Artist Statement:
Art is a way to invite communities to move into conversations of discovery, build relationships, value our diversity, and to open the creative possibilities within us all. Art is both a lens through which to explore social concerns and a mechanism for community engagement and activism. I craft work that offers agency to the performers and audience through structured options that question the role of observer, participant, and performer. I move within art as a way to respond to social issues, literature, personal stories, and to create and re-create spaces with both an aesthetic and experiential intention. Interdisciplinary process and performance are a place from which to research, observe, ask, and reply to questions about the way we relate to one another and the world. My experience as a choreographer, performer, and educator, has led me to dig into different disciplines as a way to deepen my creative practice and move beyond the boundaries that define static presence or labels. I invest in the design of costumes, lighting, video, and installations as a way to deepen work. The architecture, the history, and the emotional character of a space serve as a rich source of inspiration for site-specific and immersive experiences. Choreographic research dives into literature and personal narratives to develop original movement adaptations and explorations. Aesthetic and conceptual choices are enhanced through the diversity found in collaboration with trained and untrained movers, visual artists, writers, actors, musicians, and other community members. The facilitation of the creative process is fundamental to my work and acts as a tool to uncover and discover our unique movement voice. The voice can take many forms, and the body serves as the pathway to excavate and share our voice in order to be heard.
Kathleen Meyers Leiner
Kathleen Meyers Leiner has spent 40 years teaching, performing, and creating dance for universities, high schools, festivals, museums, and non-profit organizations. Kathy draws inspiration from literature, social issues, and personal stories to develop workshops, performances, and participatory events. She collaborates with writers, musicians, dancers, and artists of various disciplines, to explore the creative process and cultivate new work. Currently, Kathy is the Chair of Fine Arts, Dance Program Director, and Graham Theater Manager at the Asheville School. Kathy holds a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts: Choreography & Visual Arts from Wilson College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from Towson State University. She continues to grow as an educator and artist through her ongoing research of Black Mountain College and other models to discover ways to engage the community with interdisciplinary art.
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