Director, Prison Arts Theater Program & Dell’Arte Abroad: Bali

Janessa Johnsrude is a collaborative performance artist and teacher currently serving as the Director of Dell’Arte’s Prison Arts Theatre Program and the Dell’Arte Abroad: Bali Program. In addition, she serves as Associate Faculty (Drama) for the College of the Redwood’s Pelican Bay State Prison Scholars Program. She is a graduate of Dell’Arte’s MFA program in Ensemble-based Physical Theatre.

Prison Arts Theater Program

Samantha Williams-Gray is a Tlingit Indian born in the southern mountains of Oregon and raised in the wilds of Humboldt County, California. Samantha currently lives in coastal Humboldt County and works in Northern California. She earned her BA in Native American Studies from Humboldt State University, and her MA in Psychology from Meridian University. She is presently working on art projects that will conclude her training with a certification in Expressive Arts, from Tamalpa Institute. Samantha weaves together trauma-informed approaches, expressive arts, visual arts, and Indigenous wisdom and healing practices into her work. She uses the intersecting points of people, politics, history, and healing to inform her transformative approach to performance and education.