Inviting the Imagination: Dreaming a Future Together Through the Arts
Apr
18
to Apr 19

Inviting the Imagination: Dreaming a Future Together Through the Arts

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"The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been concealed by the answers." -James Baldwin

 “If you want to end the war then Instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending tanks, send pens. Instead of sending soldiers, send teachers.” -Malala Yousafzai

Art–creative expression–offers powerful practices and tools for engaging across lines of conflict, for positive social change and social justice. You are invited to join this two-day, two-part Peace Cafe series in partnership with Seeds of Peace to dream up better ways for human beings to live together in conversation with internationally renowned artists, experienced scholars, and educators. 

Event leaders include creative instigator Hanoch Piven, artist and activist Mira Awad, and educators with deep experience with conflict transformation,  Meenakshi Chhabra, Deb Bicknell, and Daniel Noah Moses.

 

Event Leaders


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Hanoch Piven

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Mira Awad

 
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Meenakshi Chhabra

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Deborah Bicknell

 
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Daniel Noah Moses

 
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Investigating the Poet-Playwright
Apr
8
to Apr 29

Investigating the Poet-Playwright

When does a poem cease being a poem and becomes a play?  In celebration of National Poetry Month, join playwright Gethsemane Herron-Coward as she leads a series of workshops examining poetry and lyricism in playwriting.  Attendees will create and share their own poetry-infused one-act play in the concluding session. Presented in partnership with the DC Public Library.

This is a 4-session workshop. Dates are April 8, 15, 22 and 29 at 6:30 PM EST.

 

Workshop Facilitator


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Gethsemane Herron-Coward is a playwright from Washington, D.C. She has developed work with JAG Productions, The Flea, The Hearth, Magic Time @ Judson, The Ice Factory Festival at the New Ohio Theatre, Playwright’s Playground at Classical Theatre of Harlem, The Fire This Time Festival, The Liberation Theater Company, and Ars Nova, where she is a Resident Artist with Ars Nova’s Play Group. Additional residencies from the Virginia Center of the Creative Arts, VONA and the Millay Colony, where she was the recipient of the Yasmin Scholarship. Semi-Finalist for the Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Finalist for Space on Ryder Farm’s Creative Residency, the Dennis and Victoria Roth Playwright’s Program, the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, and the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival (pending.) MFA: Columbia University. Proud member of the Dramatist’s Guild. She’s enamored with Sailor Moon, witches and other magical girl warriors. She writes for survivors.

 
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Lorraine Hansberry: Pioneer and Playwright
Mar
23
6:30 PM18:30

Lorraine Hansberry: Pioneer and Playwright

In celebration of Women's History Month, join scholar, artist and cultural critic, Jordan Ealey, as she leads a discussion examining the life and work of trailblazer Lorraine Hansberry. Attendees should watch the documentary, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes|Feeling Heart and read Hansberry's play, Les Blancs, in preparation for the discussion. The documentary can be found in DCPL’s Kanopy database at https://dclibrary.kanopy.com/video/lorraine-hansberry-sighted-eyesfeeling-heart Presented in partnership with the DC Public Library.

 

Workshop Facilitator


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Jordan Ealey is a scholar, artist, and cultural critic who divides her time between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia. Jordan is pursuing a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park and researching Black theatre and performance, Black feminist theories and praxis, musical theatre history, dramaturgy, and Black girlhood studies. Alongside academic work, Jordan is a dramaturg who specializes in new play development and production dramaturgy, working with institutions such as Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Hush Harbor Lab, Theatrical Outfit, Working Title Playwrights, and Synchronicity Theatre. Jordan co-hosts and co-produces of Daughters of Lorraine, a podcast on Black theatre through a Black feminist lens, which is supported by HowlRound Theatre Commons.

 
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CREATIVE CONVERSATION — Afrofuturism: Past-Future in Art and Performance
Feb
25
7:30 PM19:30

CREATIVE CONVERSATION — Afrofuturism: Past-Future in Art and Performance

Afrofuturism is a philosophy, an aesthetic, a creative revolution and a term coined by Mark Dery in 1993 that is a celebration and liberation of Black imagination. Exploring inner and outer space, Afrofuturism expands the stereotype of what black art “should” center, speaking to the African diaspora through techno-culture and science fiction. Dery said it best that Afrofuturism goes “Black to the Future” to unchain the mind and build a new world without the influence of European colonizers. The Creative Conversation will tour through Afrofuturism’s legacy founders like Sun Ra, George Clinton, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Octavia Butler, and travel contemporary passageways of work like Steam Funk, Black Panther, and Carbo Nerdiest, discussing artists like Erykah Badu, Janelle Monáe, Solange, and more. 

 

PANELISTS & ARTISTS COMING SOON!


 
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CREATIVE CONVERSATION — Storytelling the Beauty and Diversity of Black Manhood
Jan
28
7:30 PM19:30

CREATIVE CONVERSATION — Storytelling the Beauty and Diversity of Black Manhood

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With the re-release of Psalmayene 24’s ‘Dear Mapel,’ Mosaic is partnering with Project GoodMen for a conversation on the beauty and diversity of Black manhood, intergenerational mentorship, and the power of the arts. Our Creative Conversation will explore the transformational act of sharing our stories, celebrate the DC programs empowering Black men, and amplify the spectrum of Black male identity. Featuring local and national organizations, artists, and community leaders, this event will spotlight artistic expression and make a deep-dive into how we continue to struggle for and co-create mutual liberation.

 

PANELISTS & ARTISTS


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DARIO DURHAM

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GABRIEL T. BROWN

 
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DR. CLARENCE LUSANE

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DAVID STREET

 
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OWEN MANNING

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LEVAR JONES

 
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CREATIVE CONVERSATION — At the Border Lands: How We Make Home
Dec
28
7:30 PM19:30

CREATIVE CONVERSATION — At the Border Lands: How We Make Home

How do we build a home? In times of discord, storytellers and artists gather to envision a world much like Dr. Martin Luther King’s Beloved Community — a community based on justice, equal opportunity, and love of one's fellow human beings. 

Featuring music, poetry, art, and film from artists across the globe, Mosaic will uplift those who are making home, place and art at the front lines of conflict zones. We will sing the love of difference, the power of energy and fearlessness, and honor the profound work happening at border lands.


 

PANELISTS & ARTISTS


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RASHAYLA MARIE BROWN

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MEI ANN TEO

 
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TOTO KISAKU

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MICAH HENDLER

 
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EVREN ODCIKIN

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KAREEM FAHMY

 
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DOLORES DIAZ

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MONICA CURCA

 
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JESS KAUFMAN

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OSCAR LANCASTER

 
 
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MEGAN SANDBERG-ZAKIAN

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BOOK CLUB — Ten Lessons for a Post Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria
Dec
21
4:00 PM16:00

BOOK CLUB — Ten Lessons for a Post Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

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We are in this together. Climate change, poverty, and disease do not respect borders. Ours is a Global community. Fareed Zakaria has been called "the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation" (Esquire) and here, he sets out lessons from COVID to create global safety. In part, he says, it requires an approach where the people listen to the experts—and the experts listen to the people. 

