L-R: Katy, Amy, Al, and Rebekah at the 2011 Feast of Fools. Photo by Kate Russell.
- Amy Christian, Founder, Artistic Director
- Alessandra Ogren, Founder, Penasco Theatre Co-Director
- Katy Medley, Managing Director
- Rebekah Tarín, Penasco Theatre Co-Director
- Nikesha Breeze, Studio Manager
Amy Christian - Co-Artistic Director, Founder
Amy Christian is a professional performing and visual artist, teacher and community activist. A founding member of Wise Fool, Amy has served as a co-Director, core artist, producer and administrator since 1989.
In her time with Wise Fool, Amy has conceived, organized and directed outdoor and indoor theatre events, taught public workshops in mask making, stilt walking, puppetry arts and processional theatre, performed throughout the US, Mexico and Europe, built hundreds of giant puppets and supported an uncountable number of cultural and social change groups and events.
Amy has also guided community and cultural organizations through the conception and creation of public events. In 1995, Amy founded IN THE STREET, the San Francisco Street Theatre Festival. A three-day free event, celebrating accessible theatre by bringing high quality performances into the streets of the Tenderloin. IN THE STREET is now in its sixth successful year, changing the face of this "dangerous" neighborhood by bringing the community together in dialogue and shared celebration.
Since 1988 Amy has also been; teaching visual art and creative movement to children ages 2 to 18, performing as a dancer and clown, and creating masks and puppets on commission for venues such as the Santa Fe Children's Museum and the Earth's Birthday Project. Her vision is to bring art back into our daily lives as a means of empowerment, celebration and reclamation of public space.
Alessandra Ogren - Co-Artistic Director, Founder, Penasco Theatre Director
Alessandra Ogren has been creating puppets, masks and performance works as a core member of Wise Fool since 1993. She is a professional performer, artist, lighting designer, teacher and accomplished aerialist.
Socially relevant theater and circus arts have been Alessandra's passions since childhood, when she wrote a play about recycling and toured it to all the schools in her hometown of Bloomington Indiana. Since then she has never underestimated the power of theatre and performing arts to communicate important issues. In her time with Wise Fool, she has created; directed and taught community workshops in stiltwalking, mask making and giant puppet building. She was part of the core staff of IN THE STREET, the San Francisco Theatre Festival from 1995-1999. Alessandra co-wrote and co-directed with Tai Uhlmann the video "Bad Jews in My Kitchen" a documentary film about Jewish lesbian culture in San Francisco. "Bad Jews" has shown in over 20 national and international film festivals. In 1996 she founded the Turnbuckles, an eclectic multimedia trapeze and dance company. Between '96 and '98 they performed and toured in the Bay Area and nationally.
Since moving to Santa Fe in 1998, Alessandra has been teaching trapeze and performing with her new aerial company Sorelle Sora. She helped conceive of and start the One Railroad Circus, which has performed around New Mexico since the summer of 1999. She is a firm believer in the power of the Circus to bring people together and to inspire all of us to follow our dreams.
Katy Medley - Managing Director
When Katy joined Wise Fool as Managing Director in February 2008, she brought along her values of practicality and persistence, a passion for the pursuit of a just society, and a deep belief in the profound ability of the arts to inspire and change lives.
As Managing Director, Katy guides Wise Fool in creating and sustaining healthy administrative, fundraising, and financial systems and structures that support our mission and programs. She's thrilled at the opportunity to apply her managerial skills to the world of performing arts and social justice at Wise Fool New Mexico, and to be learning buckets about community and collaboration in the process.
Since 2000, Katy has labored in the intertwining areas of exhibitions management, RFP and grants administration, fundraising, special events, fiscal management, strategic planning, and program evaluation for museums, galleries, and technical assistance organizations across the country. Katy holds a Masters of Arts Management from Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University.
Rebekah Tarín - Managing Director, Penasco Theatre
Rebekah Tarín is a self-taught visual artist, writer and critical thinker making home in the small rural mountain town of Peñasco, NM. Working with Wise Fool NM since 2003 she’s brought the disciplines of puppetry, stilt-walking, mask-making and visual art to communities of school children in Northern New Mexico and beyond. She’s been instrumental in developing hands-on arts curriculum that collaborates with academic benchmarks to enhance learning experiences and empower students to work collectively to create spectacular works of art.