Membership


Register/Renew Membership Online!

Mail-in Registration: You can fill out the online membership form, and still have the option to mail-in a check or money order rather than pay by credit card.  Please do fill out the form, as it will make it easier for us to process your application.  Checks should be mailed to Alternate ROOTS, Attn: Membership, 1083 Austin Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307.



Membership at Alternate ROOTS is the focal point of our organization.  


Alternate ROOTS is a body of diverse artists and artistic disciplines, which come together to share a common commitment to activism.  Joining ROOTS is the first step into a community who is vital and engaged in the process of creating powerful and moving art, and supporting one another in this engagement.

ROOTS offers several different kinds of membership.  All memberships with ROOTS entitle you to an Associate Membership with Fractured Atlas. To read more about our partnership with Fractured Atlas, click here (you have to already be a ROOTS member to access this part of our website). All ROOTS membership dues are yearly.

Introductory Membership - $20
– This is a great way to dive in and get to know the organization better. 
  • Introductory Membership makes you eligible for reduced rates to the Annual Meeting, as well as gives you access to all of our publications, including the monthly Member E-Newsletter, the listserv, and deeper access to the website (forums, blogs, etc.). 
  • Being subscribed to these publications will allow you lots of opportunity to network with others, find out about trends in the field, and learn about training/conference/performance/networking opportunities provided or promoted through ROOTS. 
  • Introductory Members can serve on, and even chair, Innovation Ensembles (our new language for committees or work groups). 
  • In fact, the only thing it won’t get you is the ability to vote at our board meetings and apply for ROOTS grants (Artistic Assistance and Community/Artist Partnership Program) or the Tour & Residency Program.
  • The only hitch is that Introductory Membership can only last for your first year – you can’t renew at the introductory rate.
  • After your first year, you have a choice.  You can either come forward for voting or satellite membership or continue to support the organization without membership by becoming a part of the Friends, Fans, and Family Program

Satellite Membership - $50/yr
– A Satellite Membership is ideal for all those folks who are deeply committed to ROOTS, but who live outside our service region. 
  • In fact, all of the services and opportunities that are available for Introductory Membership are extended to our Satellite Members. 
  • Unfortunately, Satellite Members are not eligible to apply for ROOTS grants (C/APP, Artistic Assistance) or appear on the Tour & Residency roster.
  • We do encourage people who are interested in this level of membership to apply and/or come forward at a board meeting in the same way that our voting members do. 

Voting (Board) Membership - $65/yr
– Voting Members are that special breed of person who has become so dedicated, they really want to take it to the next level. 
  • Voting Members have all of the opportunities listed above, as well as the ability to vote at our board meetings (duh!)
  • Voting members have unique access to apply for ROOTS granting programs and the Tour. 
  • However, along with the increased privileges, Voting Members do have increased responsibility. 
  • Voting Members agree to fiscal responsibility and oversight of the organization, responsibility for governance issues in general, and especially they agree to stewardship and advancement of the ROOTS mission in terms of time, talent, and, yes – personal financial contribution. 
  • Note about process:  At ROOTS, we have an important and long-held tradition that coming forward for voting membership for the first time happens publicly at our Annual Meeting & Artists Retreat.  If you are not already a voting member, you must wait until the next Annual Meeting to come forward and be voted in by the rest of the body of voting members. At that time, you will be asked to speak to who you are, the work you do in the world, and how you feel your work combats oppression and/or aligns with the ROOTS mission.  The rest of the voting members then vote new members in. If you are unable to attend the AM, you can ask another voting member to come forward on your behalf. 
No matter who you are or what level of membership is right for you, everyone in the organization has shared responsibility for promoting ROOTS, its programs and causes through your personal endeavors.  You also receive the shared benefits of an extended network of artists, activists, and administrators working together to promote community-based art making, social justice, and a healthy environment for all.

Read more here:
If you are new to ROOTS, and even if you just need to brush up on roles and responsibilities, please take this opportunity to download our Membership Guide.




Membership List

To view a list of members who have submitted information about what they do and who they are, please click here.  Click on their names to go to their profile page where you can see images of their works and know more about them!









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Meet our Members!

Stage manager, actor, dancer, writer, fiber artist, gardener, lover of cats and music and all forms of chocolate.

