Josiah Ray McCruiston is a creative director, a regional actor, teaching artist, and youth pastor/director who believes in the power of the creative spirit. His influence and creative works allow him to transform any space he enters with his infectious energy and spirit. He has performed across the nation, has worked in museum theatre (Indiana Historical Society, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, & Connor Prairie ), and has worked in arts education for over 10 years.

Charla Booth is a performing arts educator, advocate, and playwright whose creative works highlight the strengths of families within the African American diaspora. A trailblazer in Indiana’s arts education, Charla was a founding staff member of the Emerson School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Gary in 1982. Her extensive leadership and teaching experience includes serving as an educator and Auditorium Manager at Broad Ripple Magnet School for the Arts and Humanities, as well as Technical Director and Youth in Arts Summer Camp Director for the historic Madam Walker Theatre. An OnyxFest-winning playwright, Charla has directed and staged theatrical productions throughout the region, including at the New Regal Theater in Chicago. Additionally, she is an accomplished writer with published children’s books, plays for Black theatre, a children’s operetta, and a featured short story in Autism Parenting Magazine.

Charles worked for over fifteen years in public libraries. His teaching/learning philosophy centers on community – community organizing, community-engaged, and community-based participatory research. His research explores the social-material manifestation of circulating knowledges with an emphasis on collaborative community change initiatives that address complex local/global challenges across community contexts. Charles’ dissertation, Liberate this Music, at Least: The Table(s) ‘bout to Turn on Education, explored the educational mission of librarianship and the public library’s role in community collaborative change initiatives.