Ron Bieganski: Free Street Artistic Director and UpSideDown Coordinator:
Free Street Theater’s Artistic Director (1995-present), affiliated with Free Street since 1985. Bieganski oversees all of Free Street’s artistic programming including teaching philosophy, curriculum and teacher training. He has been developing community artwork since 1983 and includes creating original performances with learning/behavioral disabilities, public school teachers, elders, family farmers, housing project residents, and youth.

Ron received a degree in Biology from the University of Wisconsin. Ron paid for his college education by street performing in the early evening hours in Madison Wisconsin.

Ron is the daddy of a 7 year old boy and a 2 year old girl.

In 2002 Ron and Free Street’s youth were invited to tour the European Union and have discussions about the reason for and detailed practice of youth theater arts. Those discussions lead to a book and then to European arts policy that is in action today.

Through his work with at risk youth in Chicago and Europe he has developed a theater training process that develops the individual person as it develops the artist within. He has been a leader in developing model programming for community arts and promoting the social aspects of arts integration in education for 6th- 12th grade youth.

Ron’s youth-generated work has been produced at over 55 European theater festivals since 1995 and he has created 3 original multi-media performances with student actors from Berlin, Hamburg and Munster Germany.

Ron has been co-produced by Steppenwolf Theater, Northlight Theater, and Columbia College and has been thrice noted by Chicago critics as “Best of the Year,” for all theater in Chicago.

Currently Ron is an associate teacher for Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City. He works with students from Adler’s youth Conservatory, adult conservatory training and the NYU theater department. He also is an adjunct faculty member of Columbia College in Chicago where he teaches a class on how to teach theater for youth urban settings. Students prepare curriculums, social programming, mentoring ideas, and then develop those idea while working directly with youth from west side youth centers. He was an associate artist of Steppenwolf Theater where he developed workshops, performances for youth and taught as part of Steppenwolf’s Professional Summer Training Program.

Ron has performed or directed with the Ark Theater, Steppenwolf Theater Company, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane and Co., JellyEye Drum Theater, Debra Hay, Danny Lepkoff, the Madison Chamber Ballet, M.M. Colbert Modern-Ballet (NYC), Curious Theater Branch, Mary-Archie Theater and numerous other Chicago based dance/Theatre groups.

Next up: Ron’s next science/theater project is 3-D mapping of the youthful brain in creative emotional situations.

Shanel Jackson: Master Teacher
Shanel Jackson is a visual and performance artist and has been working as a teaching artist for ten years. She started teaching with Free Street programs in 1999. Since then she has worked with youth between the ages of two and nineteen in public schools, community centers, treatment centers and summer programs teaching arts and crafts, drama, creative writing and creative movement. She is a resident artist in Oakland, CA with the organization Opera Piccola, and teaches drama, puppet making and puppet theater.

In May 2008, Shanel graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies completing a MA in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in expressive arts therapy (the expressive arts include visual arts, drama/ritual, creative writing/poetry, storytelling, dance/movement and music). She works as a counselor with individuals as well as facilitates expressive arts and spirituality groups of all ages.

Shanel is an alumni from Free Street's youth Theater ensemble. As a teenager, Shanel studied Free Street's creative process for 2 years. She was a part of a performing ensemble that created multi-media work that toured Europe for 6 weeks in 1998.