This moderated conversation will focus on childcare supports as an essential part of an organization’s anti-racist and anti-oppressive work, engaging with personal stories, case studies, and the work of Level UP! Strategy Partners.
Thursday, February 24, 1:00-2:30pm EST (online). ASL and French language interpretation provided.
Co-presented with the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. Register via PACT here.
Featuring Guest Panelists:
Tamanya Garza, Theatre Director/Producer and Director of Community and Justice Initiatives at the Parent Artist Advocacy League for the Performing Arts (PAAL) and Garlia Cornelia Jones, Writer, Executive Producer of the Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival (#BMPFest), and Producing Director at PAAL.
With Balancing Act’s Childcare Solutions Strategy Partners: Harbourfront Centre, Lunchbox Theatre, Open Pit Theatre, Quote Unquote Collective, and Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists (CADA) – East. Moderator: Pragna Desai, Creation Warehouse Director, Theatre Direct
Find out more about the Balancing Act’s Level UP! program and the Roundtable series here!
About Tamanya Garza:
Tamanya M. M. Garza is a Latine parent-artist and marketing and social media specialist based in Philadelphia. As a director, producer and educator Tamanya has had the pleasure of working with: Power Street Theatre, Simpatico Theatre, Wilma Theater, Philadelphia Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, Ursinus College, Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, Directors Gathering, University of the Arts and many others.Currently Tamanya serves as the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL) national Director of Community and Justice Initiatives and the Chief Representative for Philadelphia. Her work with PAAL to create an equitable and inclusive space for parents and caregivers has been featured alongside other changemakers in HowlRound and American Theatre magazine and the Art Meet Offspring podcast. Tamanya has been invited to speak about the organization’s best practices by: Theatre Communications Group (TCG),United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc. (USITT),League of Professional Theatre Women, New Jersey Theatre Alliance and more.
About Garlia Cornelia Jones:
Garlia is a writer, producer, photographer and mother from Detroit, MI. In 2008, Garlia founded Blackboard Plays, a monthly series devoted to Black Playwrights. She is one of the founding producers of Harlem9, OBIE Award winners for, “48Hours in…™Harlem”. Her Essays and articles have appeared in “The New York Times”, “The Washington Post”, “Salon.com” and “American Theatre”. Her work as a playwrights has been supported by the cell, The Fire This Time Festival and #24viralmonologues. She was a guest artist at Wayne State University 2020-2021. She worked on an MA in African American and African Diaspora studies at Indiana University before coming to New York for her MFA in Playwrighting which she earned at The New School for Drama. Garlia is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Producing Director of PAAL, where she also received one of their first childcare grants in 2019. Finally, Garlia is a Line Producer at The Public Theater (“Socrates”, “Much Ado About Nothing”, (filmed for Great Performances on PBS), “Mojada”, “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enough, “Coal Country”, “The Visitor”). She was also the Line Producer for Mobile Unit’s Summer of Joy, Shakespeare: Call and Response – August 2021.
Garlia was the Co-Creative Producer of #ToBeBlack, released on Juneteenth 2020 and Co-Producer of “Forward Together” a Virtual event, in support of The Public. During the Fall of 2020, Garlia was the co-developer and Curator of the #Saytheirnames projection installation. Garlia is the Creative Producer for the Obsidian Theatre Festival in Detroit, MI. Finally, she is the Executive Producer of the Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival (#BMPFest), a festival focused on the stories of Black families from Black Black artists with families. #BMPFest is now in its 2nd year!