Join us for a month-long exploration of the themes with weekly questions posed in our newsletter and social media. Then, on Monday December 21st at 4pm, we’ll convene via Zoom to reflect, discuss, and envision lessons for building a global home with shifting borders.

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PEACE CAFE — At the Border Lands: Making Peace at Points of Conflict
Dec
7
4:00 PM16:00

PEACE CAFE — At the Border Lands: Making Peace at Points of Conflict

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What if borders were places that, rather than divide us, show us we are twice as mighty? We are bound not by a line drawn in the sand, but by a shared humanity. Our December Peace Cafe will explore the local and international community builders, social justice warriors, and artistic healers who are making peace at points of conflict—including you! 

Join us for an open zoom discussion that will feature art by international Seeds of Peace makers, a panel discussion of renowned scholars, an open time for discussion, and a short poetry workshop to create your own artistic reflection.

 

PANELISTS


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Molly Josephs

Molly Josephs is a project-based educator who, with an inspiring team of teenagers, founded and runs the youth dialogue and podcasting program This Teenage Life, found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It features episodes about topics that are particularly resonant with teens, preteens, parents, and educators. 

Molly has spent the past decade teaching middle and high school biology and computer science, and designing project-based curricula. Since studying biology at Brown University, and school leadership at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, she has worked in independent, public district, and public charter schools including High Tech High, The Dalton School, Codman Academy, and The Healey School. She also spent three years on a team working to start a new kind of in-district, project-based high school called Powderhouse Studios. Molly has been a part of the Seeds of Peace community over the past eight years as an American Delegation Leader and a GATHER Fellow.

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Meenakshi Chhabra

Meenakshi Chhabra serves as an Associate Dean in the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences at Lesley University in Massachusetts's. She has been a scholar-practitioner in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies for more than two decades and has been recognized as Fulbright scholar and Fulbright Specialist in the field. In addition to her teaching and research, Meenakshi is passionate about working in and with communities and in collaborative partnerships. She has been associated with the Seeds of Peace since 2001. She is a trainer with the Eastern Mennonite University's, STAR Program (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) and is on the national team of the Center for Restorative Justice at the University of San Diego.

 
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Naissa Isaro

Naissa Isaro is the co-founder of CivilTEA Discourse, a network of dialogue programs being implemented across public high schools on the East Coast of the US. In these dialogue programs, participants engage in extended dialogue on politically or socially charged topics in order to build respect and empathy for differing opinions, beliefs, and experiences

Naissa has been part of seeds since 2015. She started off as a camper, than a PS (paradigm shifter), an intern for the the educators summer program to finally a 2019 Gather fellow. 

The idea for the program came in 2016, shortly after Naissa’s second summer at the Seeds of Peace Camp and her sister Pricillia’s first. It was a time when America was beginning to experience a type of divisiveness they hadn’t witnessed since arriving in the U.S., and it hit extremely close to home for Naissa. Her mother had always made sure that her children paid attention to what was going on around them—from gentrification changing the composition of neighborhoods in Portland, to politics happening in both their home and their adoptive country.

It took hard work, but the events eventually it became part of the curriculum at their school, with regular dialogues on whatever the students wanted to talk about—racism, identity, beauty norms, immigration, religion, sexual orientation. Before long, other schools began to take notice, and CivilTEA blossomed from there.

They currently have four schools that are fully signed onto the program, which includes schoolwide dialogues (including faculty) every other month and panels on relevant topics. They are also working with a number of schools and universities on providing facilitation training. The goal of the program, Naissa said, is not to reach consensus or implement a certain agenda, but to create a platform where underrepresented voices could be heard and participants build empathy by listening to perspectives different from their own.

 Read more about  wish for CivilTea to be a part of curriculums nationwide https://www.seedsofpeace.org/follow-the-fellows-in-the-business-of-spreading-empathy/

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Daniel Noah Moses

Daniel Noah Moses is the Director, Educator Programs at Seeds of Peace. His work explores the types of education people need in order to be active citizens, to create a better, more peaceful future–one based on respect, on cross-cultural understanding, on dialogue, on creative peaceful responses to the challenges that we face today.

Daniel has taught American Studies at Al Quds University in Abu Dis as well as Social Studies at Harvard University. He has been a CEP (Civic Education Project) Fellow and AFP (Academic Fellowship Program) Fellow in History, Anthropology, Political Science and American Studies at Yerevan State University and at Brusov State University in Yerevan, Armenia. In the late 1990s, he lived in a little cabin on Garnet Hill in the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York, worked on his doctoral dissertation, did some editing, and washed dishes at a local hotel restaurant. He spent the 2010-2011 academic year as a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Leadership Institute.

Daniel has a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Rochester and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He published his first book, The Promise of Progress: The Life and Work of Lewis Henry Morgan, in 2009. Although the topic of a pioneering anthropologist might seem removed from his work with Seeds of Peace, there is actually a very close connection.


Seeds of Peace is a leadership development organization committed to transforming legacies of conflict into courage to lead change, they transform conflict by developing leaders and accelerating their impact in their communities. "As an organization, we affirm our opposition to dynamics, institutions, and structures that are obstacles to peace, including Racism, Sexism, Classism, Political Violence, Colonialism, Military Occupation, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia. We support our alumni as they work to end these obstacles."

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BOOK CLUB – Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown
Nov
23
4:00 PM16:00

BOOK CLUB – Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown

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“Necessary, vital, and timely.” —Ayana Jamieson, Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network

Inspired by Octavia Butler's explorations of our human relationship to change, adrienne maree brown wrote Emergent Strategy as radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help designed to shape the futures we want to live. Join us for a month-long exploration of the themes with weekly questions posed in our newsletter and social media. Then, on Monday November 23rd, we’ll convene via Zoom to reflect, discuss, and dream of a future we can shape together.


adrienne maree brown is the author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds and the co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements. She is the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World and Octavia’s Parables podcasts. adrienne is rooted in Detroit.

Book available at Solid State Books.

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Creative Conversation: The Future of Theater in the DMV
Aug
21
4:00 PM16:00

Creative Conversation: The Future of Theater in the DMV

 

The Future of Theater in the DMV. 

Both love-letter and #realtalk, DMV area leaders will discuss season planning as world building, cultural leadership post COVID, and the intersection of civic + artistic practice in our Nation's Capital as we look toward the election. 

Friday's guests include Maria Manuela Goyanes, Artistic Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Reginal Douglas, Associate Artistic Director of Studio Theater; Nicole A. Watson, Associate Artistic Director of Round House Theatre; and Elena Velasco, Artistic Director of Convergence Theatre with moderator Laley Lippard, Public Programming and Partnerships at Mosaic. Join us for a celebration of what makes our community vital as well as what we envision for the future of theatre in the DC Metro Area and beyond.

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Reginald Douglas (he/him/his) is a director, producer, and advocate dedicated to creating new work and supporting new voices, and the Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. His passion and acumen for both new play development and re-investigating the classics have led him to theaters across the country, including directing work at Eugene O’Neill Center, TheaterWorks Hartford, CATF, Everyman Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Arizona Theatre Company, Theatre Squared, Playwrights Center, Profile Theatre, NNPN/Kennedy Center, NNPN/B Street Theatre, McCarter, Florida Rep, Luna Stage, Harlem Stage, Wild Project, Signature Center, Drama League, The Lark, New York Theatre Workshop, where he was an inaugural 2050 Directing Fellow, and City Theatre in Pittsburgh, where he served as the Artistic Producer from 2015-2020. Reginald has developed and directed plays and musicals by many acclaimed writers including Dominique Morisseau, Cori  Thomas, Angelica Chéri, Nikkole Salter, Kemp Powers, Jen Silverman, Ngozi Anyanwu, Matt Schatz, Amy Evans, Zakiyyah Alexander & Imani Uzuri, Brian Quijada, Dave Harris, Chisa Hutchinson, Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, Josh Wilder, Harrison David Rivers, Craig “muMs” Grant, Jessica Dickey, and many others. Reginald currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the National New Play Network; regularly serves on the selection committees for local and national fellowships and grants; has spoken at several national conferences and festivals; and is a guest lecturer at the O’Neill’s National Theatre Institute. Reginald is a proud graduate of Georgetown University and member of SDC, and the recipient of the National Theatre Conference’s 2020 Emerging Professional Award.


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Elena Velasco (she/her/hers) is a freelance theater artist whose 27 year career has encompassed many aspects of production. A member of SAG, AFTRA, and AEA,  she has performed at the Kennedy Center, Theatre Alliance, Discovery Theatre, Imagination Stage, Signature Theatre STAGES, and in several films, commercials, and TV shows.  She has worked as a director and choreographer throughout the Washington D.C area, including GALA Hispanic Theatre, Keegan Theatre, Source Theater, Discovery Theater, Mead Theatre Lab, Capital Fringe and Helen Hayes recommended productions at Synetic Theater, which also featured her playwriting and music compositions in their family theater. She is an Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at Bowie State University and has served as a teaching artist in residencies and outreach programs throughout the D.C. metro area, partnering with such organizations as Imagination Stage, Synetic Theater Studio, Theater Lab of DC, Interact Story Theater, Smithsonian, the Hirschhorn Museum, the National Zoo, and in public and private schools.  As Director of Outreach for Educational Theatre Company, she developed over a dozen original student musicals and for 10 years served as director for their adult performing company, Shakespeare in the Schools.  She is the Artistic Director of Convergence Theatre, a performance collective focused on evolving theatrical language to invite discourse on issues of social justice.  Additionally, she is an affiliated artist for Óyeme, Imagination Stage's collaborative project that responds to the surge of refugee children fleeing violence in Central America who have arrived in the DC area.


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Maria Goyanes (she/her/hers) is the Artistic Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Prior to joining Woolly, she served as the Director of Producing and Artistic Planning at The Public Theater, where she oversaw the day-to-day execution of a full slate of plays and musicals at the Public’s five-theatre venue at Astor Place and the Delacorte Theater for Shakespeare in the Park. Earlier in her career at The Public, she managed some of the theatre’s most celebrated productions, including Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Maria is a first-generation Latinx-American, born to parents who emigrated from the Dominican Republic and Spain. She was raised in Jamaica, Queens, and has a collection of hoop earrings to prove it. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in 2001 from Brown University.

 
 

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Nicole A. Watson is Jamaican by birth. New Yorker by choice. Nicole A. Watson (she/her/hers) is a freelance director and educator with an interest in new play development and plays that deal with the past. A former history teacher, Nicole started directing in 2008 and works in NYC as well as universities and theaters throughout the US. She is currently the Associate Artistic Director at Round House Theatre.

Nicole is a member of the New Georges Jam and has worked with New Dramatists, the Lark Play Development Center, the Fire this Time Festival, the New Black Fest, the Women's Project Theater, The 52nd Street Project, Signature Theater, and Working Theater. Credits include Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, Eleanor Burgess’ The Niceties, Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House Part 2, Lynn Nottage’s Sweat, Robert Schenkkan's The Great Society, the world premiere of Kevin R. Free’s Night of the Living N-Word (NY Fringe Festival), a workshop of Lenelle Moïses Merit (New Black Fest), Katori Hall's The Mountaintop, the world premiere of the opera Approaching Ali, (Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center), and the world premiere of Johnna Adams’ World Builders at the Contemporary American Theater Festival.

http://www.nicoleawatson.com/

 
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Peace Cafe: Inherit the Windbag | Political Partisanship, Resistance & Reconciliation
Aug
17
4:00 PM16:00

Peace Cafe: Inherit the Windbag | Political Partisanship, Resistance & Reconciliation

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Peace Cafes have limited seating and require an RSVP to attend.
Click the button below to reserve your spot.


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Michael Cornfield, a political scientist, is an Associate Professor of Political Management at The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM), and Research Director for the Global Center for Political Management.

Cornfield directs the PEORIA (Public Echoes Of Rhetoric in America) Project, a research initiative developing qualitative and quantitative methods to extract political intelligence from social media data.  Project reports and bulletins may be found at https://gspm.gwu.edu/peoria-project , along with his “Rhetorical Recaps” of important speeches and debates in American politics. 

Cornfield exclusively teaches the introductory course in the Political Management Program, Fundamentals of Political Management, and supervises the thesis and independent study courses. He helped adapt the GSPM curriculum to the age of digital, mobile, and social media politics by creating more than six courses. His “memo memo,” a guide to writing strategy memos, has been adopted by other professors; he devised the current template for the concluding “Capstone” course.

Cornfield is the author of two books: Politics Moves Online: Campaigning and the Internet (The Century Foundation, 2004) and The Civic Web: Online Politics and Democratic Values, co-edited with David M. Anderson (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).  His examination of the impact of Twitter on the first 2016 GOP presidential debate appeared in Social Media, Political Marketing and the 2016 US Election (Routledge, 2018). His research into the origins of and reactions to President Trump’s “Fake News!” campaign appeared in An Anatomy of Fake News (LSU Press, 2018).

Cornfield comments on American politics frequently in the news media, especially overseas outlets seeking adept summaries for international audiences. He served as expert “presenter” (commentator) for the BBC World Service radio network during the 2012, 2014, and 2016 elections. He regularly reviews political science books for The Guardian.

