Art of Activism brings together community experts, artists and patrons for a virtual brunch and vital conversation centered on the themes within Charmed Ones as we examine our role beyond the art. While you do not have to have seen the show to attend the complimentary event, we welcome all voices to join the VIP’s in connecting across our differences, share in commonalities, and explore the curiosity that initiates the question: How do we celebrate queer charm through resillience, politics and performance?
Some amazing guests are joining us!
Liliana Bakhtiari is a lifelong Atlantan, a committed community activist, and the daughter of immigrants. Her experiences as a queer Muslim woman the South fueled her path to becoming a community leader, social justice advocate, and activist fighting for women and children’s health issues, environmental justice, and our unsheltered populations. Liliana spent much of her youth traveling the globe, practicing social advocacy, participating in a wide variety of cultural projects, including aiding refugees in building new homes, working with sex trafficking victims and volunteering at orphanages in a total of 26 countries around the world.
In Atlanta, Liliana has tackled initiatives locally including engaging suburban and rural voters during especially critical elections, direct services with unsheltered populations, blood drives, senior partnerships, public art initiatives (like a mobile art installation in the form of a Georgia school bus), and more. Liliana currently serves as a curator of the Atlanta-based art organization Black Futures Matter, while also serving on the boards of PEDS, Georgia Equality, and gloATL. Liliana is currently running for Atlanta City Council, and if elected, Liliana will be the first queer Muslim person elected in Georgia, and the first gender non-conforming person to serve on the Atlanta City Council.
Paul Conroy, the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Out Front Theatre Company, holds a BA in English/Writing with a Minor in Theatre from Long Island University, a MA in Directing from Roosevelt University, and is currently concluding a MFA in Directing from the University of Idaho. Originally from Boston, Paul has worked in artistic and management capacities for theatre companies around the greater Atlanta area such as the Alliance Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse and ART Station among others. Paul is also a playwright and his original musical, The Ethel Merman Disco Christmas Spectacular! premiered at Out Front Theatre Company in December of 2018. Paul also currently teaches courses in Theatre at Georgia State University.
Additionally, as a member of the City of Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board, Paul co-chairs the Arts, Culture and Entertainment subcommittee, and works directly with artists, community organizations and politicians to make the city of Atlanta a more inclusive and supportive place for all people. He has spoken on panels across metro Atlanta about the LGBTQ+ community, its history, and the role the arts have played in it. Outside of Atlanta, Paul has been featured in The New York Times and The Times of London speaking about the issue of prejudice facing the LGBTQ+ community and the backlash by some against free speech in theatre that focuses on these issues and stories.
Sean Dorsey is a San Francisco-based choreographer, dancer, writer, teaching artist and cultural activist. Recognized as the U.S.’ first acclaimed transgender modern dance choreographer, Dorsey has toured his work to more than 30 cities across the US and abroad – and taught with his explicitly trans-positive pedagogy in more than 35 cities.
Dorsey is a 2020 Doris Duke Artist and an inaugural Dance/USA Artist Fellow. He has been awarded five Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and the Goldie Award for Performance. In 2019, he became the first openly transgender person on the cover of Dance Magazine. A longtime social practice artist, Dorsey creates his works over a period of several years in deep relationship with/in community. Dorsey is also the Founding Artistic Director of Fresh Meat Productions – now celebrating its 20th Anniversary Season! Fresh Meat Productions invests in the creative expression and cultural leadership of trans and gender-nonconforming communities.
Bentley Hudgins was given the Local Community Builder Award by Georgia Equality for their work in comprehensive civil rights in Macon-Bibb County, recognized by the Georgia Voice as the “Up & Coming LGBTQ+ Youth” at the 2018 Best of Atlanta Awards Ceremony and was a finalist for the 2019 awards for Best Activist.
Bentley serves as the Director of Macon Unity, a civic engagement coalition focused on intersectional advocacy, serves on the Advisory Council for the Georgia Chapter of the Campaign Workers Guild and is a former committee member of the Board of Directors for STAG VETS INC, the nation’s first Acute Veterans Crisis Agriculture center.
