Marian
Brickner (Photographer)
Marian is Uppity's resident photographer, documenting most of our work.
Her photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including the
Annals of Internal Medicine, International Journal of Arts Medicine,
Swedish Society of Gerris remigis (water striders), Civitas, Institute
of Noetic Sciences, Laboratory Primate Newsletter, Missouri Conservation
Magazine, Symphony Orchestra Playbills, Saint Louis Review, Saint Louis
Magazine, West End Word, Jewish Light, Suburban Journals, and Saint
Louis Post Dispatch.
She has done voluntary photography work for the Saint Louis Neurological
Aid Project, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya; Stella Maris
Child Center; Buttons and Bows Child Care Center; Uppity Theatre;
and Make a Wish Foundation. Marian also has a book pending on bonobo
children with a forward written by Jane Goodall. She has contributed
book reviews for Care Management Journals ÒJournal of Case
Bob Horner (Sound Technician)
Bob has a B.A. in Communications, with an Audio Specialization, as
well as a B.A. in Business, from Webster University. Bob has extensive
light and sound experience, working in all kinds of venues. He
works with a diverse client base, including the JCCA, various religious
institutions, MO Historical Society, St. Louis Blues' Society,
the St. Louis County Park System, Blueberry Hill, and Chuck Berry,
among others. He founded his own company, Ironman Sound Industries
(ISI). As the principal for ISI, Bob has worked with Uppity on
sound design, trouble shooting, equipment repair, and running sound
for many of our shows.
Kate Koch (Office Manager)
Kate Koch is a Master's candidate at the George Warren Brown School
of Social Work at the University of Washington in St. Louis. Her
interests include reducing the stigma faced by people with mental
illness and disabilities and the unique mental health concerns
that people with disabilities may experience. Kate has been working
with people with disabilities for ten years. Currently, in addition
to working with Uppity, she is interning at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Kate also enjoys the theater world, and she has stage managed numerous
shows.
Jessica Laney (Artistic Associate)
Jessica Laney is the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of SLIGHTLYaskew
Art Collective based out of NYC and holds a BFA from New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts in theatre. Productions include Death
of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World by Suzan-Lori Parks
(NYU) Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare (SLIGHTLYaskew
) Henry VIII by William Shakespeare (Royal Academy of the Dramatic
Arts, London). She was also featured in the music video "Esmerelda" by
hip-hop artist Speech. Jessica has taught Augusto Boal technique
at Yale University, deconstruction and Shakespeare analysis at
Rocky River Community Theater in Cleveland and is teaching an Oral
History and Poetry in Performance weekend workshop in the inner-city
of Pittsburgh in late September, 2007.
Joan Lipkin (Artistic Director)
Joan Lipkin is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of That
Uppity Theatre Company in St. Louis, Missouri. Her company founded
the nationally acclaimed Alternate Currents/Direct Currents Series,
The DisAbility Project, Diverse Works and the Louies. A strong
proponent of collaboration, she also co-founded Women CenterStage!
with the Center of Contemporary Arts, the Nadadada Festival at
The Forum for Contemporary Art, Democracy on Stage with the American
Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, and the Mid-Sized Arts
Cooperative.
Joan specializes in creating works with socially relevant themes
and underserved populations. Her company has received numerous commissions
from various organizations. She has worked extensively with people
with disabilities, women with cancer, GLBTQ youth and adults, people
with early stage dementia and Alzheimer's and at risk youth.
A playwright, director, activist, educator, and social critic, her
award-winning work has been published and produced throughout the
United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Europe, Australia,
and Asia. She has been featured on network television, National Public
Radio, the BBC and the Associated Press and in a number of theatrical
journals.
Deborah Mashibini (Assistant Director, DisAbility Project)
Deborah Mashibini has served as an advocate for artists outside of
the mainstream for more than 25 years. As Assistant Director with
the Coalition for the Homeless in New York, she facilitated one
of the first programs in the country offering artists who were
homeless opportunities to perform and exhibit their work. Their
"Forgotten Voices/Unforgettable Dreams" anthology received national
press attention and resulted in a stint on NPR's Weekend Edition
and the Sally Jesse Raphael Show.
As Assistant Director with VSA arts of New Mexico and on contract
with VSA arts of Arizona, she helped develop an innovative arts-based
day habilitation program serving adults with developmental disabilities,
career support networks for professional and emerging artists with
disabilities, and served as Director of a nationally recognized innovative
AmeriCorps Program with a service corps of artists with and without
disabilities. She is a staunch advocate for access and firmly believes
in the positive potential of creative work and expression to transform
communities. She is also a published poet.
