Join us for a Creative Conversation centered around intersections between Arts & Social Justice in the current political climate. Do we have an obligation to react and engage? How can artists and arts organizations participate in the dialogue? We'll be joined by expert panelists who will help focus the conversation, and a round circle format will invite all attendees to add their voice!
PANELISTS
Joshua Carroll is an organizer, a student of the human experience, a technologist, and an artist. He believes the crises we face today are symptoms of deeper wounds and disconnection. We can move through these crises intact only by healing these wounds – systemic racism, colonialism, extractive economics; and restoring our connection to land, community and ourselves. As Director of Art and Curation, Joshua has helped Catharsis on the Mall (catharsisonthemall.com) grow from a small community vigil to an inclusive space for artists, organizers, teachers, musicians, performers, activists and communities from across D.C., the region and the country to come together to heal, connect, learn, and catalyze the cultural and social transformations we so desperately need. He also helped found the D.C. ReInvest coalition (dcreinvest.org), organizes with Showing Up for Racial Justice DC, and helped instigate this year’s roving queer social justice dance parties with WERK for Peace.
JR Russ is a Washington native. He received his B.A. in Dance from the University of Maryland, College Park, and went on to American University, for his M.A. in Arts Management. He has worked on and off stage with local dance and theatre companies. JR is the Director of Community Engagement at the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates by day, and engages in artsy shenanigans by night and on the weekends. The latter includes serving on the board of Dance Place. He is also active in the local Burning Man community, where he is known as Nexus. And his latest adventure is living in a group house he helped start, The 717 House, geared towards being place for community, collaboration, and creativity. His next adventure may be running for his Advisory Neighborhood Commission in 2018.
Farah Lawal Harris is an actress, playwright, teaching artist, and the Artistic Director of Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT). She is a two-time recipient of the Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program individual artist grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She holds three Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Maryland-College Park in Theatre Performance, Criminology & Criminal Justice, and African American Studies and was a Founding Member of the Washington, DC-based theatre companies The Saartjie Project and Wild Women Theatre. Farah has performed throughout DC and presented her one-woman show, So Do You Love Me Yet? in the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival. Farah’s plays focus on highlighting black women's experiences and have been produced in the Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage Festival (FRESHH Inc.), Theater Alliance’s Hothouse New Play Development Series, Convergence Theatre, the Capital Fringe Festival, the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference and the DC Black Theatre Festival. For more information, please visit www.farahlawal.com.
