Shannon M. Turner

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. She recently published an article on the Community Arts Network, about the year-long journey with HERE, which culminated with a multidisciplinary arts program on the anniversary of the shootings. You can watch a video of Shannon's performance piece related to this project here.

During the MFA program, Shannon was also involved in a campus/community arts & dialogue project called [classified]. [classified] was an original play devised from student and community member stories, produced for the campus and community, which explored themes of safety, diversity, harassment, and community. A full article about this performance/dialogue project can also be found on the CAN website. Shannon worked for over a year as development director for Synchronicity Performance Group in Atlanta, GA.

She enjoys her residence in the Little 5 Points community, and along with her active membership in Alternate ROOTS since 2005, she serves on the Advisory Board for the Community Arts Network.