Cornfield received his B.A. from Pomona College and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Before coming to The George Washington University, he taught at the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary. Cornfield also served as a Senior Research Consultant to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.  He lives with his wife Kathryn Mimberg and son Matthew in Arlington, Virginia.

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Creative Conversation: Alexandra Petri – Playwright of Inherit the Windbag
Aug
14
4:00 PM16:00

Creative Conversation: Alexandra Petri – Playwright of Inherit the Windbag

Rehearsals for our virtual adaptation of Alexandra Petri's (Washington Post) 'Inherit the Windbag' have just begun! In this pitched battle of bloviating wits, Petri revisits the televised Conventions of 1968 and the blistering nightly free-for-all between conservative pundit William F. Buckley and liberal author Gore Vidal. What ensues is a battle for history itself, in a no-holds-barred brawl about a time when American politics was spinning. Sound familiar? Join us for an in-depth look at the artistic re-imagining and modern resonance of this seminal moment in American history with Alexandra Petri and director Lee Mikeska Gardner. We will also be joined by special guest Nicholas D. Wrathall, Producer and Director of the award winning documentary "Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia" which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

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Nicholas D. Wrathall grew up in Sydney, Australia, but has made his mark as a writer, director and producer of films in America, where his award-winning documentary Gore Vidal – the United States of Amnesia, has won much acclaim.

After studying film in Australia he moved to New York when he was 22, and worked as an Assistant Director and Producer of commercials and music videos (working with Madonna during the late 90s on her clip. ‘Frozen‘, for which he won the MTV award for Best Music Video in 1998).

He first directed for TV with the documentary Abandoned: The Betrayal of America’s Immigrants, which screened on PBS in America and won the Alfred I. duPont Columbia Award for Broadcast Journalism in 2000. Short documentaries followed: Endless Caravan, Haitian Eksperyans and The Modern Gulag, which was picked-up by the New York Times as the basis for a feature on North Korean gulags operating in Far East Russia.

Gore Vidal – the United States of Amnesia is his first feature length documentary, for which he followed and interviewed infamous  American intellectual and writer Gore Vidal in the last years of his life. Wrathall went on to travel with Gore to Italy, Cuba and many U.S. Cities, gaining further access to Gore’s insight on the current state of affairs in America. The film has proven a success with critics and audiences alike, winning multiple awards and cementing Vidal’s legacy in film.

Wrathall claims “to use filmmaking as a tool to inspire people to question media representation and reignite the art of critical thinking.”


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Alexandra Petri is a playwright, columnist, and author. Her satire appears regularly in the Washington Post, and has also appeared in McSweeneys and the New Yorker's Daily Shouts and Murmurs, as well as on the radio, and on TV. Her plays include the radio drama Equinox (Flying V Productions), ""to tell my story: a hamlet fanfic"" (The Welders, 2017) — Helen-Hayes nominated; Tragedy Averted (Capital Fringe), hook-ups (Panndora's Box Productions). She was a member of the second generation of the Welders playwrights collective, and is currently a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop. She apologizes profusely to anyone and everyone on whom she has inflicted Gore Vidal fun facts over the last two years. Up next: NOTHING IS WRONG AND HERE IS WHY, a collection of essays.


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Lee Mikeska Gardner is the Artistic Director of The Nora Theatre Company in Cambridge, MA where she directed Cloud 9 (May/June 2019,) Les Liaisons Dangereuse, the world premiere of The Midvale High School Fiftieth Reunion (with Gordon Clapp), Journey to the West, Her Aching Heart, Grounded, Saving Kitty (with Jennifer Coolidge) and Arcadia. Lee spent her formative years in the Washington, D.C. area as an Artistic Associate for ten years at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, directing a show a season, earning Helen Hayes nominations for direction for After Ashley, Life During Wartime, and Goodnight, Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet. As an Associate Artist with 1st Stage, Lee directed Blithe Spirit, The How and The Why, Humble Boy and Fuddy Meers. Lee served as the Managing Director for Washington Shakespeare Company for five years directing shows including the world premieres of Caesar and Dada and Learning Curves, both by Allyson Currin, as well as A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other favorite directing projects include Oklahoma! for Wheatland Theatre Company, Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie at The Kennedy Center; Angels in America (Millennium Approaches and Peristroika) at Signature Theatre; T.S. Eliot’s The Cocktail Party for the Washington Stage Guild (Theatre Lobby Award); Golden Boy and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with the Keegan Theatre, The Butterfingers Angel…, Thom Pain (Based on Nothing), Stones In His Pockets and Three Tall Women at Rep Stage, where Lee also served as Managing Director for two years. Lee spent seven years as Associate Artistic Director with the Shenandoah Playwrights’ Retreat working on plays in development. Also an actress, Lee has performed at the Nora as Olympe de Gouges in Lauren Gunderson's The Revolutionists, Brodie in Precious Little, Tess in Marjorie Prime, Emilie in Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight (Elliot Norton award for Outstanding Actress, Small Theatre) and Carla in the IRNE nominated Chosen Child at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. In the greater D.C. area, Lee performed at most theatres including Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Roundhouse, Washington Shakespeare Company, Mill Mountain, Baltimore Theatre Festival, Rep Stage, Olney Theatre, Potomac Theatre Project, and the much missed Consenting Adults Theatre, Freedom Stage, The American Century Theatre and Source Theatre. Favorite roles include Terry in Sideman (Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Actress) and Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir at 1st Stage, Elizabeth in The Crucible and Mary in A House in the Country with Charter Theatre (Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress), and Claire in The Two-Character Play at Spooky Action. Lee has earned an additional three Helen Hayes nominations for performance.As an educator, Lee has taught or served as a Guest Artist at Colleges and Universities across the nation including Emerson, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, UVA, Charlottesville, University of Maryland, College Park, and Middlebury College. Lee has a B.F.A. in the Performing Arts from George Mason University and an M.F.A. in Acting from The Catholic University of America.

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Creative Conversation: Howard Theater and U Street Development | Intersection of Art & Economics
Aug
7
4:00 PM16:00

Creative Conversation: Howard Theater and U Street Development | Intersection of Art & Economics

Join us as we continue to celebrate the history of DC. Focusing on the city's rich artistic legacy, we will examine the history of U St, known as "Black Broadway," and the infamous Howard Theatre. We will also discuss the impact of commercial development and gentrification on the U St. area.

Special Guests

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Abdur-Rahim Muhammad is a native Washingtonian born in the old Freedman’s Hospital on Howard University’s campus only a few blocks from where he established the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute (HTCMLI). Abdur-Rahim Muhammad experienced the glorious history of U Street from being raised by men and women who brought the arts and culture to U Street. Sifu (teacher/father) Muhammad has worked with youth for nearly 50 years; including 24 years as curriculum developer of HTCMLI programs which include free after school programs and summer camps for DC children and youth. The Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute uses the traditional folk-arts of Chinese Kung Fu, lion and dragon dance and Chinese and African drumming to keep DC’s youth healthy in school, and outside of the criminal justice system.

