Create A Space NOW
Create A Space NOW is an interactive social justice platform, creating art to combat bias, racism, and systemic oppression. We believe that art is a powerful tool, and we're committed to creating space for art to inspire change, educate, and activate.
This organization began because of a need to engage and further the discussions about the silencing of Black lives, social issues, and race relations in America. We believe the message is the medium and convey this in multiple ways. We develop interdisciplinary performance art-based products as educational tools to effect change. We have presented our projects on stage, on screen, in print, and online.
We center at the intersection of art and activism in our mission, work, and outreach. We provide opportunities for artists and intersecting identities to develop their works for continued change-making in their communities. Hosting community workshops in dance, theatre, public speaking, and filmmaking, educating and empowering participants on how these art forms are effective change-making tools. Our workshops promote cultural values, health and wellness, and leadership skills.
We invite individuals to connect, create, and collaborate on projects that leave accountable artistic professional footprints in our society. Our artists, contributors, and volunteers are diverse in race, gender identity, spirituality, sexuality, and body shape, all standing for social justice.
Founded by Hettie Barnhill a Broadway performer, director, dance practitioner, educator, and choreographer, Hettie has received awards for her outreach and service in communities, including Honored by the California Senate with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, "Using Film as a Vehicle For Community Engagement and Education" by Congressman Ro Khanna and California Senator Bob Wieckowski for her direction and Create A Space NOW's production, A Love Letter To Brian, Lesley, and Michelle. She has also received the NAACP's "Top 21 Leaders 40 & Under Award" In The Fields Of Arts & Culture, Twice Honored As A "Rising Star" By The Young & Powerful for Obama Group, the Shirley Chisholm "Women Of Excellence." Since 2006, Hettie has worked with A Long Walk Home Inc., a nonprofit organization that uses art therapy and the visual and performing arts to document, educate and bring about social change for survivors of rape and violence.
As an educator, Hettie has taught at several Colleges and Universities, sharing her love for dance and exploring how to create spaces where form and technique are being learned, perspective is being shared, culture is being experienced, and history is being discussed. Hettie has performed nationally and internationally on television, Film, and Stage including on Broadway in the productions "Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark," Tony Award-winning "FELA!" (original cast), and the Tony award-nominated "Leap Of Faith" (original cast).