Asolo Rep Announces Sara Brunow As Muriel O'Neil Education & Engagement Director

Asolo Repertory Theatre proudly announces Sara Brunow as its Muriel O'Neil Education & Engagement Director*.

Sara Brunow is a theatre artist and educator, originally from the Washington, D.C. area. She has worked as an arts administrator, teaching artist, director, performer, dramaturg, artistic adaptor, sensory storyteller and arts integration specialist. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory in 2005 and received her MFA in Theatre for Young Audiences from the University of Central Florida in 2015, where she specialized in creating sensory-aware theatrical interventions with and for students on the autism spectrum.
Sara has worked within the education and community engagement departments of several theatre companies including Orlando Repertory Theatre, Nashville Children's Theatre, and Theatre Under The Stars. She participated in arts integration training for teaching artists and classroom teachers through the Engaged Learning Through the Arts Program with Orlando Repertory Theatre in partnership with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2014, she participated in Dream: The Joy of Creating through Oily Cart Theatre and Rose Bruford College, where she received a Certificate in Theatre for Young Audiences with Complex Disabilities.

In her most recent role as Director of Community Engagement at Theatre Under The Stars, Sara developed and facilitated school-based and community programming such as the Drama and Discovery: Art Integration Residencies and the Young Minds Creating Art (YMCA) After School, Early Arts Enrichment, and Power Scholars programming. In addition to this role, Sara coordinated the Tommy Tune Awards (Houston's high school musical theatre awards) and Public Works Houston (a year-long program where community members and theatre professionals work together to learn, create, and grow as humans and artists).

"From our first conversation it was clear that Sara Brunow was the ideal person to spearhead our rapidly evolving Education and Engagement department," said Linda DiGabriele, Managing Director of Asolo Rep. "She possesses both the experience and spirit we need to reach our own institutional goals and meet our community's growing demand for innovative and comprehensive programming. We feel very fortunate to have her on our team."

"Theatre has the power to bring people together, challenge perceptions and evoke creativity and empathy," said Sara Brunow. "As artists and educators, we have this power at our fingertips - to develop experiences with students and community members that break down barriers and promote unity and understanding. My goal is to listen to our community and to learn as much as possible in order to create responsive community-connected programming."

*Asolo Rep's Education & Engagement Director is sponsored by the Muriel O'Neil Fund for the Performing Arts of Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

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