The leadership Institute produces the Paul Robeson “Here I Stand Award Gala” honoring individuals who have lived their life as Paul Robeson said “I make no separation between my work as an artists and my work as a human being.”  Awardees have included Harry Belafonte, Dick Gregory, Dr. John Hope Franklin, Judith Jamison, Spike Lee, Rita Moreno, Common and Chuck-D (Public Enemy).

The HTCM Leadership Institute produced the Kennedy Center program Paul Robeson On My Journey Now.

Abdur-Rahim Muhammad is the author of Dragonz Rizing: Reclaiming My Time While Wandering Through The Valley and two graphic novels The Legend of Jow Lung Vol I and The Legend of Jow Lung Vol II The Path of Dragons. All available in print Amazon and e-book Kindle.

The Hung Tao Choy Mei leadership Institute is celebrating its 25th year at it’s historic U Street NW Washington DC location.

Abdur-Rahim Muhammad is a graduate of Hampton Institute and The University of the District of Columbia.


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Derek Hyra is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University and the Founding Director of the Metropolitan Policy Center American University. His research focuses on neighborhood change, urban politics, and race. Dr. Hyra is the co-editor of Capital Dilemma: Growth and Inequality in Washington, DC (Routledge 2016), and author of The New Urban Renewal: The Economic Transformation of Harlem and Bronzeville (University of Chicago Press 2008) and Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City (University of Chicago Press 2017). He is working on his fourth manuscript, Roots of the Riots: Race, Policy, and Neighborhood Inequality(University of California Press).


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Shellée M. Haynesworth of Indigo Creative Works is an award-winning multimedia maker, producer, storyteller and writer.  She has filmed across the United States and internationally to produce compelling storytelling experiences and content centered on arts and culture, education, entertainment, humanities and social justice issues. Her clients include Smithsonian Institution, USAID, Gates Foundation, PBS, AD Council, Black Entertainment Television, TV One, Whitman Walker Health and HBO, among others. Some of her documentary, production and broadcast credits include “Fearless at 40 | The Whitman-Walker Story” (Whitman-Walker Health), “8 Wards of Joy” (The REACH at the Kennedy Center), “An Evening with Quincy Jones” (PBS), “An American Reunion” (HBO/Time Warner), “My Generation” (PBS), “Women’s Land Rights: A Ripple Effect” (USAID/Gates Foundation), “Black Excellence: School Choice” (TV One) and numerous nationally syndicated network programs such as “Latino Music Greats,” and “Latina Spirit.” Her latest multimedia endeavor, Black Broadway on U | A Transmedia Project, “a living digital history” platform that preserves and chronicles D.C.’s storied black U Street community once known as “Black Broadway.” Her recent honors include the D.C. Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment’s February 2019 Filmmaker of the Month and recognition as a local community influencer and culture leader by the Prince George’s African American & Cultural Center. She is a past fellow of the Black Public Media’s 360+ Incubator and past president of Women in Film and Video in Washington, DC. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Maryland at College Park.


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Venus Amadi is a Junior at Howard University, studying History and Political Science. Her passions include reading, conducting research, and writing. She currently works part-time with the history department at Georgetown University, and with the National Park Service of Shenandoah National Park, as a research assistant. Making the connections between time and space is the foundation of historical research and that is what Venus aims to do through her work, specifically, in the case of the stories that history tends to marginalize. Venus plans to attend law school post-undergrad and pursue a career in Law and historic preservation.


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Alandro Valdez is a rising senior at Georgetown University, majoring in History and Government, with a minor in environmental science. Originally from Texas, Alandro is deeply passionate about conservation and original research, both environmental and historical. He works on the Remembering YoU DC research team, collecting and archiving oral histories from community members. When he is not studying or working on the project, he uses his student leadership position to fight for financial and campus life improvements for underserved students. He plans on pursuing either a law degree or a PhD. 


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Creative Conversation: A Mosaic Team | Vision of the Artists
Jul
31
4:00 PM16:00

Creative Conversation: A Mosaic Team | Vision of the Artists

A Mosaic Team: Vision of the Artists

Members of Mosaic's administrative fusion community are artists and makers with bold vision for the artistic community, Mosaic Theater, and the socio-political moment. We'll gather for a live Creative Conversation on our mosaic perspective of the intercultural community of patrons, partners and artists we engage with to realize our independent, entertaining and uncensored work. 

The discussion is moderated by Laley Lippard (Manager of Public Programming and Partnerships) with Mosaic team members April Carter (Casting Director), Alexandra Cantalupo (Director of Development), Angelisa Gillyard (Director of Education and Outreach), Aria Velz (Manager of Institutional Giving), and Chelsea Radigan (Literary Manager).

Laley Lippard, Manager of Public Programming and Partnerships

Laley Lippard, Manager of Public Programming and Partnerships

Alexandra Cantalupo | Director of Development

Alexandra Cantalupo | Director of Development

April Carter | Casting Director and Resident SM

April Carter | Casting Director and Resident SM

Angelisa Gillyard | Director of Education and Outreach

Angelisa Gillyard | Director of Education and Outreach

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Creative Conversation: Psalmayene 24 | A Vision of the Artist
Jul
24
4:00 PM16:00

Creative Conversation: Psalmayene 24 | A Vision of the Artist

Psalmayene 24 is the recipient of the prestigious The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation / HowlRound Theatre Commons National Playwright Residency Program Award, providing three years of salary and workshop funding to Mosaic to support the residency. This Creative Conversation will explore Psalm's life, past+current work, and vision for his three years at Mosaic. Special guests for the conversation include Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Jennifer L. Nelson, Janet Stanford, and James J. Johnson, facilitated by Laley Lippard.

Projects may include 'Dear Mapel', based on the Psalmayene 24’s letters (actual and imagined) to the deceased father he hardly knew; a hip-hop theatrical portrait of DC's controversial "Mayor For Life," Marion Barry; The H Street Corridor Initiative, a showcasing of proud DC voices culled from interviews of residents along H Street; and 'Freedom Strike', which tells the story of a Black performance artist who cuts off the head of Abraham Lincoln from the Emancipation Statue.

