We’re back with new YoungArts Presents episodes! This series tells an artist’s story through an artist’s lens. We’re introducing you to artists across the country, all YoungArts award winners, in films created by fellow YoungArts winners. Every artist has a different approach to artmaking, a different way of seeing the world and a shared passion for creativity. Watch three new episodes below.
Roderick George (2003 Dance & U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts), Choreographer & Dancer
A native of Houston, TX, Roderick George studied dance at Ben Stevenson’s Houston Ballet Academy as well as in programs including The Alvin Ailey School, Miami City Ballet and LINES Professional Program. In 2007, he moved abroad to work with Ballett Basel/Theater Basel and appeared with the Goteborg Operan Dans Kompani before joining The Forsythe Company in Frankfurt, Germany. George later founded his own company, kNonAme Artist, in Berlin. He now resides in New York City. In August 2024, George was recipient of two major US awards: The Princess Grace Award – Choreography and the inaugural Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award.
This film was directed and produced by Mackie Mallison (2018 Film).
Stevia Roxanne (2020, 2021 Photography), Interdisciplinary Artist & Photographer
Stevia Roxanne is an interdisciplinary artist and photographer from Chicago, IL, whose work explores the intersections of aesthetics, gender, culture and nature to reimagine celebratory and accessible spaces for the Black diaspora. Through photography, sculpture and film, Roxanne engages with Black histories to envision alternative worlds where Black people rest, collaborate, and exist unperturbed. Centering Black experiences, Roxanne investigates themes of identity, time, wilderness and the body, asking, “How do we form identity outside of our physical selves?” Grounded in anti-colonialist practices, Roxanne seeks to deconstruct Western definitions of art and foster a more inclusive, pride-centered art community.
This film was directed and produced by Mariah Barrera (2020, 2021 Film), with photography by Marcos Barrera (2023, 2024 Photography & 2024 Film).
Audie Waller (2024 Writing), Writer
Audie Waller is a writer from Greenville, SC. In 2024, Audie Waller received the Lin Arison Excellence in Writing Award, a $50,000 scholarship awarded each year to a YoungArts winner in Writing that can be applied to the costs to attend an accredited school of their choice. Her work has been published in Cargoes literary magazine, after winning a second-place prize for the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest, and in Crashtest literary magazine. Waller takes inspiration from the people in her life and creates rich, character-driven stories that interrogate the world around her.
This film was shot and directed by Grace Zhang (2016 Film).