Merce, The Series, created by Fractured Atlas member organization Skipping Boyz Productions, was produced to create an entertaining web series that combats the stigma against HIV. The series shows the life of a person living with the illness who isn’t sad, sick, or dying. Through music, love, and laughs, Merce, The Series hopes to prove that “Life Can Be Positive When You’re Positive.” Skipping Boyz Productions has been a member of Fractured Atlas since 2014 and is based in New York City. Tyne Firmin, Producer and Director of Merce, The Series shared some of their process with us on bringing the web series to life.

Kai Lumumba Barrow is a visual artist based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her creative space, Studio in the Hood, serves as a collaborative hub for interdisciplinary artists who travel to NOLA from all over the country. Kai works as a socially-engaged artist with her colleagues to create and curate what she describes as "large-scale visual operas." We sat down with her to talk about her work and vision, realities faced by artists in New Orleans, and how Fractured Atlas has helped on her journey as a creative professional.

Caitlin Strokosch serves as president and CEO of the National Performance Network (NPN), a national peer organization-based arts service organization. She has been working professionally as an arts administrator for about 20 years but is a classically-trained cellist who has also sang and played guitar in a punk band. We sat down with Caitlin in New Orleans to talk about what’s happening in the creative communities of New Orleans and how NPN has worked with artists across the country to help advance their careers.

Laurel True is a mosaic artist specializing in public and community-based artwork. She facilitates trainings and teaches people how to make large-scale mosaic murals and architectural mosaics. Laurel’s work can be found in streets all over the world but has also been commissioned for commercial and residential installations. She has been a member of Fractured Atlas since 2011 and recently sat down with us to talk about her work, life as an artist in New Orleans, and how being a member of Fractured Atlas has helped to improve the business side of her arts projects.

Dread Scott is a community-engaged artist and his fiscally-sponsored project, Slave Rebellion Reenactment, was a winner of the 2016 MAP Fund Award. Taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 8-9, 2019, the Slave Rebellion Reenactment is a community-engaged artistic performance and film production.

Kelly Ashton Todd is a director, choreographer, and environmental activist based in Brooklyn, New York. She has been a member of Fractured Atlas for almost two years and her fiscally-sponsored project, Under Review, is an environmental dance film series that has been shot at various American National Parks and Monuments. By drawing attention to public lands that are threatened to be opened for industrial development, the series aims to promote the protection of America’s disappearing wilderness.

Rha Goddess is an entrepreneurial coach and serves as founder of Move the Crowd, a company committed to the professional development of artists and the transformation of “the culture of capitalism.” She has been a member of Fractured Atlas since 2011 and is based between New Jersey and Los Angeles.

Julia Barry with co-organizers Rev. Adriene Thorne, Dusty Francis, and Dionne McClain-Freeney Julia Barry, along with co-organizers Rev. Adriene Thorne, Dusty Francis, and Dionne McClain-Freeney, is the creator of “Habitat: Home,” a nationwide community-building project powered by art. Through collaborative making and multidisciplinary performances about ‘home,’ artists and residents across America work toward a more peaceful, healthy country. Julia is based in Brooklyn, New York and has been a Fractured Atlas member for almost a year.

Alice is a light skinned multi-racial woman with brown, yellow and copper streaks in her curly hair. She smiles and gazes at the camera. A necklace of Autumn colored beads sits around her neck. Photo by Beverlie Lord Alice Sheppard is founder of Kinetic Light, an organization working in the disciplines of art, design, architecture, and social justice, that creates, performs, and teaches at the intersections of disability, dance, and race. Their work seeks to showcase freedom of movement as a pathway for others to understand how mobility is fundamental to participation in civic life and to our understanding of American national identity. Alice became a member of Fractured Atlas in July 2016 and is based in Los Altos, California and New York City.

by Molaundo Jones, Social Media Specialist at Fractured Atlas Eva Steinmetz, co-creator of “The Boy Project” Eva Steinmetz is co-creator of “The Boy Project,” a theater piece in which Philadelphia boys ages 12–15 imagine their futures as men. Eva is based in Philadelphia and has been a member of Fractured Atlas since November 2017. “The Boy Project” currently has a fundraising campaign running on our crowdfunding site, Fundraising by Fractured Atlas.