Help See Saw Bring Theatre & Improv to Prison
Donation protected
See Saw Projects is a small applied theatre company founded by Raleigh-local, Amy Sawyers-Williams (me!).
See Saw was formed in 2017 with a mission to bring interactive, socially conscious theatre to the Triangle Area (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill).
We have a truly exciting opportunity to partner with the Wake Corrections Center (WCC) to pilot their first theatre and improv workshop, but we need your help to do it! WCC is one of only two county prisons in North Carolina to focus on offender reentry into society after their sentence is served. WCC mainly offers religious programming and want to offer something different so that the offenders have new perspectives on themselves and their creative potential. You can learn more about the facility here.
Through a combination of teaching improv, storytelling, and theatre, we aim to help the offenders sharpen listening skills, communication, self-reflection/awareness, and empathy.
Since we are not equipped to be a non profit, we cannot apply for *most* of the arts grants available to arts nonprofits in the area. Our plan is to apply for fiscal sponsorship from VAE so that we can apply for more grants in the future, but the workshop at the prison came together fast, and we need financial support in order to commit to it.
In order to be successful in bringing this project to the WCC, we need funding to:
- Compensate the artist-facilitators for planning, travel & facilitation
- Cover workshop materials
- Help break even with See Saw’s administrative costs
WHAT YOU GET FOR DONATING
$25: A shout out on the See Saw Facebook page
$50: Shout out + updates about how the workshops are going via email and blog links
$100 +: Shout out, updates + a postcard signed by members of the workshop
We will start the workshops on June 11th, pending funding, and hope that you will help us realize this wonderful program!
Thank you--EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS!
LEARN MORE ABOUT US
Amy Sawyers-Williams (above) is a theatre artist and arts educator who has been working in the arts field for over a decade. She earned her Master’s in Applied Theatre from CUNY, where she gained experience in devising, Theatre of the Oppressed, Theatre-In-Education, and as a teaching artist in the NYC schools. Amy has co-created and devised six original shows and workshops with diverse communities that have been featured locally and nationally. Her thesis work focused on intergenerational storytelling and the performance of stories. She now oversees the Arts Outreach and Engagement Office at Arts NC State where she teaches improv workshops on campus. In addition to running See Saw, she can be seen in the Summer Sisters devised theatre show in August and will be directing for Seed Art Share in the fall. She is thrilled to be creating work with the incarcerated community in Raleigh.
April Storm Perry is an actress, model, comedian, singer, and fitness coach from New York City. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies from UNC Chapel Hill and has studied acting in both New York City and England. She has been featured as a model in Bobbi Brown Cosmetics Pretty Powerful Campaign, on NBC's 30 Rock and TBS's "Are We There Yet?", and in many national television commercials. Her role as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" at Sing Sing Correctional Facility with Rehabilitation Through the Arts inspired her to start teaching acting incarcerated adults. Since 2015, she worked as a teaching artist for incarcerated youth with Drama Club NYC and later served as a Program Coordinator for the Young Women’s Initiative as Rikers Island where she helped lead classes in improvisation, storytelling, and co-directed shows for final performances. She is ecstatic about continuing working with marginalized populations in North Carolina where she grew up as she believes individuals benefit when they find their creative voice.
RESOURCES ON THEATRE IN PRISONS
https://www.americantheatre.org/2019/01/22/a-role-for-theatre-in-criminal-justice/
http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/brewster_prison_arts_final_formatted.pdf
See Saw was formed in 2017 with a mission to bring interactive, socially conscious theatre to the Triangle Area (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill).
We have a truly exciting opportunity to partner with the Wake Corrections Center (WCC) to pilot their first theatre and improv workshop, but we need your help to do it! WCC is one of only two county prisons in North Carolina to focus on offender reentry into society after their sentence is served. WCC mainly offers religious programming and want to offer something different so that the offenders have new perspectives on themselves and their creative potential. You can learn more about the facility here.
Through a combination of teaching improv, storytelling, and theatre, we aim to help the offenders sharpen listening skills, communication, self-reflection/awareness, and empathy.
Since we are not equipped to be a non profit, we cannot apply for *most* of the arts grants available to arts nonprofits in the area. Our plan is to apply for fiscal sponsorship from VAE so that we can apply for more grants in the future, but the workshop at the prison came together fast, and we need financial support in order to commit to it.
In order to be successful in bringing this project to the WCC, we need funding to:
- Compensate the artist-facilitators for planning, travel & facilitation
- Cover workshop materials
- Help break even with See Saw’s administrative costs
WHAT YOU GET FOR DONATING
$25: A shout out on the See Saw Facebook page
$50: Shout out + updates about how the workshops are going via email and blog links
$100 +: Shout out, updates + a postcard signed by members of the workshop
We will start the workshops on June 11th, pending funding, and hope that you will help us realize this wonderful program!
Thank you--EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS!
LEARN MORE ABOUT US
Amy Sawyers-Williams (above) is a theatre artist and arts educator who has been working in the arts field for over a decade. She earned her Master’s in Applied Theatre from CUNY, where she gained experience in devising, Theatre of the Oppressed, Theatre-In-Education, and as a teaching artist in the NYC schools. Amy has co-created and devised six original shows and workshops with diverse communities that have been featured locally and nationally. Her thesis work focused on intergenerational storytelling and the performance of stories. She now oversees the Arts Outreach and Engagement Office at Arts NC State where she teaches improv workshops on campus. In addition to running See Saw, she can be seen in the Summer Sisters devised theatre show in August and will be directing for Seed Art Share in the fall. She is thrilled to be creating work with the incarcerated community in Raleigh.
April Storm Perry is an actress, model, comedian, singer, and fitness coach from New York City. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies from UNC Chapel Hill and has studied acting in both New York City and England. She has been featured as a model in Bobbi Brown Cosmetics Pretty Powerful Campaign, on NBC's 30 Rock and TBS's "Are We There Yet?", and in many national television commercials. Her role as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" at Sing Sing Correctional Facility with Rehabilitation Through the Arts inspired her to start teaching acting incarcerated adults. Since 2015, she worked as a teaching artist for incarcerated youth with Drama Club NYC and later served as a Program Coordinator for the Young Women’s Initiative as Rikers Island where she helped lead classes in improvisation, storytelling, and co-directed shows for final performances. She is ecstatic about continuing working with marginalized populations in North Carolina where she grew up as she believes individuals benefit when they find their creative voice.
RESOURCES ON THEATRE IN PRISONS
https://www.americantheatre.org/2019/01/22/a-role-for-theatre-in-criminal-justice/
http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/brewster_prison_arts_final_formatted.pdf
Organizer
Amy Sawyers-Williams
Organizer
Raleigh, NC
Inspired to help? Start a fundraiser for someone you know
