Why Wow Studio creates inspiring spaces for dialogue to spark civic imagination.

Through original performances, creative strategy, public space interventions, and workshops and trainings, we work with everyday leaders to reclaim the collective sensory experiences that tell the stories of their communities, and shape just futures.

Arts, culture, and design are essential partners in an aching world in need of new strategies that support our vitality and interconnectedness. We are commited to building relational capacities that fuel civic well-being and enable spatial transformation that is restorative, transformative and just. 




C Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, MFA in theatre (directing & public dialogue), Masters (urban & regional planning) is a narrative strategist skillful in organizational capacity building and arts-based community development. Meranda supports grassroots leaders to develop creative projects that uphold democracy at the local level, democratize history, and rehabilitate culture and lifeways nearly lost to policies of genocide and erasure.



Diksha Pilania, MFA in Theatre (set design), MS Arch (interior design), is a LEED-certified interdisciplinary designer. Diksha excels in conceptual presentations, design ideation, and brand management. Diksha brings spaces to life by infusing them with stories, connecting the personal with the aesthetic. Diksha uses participatory design processes to to make design accessible to all. 

Steven T. Licardi, LCSW, is a clinician, sci-fi writer, spoken word poet, and performance activist. Steven's private social work practice is informed by Social Therapeutics, anti-racism, the Mad pride movement, and disability justice. His stage presence has become widely known for its positivity, energy, and his powerful use of spoken word poetry to raise awareness of many social justice issues. 


“WhyWOW demonstrates a skilled hand in coalescing a group of essential strangers around a shared vision and collaborative practices, a courageous pursuit of truthful performance, a fierce determination for effective action, and an instinct for humor that releases the imagination into new comprehension.” 

- Robert H. Leonard, performer, teacher, and scholar
Our Work:

💡 Capacity Building

Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia


🎙️ Narrative Change

Lippitt Hill Critical Oral History Project


🖼️ Design Justice

Upaya: Transforming Spaces



WhyWOW Studio
whywow [at] mail.mayfirst [dot] org