Today we’d like to introduce you to Bridget McCarthy.
Bridget, before we jump into specific questions about the organization, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I first encountered “art for social change” at the age of 18, when I stepped into a prison theatre program for the first time. Bearing witness to the bravery of the gentlemen in that circle as they remove their armor and offer the room vulnerability in the shape of monologues and scenes was earth shattering for me. It was like magic: these amazing humans used art to create a space of beauty in a place that was not beautiful. Some folks call this practice “arts for social change”, but I think of it more as “art that celebrates human dignity”.
Since that time, I have made theatre with community artists in prisons, jails, and juvenile correctional centers. I have made theatre in rural Kentucky about the erasure of Appalachian Culture. I have sat among warriors in recovery, making a musical about housing discrimination. I have worked in public housing projects with teenagers bravely raising their voices to legislators about gun violence in their neighborhood. I am humbled by the people I have gotten to work with, and so grateful for the opportunity to offer the tools of theatre as a platform to amplify the voices of the incredible people around me.
AtlantaSpeaks is the next evolution of this work: we exist to harness the power of creative storytelling to amplify under-heard voices. It is scrappy, community based, and all about amplifying the collective heartbeat of this magnificent city.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The most difficult part of my work is balancing the logistics with the artistry. I have truly found my voice as a theatre maker and gotten into a comfortable methodology when it comes to amplifying the voices and stories of my collaborators. I want to take this programming to more communities, to work alongside more people, and create a larger platform to amplify the voices of Atlanta.
Sometimes the bandwidth to build artistic programming is limited in places like prisons, so it can be a struggle to gain access to some of the places that house our most vulnerable neighbors.
I have a lot of growth that is happening! I want to become a better grant writer, better versed in budgeting and organizational funding, and forge more connections in my new city to engage more diverse partnerships.
Please tell us about the organization.
AtlantaSpeaks connects art makers with community organizations. We are hosted in residencies with these organizations to create empowering arts programming alongside the folks that they serve.
We start with the question, “if you had 10 seconds of the world’s attention and a megaphone, what would you say?” We gather the responses and start to make art together based on those responses. Over the course of our time together, we use the skills of the group to create an artistic piece that can be shared with the larger community.
This can look like a group of men who are incarcerated that share a love of Shakespeare, crafting a performance for their prison community about embracing vulnerability. It can look like a circle of young people, using rap and visual art to facilitate conversation about gun violence in their school. It can look like a neighborhood coming together to craft storytelling that preserves their shared history.
We practice radical welcome, meaning we are committed to providing translators, meals, transportation, childcare, accessible spaces, and eliminating as many other barriers as possible for our collaborators. This means we are committed to creating spaces that fight against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, religious intolerance, ableism, white supremacy, and any other factors that oppress full expression of humanity. At the same time, we make art that celebrates the human spirit. We make art that celebrates the human spirit.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I grew up on Lake Michigan and being able to swim there before school with my mom was a treat.
Contact Info:
- Website: atlantaspeaks.org
- Email: info@atlantaspeaks.org
- Facebook: facebook.com/atlantaspeakspage
Image Credit:
These were all taken by me or my workers. No credit needed 🙂
Atlanta Speaks Logo: Designed by Lilly Baxley
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