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CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

Daniel Jones headshot 2024 - Photo by TIffany Bessire copy.jpg

Daniel Jones (Producing Artistic Director) 

Daniel  is a Nashville-based producer, dramaturg, writer, and director passionate about facilitating creative storytelling, diverse narratives, and shared live arts experiences that ignite social change. In 2022, the Nashville Scene named him “Best Advocate for Artists." 

 

As the Co-Founder & Producing Artistic Director of Kindling Arts, Daniel has worked with hundreds of Nashville-based artists to launch 150+ unique artistic experiences in the past eight years. Among programming highlights, in 2022, Daniel co-conceived and co-directed the world premiere of The Naughty Tree, a queering of the Garden of Eden myth developed in collaboration with playwright River Timms and theatrical rock band Fable Cry. The unique interdisciplinary production was named “Best Local Theater Production” by the Nashville Scene in 2022. Later that year, Kindling Arts Festival celebrated five years of programming with a record turn-out, more than doubling attendance and ticket sales from any previous year -- and has continued to grow in the years since.

 

Daniel is also the Associate Director of Programming & Partnerships at OZ Arts Nashville, where he has supported hundreds of artists and performers from around the world, including artists from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Brazil, Japan, Chile, South Africa, and more. He also works closely with Nashville artists as they develop new works and realize their visions in the organization's unique creative warehouse. Daniel is the Past President of the Board at TN Presenters. He was chosen as one of three arts administrators in the Southeast for a fellowship with the International Society for the Performing Arts (2023-2025).

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Jessika Malone (Founding Artistic Director)

Jessika is a Nashville-born creative producer, director, deviser, teacher, and mischief-maker, specializing in new work that radically reimagines what is possible in live performance. She is the Founding Artistic Director of Kindling Arts, where she works to empower Nashville's independent artists through practical support, resource-sharing, and a community that fosters cooperation and inclusion.

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She has been named a “serious theatrical talent” by the Nashville Scene and productions under her direction have been hailed as “fascinating and mesmerizing” [Broadway World] and “guaranteed to keep you talking long after the lights come up” [The Tennessean] as well as “guaranteed to provide an experience that will last way beyond the current season. Maybe well on into the century” [Nashville Scene].

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Jessika has previously served as Producing Director of Fusebox Festival in Austin, Texas and is a co-founder of the Sideshow Fringe Festival (named one of CNN’s “Most Intriguing US Festivals”). She received her MFA in directing from Illinois State University and her BA in Theatre from Belmont University. She has twice been named the Fred Coe Artist-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University. [www.jessikamalone.com]

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Jaclyn Johnson Tidwell

President
Director of Planning at Cumberland Region Tomorrow

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CK Stone

Vice President

Director of Development at the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville

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Brittaney Baker, Ed.D.

Secretary
Postsecondary Readiness Practice Fellow & Career Readiness Data Coordinator
at Nashville Partnership for Educational Equity Research

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Hayley Rose Maurer

Treasurer

Theatre-Maker, Community Advocate​​​​​​​​​​

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Board of Directors

​​Tim Delger

Co-Founder & Creative Director of Studio Delger

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Colette Divine

Actor & Singer and
Owner & CEO of Red Carpet Joy Dogs​

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Thea Jones

Director of Community Engagement at OZ Arts
Founder of Skylark Creative Alliance

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James Kyson

TV & Film Actor

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Liz Josey

Director of Operations at Leadership Nashville

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Emmanuel LeGrair
Creative Director at RH Boyd Publishing
Founder & Editor of The Commonwealth​

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Leah Lowe

Professor and Director of the Curb Center for Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University

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Sarah Saturday

Lead Artist of Gardening, Not Architecture and Application Engineer at HCA Healthcare

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Arash Shoushtari

Performance & Visual Artist: IMGRNT

Digital Marketing Specialist

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Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva

Performing Artist, Writer, and Actor

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Sam Wible

Studio Leader, Hastings Architecture

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To support the work of Kindling Arts and Nashville-based artists, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.
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