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 with the colorful threads of many artforms, communities, and educational practices. She creates a generative space where people gather to collaborate with their whole selves that then alchemizes into 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, granddaughter, niece, aunt, and loyal friend. She grew up in the lush temperate rain-forested lands of Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Kalapuya, the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, the Yamhill, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla—also known as 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 living room plays,  garage choreography, songs, rhymes, drawings, and paintings. She also spent years soaking in the work of her parents who are talented facilitators and community builders in youth development, organizational systems change, community 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 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 with the methodical precision of an architect; except her scaffolds are invisible—structures that hold space and time. 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 contextual relevance, the multiplicity of perspectives, and interconnectedness of everything. 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 as a community arts education program director, teaching artist, andcurriculum designer for nearly twenty years. She is curious how she can refocus her practice to impact more expansive networks and systems. Rebecca understands that the arts, artists, and creative practice bring essential perspectives and skills as we reinvent systems that do not serve everyone (like public education), and solve problems that affect everyone (like climate change). She is an edgewalker, intrigued by interdisciplinary collaboration, and knows that innovation exists in the spaces where we imagine, negotiate, and co-create a new reality together.

© Copyright Rebecca Ann S. Kirk