My name is Grace Cannon, and I am a community-based theatre artist and facilitator. I grew up outside of Big Horn, Wyoming. After nine years of school in Big Horn, I attended Sheridan High School until 2006.
Then, I headed east to attend Vassar College. My studies there included German Studies, Anthropology, Literature, and Drama. I received my BA in American Culture from Vassar in 2010.
After college, I moved to Chicago to complete a year of service through AmeriCorps. During that year, I worked in a settlement house and a drama enrichment classroom of a charter elementary school.
In 2012, I received a Fulbright Scholarship to study, live and travel in Germany in order to investigate the German fascination with the American West. I spent the majority of my time in Berlin, in partnership with the JFK Institute of American Studies at the Freie Universitaet.
I returned to Chicago to further my career as a theatre artist. I worked for American Theater Company under the late PJ Paparelli in several roles, including New Play Development Apprentice, Assistant Director on the world premiere of the documentary play The Project(s), and Education Associate in charge of the Youth Ensemble. While in Chicago, I also collaborated with Artemisia, a Chicago Theatre and Adventure Stage Chicago.
In 2017, I moved to New York City to begin study for a Masters in Applied Theatre from CUNY School of Professional Studies with Chris Vine and Helen White, among many other accomplished practitioners.
Now that I have returned to northern Wyoming to continue building my career as a community-based theatre artist, I am reflective on times I have returned before. As a rising sophomore at Vassar, I co-founded No Fog West Theater Company and returned to Sheridan the summer of 2007 to engage the community in dialogue around The Laramie Project. After graduating Vassar College in 2010, I came back to produce my play The Ghosts of Sheridan WYO in The Historic Sheridan Inn. In 2013, I spent time in Sheridan after my year in Germany to compile my research into a second play, My Home is a Borderland. Finally, I spent time in Wyoming in 2016 while applying to graduate school. That time was invaluable as it gave me the space and clarity to define many of the goals I still hold as an artist and advocate.
Tilt Wild 