Atlanta, GA
EliseWitt's picture

The producer of the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage calls Elise Witt “a performer to remember with international savvy & personal charm.”  Elise was born in Switzerland, raised in North Carolina, and since 1977 has made her home in Atlanta. She speaks five languages fluently, sings in over a dozen more, and has been a cultural ambassador to South Africa, Italy, Nicaragua, Switzerland, and China. A songwriter and composer, she tours the United States and the world with her Global, Local & Homemade Songs™. 2009 marked the release of Valise, Elise’s 11th recording for EMWorld Records, as well as the premiere of the Elise Witt Choral Series.

Pine Lake, GA

Artist Activist - Creating Art, Advancing Culture & Awareness

Little rock, AR
MCardona's picture

Melisa Cardona – The daughter of Latino immigrants, Melisa Cardona was raised between Atlanta, Georgia and her parents’ native land of Colombia.  After several years spent traveling the world and working in theater and film in Atlanta and on the West Coast, Melisa’s gaze turned organically towards the wetlands and New Orleans, LA.  She is currently the managing director of the New Orleans-based performance collective Mondo Bizarro. She is collaborating with various artists and theatre ensembles as a performer, visual artist (852 Art) and community organizer, including Alternate Roots, M.U.G.A.B.E.E., Artspot Productions, Rising Appalachia and many others.

New Orleans, LA

Public and community arts and events focussing on environmental and community building endeavors
Grow Art & Community, Nature Art in the Park, Greater Baltimore Children % Nature Collaborative and other regional projects

www.artandeffects.com
www.artandeffects/natureart/
www.artandeffects/growart/
www.artandeffects/greencitybaltimore

Baltimore, MD

Octavia is owner of SpoonWood Productions, an educational performing arts company offering storytelling, drama, music, writing, and substance abuse prevention programs.

Orlando, KY
wendeballew's picture

Has worked as a Arts Administrator, Stage Manager, and Techie in Atlanta for 15 years. Started a drama program at Lee Arrendale State Women's Prison in 2009. The program is in its infancy but Wende is hopeful that it will take hold and expand.

Atlanta, GA
HClark's picture

I have been working with Gwylene Gallimard for the last couple of years. It started by editing a paper she wrote with the RSC workgroup. I was new to RSC and appreciated the chance to listen. We got to go to the MICA conference that year and the paper is  on the Community Arts Network site.

http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2008/09/principles_of_w.php

Then we joined together to make a proposal for the MICA Ongoing Dialogue Project and worked in 2009 on the Ongoing Dialogue of the processes of the RSC program and what the RSC principles mean. check out http://alternateroots.org/programs/rsc/ongoingdialoguesproject

Chestertown, MD

Robert Martin is a storyteller, story facilitator, teaching artist, and cultural organizer/activist as well as a producer of vibrant community-based arts. He is passionate about using all forms of story, theatre and media to create spaces where audience and artists merge to transform the human condition.

Berea (BKLYN), KY
SSchroeder's picture

As a choreographer I focus on the creative process and the exploration of new and unique inspirations for the creation of movement. In 1980 I founded CORE, an organization committed to innovation, collaboration and risk-taking through which we create, perform and present contemporary dance. I have choreographed more than 40 works for CORE, and have commissioned myriad artists to collaboratively create new works with the company. With support from ROOTS I have initiated the Moving Towards Health project in Conway, AR to raise awareness of the arts' ability to engender communication and facilitate change. Through various platforms we will address issues surrounding eating disorders, body image and healthy lifestyles.

Atlanta, GA

I am a Exceptional Education teacher for multi-categorical students. I have K-6th grade students. I have been teaching for 33 as of 2011. I love my JOB! I am a member of Charleston Rhizome. I have been with this fantastic group for many years.

Charleston, SC

Nick Slie lives and works on the disappearing wetlands of coastal Louisiana. He is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of the New Orleans based performance collective Mondo Bizarro. He is an actor, director, writer, educator and community activist. Nick’s performance work ranges from physical theater to multi-disciplinary solo work, from digital storytelling to collaborative ensemble productions. He creates original works of performance that are rooted in a particular sense-of-place reflecting the needs, desires, memories and possibilities of the community from which it is born.

New Orleans, LA, LA

I am a Healthy Lifestyle Consultant and Personal Trainer.

Jackson, MS

D. Patton White, based in Atlanta, Georgia, has worked for more than 25 years as a dancer/choreographer, arts administrator, free lance costume designer and educator. He is currently the Artistic Director of Beacon Dance, and is the Company Manager/Production Manager of CORE.

