ARTIST-EDUCATOR-SCHOLAR
JOHANNA MIDDLETON (she/her) is an artist-eduacator-scholar with a passion for telling stories and organizing spaces for others to tell their stories - particularly those that ask questions at the intersections of race and gender. As a facilitator, she practices creating communities of care and collective healing, as well as brave spaces for dialogue across difference, through the process of sharing personal narrative.
She is currently the co-host of Gray Area Stories, a podcast about the healing journeys of survivors of sexual violence and she recently staged the participatory performance, Resilient Body: a Ritual to Unlearn Rape Culture, devised in partnership with Louisiana State University student organizations committed to ending gendered violence. In 2014, she founded Girlie Stories, a storytelling community for womxn in Los Angeles, organizing gatherings, workshops, showcases, and digital content, for six years.
Rooted in performance pedagogy, Johanna facilitates storytelling and creativity workshops, working with organizations like Black Women for Wellness, UCLA’s SexSquad, WeRiseLA, and ArtistAnd. She was a founding member of the participatory theatre collective, For Youth Inquiry, touring Chicago middle schools and high schools in order to start dialogue with youth about sexual health and sexual violence. She has worked as a teaching artist, coordinator, and consultant for organizations like Albany Park Theatre Project (Chicago), Greenway Arts Alliance (Los Angeles), and The Colored Girls Museum (Philadelphia). Johanna also served as the Program Manager for Bluepalm, an arts-integration professional development program, teaching Montebello Unified School District elementary school teachers how to use the performing arts in their language arts lesson plans. In 2019, she co-created Arts Circle, a storytelling-based arts therapy initiative for high school students at Fairfax High School through Greenway Arts Alliance.
As an actress, Johanna has appeared on Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Nickelodeon, and as a storyteller, she has performed personal narrative on stages around Los Angeles including The Moth, KPCC’s Unheard LA, Upright Citizens Brigade, iO West, and the Santa Monica Playhouse. Johanna has collaborated on a number of web series and independent film projects including co-creating and co-starring in the intersectional feminist web comedy, Bwitches (nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy by LA WebFest), and writing and starring in the short film, Joey, an official selection at the LA Black Film Festival, Reel Sisters Film Festival, and Women of African Descent Film Festival.
Johanna holds a BA in Theatre from Northwestern University, a MA in Communication Studies (with an emphasis in Performance Studies) from Louisiana State University, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Her scholarly work has been published in Storytelling, Self, and Society and Liminalities.
She is currently the co-host of Gray Area Stories, a podcast about the healing journeys of survivors of sexual violence and she recently staged the participatory performance, Resilient Body: a Ritual to Unlearn Rape Culture, devised in partnership with Louisiana State University student organizations committed to ending gendered violence. In 2014, she founded Girlie Stories, a storytelling community for womxn in Los Angeles, organizing gatherings, workshops, showcases, and digital content, for six years.
Rooted in performance pedagogy, Johanna facilitates storytelling and creativity workshops, working with organizations like Black Women for Wellness, UCLA’s SexSquad, WeRiseLA, and ArtistAnd. She was a founding member of the participatory theatre collective, For Youth Inquiry, touring Chicago middle schools and high schools in order to start dialogue with youth about sexual health and sexual violence. She has worked as a teaching artist, coordinator, and consultant for organizations like Albany Park Theatre Project (Chicago), Greenway Arts Alliance (Los Angeles), and The Colored Girls Museum (Philadelphia). Johanna also served as the Program Manager for Bluepalm, an arts-integration professional development program, teaching Montebello Unified School District elementary school teachers how to use the performing arts in their language arts lesson plans. In 2019, she co-created Arts Circle, a storytelling-based arts therapy initiative for high school students at Fairfax High School through Greenway Arts Alliance.
As an actress, Johanna has appeared on Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Nickelodeon, and as a storyteller, she has performed personal narrative on stages around Los Angeles including The Moth, KPCC’s Unheard LA, Upright Citizens Brigade, iO West, and the Santa Monica Playhouse. Johanna has collaborated on a number of web series and independent film projects including co-creating and co-starring in the intersectional feminist web comedy, Bwitches (nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy by LA WebFest), and writing and starring in the short film, Joey, an official selection at the LA Black Film Festival, Reel Sisters Film Festival, and Women of African Descent Film Festival.
Johanna holds a BA in Theatre from Northwestern University, a MA in Communication Studies (with an emphasis in Performance Studies) from Louisiana State University, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Her scholarly work has been published in Storytelling, Self, and Society and Liminalities.
