coLAB Arts resident artist Ashley Teague will be working with Reformed Church of Highland Park - Affordable Housing Corporation. Teague will be creating original theater pieces with the diverse refugee community served by RCHP-AHC, in an effort to share the story of how their mutual aid service work transforms lives.

Ashley Teague is the founding Artistic Director of Notch Theatre Company (www.notchtheatre.org) and recipient of the Embark Award for Social Innovation in Entrepreneurship. Notch creates community-responsive theatre to drive change around the pressing issues of our time, offering communities nationwide a platform to tell their stories on stage and be their own change makers. Notch is currently producing Wild Home, which takes an odyssey across rural America to tell personal stories about threatened wilderness spaces and the communities that depend on them. Wild Home has been featured on Howlround and Broadway World and awarded an NEA ArtWorks grant. Additionally, Teague is a participating partner on Remember2019: an effort to make space for the congregation of Black communities in the Arkansas Delta, by supporting and facilitating local artistic practices of self-determination, memory and reflection as directly related to the mass lynching of 1919, the lasting effects of racial terror and the current and future health of these communities. Remember2019 is the recipient of a Map Fund grant and has been featured by the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, Monument Lab, and HowlRound. Teague co-created FIT, a play about the American eugenics movement of the 20th century that partners with the Intellectually Disabled Community and features actors with Down Syndrome. ashteague.com

coLAB Arts resident artist Jody Wood will be working with Elijah’s Promise. Wood will be developing a “Health Hub” with guests of Elijah’s Promise’s community kitchen, documenting the stories, rituals, and personal health practices of those who are largely unhoused or housing precarious New Brunswick community members.

Jody Wood is an artist working in mediums of social practice, video, photography, and performance. Her recent work re-imagines routines in poverty support agencies, aiming to shift power dynamics and resist stigmas surrounding poverty. Her community-based work has been supported by prestigious institutions including A Blade of Grass, Esopus Foundation, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, an ArtPlace America Initiative at McColl Center for Art + Innovation, and through residencies at Headlands Center for the Arts, Yaddo, and Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture. Her work has been exhibited internationally at Manchester School of Art, UK; Parrish Museum of Art in Water Mill, NY; and FIVAC in Camaguey, Cuba and has been featured in publications such as The Atlantic, Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, and MSNBC.

“Maybe I have a cane, because I was born to part seas.”- An excerpt from “Sacred Illness,” a Poem by Osimiri Sprowal

coLAB Arts resident artist Osimiri Sprowal will be working with coLAB Arts to develop a new digital platform to house new creative interventions produced with New Brunswick’s houseless and housing precarious communities. We’ll be working in collaboration with Elijah’s Promise, Mercado Esperanza, and SHELTER (www.shelternj.org), to connect with communities and provide virtual and in person workshops and oral histories, and commission professional artists to develop creative responses in dialogue with that community work.

Osimiri Sprowal is an international slam champion poet, author, workshop facilitator, creative director, and budding photographer born and raised in Philadelphia. They are an alumnus of the Philly Youth Poetry Movement (PYPM), Babel Poetry Collective, and the founder of deadname.arts, Philly’s only exclusively trans and gender-expansive art collective. Osimiri was the Philly Youth Grand Slam Champion in 2015, and a 2018 College Union Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) Semi-Finalist, where they received the Best Love Poem Award for their poem “Genesis.”

coLAB Arts resident artist Susana Plotts-Pineda will be working in collaboration with Unity Square Neighborhood Revitalization Project and Dr. Mary Nucci of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University to produce a new comic book in response to the oral histories, experiences, and gardening practice of the Latino immigrant gardeners of New Brunswick’s Landers Garden and Feaster Park.

Susana Plotts-Pineda is a Mexican-American theatre-maker, multi-media artist, performer, and writer. Her documentary play, La Caravana de los Misterios was staged at PSi#25 in Calgary and at Emerging Artists Theatre. Susana has worked with Noche Flamenca and Mapa Teatro. She is also the co-founder of Egg y Pan Magazine.

Jasmine Carmichael is dedicated to educating and inspiring students as a teaching artist with coLAB Arts. After obtaining her BFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, Jasmine established a successful career as an actress, director and teacher. She is passionate about sharing the lessons learned from her experience on stage, in front of the camera and behind the scenes so that younger artists have the tools needed to pursue their dreams with confidence.