Special Guests

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Marc Bamuthi Joseph | Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. He is also the winner of the 2011 Herb Alpert Award in Theatre, and an inaugural recipient of the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. In pursuit of affirmations of black life in the public realm, he co-founded the Life is Living Festival for Youth Speaks, and created the installation “Black Joy in the Hour of Chaos” for Creative Time. Joseph’s opera libretto, We Shall Not Be Moved, was named one of 2017’s “Best Classical Music Performances” by The New York Times. His evening length work, /peh-LO-tah/, successfully toured across North America for three years, including at BAM’s Harvey Theater as a part of the 2017 Next Wave Festival. His piece, “The Just and the Blind” investigates the crisis of over-sentencing in the prison industrial complex, and premiered at a sold out performance at Carnegie Hall in March 2019. Bamuthi is currently at work on commissions for the Perelman Center, Yale University, and the Washington National Opera as well as a new collaboration with NYC Ballet Artistic Director Wendy Whelan. Formerly the Chief of Program and Pedagogy at YBCA in San Francisco, Bamuthi currently serves as the Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at The Kennedy Center.

J.J. Johnson | Actor, Playwright, Screenwriter

James J. Johnson (J. J.) is an actor who was last onstage as “Wynton” in 1 st Stage’s co-production of The Royale (with Olney Theatre). Other regional theatre credits include: Les Deux Noirs (Mosaic Theatre Company); Ruined (Arena Stage); Hero’s Welcome (1 st Stage); Stick Fly (UVA Department of Theatre); Our Suburb (Theater J); The Member of the Wedding (Ford’s Theatre); The Unmentionables (Woolly Mammoth Theatre); Kingdom, Wedding Dance, Buffalo Hair (African Continuum Theatre Co.); Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare Project of Frederick); Stonewall Country, Macbeth (Theatre at Lime Kiln); Anna Lucasta (Rep Stage); Jungle Book (Adventure Theatre MTC); Zomo the Rabbit, P. Nokio, Lyle the Crocodile (Imagination Stage); Homer P. Figg (Kennedy Center). FILM: Too Saved, Nocturnal Agony and The Henchman’s War. EDUCATION: BFA, Virginia Commonwealth University. J. J. is also a founding member of Galvanize DC, a support network for Black DMV theatre artists.


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Janet Standford | Founding Artistic Director, Imagination Stage

Janet Stanford is the Founding Artistic Director of Imagination Stage and the 2017 winner of the Harold Oaks Award for Innovation in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA). Since 1993 Janet has heightened the profile of professional theatre at IStage by commissioning over 50 new works, and by employing union artists. Janet has brought many distinguished artists to the theatre including artist/activists Rebecca Rice and Anu Yadav and playwrights Charles Way, Karen Zacarias, Miriam Gonzales and Psalmayene 24. Under her leadership, the theatre has created educational plays about Biotechnology, introduced Theatre for the Very Young to audiences in the USA, co-produced and co-commissioned with other top TYA theatres both in the USA and abroad, and partnered with Health & Human Services organizations to bring theatre experiences to non-traditional audiences. Janet has traveled on grants from S. America, to Europe and Asia in search of inspiration for IStage programs. She has twice been nominated for Helen Hayes Awards for Best Director and has written several plays for children including The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe and Sleeping Beauty: Time Traveler.


Jennifer L. Nelson | Director, Actor, Playwright, Educator

Jennifer L. Nelson is the former Producing Artistic Director of the African Continuum Theatre, which she led for eleven years. She has worked in professional theatre for thirty-six years as an actress, administrator, educator, playwright, producer and director. She served two terms as President of the League of Washington Theatres and is currently a board member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national association of not-for-profit theatres. For African Continuum Ms. Nelson produced twenty-six plays, including several world premieres. In addition to extensive directing for African Continuum, she has directed at many theatres throughout the Washington DC area, including Ford’s, Round House, Woolly Mammoth, Everyman (Baltimore), Rep Stage, Theatre of the First Amendment, Source, Imagination Stage, Young Playwrights and Tsunami. Ms. Nelson has also directed at Manhattan Class Company in New York City, the Mark Taper Forum and LATC in Los Angeles, Penumbra in Minnesota, Oregon Shakespeare and the Fulton in Pennsylvania. She has also directed at University of Maryland at College Park, University of Maryland Baltimore County and University of South Carolina.

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Creative Conversation: The Artists of Marys Seacole
Jul
10
4:00 PM16:00

Creative Conversation: The Artists of Marys Seacole

THE ARTISTS OF MARYS SEACOLE

Season 6 Series: A discussion with the artists of Marys Seacole with Eric Ruffin, Felicia Curry, Kim Bey, and special guest Dr. Martha A. Dawson, President of the National Black Nurses Association.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Jackie Sibblies Drury celebrates the complex legacy of care-giving and frontline nursing on the battlefield of trauma, crisis, and war. Mary Seacole, an ambitious Jamaican woman determined to live a grand life of service, traverses oceans and eras as she and her descendants contend with layers of racial disparity and inequity when considering who gets treatment first in times of crisis, and who is left to console whom.

Join us @ 4PM on Friday, July 10, 2020 via Facebook Live.


ERIC RUFFIN, DirectorEric Ruffin, director/teacher, has helmed regional productions at Mosaic, Lyric Rep., Young Playwright’s, Kennedy Ctr., Mann Ctr., The French Embassy, U.S. Supreme Court, Theatre Alliance, Studio, Crossroads, African Continuum, …

ERIC RUFFIN, Director

Eric Ruffin, director/teacher, has helmed regional productions at Mosaic, Lyric Rep., Young Playwright’s, Kennedy Ctr., Mann Ctr., The French Embassy, U.S. Supreme Court, Theatre Alliance, Studio, Crossroads, African Continuum, Imagination Stage, Luna Stage, and George Street Playhouse. For both Howard U. and Rutgers U. he has directed numerous mainstage productions. Ruffin is a former Drama League Fellow, Folger Shakespeare Fellow, Princess Grace Awardee for Dance, and NYTW Usual Suspect. His direction of Langston Hughes’ BLACK NATIVITY was recognized with 3 Helen Hayes Awards including Best Musical. He’s currently on faculty at Howard University and Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Also,Ruffin is a commissioned artist for Studio Theatre and serves on Woolly Mammoth’s Board of Directors.

KIM BEY, PerformerNew York/Off-Broadway: Center Stage (Zooman and the Sign); Actor’s Studio Free Theatre (Salt); John Houseman (The American Plan, Can’t Go Nowhere w/Ya). Regional credits: Arena Stage (Little Foxes, The Cherry Orchard, Six Character…

KIM BEY, Performer

New York/Off-Broadway: Center Stage (Zooman and the Sign); Actor’s Studio Free Theatre (Salt); John Houseman (The American Plan, Can’t Go Nowhere w/Ya). Regional credits: Arena Stage (Little Foxes, The Cherry Orchard, Six Characters in Search of an Author); Baltimore Center Stage (Beneatha’s Place); St. Louis Repertory (Having Our Say); Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Having Our Say); Delaware Theatre Company (Wake Up Lou Riser); Lyric Repertory/Utah (A Raisin in the Sun). Kim is a certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, with multiple credits as a Voice and Dialect coach. Education: Howard University (BFA); Rutgers University (MFA); British American Drama Academy @ Oxford (BADA); National Alliance of Acting Teachers; and The Shakespeare Theatre Fellowship in Washington, D.C.