Atlanta, GA

Molly is Director and Principal Artist of NANA PROJECTS a Baltimore based company of visual alchemists inventing innovative artwork that draws people together in public spaces, strengthening their sense of community identity through shared cultural experience. The company specializes in parades and puppet shows.

Baltimore, MD
LSmith's picture

Rising Appalachia tears into sound with sensual prowess as stages ignite revolutions and words light up spirit fires.

New Orleans, LA

Has benefited from the Virginia Fellowship for Individual Writers due to her highly recommended wor(d)-shops and literary works. A member of the 2007-8 Charlotte National Poetry Slam Championship Team, the reigning Red Bull Word Clash champion, and currently runs “Say What?!?” a national collegiate performance Word-Shop driven by Red Bull. NAACP Image Award Nominee for works in the Anthology Home Girls Make Some Noise, Published In: Essence, Old Dominion University’s 44th St. Poets Journal, S. Florida University Urban Griot, 1st Spoken Word artist cover story for Portfolio Magazine, The Syracuse University Women in Hip-Hop and National Featured Poet for Rolling Out and Creative Loafing, amongst thousands of online journals.

Atlanta, GA

Jo Carson is the author of seven books including Stories I Ain’t Told Nobody Yet which is taught widely in Appalachian Literature courses. TCG has recently published Spider Speculations: A Physics and Biophysics of Storytelling, which considers how stories work in our bodies and our lives. Liars, Thieves, and Other Sinners on the Bench is a collection of Jo’s favorite material from the community story plays she has written. Liars, Thieves… is also performance material for Jo. She has won five national awards for her traditional plays (including the Kesselring Prize for Daytrips) and these plays have been produced widely this country, including Hartford Stage Company, the Women’s Project in NYC and the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Johnson City, TN

Sharon works in Multi and New media with emphasis in video and film to create work which investigates personal and social issues. Recently she has been interested in the pathology of racism in the United States as well as the circle of life. Her enduring primary interest lies in the exploration of the transformative nature of the arts and possible applications in addressing collective issues.

Atlanta, GA

Support for Individual Artists (painters and sculptors) through art education, grant and fellowship programs, and organizational support.

New York, NY
poetmargo's picture

Margo is a cultural activist who believes art is a powerful tool for organizing communities, currently working as the Appalachian Community Fund Development Director. Margo is a founding director of Mason/Rhynes Productions, an arts service organization based in Washington, DC that is dedicated to providing quality work designed to challenge, enlighten and entertain diverse populations. She works as an administrator for the Carpetbag Theatre, a professional ensemble company whose mission is to give artistic voice to the issues and dreams of people who have been silenced by various forms of oppression. Margo is honing her photography and textile arts skills.

Knoxville, TN
JClare's picture

JAEHN ("Jane") CLARE has more than thirty years experience as an actor, director, producer, playwright, teaching artist and arts administrator. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota, and an MA in Dramatic Literature from the University of Essex, in Colchester, England. Since 1986, Jaehn has been active as a disability awareness educator and trainer, offering workshops in a variety of community settings. As a Teaching Artist, she has worked with diverse participants in diverse school and community settings across the U.S. and abroad, including a four-week long residency in Cairo, Egypt in July 2007.

Atlanta, GA
Kwietha's picture

I am an artist that has performed in many different Genres of entertainment.

Mother
Acting/Stage Coach
Children Dinner Theaters Centered around Healthy Food and Living Choices
Women's Empowerment and Adult Workshop - Empowerment through Theater
Acting and Voiceover Artist/ Teacher
Adult Entertainment/Playing With Your Food

Atlanta, GA

I'm a storyteller who "carries words" from times in places where the Old South met the Original South; stories born by melding and conflicts between Indigenous peoples and colonizing immigrants, truly southern stories lived in spirit and flesh. As a writer and performer for WagonBurner, the Native American radio theater directed by Leanne Howe, my characters often spoke from the lives of people who I knew as neighbors living in small, Indian settlements in rural Alabama. Theater written from oral literatures, oral histories, papers tossed into courthouse basements or jumbled for sale with recipe books by a roadside flea market vendor.

Mobile, AL

i primarily work with the visual arts. i am a builder.
i am part of azule : to provide a place where artists and community meet, learn and work through the arts in their many forms.
i work for inclusion : disability, class, race, gender, beliefs...

hot springs, NC
SCrump's picture

Sage Crump is Managing Director of Art is Change, fiscally sponsored program of the Movement Strategies Center. Art is Change is a network of artists, creative thinkers and organizations leveraging art and creative practice for cultural transformation based in love and community. Art Is Change is committed to cultural wellness and is thus committed to supporting the work of those who; share progressive values; share a belief in the transformative power of art and creative practice; and work to transform culture in the areas of economy, ecology, community and creativity.

