Rebecca Ann S. Kirk

Rebecca Ann S. Kirk is a connector. She connects people, places, and ideas to create synergy, community, resonance, even magic. Rebecca is a curious explorer, a deep listener, and an embodied learner. Her career is woven at the intersection of community, education, and arts. She creates a generative space where people come together to collaborate with their whole selves alchemizing new learning, healing, growth, creation, connection, and celebration. Rebecca is an educator, a facilitator, an artist, a mentor, and a researcher.

Rebecca is also a sister, daughter, niece, aunt, and loyal friend. She grew up in the lush temperate rain-forested traditional lands of Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Kalapuya, the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, the Yamhill, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla—known today as the Willamette Valley in state of Oregon. Rebecca spent her childhood exploring and learning from the land, either in her backyard, or on adventures to the mountains, desert, and ocean. She created worlds; with friends she told stories through livingroom plays and garage choreography, songs, rhymes, drawings, and paintings. She also spent hours listening in the corners of rooms, while her parents led groups in youth development, organizational systems change, community program facilitation, leadership, interpersonal communication, conflict mediation, diversity, equity and inclusion, and personal spiritual development.

Rebecca knows that the essence of her work is in intentional collaboration—in communities, across differences/disciplines, and through emergence and joyful co-creation. Her leadership style offers generous authority and intuitive embodied response to the necessity of the moment. She leads with the heart of a teacher, the soul of an artist, and the spirit of an explorer. Rebecca constructs frameworks, structures in time and space with the methodical precision of an architect, except her scaffolds are invisible. Still, they are made to hold gatherings—safe, dynamic, creative places to work, communicate, relate, and share together. The blueprints are uniquely constructed each time to best support those present in that moment and provide dynamic feedback toward generative iteration and rooting.

Rebecca has always perceived multiplicity, contextual relevance, and interconnectedness in the world. Her work is to illuminate a particular context, connection, or relationship, and clarify its conversation, so that the whole ensemble resonates. She has done this work as a community arts education administrator, teaching artist and curriculum designer for nearly twenty years at organizations including Boston Lyric Opera, Caldera Arts,Washington National Opera, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance. She holds a M.Ed. from Lesley University in Art, Community & Education and a M.A. from Whitman College in Sociology. 

Rebecca is curious how to refocus her practice to influence more expansive networks and systems. She understands that the arts, artists, and creative practice have an important role as we reinvent systems that do not serve everyone (e.g. public education), and solve problems that affect everyone (e.g. climate change). She is an edgewalker, intrigued by interdisciplinary collaboration and knows that innovation often exists in the spaces where differences overlap and negotiate to co-create their reality together.

© Copyright Rebecca Ann S. Kirk