Please join us for an informal conversation with playwright/artist Sharon Bridgforth. This conversation will focus on making art, breaking form, making a living as an artist, using art as a tool for change, ​and African American/Queer​ tradition​s​ of the personal as political. 

A child of the Great African-American Migration, Sharon Bridgforth was raised by Black Southerners who made home in Los Angeles/determined to make a better life for themselves and those to come. A Black queer child coming of age during assassinations, riots, the Black Power Movement and Soul Music – Sharon strives to model the unbending dignity, commitment to community, self-determination and Love of Black cultures that was modeled for her.

Sharon is proud to serve as Artist In-Residence at Thousand Currents/an organization that supports grassroots, community based projects lead by women, youth and indigenous people in the global south. Sharon is a 2016 Doris Duke Performing Artist, 2016 Creative Capital Artist, New Dramatists alumnae and recipient of funding from The Whitman Institute, MAP Fund and the National Performance Network. She is a writer that collaborates with actors, dancers, singers and audiences live during performance as she composes moving soundscapes of her non-linear texts. Widely published, Sharon has been a self-employed touring artist since 1998. Check out her current project, "dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/Home" at: http://sharonbridgforth.com.

Presented in collaboration with the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies.