UW–Madison alumna Shasparay Lighteard, a 2020 graduate of the School of Education’s Department of Theatre and Drama, is the founder and artistic director of the second Black Arts Matter Festival, presented by the Wisconsin Union Theater.
Building a community around Black artistry by uplifting Black art and Black voices in white-dominated spaces, the Black Arts Matter Festival is an interdisciplinary arts festival celebrating and promoting Black art.
Shasparay is a performing artist from Austin, Texas, who is currently the 10th-ranked poet in the world. She graduated from UW–Madison with a B.A. in Theatre and African American Studies and was a recipient of the First Wave Urban Arts Full Scholarship.
Shasparay produced the inaugural Black Arts Matter Festival in 2019, while she was a UW–Madison student.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Arts Matter Festival will take place virtually through Nov. 19. For more information and to register for specific events, visit the festival page on the Wisconsin Union Theater website.