Summer Dawn
Art Form(s):Artist Statement
As a theater teaching artist for elementary school students with Young Audiences Arts for Learning, I love sharing more about my cultures -- Asian, Hispanic, LGBTQ+ -- with my students, but also uplifting them and their cultures. Art and education in the form of story is the strongest way to help young people foster critical social-emotional skills that will help them become the future leaders the world needs. The ability to understand and love who you are, to be compassionate towards others, to join others in their struggles -- those are the skills our children need.
Artist Bio
Summer Dawn is an actor, director, writer and theater teaching artist. She is also is the founder and director of In Full Color, an organization that empowers women of color and other marginalized BIPOC through education and the arts. IFC has received two commendations from the New Jersey State Assembly and the Jersey City Arts Council’s Performing Arts Award. Summer was honored by YANJEP with the Arts United N.J. Governor’s Award in Arts Education for her antiracist and culturally responsive work. As a Spanish speaker and CELTA-certified ELT educator, she specializes in working with multilingual learners. She has also worked extensively with students receiving IEP services and presented on the intersections of Disability, theater and language arts at the NJEA Conference in 2024.
As a teaching artist, she also works with Lincoln Center Theater in New York City supporting programs that connect local youth with contemporary theater; make Shakespeare accessible; and empower English language learners. For Storytelling Arts, she is also a middle school teaching artist and director of their Untold Stories of Storied People project, working with adult storytellers. Visit InFullColor.org or follow her @infullcolorus_
