Carolina Performing Arts launches its new season with an event that challenges society’s narrow view of citizenship. The collaborative piece asks: what if citizenship was defined by how someone contributes instead of where someone was born?
Through performance, song and storytelling, students and community members explore their own changing definitions of what it means to be a citizen in an event called Stories on Citzenship. Host Frank Stasio previews the event with Amanda Graham, associate director of engagement for Carolina Performing Arts, who shares their efforts to create art that is more interactive. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill undergraduate Raymond Tu joins the conversation to talk about how his contributions to the community have impacted people as far away as Vietnam. And Ana Johnson, the coordinator for the center of development and leadership for the nonprofit El Centro Hispano, explains how she helps prepare citizens for the job market and shares her own challenges with citizenship. Stories on Citizenship will be presented Saturday, Sept. 8 at CURRENT ArtSpace + Studio in Chapel Hill.