Biography
Lucia Neare creates large-scale theatre in public places. Her productions transform urban landscapes into free-to-everyone participatory dreamworlds – moments in time that model a generous society where all are welcome. Her work speaks to the potential of humans to connect across difference – neighbor to neighbor, stranger to stranger. These performances, or Wonders, revive a more inclusive, celebratory, and imaginative model for public life.
Since 2006, this site-specific theatre artist, director, producer, designer, sculptor, writer, soprano, and de facto urban planner has created some 50 such works, which drew together tens of thousands across the Pacific Northwest to experience what Lucia calls Revolutionary Kindness.
In 2014, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation bestowed one of its inaugural Impact Awards on Lucia for these pioneering spectacles. The City of Seattle awarded Lucia its 2012 Mayor’s Arts Award, and that same year she was appointed Artist-in-Residence for both Seattle and the City of Redmond. Additionally, she is a 2009 recipient of the Artist Trust Fellowship. More recently, Lucia was Artist-in-Residence at Seattle’s ACT Theatre, where, with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, she founded and led a 20-member cultural think tank that explored the intersection of theatre, technology, Millennial Culture, and the quality of public life in the Digital Age.
Regionally, Neare’s work has been commissioned and supported by Seattle Art Museum, 4Culture, Artist Trust, Washington State Arts Commission, Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Seattle City Light, On the Boards, Seattle Arts Commission, and Seattle Parks and Recreation. Neare studied Theatre/Contemporary Performance at Naropa University, and holds a degree from Mount Holyoke College.