Bethany Williams - Board Secretary

What kind of work do you do outside of ACT UP?

I’m the owner The Elderberry Experience where I create herbal supplements for the purpose of healing and wellbeing.

I’m a Licensed Clinical Therapist, Forensic Interviewer and Children’s Advocacy Center Programs Director at a non-profit organization serving child and adult survivors of abuse.

What is your earliest memory of the arts a child?

In Elementary school my acrylic painting, A Vase of Blue Flowers, won 1st prize in my category at the State Fair. Art provided a platform for expression in spaces where I often felt undervalued and unseen.

Why did you decide to get involved in applied theatre?

Entertainment for the purpose of being entertained is an easy pastime our society has grown fond of. Entertainment purposed for bringing forth uncomfortable discussion, shedding light on untold stories and impacting societal change seems like a more meaningful and pivotal use of space and time.

Theatre can make another’s truth more palatable, more easily seen and understood and can easily ignite the will for justice and change.

What does an ideal society look like to you?

An ideal society is one in which ALL people have a deep respect for the natural world, every living plant and animal - each soul that resides here. Ideally, in this world, we’d acknowledge wrong doings and collectedly and fervently work towards equitable solutions. We’d reckon with and bring light to shaded truths. Our history would serve as lessons to provide a pathway to a just future.

We’d be motivated intrinsically to live this way forever…so we’d earnestly teach the way to our successors. When all that share space here adopt these standards, the process of correcting our society and building one that is ideal, would never have to be repeated again.

Ashley N.C. Moultrie - Board Treasurer

What kind of work do you do outside of ACT UP?

I am the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement for an Integrated Research Organization.

What is your first memory of the arts as a child or What is your earliest memory of doing something in the arts as a child?

Boxwood Dr. Pensacola FL around circa 1996-ish . . . I tiptoed out of my bedroom and crept to the end of the hall. It was there that I listened and watched my mother sing a Billie Holliday song. She wasn't just singing though. There was music and movement and joy and pain. I was fascinated while watching her sing and sway around in that tiny little den. She was a performer, THE performer. Back then, I didn't know it was the arts, I just thought it was magical. She had a may of doing that.

Why did you decide to get involved in applied theatre?

I was raised by an actress and activist. Social Justice and the Arts are the heaviest weaving in the fabric that makes me, me. Applied Theatre is a marriage of the two. ACT UP can pull back the curtain on society's deepest flaws and show you truths you may have been blind to (or where ignoring). It pulls back the curtain and shows you what's wrong, who it's affecting, and how. It does it in such a way, that you're moved to make tangible change.

ACT UP gives and Equitable and Just opportunity for everyone to learn how to become Social Justice warriors in their own right, and it's something I knew I HAD to be a part of.

What does an ideal society look like to you?

An ideal society would be one where my son's life (and the lives of all black and brown children) mattered as much to that society as it does to me. A society where black and brown boys aren't prematurely forced to transition into manhood the moment, they're over 4 ft tall. A society where black & brown little girls aren't strapped into womanhood at the first sign of intelligence. A society where no matter how you identify or who you love, you'll be able to experience a life and a love without fear, or shame, or neglect. A society where differently abled bodies never question if they'll be able to attend, experience, or participate in anything, because we've grown to make accommodations customary. A society where we embrace our different-ness and acknowledged its value, a society where no one is othered.

Sheila Farrar - Board President

What kind of work do you do outside of ACT UP?

I own Pretty Mugz by Holly Mariee

I am a licensed esthetician and makeup artist

I am a Programs Director for a Sexual Violence Resource Center

What is your first memory of the arts as a child or your first time doing something in the arts as a child.

My first memory of the arts was when I had to read a book in front of my elementary school. I remember my teacher telling me that she recommended me to read, not only for my reading abilities, but because she loved that I had a vivid imagination and I was a great story teller. That stayed with me, and I learned later that art is about stepping outside of yourself, and ultimately being in-tuned with using your imagination.

Why did you decide to get involved in applied theatre?  

I believe in what Applied Theatre stands for, and it is a tremendous honor to serve on the board for an organization that wants to make a difference in our community, in ways that haven’t been done before.  

What does an ideal society look like to you?

An ideal society looks like a place where injustice and iniquity are not a factor. Sometimes I feel that achieving this is too big of a task, but AUD has created a space where we get to see how our society can be, if we all collectively did the work, which can put us one step closer to a better society.