Atlanta, GA
NWilson's picture

Nia Wilson is a poet, performer, and storyteller. As the current executive director of SpiritHouse, a local grassroots cultural organizing collective committed to community accountability and (w)holistic healing. Nia works with fellow artists, organizers, and community members to assess, express, and address their own needs.
SpiritHouse works to support the empowerment and transformation of communities most affected by racism, poverty, gender discrimination, and the school to prison pipeline, through innovative grassroots programs, cultural arts and community collaboration.

Durham, NC
colemano's picture

clergy and chaplaincy

New Orleans Bywater, LA

By day I'm the Deputy Director of the Southern Arts Federation working with our staff, board and regional partners to build a better South through the arts. I'm particularly interested in arts participation, strategic planning and action, organizational learning and working with a great creative team. I also create glass art and jewelry as Southern Flameworks; I'm a consultant and facilitator in critical response, audio description, participation building and other arts areas; and I see and hear as much work as I can in Atlanta and beyond.

Atlanta, GA
spope8's picture

I work as an actor/creator, director, musician, teaching artist, and creativity facilitator. My solo work includes both physical theatre work and historical pieces based on primary sources. DREADFULLY WHITE, my current solo touring play, tells the story of a child of a violent family who grows up to care for the family abuser, and is aimed at college/university and fringe audiences. A program called STRONG STANCE takes the play and workshops to populations at risk of exposure to domestic violence.

Danville, KY
MNolan's picture

Improviational Theatre. Movement Theatre. Poetry. Dance

Asheville, NC

A Vessel

Philadelphia, PA

A multifaceted effort aimed at illuminating the beauty and poignancy of African life and culture, inclusive of focus on African retention in the diaspora.

Winter Garden, FL
THartt's picture

An actor/director/activist Trey is Director of Development & Community Partnerships for The Conciliation Project, a social justice theatre organization promoting dialogue on Racism in America. He is also the Coordinator for Resources for Social Change of AlternateROOTS. He has a background in theatre administration, facilitation, devising new works, and developing non-profits. Based in Richmond, he has two works in progress, his solo performance titled, "Who is Starlet Begonias?" and "Galakdicka Girls", a piece of drag theatre in collaboration with two other artists, Donzell Lewis and Jordan Frink.

Richmond, VA

Art allows a voice for support and for protest, and like a hammer can help build movements and help tear down what stands between us. The central theme of my work is the absolute imperative that human creatures recognize their symbiotic relationship with the rest of the planet. We cannot fix anything alone without recognizing what these connections offer us: peace, empowerment, rationality, deep roots. Bugs, bats, vines, eggs, seeds and bones mix and intertwine in my work. They loop into lungs and out of mouths. They tie everything together: the workers, the ants, the despots, the tree roots.

Florence, MA

Jason Harris is a Writer, Martial Artist and Percussionist based in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the Art Education coordinator for Sanaa Kundi Arts, Inc. Jason co-founded the Baltimore chapter of the International Capoeira Angola Foundation, a cultural arts group that teaches and propagates the martial art Capoeira Angola.

Baltimore, MD

Caron Atlas works to support and stimulate arts and culture as an integral part of social justice. She directs the Arts & Democracy Project and codirects the New York Naturally Occurring Cultural District Working Group. Caron consults with foundations and teaches at New York University and Pratt Institute. She directed Place + Displaced, a project of Fractured Atlas; worked at Appalshop, the Appalachian media center; and was the founding director of the American Festival Project, a national coalition of activist artists. She also has worked with National Voice, Urban Institute, and Animating Democracy, and is co-editor of Bridge Conversations, People Who Live and Work in Multiple Worlds and Critical Perspectives: Writings on Art and Civic Dialogue.

Brooklyn, NY

undisputed king of the electric slide...

Pulaski, TN
altroots's picture

Ana is an information technologist who specializes in creating and integrating websites, databases and software flows for small businesses and non-profits. She has a degree from the Rhode Island School of Design in Industrial Design, and has been working with non-profits around technology for the last 10 years.

