Fluency w/ Dr. Durell Cooper

In February 2023, Bynum assumed the role of Chief Education Officer at Lincoln Center for the  Performing Arts, providing strategic leadership, creative vision, and administrative direction for  the organization’s educative initiatives, and serving as an advocate for the value and importance  of arts education. Prior to Lincoln Center, Bynum inaugurated the role of Vice President for  

Impact at Minnesota Opera, guiding the company’...

Marlon Meikle is an LA-based educator, arts administrator, actor, MC/Host, playwright and drag queen whose work has been featured on Call Me Kat on FOX, the TLC/Discovery+ Historical Docuseries “Book of Queer,” New York's 59E59 Theater, Le Poisson Rouge, Signature Theatre, Incubator Arts Project, Ars Nova, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Cry Havoc Theatre and Joe's Pub. Marlon has presented performance work and workshops a...

Monica Stephenson is originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina. She is a graduate of the University of
North Carolina School of the Arts and the Professional Training Program at the Houston Ballet Academy.
In 2002, she received her first professional contract with The Washington Ballet. She went on to perform
with the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble from 2003-2005. During this time, Monica also performed
in The ...

Jonathan McCrory is a two Obie Award-winning, Harlem-based artist who has served as Executive Artistic Director at National Black Theatre since 2012 under the leadership of CEO, Sade Lythcott. He has directed numerous professional productions and concerts which include: How the Light Gets In (NYMF), Klook and Iron John (NAMT),  Dead and Breathing, HandsUp, Hope Speaks, Blacken The Bubble, Asking for More, Last Laugh and Enter Your ...

In this specially commissioned series with Grantmakers in the Arts, The Lost Files, Dr. Durell Cooper invites artists, community organizers, researchers, cultural and racial studies experts, and scholars to think about the narratives driving the arts and cultural sector – as it intersects with systems of structural racism and economic exclusion – and what opportunities for narrative change exist.  In this episode Dr. Cooper speaks ...

In this specially commissioned series with Grantmakers in the Arts, The Lost Files, Dr. Durell Cooper invites artists, community organizers, researchers, cultural and racial studies experts, and scholars to think about the narratives driving the arts and cultural sector – as it intersects with systems of structural racism and economic exclusion – and what opportunities for narrative change exist.  In this episode Dr. Cooper speaks ...

In this specially commissioned series with Grantmakers in the Arts, The Lost Files, Dr. Durell Cooper invites artists, community organizers, researchers, cultural and racial studies experts, and scholars to think about the narratives driving the arts and cultural sector – as it intersects with systems of structural racism and economic exclusion – and what opportunities for narrative change exist.  In this Episode Dr. Cooper speaks ...

In this specially commissioned series with Grantmakers in the Arts, The Lost Files, Dr. Durell Cooper invites artists, community organizers, researchers, cultural and racial studies experts, and scholars to think about the narratives driving the arts and cultural sector – as it intersects with systems of structural racism and economic exclusion – and what opportunities for narrative change exist.  In this episode Dr. Cooper speaks ...

In this episode Durell speaks with Lisa Yancey.  Lisa Yancey is an entrepreneurial strategist who has built a practice solving problems for nonprofit organizations and is a co-founder of several growing enterprises. Through her company Yancey Consulting, she specializes in strategic organizational planning, business planning, program evaluation and assessments, executive project management, revenue modeling, leadership coaching, an...

In this Episode Dr. Cooper speaks with Dr. Antonio Cuyler. Dr. Cuyler is the author of Access, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Cultural Organizations: Insights from the Careers of Executive Opera Managers of Color in the U. S. and editor of a forthcoming volume in June of 2022, Arts Management, Cultural Policy, & the African Diaspora. He serves as the Director of the MA Program & Associate Professor of Arts Administrati...

In this episode Dr. Cooper speaks with Shirley C. Taylor. Shirley started her journey as an arts administrator at the New York Foundation for the Arts in 1987 andhas since built a career leading a variety of arts and cultural education programs throughout New York City:Associate Director for Visual Arts Programs at ArtsConnection, Inc.; Director of Arts Programs at UniversitySettlement Society; Deputy Director of Programs, Educatio...

In this episode Dr. Durell Cooper speaks with Dr. Terri N. Watson is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at The City College of New York and a member of the Urban Education faculty at The City University of New York’s Graduate Center. Her research examines effective school leadership and is aimed to improve the educational outcomes and life chances of historically excluded and underserved students and families. She emp...

In this episode Dr. Cooper speaks with Vivian Phillips. Vivian  is a communications professional and arts leader.  She is  co-host of the podcast doubleXposure where she and veteran arts  journalist Marcie Sillman use their voice and platform to plumb the  deepest depths and the tiniest cracks of our world to understand how  culture and creativity shape our lives.  Vivian is also the founder and  editor-in-chief of the online magaz...

In this episode Durell speaks with Jacqueline Cofield. Jacqueline is the founder of J Rêve International LLC, a global culture and arts education social enterprise.  Jacqueline curates international experiences for educators, students, and artists, and collaborates with leading arts, cultural and educational institutions to produce meaningful global programming.  An educator, author, documentary filmmaker, and interdisciplinary sch...

In this episode Durell speaks with the "Fresh Professor" James Miles. James has worked as an educator in the New York City public schools for almost 20 years prior to moving to Seattle in 2016. Before joining Mentor Washington as Chief Executive Officer, Miles served as the Executive Director of Seattle based Arts Corps. Originally from Chicago, Miles has worked internationally as an artist and educator, who was inspired ...

In this episode Durell speaks with Niegel Smith. Niegel is a Bessie Award winning theater director and performance artist. He is the Artistic Director of NYC’s Obie Award winning theater, The Flea; board member of A.R.T./New York; and ringleader of Willing Participant (www.willingparticipant.org) an artistic activist organization that whips up urgent poetic responses to crazy shit that happens.

His theater work has been produced at ...

In this episode Durell speaker with Sharnita C. Johnson, a philanthropy leader who drives social change at the intersection of arts, culture, and community development and the Vice President of Strategy, Impact, and Communications at the Victoria Foundation. She most recently served as Arts Program Director with the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, where she led a statewide grantmaking portfolio focused on arts, equity, and creative ...

In this episode Durell speaks with Dr. Steven Thurston Oliver, Associate Professor of Secondary and Higher Education at Salem State University is a Sociologist of Education whose research and expertise is focused on using Contemplative Pedagogy in K-12 teacher preparation and higher education programs as a catalyst for cultivating greater capacity among educators to be introspective and engage across human differences. Steven recei...

In this episode of fluency durell speaks with highly sought after artist and intimacy coordinator Ann C. James.  Ann James has an extensive career in international stage direction and theatre education spanning over three decades.  James recently made her debut as the first Black Intimacy Coordinator of Broadway for Antoinette Nwandu’s Pass Over. James is an expert in the burgeoning industry of intimacy direction and institutional ...