The Arts as Civic Engagement program is a pilot initiative of the Gephardt Institute. Based on the deep traditions of the arts as a powerful means of community expression, Arts as Civic Engagement will be a platform for students to become fully immersed in arts-based community engagement.
Jacque is from Birmingham, Alabama and is majoring in history with a minor in drama. She has been involved in acting and technical theater since high school and is active within the Performing Arts Department and student theater groups on campus. Jacque also served as a volunteer and actor for The Date through WashU's Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center. "The Date gave actors and audience members a new, emotional exploration of larger civic issues," she highlighted.
Jacque's residency is with Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. She will work on the organization's Shakespeare in the Streets program. Through this experience, Jacque is looking to combine her passion for theater with her desire for community outreach and to explore the arts as a vehicle for social change within the community.
In its inaugural year, the program will support three rising WashU seniors in a Civic and Community Arts Residency at St. Louis region arts organizations to work with civic and community arts engagement projects. Students will receive a stipend of $5,000 with the residency beginning this summer. They will work as embedded staff members full-time at their host organizations to participate in the planning stages for a performance, production, or exhibition, created for and with community partnership. Learn about each of our residents below.
