In this episode of The Artist Inclusive Podcast, host Anna Rosa and Shanga Parker are joined by Dominic Taylor. Dominic is a Professor in the UCLA Department of African American Studies, as well as the Vice Chair of Graduate Studies and Professor at the UCLA Department of Theater. Dominic is a scholar of African-American theater and a writer-director whose work has been seen across the country. He is the former associate artistic director of Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, Minn., one of the premiere African-American theaters in the country. There he utilized his unique culturally specific play development process called OKRA. As a scholar, Taylor’s training began under the tutelage of George Houston Bass and his Research to Performance Method (RPM) at Brown’s Rites and Reasons Theatre. In the summer of 2014, Taylor was part of the Consortium on African-American Aesthetics at Emory University. Nearly 20 years ago, he was part of the original group of artists and scholars gathered at August Wilson’s “The National Black Theatre Summit: On Golden Pond.” Taylor was part of the cohort that presented a paper on aesthetics. Previously, Taylor was an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He has also taught at Bard College and City University in New York; Columbia College of Chicago; Bennington College and Brown University. Taylor is an alumnus member of New Dramatists. He received his bachelor’s and master of fine arts degree from Brown University and is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers, a board member of the Givens Foundation for African American Literature and an associate artistic director of America-in-Play. Take a listen to this episode of The Artist Inclusive Podcast for a look into what it means to truly follow artistic impulse.

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