We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kisha Jarrett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kisha, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I’m pretty fortunate. I have two creative loves (film and theater) and I get to work on creative projects in my day job as well as my side hustle. There have been two projects that have deeply impacted me personally as well as creatively.

The first was an idea generated early on during the pandemic in 2020 and after the murder of George Floyd and the worldwide protests. At the time, I lived in Portland, Oregon and and while there are People of Color that live in the city, it is incredibly White and like most cities in America, has racist founding origin. I got a group of Black artists together that I worked alongside at the theater where I worked for a couple of weeks of healing, support, and just creating a space for us to BREATHE. Some of the exercises we did resulted in me thinking that we should write and film a short about three Black Portlanders during the pandemic. One of the biggest questions I got was, ‘how do you combine theater and film?’ I don’t know why I thought it made sense – but I saw a very clear path forward.

Using theater devising and improv rules (and much like the rules established in 24-hour film festivals), I created a creative team (director, actors, writers, animators) by providing these three parameters: a. By using some of the ideas from the Black artists earlier engaged, we would have a creative team (three writers, director, animator, producer) that would meet virtually and have a short script penned by the end of seven days. b. After the script was created, we had three weeks of pre-production and would create a crew made up entirely of People of Color (from actors and producers to assistant directors and grips) as well as have mentees of color. c. We would shoot the film and then release it in the film festival circuit showing our resiliency as Black people and People of Color.

SEE ME is a short I’m incredibly proud of that started with nine Black theater artists, in a virtual room, sharing their experience with no expectations.

The second project that has changed my creative perspective is my current project, BLACK GIRL IN THE WOODS. What started out as an attempt to chronicle my first thru hike of the Pacific Northwest Trail as a fat, Black woman with Lupus turned has turned into how I have found my community of people through my evolving relationship with nature.

As a kid, I was an athlete, but never an outdoors person. I found a relationship with nature super late in life and have sometimes lamented that fact. What if I did this 20 years ago? I was healthier, I could push farther and longer. However, I’m not who I am now 20 years ago. I don’t think I would have appreciated it as much – recognized how much I needed to slow down (I can simply not move as fast) and let the outside heal me.

While the filming of this documentary has been incredibly hard – I’ve ripped tendons in both of my feet, I lost friendships with people I thought would be in my life forever, and had mental hurdles to overcome; I have been incredibly rewarded – I’ve met some incredible Black female hikers, other athletes with Lupus, and heard from loads of people that are also challenging the status quo.

Kisha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Kisha Jarrett is a creative change-maker with a background in marketing and development throughout her 20-year career in arts management that has helped raise over $50 million dollars for various organizations. Kisha is also a writer, director, producer, actor, musician, and storyteller. She has performed for both stage and screen, been a musician at SXSW, and has been a costume designer for the stage and television, and an independent bakery owner. Through storytelling, she has performed for the Moth (2017 and 2018 GrandSLAM winner), Seven Deadly Sins, Wildfang, and Back Fence PDX where she was a co-host and story producer. Most recently, Kisha was seen onstage at Portland Center Stage @ The Armory as the Headmistress in School Girls; or The African Mean Girls Play. Currently, she is working on her second feature-length screenplay, post-production for a feature-length documentary (Black Girl in the Woods, documenting change-makers working to make the outdoors a more equitable space), and writing her first novel. Through her newfound love of the outdoors, Kisha is pushing outdoors representation by being a visible fat, Black woman living with an autoimmune disease via social media and her own documentary. Kisha was in the inaugural cohort of the League Of Resident Theatres EDI Mentor/Mentee program and serves on the LORT EDI committee. Kisha is on the Literary Arts Festival of the Book Committee and has served as an Event Producer for Oregon Media Production Association (OMPA), Children’s Book Bank, Boys and Girls Club, Artists Rep, Live Arts, MTV Woodie Awards, Invisible Children, World Monuments Fund, and School of Visual Arts. She has served on the board of directors of Wonderfolk (formerly Global Works Community Fund). She currently serves as the Culture & Community Director at Ars Nova.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

When I was younger, I thought that there was only one path to get to one job. That is what I witnessed from my parents and what I was taught to do. But deep in my heart, I knew I had interest in multiple things and wanted to explore all of them. I am naturally inquisitive and investigative and quite frankly, buck what is expected of me. I wish that I had listened to my own instincts instead of what was expected of me earlier. I wish I had not let fear lead me – fear of embarrassment, fear of failure, fear of being too much. Some of it is learned the older you get. But I wish I had listened to myself and my OWN wants earlier.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I am the least technical savvy person out there, but anything that allows for generative artists to maintain monetary control of their work, I see as a plus.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blackgirlinthewoods.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kisha.j

Image Credits
Kathleen Kelly