The Lab Community

Michael is a theatre-maker, educator, process  designer, writer and facilitator. His research and  creative practice is focused on civic imagination.  He has a 30+ year history of projects across  sectors bringing cultural activity to the work  of public engagement, community planning  and cross-sector coalition building. In 1992 in  Washington DC, Michael co-founded Hope Is  Vital, an arts & public health program that, over  8 years, helped start up theatre-based public  engagement/HIV prevention coalitions in over 80  communities around the US. In 1999, Michael co founded Sojourn Theatre and served as artistic director for 20 years, co-creating & directing nearly 30 devised, often site-specific and participatory theatre works.  In 2012, he co-founded  the Center for Performance and Civic Practice,  a collective of nine artist/facilitators who work  with organizations and agencies around the  country on community research, transformational  process and system change. He is currently  Civic Collaborations Director for One Nation One  Project, a national arts/municipality/public health  project & research cohort in partnership with  National League of Cities and he is co-designer/ co-facilitator for Art-Train, a virtual national  technical assistance program in partnership with  Springboard for the Arts. He recently founded the Co-Lab for Civic  Imagination at the University of Montana, and  he is author of the book Theatre for Community,  Conflict and Dialogue (Heinemann Press).