Meade Palidofsky - Artistic Director

Meade Palidofsky, Artistic Director, is a writer and award-winning playwright who founded Storycatchers Theatre in 1984. Meade continues to lead Storycatchers' programs and inspire the company. As a result of her writing background, Meade developed and refined the unique Storycatchers process: Using personal stories as a springboard for personal growth. Her years of devoted work have made her an acknowledged expert in the specialized area of youth development through the arts. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards from organizations that include the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council. Awards include: the John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award; the Grand Prize at the American Musical Theater Festival in California; and the Chicago Magazine/Mercedes Mentor Award. She was one of the first recipients of the Meier Achievement Award. She is a contributor to the upcoming book, "Performing New Lives: Theatre with the Incarcerated," edited by Jonathan Shailor, and her paper, "Creating a Model for Institutional & Personal change with Storycatchers," was recently published in Community Arts Perspective, a publication of the Community Arts Convening & Research Project.