Leslie Scheuler
St. Louis, Missouri
Leslie Scheuler, President and Founder, LS Associates, served (along with her team) as the external evaluator for both Staging projects. With degrees in music, social work, and social science research, Leslie has worked as a teacher, grant writer, social worker, musician, and consultant. Prior to establishing LSA, Leslie was a Senior Associate at Philliber Research where she directed the St. Louis office for 14 years. Leslie has completed projects for the U.S. Department of State, America SCORES, the Museum of Contemporary Art-Chicago, the American Camp Association, the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center/MoMA, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the New World Symphony, North Carolina Dance Theatre, the Missouri History Museum, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, the Dancing Classrooms program of the American Ballroom Theatre, the Buder Center for American Indian Studies, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the American Red Cross, the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Museum of Latin American Art (Long Beach, California), the Oregon Symphony, ACCION, the Colorado Symphony, the National Arts Journalism Program, the Buder Center for American Indian Studies, the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, and numerous other organizations. Leslie has conducted training workshops for the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, the Trio Foundation, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Foundation, the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, the Alliance for Capacity Building, and the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits. In addition to her work with LSA, Leslie teaches piano and volunteers for various organizations in the St. Louis area.
Presentation(s):
Staging Innovation: Uniting Theatre Arts and Social Work in a Museum Setting
Day 2 / Apr, 13 @ 4:15 pm
Lower Level : Room A
For five months the Pulitzer has partnered with Prison Performing Arts, St. Patrick Center, and Employment connection to present Staging Reflections of the Buddha, a community project inspired by our highly successful Staging Old Masters project of 2009. The project unites theater, visual arts, and social work to build connections between the art and all audiences while transforming lives and fostering connections between communities.
The program works with a group of former prisoners and homeless veterans training them to become actors through weekly workshops that also include art exploration and instruction, theatre exercises, meditation, and rehearsals. Concurrently, the actors work with St. Patrick Center and Employment Connection to apply their art experiences toward achieving their goals, which include but are not limited to, obtaining housing and employment and re-integrating into society. The workshops culminate in performances of an original work created by the actors.
After two successful Staging programs, the question is what happens next? Can we replicate the program again, and if so, in what capacity? Can the program be exported to another museum or arts institution? Can the program develop into an organization on its own?