FELICIA CURRY, PerformerFelicia Curry is thrilled to be back at Mosaic Theatre after playing Undine in last season’s Fabulation. Since then, she’s played Dr. Livingston in ‘Agnes of God’ for Factory 449 (HH nom), the Bus Driver in ‘Don’t Let the Pig…

FELICIA CURRY, Performer

Felicia Curry is thrilled to be back at Mosaic Theatre after playing Undine in last season’s Fabulation. Since then, she’s played Dr. Livingston in ‘Agnes of God’ for Factory 449 (HH nom), the Bus Driver in ‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus’ at the Kennedy Center (HH nom) and Jacquline Marie Butler in the world premiere of ‘Queens Girl: Black in the Green Mountains’ at Everyman Theatre. OFF-BROADWAY: We Three Lizas, DMLRR: The Brontes, Petite Rouge. NATIONAL TOURS: KC: Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, Mattel/Live Nation: Barbie Live!, Capitol Steps. REGIONAL: VA Repertory Theatre: The Color Purple [RTCC Award], Gulfshore Playhouse, Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. DC AREA: Signature Theatre, Ford’s Theatre (Artistic Associate), Arena Stage, Factory 449 (Company Member): Lela & Co. [Helen Hayes Award], The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, Rep Stage, MetroStage, Adventure Theatre, Imagination Stage, Toby’ Columbia. AWARDS: 7 additional Helen Hayes nominations, 3 Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Ensemble. Two-time host of the Helen Hayes Awards. Featured in the Washington Post (12 Stage Dynamos) and Washingtonian Magazine (10 Stage Stars). EDUCATION: UMCP.

Dr. MARTHA A. DAWSON, DNP, RN, FACHEMartha A. Dawson, DNP, RN, FACHE is the President of the National Black Nurses Association. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing (SON). She earned her ba…

Dr. MARTHA A. DAWSON, DNP, RN, FACHE

Martha A. Dawson, DNP, RN, FACHE is the President of the National Black Nurses Association. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing (SON). She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree from the UASON. In 2010, she earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Dr. Dawson completed her hospital administration residency at Gaston Memorial Hospital, Gastonia, NC. Her practice, clinical and research focus is health systems and nursing leadership. Under her leadership, the Nursing and Health Systems Administration track at UABSON was ranked #2 in the US and has been ranked in the top 10 for 10 years.

Dr. Dawson is a Scholar in the Sparkman Global Health Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow, and a Johnson & Johnson Wharton Nurse Administrative Fellow. She has served as the principal investigator, project director and coordinator on HRSA and foundation grants exceeding $2.5 million. In 2019, Dr. Dawson was inducted into the Alabama Nurses Hall of Fame.

She has publications in books, journals, newsletters and podcasts. Under her leadership the University of Louisville Hospital was the first hospital in the US to provide drive through flu shots, the model that the CDC is using with COVID-19. She was a contributing author in the Drive-Thru Flu Shots: A model for mass immunization.

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Peace Cafe: Memory, Resistance, and Restitution: Injustice and Pain in the US and the Middle East
Jun
22
4:00 PM16:00

Peace Cafe: Memory, Resistance, and Restitution: Injustice and Pain in the US and the Middle East

Gather together via Zoom on June 22nd for our PEACE CAFE on topics that resonate with the Voices from a Changing Middle East Festival series. We'll continue to discuss our June 12th Creative Conversation with Ali Abu Awwad and others, our Book Club chat on The Lemon Tree, and touch on topics raised with our panel featuring the artists of the Voices from a Changing Middle East Festival including John Vreeke, Elan Zafir, and more. We’ll also visit the book I am Not Your Enemy by Michael McRay, and hope to have a *special visitor.

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Season 6 Series: Home and Refuge: Palestinian Stories Told in a World of Dispossession
Jun
12
4:00 PM16:00

Season 6 Series: Home and Refuge: Palestinian Stories Told in a World of Dispossession

Mosaic Theater, and the longstanding Voices from a Changing Middle East Festival, have often featured plays which focus on Palestinian and Israeli stories.  Mosaic continues to look deeply at this entangled web of communities and cultures in conflict and the fate of individuals caught up in these dramas. 

This Friday as part of our Mosaic Virtual Programming, we will look together at three short videos — and then engage in conversation with three extraordinary Palestinians living in DC, in Norway, and in occupied Palestinian territories -- who are represented by these videos. We'll explore how their connections to Palestine and Palestinians around the globe has influenced each of their lives and what stories -- about all that has been and all that is now -- need telling. 

We'll speak with Nizar Farsakh, Chairman of the Board of the Museum of the Palestinian People here in DC; Dalia Al Kury, Palestinian film-maker living and  working in Norway; and Ali Abu Awwad, Palestinian nonviolent resistance and social change activist and founder of Taghyeer (Change) Palestine who is building a civil society movement across the West Bank.  

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Season 6 Series: A creative conversation with Voices from A Changing Middle East Festival Artists
Jun
5
4:00 PM16:00

Season 6 Series: A creative conversation with Voices from A Changing Middle East Festival Artists

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 | 4PM

CREATIVE CONVERSATION: IN DIALOGUE WITH THE ARTISTS OF THE 2021 VOICES FROM A CHANGING MIDDLE EAST FESTIVAL

The Panel will include Nimrod Danishman Director, Educator and Playwright of BORDERS; Henry Naylor, Director, Performer, and Playwright of BORDERS; Dina Soltan, Actor in I, DAREEN T.; Elan Zafir, Actor in BORDERS; Director John Vreeke of MY BRIEF AFFAIR WITH THE MINISTER; and Ari Roth, Founding Artistic Director and Playwright of MY BRIEF AFFAIR WITH THE MINISTER with moderator Laley Lippard, Director and Manager of Public Programming and Partnerships.

Programming for Mosaic’s Voices From A Changing Middle East Festival

The Voices Festival is a central part of Mosaic programming, bringing to life the souls and struggles of the people in the Middle East. 

BORDERS (I)

A Virtual Encounter Between Two Enemies on Grindr

By Nimrod Danishman | Directed by John Vreeke

A Grindr chat forms a relationship that crosses cultures, politics, wars and a technological landscape, as the tension of an imminent meeting between George from Lebanon and Boaz from Israel collides with intensifying skirmishes along Israel’s northern border. 

BORDERS (II)

By Henry Naylor | Directed by John Vreeke | Featuring Elan Zafir

Sebastian, a once-celebrated British war photographer is visited by a nameless, pregnant Syrian refugee struggling to stay afloat on a failing fishing boat in the Mediterranean and must decide whether to rescue her, or his career. 