Resident Teaching Artist - Stephanie Van Bond has been a professional storyteller and educator for 10 years. She holds a bachelors degree from Rutgers University in both Theater Arts and English Literature, as well as a Masters Degree in Education. Stephanie strategically uses storytelling to encourage reflection, empathy, and growth in people from all backgrounds and identities. Her career in higher education has allowed her the privilege of working for Rutgers University, Fordham University, Raritan Valley Community College, The College of New Jersey, and Rider University.

Van Bond is a freelance director, intimacy choreographer, and teaching artist throughout New Jersey and New York. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at Rider University’s Westminster School for the Performing Arts. When she is not teaching, Van Bond serves as the Executive Director of ReThink Theatrical, a non-profit theater organization based in Middlesex county that provides free theater to the public. Contact Stephanie at svanbond@gmail.com

Carolina hosts the weekly Facebook show Cooking Outside the Box.

She is an activist and community organizer based in New Brunswick. As a collaborator with coLAB Arts, she is one of the co-curators of theVOM story slam and workshop series and organizes much of the Spanish language programming. With a personal mission to bridge the gap between the Spanish and English languages, she mentors many young people in the community and works with the Esperanza Neighborhood Project, Elijah’s Promise, Mercado Esperanza, and other local organizations.

John Keller was born and raised in the City of New Brunswick and works in NYC and internationally as a freelance actor. Through his work at coLAB Arts, John is committed to creating projects that use the arts as a lens to examine complex issues that affect community. While serving as Director of Education for coLAB Arts, John has produced main-stage productions and initiated educational residencies in several central New Jersey schools. John curates and directs coLAB Arts’ Trueselves oral history and theater project in partnership with the Pride Center of New Jersey and Rutgers Oral History Archive. John is also the Board Chair for New Brunswick’s Town Clock Community Development Corporation. John earned his undergraduate degree at Holy Cross and holds a Masters in Fine Arts in Acting from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts. He has taught theater at all grade levels in a variety of residency programs as well as at Rider University, Westminster Choir College and is currently teaching Theater for Social Development at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, and Acting at Fairleigh Dickinson University

Chrissy Briskin is a creative artist who has directed, produced, written, and performed in many shows over the last ten years. She has a B.A. in English Literature from Rutgers University and is currently a teacher in South Plainfield. Some of her directing credits include, RENT, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Legally Blonde, Les Miserables, and Hairspray. She has also performed in TrueSelves: A Play on Gender and The Vagina Monologues. As an educator, she is incredibly proud to have built a supportive drama program and community of artists in South Plainfield. Under her direction, the high school performed its first ever public scene study and public presentation of student created twenty minute musicals. Chrissy continues to work on the next evolution of TrueSelves and producing the 48 Hour Musicals. She currently lives in Neshanic Station with her wonderful husband and fur babies. You can reach her at cbriskin@colab-arts.org

Jose Dominguez Magdaleno (He/They/El) is so grateful to bring this story to life and collaborate with an amazing team that brings so much joy and light to the work. Stories are a source of connection and change. They enlight something in us that is unspeakable. My hope is that this story brings to light an underrepresented community that has been historically oppressed in the United States and brings change to our culture and politics. Jose would like to thank John for reaching out to them, his parents and Steven for being by their side. Jose is a third-year student at DePaul University double-majoring in BFA Theatre Arts and BA Latin American and Latino Studies, with a minor in Education & Social Justice.

Benjamin James DeSimone is a 21 year old cinematographer/editor, whose additional interests include directing and set design/art department. Benjamin grew up in central New Jersey and graduated from the East Brunswick Voc-Tech film department. He has since relocated to Florida to earn his Bachelor of Science at Full Sail University, and to get a better understanding of the tools necessary for his success. Benjamin especially values collaborative efforts, and has prior experience with mixed media projects. He hopes to take the film industry by storm- utilizing it as a tool for the greater good, as well as a platform to spread joy throughout all communities.

Rafaelle Lozada is humbled and elated to reconnect with their acting roots by the hand of John and Jose. Their performance is dedicated to both of them and femmes of color, in particular those raised in Latin America and Middle Eastern territories, including those near them. We are strong, we are graceful, we are deserving, we belong! Gracias Mariah.

Too often, trans stories are put into a cookie-cutter narrative of acute gender dysphoria followed by transition and family conflict. The trans experience is far more vast, expansive, messy, and surprising than that. Through the TrueSelves project, we are able to break out of the single story of transition to start to show the multitude of trans identity and reality.

Check out Lane’s other work here: www.lanemichaelstanley.com

KAREN ALVARADO* is a Latinx actress born in Corpus Christi, Texas. She grew up touring bilingual history plays in Texas and Northern Mexico. After getting a Theatre BA from Texas A&M University, she enjoyed a professional acting career in Austin, Texas. While in Austin she served as the Founding Artistic Director for The Last Act Theatre Company for four years before moving to New Jersey to complete an MFA in Acting at Rutgers University Mason Gross Conservatory, and received classical training from Shakespeare's Globe in London. She is currently the Founding Co-Artistic Director of Thinkery & Verse. Karen recently appeared as Johnna in August Osage County (REP) and Penelope in Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey (BAM). Other favorite credits include Claudio, Hero and Don Jon in a 4-person version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and the lead character in Bride of the Gulf at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Karen also directed Bride of the Gulf and the play received critical acclaim from The Scotsman and The List. During the pandemic, Karen has lent her voice to Podcasts Decameron 2020: Survival Through Stories and That’s How the Story Goes – the Hall-Mills Murders, as well as a new geocaching audio adventure called GHOST HUNT: The Hall-Mills Double Homicide. She is currently filming Bedlam: The Series. Engage with Karen's art here: thinkeryandverse.org and karenalvarado.com

"Balloons" will honor the generational differences and similarities between two Woman's Rights Advocates. The original interview between NOW youth leader and NOW elder leader was perfectly resonant so I sought to capture that interaction with as much authenticity as possible. This is why the majority of the original text is left in tact and why the framing device of a Zoom interview is embraced as the digital story-telling medium. The film will peer into a conversation between a girl and her mother as the girl reflects on what she learned from interviewing Marretta Short. We will be a fly on the wall as Marretta reminisces on her journey and achievements.

Check out more of Karen’s work at thinkeryandverse.org and karenalvarado.com and #thinkeryandverse (instagram)

In the spring of 2020, NOW New Jersey reached out to me, among others, and asked if I wanted to participate in the HERStory project. As the one of the leaders of Generation Ratify New Jersey, I was excited for the opportunity. All of the events my organization has done so far – phone banking and letter writing parties, forming partnerships with like-minded organizations, and participating in a national lobbying day with the rest of Generation Ratify – could not have been achieved without the tireless efforts of our predecessors, so of course I wanted to interview them and hear their stories. These pioneer men and women fought for gender equality before anyone my age was even born, and their efforts affect every single one of us each and every day. The HERStory project was an eye-opening experience. I learned so much about not only the lives of the people I interviewed, Skipp and Alan, but about the circumstances and events during which they were fighting. I heard about such amazing stories, such incredible (s)heroes, and such positive change that these pioneers created. This project taught me to be thankful for all of the work these women and men did before I was born. This project also taught me the importance of continuing the fight and carrying the torch that was given to me and my generation. Now that I’ve learned about the past, I can work towards changing the future.

Angela crafted this particular oral history segment as a spoken word poem as a nod to protest poetry, poets as public figures, and as a dedication to the role poets play in instigating social change. Angela says, "Judith Buckman may not call herself a poet, but she is poetic AND prophetic."

Angela Kariotis has brought her unique performance style across America and beyond to venues such as The University of California- Los Angeles, Contact Theater in Manchester, UK, Legion Arts in Iowa, the Off-Center in Austin, TX, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the Hip Hop Theater Festival in New York City.

As a teaching artist, Angela couples her masterful performances with cutting-edge residency work. She is Director of Curriculum and facilitator for Walking the Beat, a virtual collaboration between the Elizabeth Police Department and Jefferson Arts High School. Angela offers workshops on interrupting racism and raising anti-racist kids. She offers educator professional development workshops on introducing challenging discussion into the classroom. Kariotis is committed to literacy through the arts, theater for social justice, and art-making as a liberatory practice.

In collecting and sharing stories of remarkable women from New Jersey to Turkmenistan, the one thing I find women have in common no matter what part of the world they come from is that they keep moving forward even when faced with extreme adversity. These are women who do not have extensive resources, but find a way to thrive in their communities while confronting structural inequalities. We should honor their work and learn from it so that we can keep paving the way for future generations.