before he finally started to consider himself one. “I wouldn't call myself a writer for a…
From show pigs to Prokofiev: Bobby Wesner gets inventive to support Neos Dance Theatre
One of the biggest challenges most artists face is funding. A person might be one of the most talented people in their field but without the right funding opportunities, that potential will never be…
All the world's a stage: Nichole Canuso Dance Company creates "experiential" dance performances
You are one of six people in a room inside the Power Plant Productions basement, where a labyrinthine art installation has been constructed. You are each given a set of headphones to wear, and then…