With additional Voices From a Changing Middle East Festival programming, including:

I, DAREEN T

By Einat Weizman, based on the Life and Incarceration of Dareen Tatour  

MY BRIEF AFFAIR WITH THE MINISTER

By Ari Roth | Directed by John Vreeke

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At Home with Mosaic: The History of H Street
May
22
4:00 PM16:00

At Home with Mosaic: The History of H Street

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Anwar Saleem is the Executive Director of H Street Main Street, Inc., a position he has held since 2007. Mr. Saleem founded this non-profit organization in 2002 to guide the revitalization of a critical and long-neglected neighborhood commercial corridor in Washington, D.C. He served as chairman of the Board of Directors until taking the direct responsibility for the delivery of commercial revitalization and business retention services as executive director. Mr. Saleem's interest in H Street NE began long before 2002. He has owned a hair salon on the street since 1989 and has purchased several buildings over the years. A native Washingtonian, Mr. Saleem, grew up in the surrounding neighborhoods and remembered the commercial streets in its heyday. The economic growth strategy that Mr. Saleem developed has resulted in more than 3,600 new jobs on the H Street corridor. Through direct recruitment and partnerships, he helped to attract more than 300 new businesses to H Street NE. His efforts have drawn more than 6.5 billion dollars in additional investment and development to the community. He has developed alliances with D.C. Government officials who bring substantial resources into H Street, including a leg in the new streetcar system and Tax Increment Financing. As a small business owner himself, Mr. Saleem understands the challenges that independent entrepreneurs encounter. He has helped business owners successfully apply for grants and loans to upgrade storefronts and the interiors of their buildings. Increasing H Street's marketability has been a priority for Mr. Saleem. He led the rebranding of the commercial district into an arts and entertainment district. He created the H Street Main Street's Clean Team, which removes debris, graffiti, and snow to create a more appealing and safer environment for business clients and the residential community. He was a key leader and a driving force behind the initial planning of the corridor. Mr. Saleem's commitment to marketing and promotion includes the annual H Street Festival. Attendance has grown from 5000 people in 2007 to more than 150,000 in 2019. For many corridor businesses, the Festival- generated revenue is equivalent to the retail "Black Friday" that much larger downtown commercial districts experience. The event was either awarded Best Neighborhood Festival & the Best City Festival (Washington City Paper) from 2011 through 2019. Also, the event was awarded the Best City Festival from 2017 through 2019 by the Washingtonian Magazine. The H Street Festival generates over 6.1 million dollars in spending. With a commitment to future generations, Mr. Saleem has annually recruited, hired, and mentored over 600 DC students in summer work-and-learn programs. Under Mr. Saleem's leadership, H Street Main Street has become a commercial revitalization success story. The National Trust for Historic Preservation honored the organization with the Great American Main Street Award in 2013. USA Today ranked H Street #1 amongst the 10 most up and coming neighborhoods in America. Forbes Magazine named H Street NE one of the "hippest corridors" in the country. He is driven and has taken on additional challenges within the H Street service area, expanding its boundaries to provide services to the underdeveloped and the at-risk commercial districts of both Bladensburg and Benning Roads. Mr. Saleem continues to work as a volunteer in civic, advocacy, and youth development organizations that strengthen communities in Washington, D.C., his hometown. In early 2015 he was invited by the National Main Street Center. He actively participated with leaders and subject matter experts from around the country, setting new standards and assisted in reimaging the national organization by serving on the National Main Street Center 4-Point Refresh Taskforce. Mr. Saleem continues to work as a volunteer in civic, advocacy, and youth development organizations that strengthen communities in Washington, D.C., his hometown.

 
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Jane Lang practiced law in Washington DC for over 30 years. She was the first woman partner at Steptoe & Johnson and later served as General Counsel of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Carter. As Co-Founder and Partner in Sprenger & Lang, with her late husband Paul Sprenger, she litigated plaintiffs’ class actions on behalf of victims of workplace discrimination. In 2001, Jane co-founded the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington DC and served as Atlas Board Chair through 2014. She has also produced several award-winning plays. Jane graduated from Swarthmore College and the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Trustee of the Atlas, the Eugene M. Lang Foundation (Chair) and Swarthmore College. Jane lives in Washington DC with her partner Robert Kapp. She has two children, three stepchildren and fourteen grandchildren.

 
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Marqui A. Lyons, a 5 th generation Washingtonian. Currently employed over 25 years with Airlines for America, formerly known as Air Transport Association of America. Currently a volunteer for Food and Friends, serves as a goodwill ambassador, and conducts community walking tours. Has served as Chairperson of the Atlas Performing Arts Center Community Advisory Council and member of the Board of Directors of the Trinidad Neighborhood Association. In addition, she has served as the Co-Chair of the Greater H Street, NE Heritage Trail Working Group; House/Team Captain for Rebuilding Together; Election Official; Lead employer team volunteer efforts with Food and Friends, Rebuilding Together, and Christmas in April; former Girl Scout Troop Leader and Girl Scout from Brownie to Adult levels; Candy Striper for the former Cafritz Hospital and Greater Southeast Community Hospital. Has served on various community task forces and panels related to the urban/economic development in Wards 5 and 6 especially the H Street, NE corridor and Trinidad communities. Graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

 
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Derek Hyra is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University and the Founding Director of the Metropolitan Policy Center American University. His research focuses on neighborhood change, urban politics, and race. Dr. Hyra is the co-editor of Capital Dilemma: Growth and Inequality in Washington, DC (Routledge 2016), and author of The New Urban Renewal: The Economic Transformation of Harlem and Bronzeville (University of Chicago Press 2008) and Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City (University of Chicago Press 2017). He is working on his fourth manuscript, Roots of the Riots: Race, Policy, and Neighborhood Inequality(University of California Press).

 Dr. Hyra’s research has been showcased in both academic journals, such as Journal of Urban AffairsUrban Affairs Review, and Urban Studies, and popular media outlets, including the British Broadcasting CorporationC-SPANThe Washington PostThe Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He has also received funding from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

 Dr. Hyra strongly believes in public service. He has served as board chair of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority and as an Obama appointee on the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities. He was also a U.S. Congressional candidate in Northern Virginia in 2014. He currently serves as the chair-elect of the American Sociological Association’s Community and Urban Sociology Section and as an Advocacy Advisory Council member of the United Planning Organization in Washington, DC. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

 

 
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Season 6 Announcement with Ari Roth
May
1
4:00 PM16:00

Season 6 Announcement with Ari Roth

Artistic Director Ari Roth announces Mosaic Theater of DC's exciting Season 6 line-up followed by a live discussion with key members of the Mosaic staff responsible for making Season 6 come to life through casting, production, design and more.

Join the conversation live on Facebook where Ari and the rest of the panel will be responding to viewer questions about the season LIVE during the broadcast.

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