As well as contracting for Alternate ROOTS, Ana owns and operates jellobrain (http://jellobrain.com) which aids non-profits in tightening and integrating their information flows and systems. Among other organizations, Ana has worked with: Bioneers, the Institute of American Indian Arts, the southern Center for Human Rights, the United States Social Forum, and the Metro Atlanta Taskforce for the Homeless.

Atlanta, GA
GGallimard's picture

Gwylene Gallimard & Jean-Marie Mauclet's collaborative experiences include two community-oriented French cafes; art installations about the health insurance industry, the fast food phenomenon, religious beliefs; archives & history, globalization, gentrification, populations displaced by war, dictatorship. Their endeavors have involved school populations, a homeless community, a refugee organization, art institutions, other artists and activists.

Charleston, SC

I am a stage director, arts and community cultural development organizer, and teacher. I work in conventional theater spaces and in "found" , indoors and out. I direct written scripts and I develop new work through collaborative processes. I am interested in plays that engage in direct audience interaction and that offer contributions to relevant public dialogues in the communities of the play's production. I am on the CAPP/RSC WorkGroup and am an RSC trainer. I am director of the MFA in Theatre at Virginia Tech, where I teach the MFA programs in Stage Management, and in Directing and Public Dialogue.

Blacksburg, VA

I use theatre hip-hop and spoken word to tell stories and give voice to the times. Wheter it be education or social justice, i use art as a platform for poor and under represented people. My goal is to make art fun and entertaining, yet informative and educating.

new orleans, LA
Tambone's picture

Tambone is a writer with a versatile style and many years of experience communicating with a wide range of audiences. She's a performer at heart, whether as a singer, dancer, actor, storyteller, impersonator, public speaker, and an all-around “ham" (thus the nickname "Tambone"). She's also a dedicated activist on behalf of social and environmental justice and sustainable development in Appalachia, and for years she has produced graphic art in the form of posters for non-profit organizations, activist and educational events, and cultural festivals.

Big Hill, KY

"We gotta laugh; we swapped immortality for accessories!" is a sample of Meg's observations expressed through the written word, digital stories, photo images and found object sculptures, where she explores 21st century values from the viewpoint of her life as a worldly South Ga environmentalist. FMI www.megtilleyanderson.com where there is a link to her blog.

Parrott, GA
Diana Morningstar Ault's picture

Diana (Morningstar) Ault is a community artist, activist, producer, performer and fulltime grandmother of three now! She's been on the boards and staff of over a dozen non-profit organizations locally, statewide, nationally and internationally. She loves creating cultures of peace by bringing people together to play across lines of race, class, and culture, recognizing the oneness and interdependency of all beings.

Hermitage, TN
EGolden's picture

Betty's Daughter Arts Collaborative is an "arts-in-action" group based in Manhattan, NY and Durham, NC that creates radical expressiveness in community. Betty's Daughter believes another world is possible through a multidisciplinary practice of cultural work, creativity, social consciousness, and grassroots activism. Betty's Daughter collaborates with individuals artists, groups, non-profits, and CBOs that work from a sound, progressive socio-political platform and seek to activate art as a tool for individual transformation and social justice.

Durham, NY
JMather's picture

-Community-based public art
-Environmental sculpture
-Site art
-Arts Education: Teaching Artist
-Collaboration coach
-RSC facilitator and 2X C/APP recipient

Decatur, GA
KStephens's picture

Karen is a South Florida-based professional actress. She has also worked with at risk youth in her community of West Palm Beach through Planned Parenthood, The Kravis Center of the Performing Arts, The Florida Institute for Girls and Alternative Arts Education.She has been a member of Alternate Roots since 1994.

West Palm Beach, Fl 33405, FL

Poet, playwright, musician and performance artist, Lenelle Moïse, creates jazz-infused, hip-hop bred, performance texts about Haitian-American identity, creative resistance and the intersection of race, class, gender, sexuality and spirit.
More info at http://www.lenellemoise.com

Northampton, MA
cepsten's picture

Composer of music for theater, film, even television (once). Violinist, classically trained but working the other side too. Performing ensembles include the DeLuxe Vaudeville Orchestra, the 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra & the Albany Symphony. Teacher of violin and director of string program at Glennwood Academy in Decatur GA. Vaudevillian, perhaps, depending on current definition.

