As applied theatre practitioners, Liz Foster-Shaner and Mary C. Parker are invested personally and professionally in working with communities in ways that are ethically responsible. Too often, they find that discussions around community-engaged art focus more on the mechanics of the practices -- “How do you facilitate an exercise? How do you secure funding? How do you build partnerships?” -- and not enough on the impact of those practices.  

This workshop creates space for artists to have these conversations and consider how to develop work that can create sustainable social change, while recognizing that artists and teaching artists might also cause harm, especially to vulnerable and marginalized communities.  

We hope to deepen knowledge and understanding of concepts related to personal and social identity and the four I’s of oppression (internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and ideological) and how they affect our impact as community-engaged artists. Our broad goals are to co-create an equitable, just, and compassionate learning community and to begin to craft a code of ethics for community-engaged art that strives for accountability and social justice. 

Hosted by

Liz Foster-Shaner

Liz Foster-Shaner is a civic artist developing creative social justice programs that focus on community building, risk-taking, and analysis of systemic inequity. She holds a PhD in Theatre Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA in Theatre and Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Liz’s doctoral research, praxis, and teaching focused on theatre for cultural and social awareness and the development and representation of community both on and off the stage.

Mary C. Parker

Mary C. Parker serves as an internationally recognized applied theatre practitioner, educator, and comedic actor. She holds an MA in Applied Theatre from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, a BA in Sociology from Emory University, and is a Certified Professional Coach through Duquesne University’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business. She has researched and published in the areas of identity, comedy, and structural racism. In her applied theater work, Mary employs humor to deepen humility and disrupt fragility, one laugh at a time.

Event accessibility is our priority

The Arts Council is committed to making its programs accessible to everyone - even virtual events. If you require an accommodation or service to fully participate in this event, please email events@pittsburghartscouncil.org at least two weeks prior to the event. Event accommodations may include ASL; Open Captioning; Audio Description; digital, large-print or Braille materials, etc. If an accommodation would be helpful and the lead time is less than two weeks, please let us know so we can make every effort to help you fully participate. To learn more, check out our Event Accessibility page.