Shawna Mefferd Kelty
National Playwriting Program Co-Chair
From the time they were very young, my brothers always knew they were artists, scrawling and sketching on paper. It took me many years to find my medium. I was a very shy, empathetic child - my brothers used to watch me watching a movie because I was so emotionally connected to the story flickering before us on the screen. Eventually, I found my way to theatre and then eventually to directing and what I discovered is this: I am an artist whose medium exists in between people, between collaborators. I am eternally grateful that I get to work in a medium where storytellers feel brave enough to create worlds where the sky may rain fruit, where characters transform into birds, where we can hold our vulnerability and grief fully and with tenderness and lightness, where we can embrace the "both/and" of being human. I am fortunate to collaborate with other artists who say "yes!" to the creative process with equal parts intentionality and serendipity, "yes!" to the discipline and rigor of our crafts, and "yes!" to curiosity, to the not knowing, and to the willingness to discover together. Hope to see you in the in between.

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Associate Professor/Chair, SUNY Plattsburgh