Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

Shannon Ivey MFA, AEA, PCC is the founder of Gather SC, LLC, an expressive arts-based coaching and consulting agency, and the award winning #whatshesaidproject. Ms. Ivey, from Memphis, TN, is a professional actor, director, Tedx speaker, ICF certified professional coach, Mothers Comedy Troupe Member, doctoral student at the European Graduate School, and Theatre of the Oppressed joker. Ms. Ivey hs taught theatre and applied storytelling to all ages for over 25 years, and uses her skills in storytelling in a variety of ways. Her creative work blurs the line between art, activism, and advocacy. Her process blends applied storytelling, self-development, creative nonfiction, memoir, devised theatre, performance art, and testimony. When not on stage with The Mothers, Shannon writes creative nonfiction essays and has a medical memoir coming out in Fall of 2025.

Artist Statement

Shannon Ivey MFA, AEA, PCC is the founder of the #whatshesaidproject. Ms. Ivey is a professional actor, director, educator, Tedx speaker, and performance coach. Shannon uses her community storytelling training in a variety of community building and engagement ways. Her specialties are first person storytelling (Essays and Story Slams), Theatre of the Oppressed facilitation, 36 Question events, and solo shows.

As an actor, Shannon spent her formative years training in musical theatre and Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) touring professionally with the Metro Theatre company, and later, the Kennedy Center’s Imagine Stage. After the national tour, Shannon shifted focus to bring her passion for teaching theatre to College of the Albemarle, where she lead a theatre department season as Director of Theatre and taught full time.

In 2011, Shannon accepted a tenure track position at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, SC. This post lead her to a pedagogical and artist shift, training in Theatre of the Oppressed techniques and methodology. Ms. Ivey concretized her passion for TO by joining the Board of Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, for which she served as Board Co-Secretary. While at SCSU, Ms. Ivey created several pieces of Forum Theatre with her student troupe, and was invited to share their work at TEDx ColumbiaSC. The time following the TEDx performance was rich with artistic growth and innovation, including creating the first Story Slam series the area which was supported by a SC Arts Commission Quarterly Artist Grant.

This SC Arts Commission relationship will go on to bridge Shannon’s move to the Columbia, SC community, and begin biannual series of Story Slams under the names Soda City Story Slam and the #whatshesaidproject. The SCAC also supported Ms. Ivey’s creation and tour of her solo show “Natural Disasters of the Human Kind” which premiered at Indie Grits Film Festival in 2016. Ms. Ivey has recently created a multimedia installation project called “The Dirt Project” which will premiere at Indie Grits in 2019.

Ms. Ivey continues to blur the line between art, activism, education, and advocacy, and between essay, performance, memoir, and testimony. Her innovative and responsive style is welcomed beyond the stage into community centers, state house steps, health, and social service organizations as well as personal homes and art galleries. Shannon’s work is custom, intentional, data driven, and responsive to the needs of the community. Shannon aims to make difficult topics accessible through storytelling and interactive events.

Shannon is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association, Alternate Roots, Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed. She currently resides in Columbia, SC.