A clinical therapist, theatre director, and a designer walk into a...
Site visit with the Center for Justice Innovation and teens participating in Making Space for Youth
WhyWOW Studio is the creative consulting practice of C Meranda Flachs-Surmanek (Queens), Diksha Pilania (Dallas, TX), and Steven T. Licardi (Queens). 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.
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.
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.
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 make design accessible to all.
We are active in the grassroots movement to safeguard public housing in NYC. We are supporting the capacity of Appalachian community leaders and organizations to employ participatory arts and commemoration as tools for storytelling, organizing, and social change. Across NYC, we develop living history projects to counter social isolation through creative means. In Nagpur, India, we work with residents in informal settlements to redesign the interiors of their homes.
The groups we work with show their communities and our country that people have always resisted targeted depravation with hope and strategy.
Learn more about our process →
Learn more about our process →
Community groups working on commemorative projects as part of Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia. Slides put together by Matthew Pickett