Creative Minds Out Loud

Episode 70: Out Youth Theater – Revelatory Experience for Performers and Audience

The Theater Offensive presents the diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer lives in art so bold it breaks through personal isolation, challenges the status quo, and builds thriving communities. Evelyn Francis, Interim Artistic Director, discusses their youth program – a national model for creative youth development – where young people not only create original work and share it back to the community, but are true partners in developing a range of expanded opportunities within the program.

Evelyn Francis. Photo by Joel Benjamin. Evelyn Francis, Interim Artistic Director at The Theater Offensive, is a theatre artist, award-winning educator, and established arts administrator with experience working directly with over 10 Boston area arts organizations. Evelyn’s M.A. in Theatre Education from Emerson College culminated in a thesis, which examined the effects of devised work in the lives of LGBTQ youth.
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Episode 69: Iconoclast of Dance

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Choreographer and Master Teacher Adrienne Hawkins discusses the field of dance – how the making of, and support for, the work has changed over time, its persistent challenges, and its inherent joys.

Adrienne T Hawkins Ms. Hawkins holds a BA in Education from Arizona State University and a MFA in Dance from Connecticut College. She was Artistic Director of Impulse Dance Company of Boston, which had been in existence for over forty years. Impulse Dance had toured extensively in the United States and abroad, Impulse has opened for such acts as Miles Davis, and Al Green.
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Episode 68: Access Means Overcoming Psychological Barriers, Too

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Matthias Waschek, Executive Director of the Worcester Art Museum, says truly accessible museums create experiences that make visitors want to return. In doing so they must challenge institutional norms to welcome and engage more diverse populations.

Matthias Waschek joined the Worcester Art Museum in 2011 as the C. Jean and Myles McDonough Director. German born, he earned his Ph.D. from Bonn University, working on French art in the age of Colonialism. He has published extensively in the areas of French art nouveau and the history of art history. His curatorial experience spans from old masters to contemporary art.
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Episode 67: Connecting Rural Schools to Arts Education

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The Berkshires are home to an array of arts and culture organizations, and 13 schools districts. Connecting these two worlds often means overcoming barriers of distance and transportation. Lisa Donovan, Professor of Arts Management at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, discusses efforts underway to create a regional, rural model for collaboration between arts education and cultural institutions. Through collective thinking they are working to ensure that their schools mirror the rich cultural assets of their communities.

Lisa Donovan, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Fine and Performing Arts Department at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Prior to this she served as Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Creative Arts in Learning Division at Lesley University. Continue reading “Episode 67: Connecting Rural Schools to Arts Education”

Episode 66: Lynn, Lynn, City of Murals

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Al Wilson, Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Walls, discusses their work to create public art installations in Lynn, MA. He shares how perceptions were torn down as part of this process, bringing people into downtown and changing the image and ethos around this diverse and vibrant city.

Al Wilson is the Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Walls, a creative placemaking agency based in Lynn, Massachusetts whose mission is to activate public space to strengthen communities. In 2016, Al and a robust volunteer committee launched a grass-roots effort to implement four inaugural large scale public art installations in downtown Lynn, a post-industrial city located just 10 miles north of Boston. Inspired by projects in Brooklyn, New York; Philadelphia, PA; Kings Cross, London; and Wynwood, Miami, Al recognized Lynn’s rich history, distinctive architecture, and burgeoning arts and cultural district as the perfect landscape in which to test the creative economy.
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