Free Street Institute: Storytelling Certificate

Join Free Street for an 8 hour institute session, focused on storytelling.

Free Street’s training process is designed to meet you where you are. Whether you have a lot of experience as an artist or you are still wondering if you can do it (you can!), we believe theater, storytelling, and community building are skills that benefit everyone, in all kinds of contexts! Free Street’s unique facilitation style is focused on joy, justice, and amplifying our collective abilities.

Our training series kicks off this Fall with a deep dive into Storytelling. Learn to tell a story that pulls your audience in, focuses on the most important messaging, and leaves a lasting impression.

Participants must enroll by Nov 3rd.

About Free Street: Founded in 1969, Free Street's history and future is dedicated to using theatre as a tool in a larger social justice strategy. We use stories & data to create original plays through a community based process. Free Street is a femme-led arts and culture organization that centers original performance work by Black, Brown, and Immigrant communities; queer artists; youth artists; and work that is committed to the thriving and well-being of people on the South and West Sides of the city. We believe in the theater as a space to uplift joy and justice, especially racial, economic, and environmental justice in Chicago.

Meet Your Facilitators:

Coya Paz is an award-winning author, director, and public speaker - her TED Talk has over a million views. She teaches full-time in The Theatre School at DePaul University and is the co-author (with Chloe Johnston) of Ensemble-Made Chicago: A Guide to Devised Theater.

Katrina Dion is Free Street's Producing Artistic Director, who has directed over 15 works at Free Street and supported production on over 40 shows. At The Theatre School at DePaul University she teaches directing and production, and most notable is the winner of the 2023 Chicago Reader "Best of" award for "Best Stage Director".

Cost:

The $175 per attendee will cover instructor time, helps support scholarships for others & will go towards lunch. If you are in need of a scholarship please follow the below instructions:

email [email protected] subject: Institute Scholarship Request

Please detail what scholarship amount would make attending this institute possible, why you hope to participate in the institute, and if you feel comfortable, why you need financial assistance.

Please note, we may not be able to fufill every scholarship request. If we can provide a scholarship you will be sent a code to use while completing sign up on Eventbrite.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

1419 W Blackhawk St, 1419 West Blackhawk Street, Chicago, United States