Atlanta, GA
Guerrilla Girls On Tour's picture

Guerrilla Girls On Tour is a New York City based touring theatre company that creates fresh and original comedies celebrating women’s history -- past, present and future. All of our work is presented using masks and draws from a variety of classic theatre techniques such as physical theatre, vaudeville and parody resulting in our own unique style that allow us to imaginatively portray a wide range of characters and scenarios with minimal technical elements.

New York, NY

I am an artist who has been trying to learn more about education, organizing, community building, and social change. I am a true believer in the power of creative expression. My art manifests in many forms. It began with watching and listening, which eventually led to poetry. From poetry I merged my love for moving images, and began making video poems in tribute to my favorite poets. From there I began writing short stories, to better grasp structure. Following this I began a three year collaboration with Theo "Tree" Arrington, a truly wise man. We worked on a project called Hip-Hop Theater, which brought college students and high school students together to harness their expressive potential through the multi-media outlets of hip-hop and theater.

Los Angeles, CA
aassaf's picture

Andrea Assaf is a performer, writer, director, educator and activist. MA in Performance Studies, BFA in Acting, NYU. Performance work ranges from spoken word to original, community-based, interdisciplinary or cross-cultural theater. Original works include: Eleven Reflections on September; Outside the Circle with Samuel Valdez; Fronteras Desviadas / Deviant Borders with Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro; and solo performance Globalicities. Directing includes: breaking letter(s) by Suheir Hammad; Shekadii Walaalo / Sister-Story by the Walaalo! Somali Sisters Collective; and Parang Sabil by Kinding Sindaw. Awards: 2010 Princess Grace Award, 2010 NPN Creation Fund commission, 2007 Hedgebrook residency, and 2004 Contacto Cultural grant.

Tampa, FL

Melanie St. Ours is an actress, director, teaching artist, and community-based performance artist who lives and works in Washington DC. Her past work includes founding and directing Acting Up, a theater company of homeless and formerly homeless performers (a partnership with Picture the Homeless: Bronx, NY), collaborations with the viBe Theater Experience, and work with Sojourn Theater on The Race. In 2007 she won an Emerging Artist Fellowship from Global Arts Village in New Delhi to develop and perform her first original work, The Rumi Project.

Washington, DC
DBrawley's picture

Dan Brawley is the director of the Cucalorus Film Festival and an artist working in a wide range of disciplines. Dan's artistic practice is defined by a collaborative approach to the artmaking process. Recent installations included musicians, performers and a host of visual artists.

Wilimington, NC
priscillagaysmith's picture

Performer, writer, director, collaborator, rabble rouser, teacher, dancer, community artist, activist

Atlanta, GA

Carlton Turner is the artistic director and co-founder, along with his brother Maurice Turner, of the performing group M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Men Under Guidance Acting Before Early Extinction) a group composed of two brothers performing a theatrical blend of jazz, hip-hop, spoken word poetry and soul music. M.U.G.A.B.E.E. has released two albums, "Earth Tones" (2002) and "World Domination" (2006). They are currently touring a new play "Batteries in the Killing Machine" across the country. Carlton studied English and history at the University of Mississippi from 1992-1996. M.U.G.A.B.E.E.

Raymond, MS
ashleysparkles's picture

Ashley Sparks holds an M.F.A. in Directing and Public Dialogue from Virginia Tech University and is a 2008 Princess Grace Honoraria Awardee. Directing projects include Turning of the Bones by Jan Villarrubia, La Pastorela St. Joseph by Jack Bentz, Incide by Erik Ehn, and The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler. Ensemble developed and directed projects include 28: A Traveling Menstrual Show.
She has worked nationally with ensemble theatre companies such as Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles and AboutFace Youth Ensemble in Chicago. She has served as both an assistant director and community organizer on projects with Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble in NYC, DXM Theatre in Seattle, and Synchronicity in Atlanta. She is an ensemble member with ArtSpot Productions

New Orleans, LA

A New Kind of Listening is a 58 minute documentary film: the story of a visionary director, a one-of-a-kind theater group, and a young man who couldn't speak, yet found the voice he had been searching for all his life.

Asheville, NC, NC
STurner's picture

Shannon has been Manager of Programs & Services at Alternate ROOTS since May 2009. Having lived in Blacksburg, VA for ten years, Shannon was wrapping up her M.F.A. at Virginia Tech when the tragic shootings occurred there in 2007. She worked in the Blacksburg community for nearly a year following the tragedy to spearhead an organization called HERE: Honoring Experiences, Reflections, and Expressions. HERE's goals were to facilitate ongoing artistic response and dialogue toward the community's healing.

