Quenna Lené Barrett

Quenna Lené Barrett is a Chicago-based theater artist + practitioner, developing programs to amplify teen + community voice and hold space to rehearse, tell, and change the stories of their lives. She is currently the Associate Director of Education and Engagement at Goodman Theatre, and has developed two applied theatre programs at the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life. She is a company member with the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health’s For Youth Inquiry, Associate Artist with Pivot Arts, co-curator for Theatre on the Lake, and artist-in-residence at Free Street Theatre. Quenna received her BFA from NYU Tisch in Drama, her MA in Applied Theatre from the University of Southern California, and is currently pursuing a doctorate of education (EdD) in Educational Theatre at NYU Steinhardt. Continuing to build the world she wants to see/live in, she is developing practices of poetic and participatory performance, and is re-writing the Declaration of Independence. Sort of.

Residency/Fellowship

Equal Justice 2017/2018

Website

quennalene.com

Location

Chicago, IL USA

ANTI-RACISM / ALUMNI STATEMENT

I wrote and performed this piece in what feels now like an almost entirely different world, but the issues raised are even more present, visible, palpable in our nation’s public consciousness today. Now, more than ever, not only are Black people, but non-black POC and white accomplices are stepping up to help us create images of justice, to truly imagine what it means for our bodies to be free. It is only through this active and collective and radical imagining, through trying and failing and trying again, will we be able to manifest that vision and push it forward into a better, more just, future. – Quenna Lené Barrett

For a complete read of Anti-racist statements by SFAI Alumni, visit the SFAI140 Chronicles page. 

SFAI140 Video Presentation

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