Free State Story Slam
Lawrence Arts Center- Margaret Morris, Chief Executive Officer, Lawrence Arts Center
- David Hollond, Founder, Free State Story Slam; Lawrence Arts Center
- Elizabeth Sullivan, Director of Performing Arts, Lawrence Arts Center
Project Description
For 11 years, the Free State Story Slam storytelling series has had a home at the Lawrence Arts Center. The monthly Story Slam provides storytellers an opportunity to tell true stories in front of a live audience. Slams are held in the Lawrence Arts Center’s Mainstage theater and open with 30 minutes of live music from local musicians, followed by 90-120 minutes of stories related to the evening’s theme. Story Slam regularly brings audiences of 100-200 people together to share a part of their history or personal experience with the community. Story Slam has developed a plan to incubate similar events in smaller Kansas communities with no established storytelling venue, prioritizing racially and/or socioeconomically diverse towns. In each location, we will organize a series of story slams with a local community partner.
Partner Details
Margaret Morris
Chief Executive Officer, Lawrence Arts Center
David Hollond
Founder, Free State Story Slam; Lawrence Arts Center
Elizabeth Sullivan
Director of Performing Arts, Lawrence Arts Center
Bio
Elizabeth Sullivan has an MFA. in Theatre for Youth and K-12 teaching certification from Arizona State University. She is a community-based artist, teaching artist, director, and performer. Elizabeth acted with The Seem-To-Be Players, a nationally touring children’s theatre troupe. She served as the choreographer, lead facilitator and actor for MADE Garden, an interactive art and play installation for young children at Mesa Art Center’s SPARK! Festival for Creativity. She worked as Asphalt Art’s Resident Artist at Phoenix’s Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development where she led homeless youth in poetry, spoken word, drama, performance, and digital storytelling.