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April Gentry-Sutterfield

Community-Engaged Productions

I define community-engaged productions as work that:  1)  involves multiple organizations within the creative process, 2)  targets a specific community for engagement, and 3)  extends engagement beyond the production itself.  

Sample Project:  For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf

In addition to serving as artistic director for this production at Pulaski Technical College in Spring 2011, I initiated and coordinated extensive on-campus and off-campus community engagement efforts.

Off-Campus Community Engagement Efforts Included:

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  • A full partnership with the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center to perform in their theatre space.
  • A full partnership with Laman Library to host two free workshops attended by community members.  The first workshop was a reading circle facilitated by Pulaski Tech English instructor and minority literature specialist Jerrica Ryan in which participants read and discussed the choreopoem.  The second workshop was a visual art/writing workshop facilitated by Pulaski Tech adjunct art instructor Kimberly Kwee and “Tales From the South” host Paula Morrell in which participants created a work of visual art based on themes from the choreopoem which will be exhibited throughout the run of the show.

  • A table staffed by a representative from SafePlaces to provide information on domestic violence and healty relationships before and after each performance
  • Parkview high school students created “living sculptures” of each “colored girl” as part of the lobby display
  • A North Little Rock high school student wrote a series of poems, one for each “colored girl,” to be exhibited next to “living sculptures”
  • Thematic art exhibit by local artist Loni Harshaw in the lobby for pre-show
  • Community-member initiated lobby display on history of choreopoem
  • An on-going digital slide show of our creative process in lobby
  • Cast and crew comprised of both college and community representatives

On-Campus Community Engagement Efforts Included:

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  • Facilitated Pulaski Tech students in the creation of  “mini-choreopoems” when invited by classroom teachers.
  • Most English instructors included For Colored Girls in the semester curriculum.
  • Coordinated with the Network for Student Success, a federally-funded program that works on African-American male retention, to host a “Network Night” in the run of the show
  • Initiated a PTC recruitment table for run of show
  • Initiated a “Real Talk” night in which the Network for Student Success discussed themes from the play with their students
  • Collaborated with the Committee on Cultural Diversity to host and serve as panel member on an Open Forum discussing the play


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