Atlanta, GA

Sarah Powers is an artist based in Raleigh, North Carolina whose mixed media work focuses on industrial and rural landscapes and landscape details. Her work has been featured in galleries across the U.S. including Rhode Island’s risd l works, The Sarah Doyle Gallery at Brown University and The Mahler Gallery, The Collectors Gallery, Long View Gallery, Rebus Works, Vision Gallery and Artspace in North Carolina. Powers is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and maintains a studio at antfarm in the Boylan Heights Neighborhood of Raleigh. Sarah is currently the executive director of Visual Art Exchange, a nonprofit art organization that supports emerging artists and produces SPARKcon, an annual interdisciplinary art festival.

raleigh, NC
tbchristie's picture

aya arts & media investigates society through the prisms of art, culture, history & social justice. Where these themes intersect, we believe, the most innovative artwork is made.

Brooklyn, NY
InnerCity's picture

“YOU. WILL. NOT. STOP. DANCING.

The best part about living in the ‘2000’s is the different genres of music that smash like atoms, creating a brilliant flash of energy. Such is the genesis of the Inner City All Stars, who slams together old-school funk, New Orleans jazz, D.C. GO-GO, rap from back in the day and blaxploitation wah-wah rock into one big booty-shakin’ jam.” - JONANNA WIDNER, DALLAS OBSERVER

Dalllas, TX

Creating sets and scenery for Plays and Video in Poughkeepsie, NY. Acting and writing when I get the chance.

Poughkeepsie NY, NY

Sheila Kerrigan, The Juggler Who Drops! The Mime Who Talks!, performs and teaches mime, communication, conflict resolution, collaborative creative process, juggling, and theater. In her performance for adults, Mime Explains String Theory, she starts before birth, ends after death, and in the middle she discovers the meaning of life and valiantly struggles to communicate it. 

Chapel Hill, NC

Rachel grew up in Oakland, CA and is currently living in New Orleans. She is very lucky to work with Rethink, an organization that helps youth formulate a vision for change in their schools. This past summer she co-facilitated a series of Boal-based drama workshops with the Rethinkers. Rachel has a BA in Drama from Vassar College, but isn't much interested in putting on plays. She would like to learn more about Boal/Theater of the Oppressed and how to use art as a tool for conflict resolution.

New Orleans, LA
DH Cooper's picture

All of my art projects deal with relationships. Currently I am working on The Nanny Project which deals with many questions around a complex role.
My project has started with the African American nanny. These women have helped raise generations of white people, yet we still see much inequality among these two groups. While the nanny role here in the States historically started with slavery we currently see not just African American, but Latina, and other women from Third World countries who are making huge sacrifices to help raise children in the First World.
This work delves into gender, race, and class issues-- All important issues which require deeper dialogues and more awareness.

Charleston, SC

I am a teacher educator who has some experience in various art forms but is primarily a "patron of the arts" and a researcher who uses "arts-informed" inquiry in exploring the experiences of schools and teachers. I use arts-based projects in my classes when possible but try to use my classroom and research as a venue for the work of working artists. My primary interest is in aesthetic education (as opposed to arts education) and have studied at Lincoln Center and with Maxine Greene. I want to increase my efforts to promote that approach in public education.

Avondale Estates, GA
Philadelphia, PA, PA

My work is generally issue driven. No subject is off limits. Gender, sexuality, politics, race, bigotry, abuse, religion, suicide, mysticism and consumerism are all fair game. I avoid any attempt to make “pretty” dances. I am more than a little obsessed with American pop culture, so I often choose to explore current headlines. The process is very collaborative; usually taking on a life of its own. Although the performance product may or may not contain the elements of its origin, I find that if the genesis of the work is highly charged the product has a better chance of success. I work with dancers that are also trained in various theatre and performance arts. Regardless of the disciplines, the product is always highly integrated.

Natchitoches, LA

Jessica Solomon, Founding Producer of The Saartjie Project, a growing theatre company committed to exploring and transforming sterotypes and politics surrounding the black female body. The tumultuous life of Sara "Saartjie" Baartman (also known as the Hottentot Venus) is the catalyst for the boundary stretching stage presentation. Jessica was recognized as an “Emerging Artist” by the historical Lincoln Theatre and has participated in community theater and several documentaries.

Washington, DC
kingisapoet's picture

Does poetry performanices, and workshops to encourage people to change, and create change.

Charlotte, NC