Alive or Existing?

Manon Manavit (MFA California Institute of the Arts), a line producer for the 2018 & 2019 iterations of DWLF, is an interdisciplinary creative director emphasizing sustainability through community & collaboration. Her body of artistic work spanning film, puppetry, plays, events and installations is recognized by Open Society Foundations as being “at the intersection of culture, art, and social change.” She leads the Community Arts Program at the Bernie Wohl Center on the Upper West Side. Recent work: 2022 Ecological City Art & Climate Solutions Action Project included workshops, performances, and murals celebrating coastal resiliency in community gardens throughout the Lower East Side. She is a Poetry/Theater Citizen Artist Fellow, a Distinguished Lecturer at the Alliance of Families for Justice, Masterclass Instructor of Site-Specific Performance at SUNY, and member of Farm Arts Collective. Follow @manonmanavit_art, @artsatgoddard on Instagram

Hazen Cuyler is an award-winning actor and director and the Artistic Director and Founder of The Greenhouse Ensemble. His production of The Unspeakable Passion of Mitch Devoe won all eligible awards including best director (Hazen), best writer (Frank Tangredi) and best actor at the LIC One Act Festival (out of 50 plays). His production of Twelfth Night was nominated for Best Comedy by the NY Shakespeare Awards. He is honored to be a 2023 Fellow at Lucid Body House and has won or been nominated for several awards regionally. Hazen has trained extensively under Austin Pendleton, Aleksey Burago, Fay Simpson, Jack Garfein, Patsy Rodenburg, and many others. He teaches acting at The Greenhouse Ensemble and for the NY DOE. Greenhouse focuses much of their work on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where Hazen lives. Follow @hazencuycuy, @greenhouseensemble on Instagram

Willow is an environmental scientist, interdisciplinary artist, musician, and storyteller from rural Virginia. Their practice includes recycled and bio-based installation art, words, music, and biosonification (turning processes within living organisms into music and sound). They often weave themes of ecology and gender with an autobiographical exploration of nature, and feel driven to use intersections of art, science, and technology to tackle environmental and social issues. Their work has been featured in publications including Soft Star Magazine, The Purposeful Mayonnaise, and the Rachel Carson Council’s website, among others. Their first poetry collections, tangerine and Salt are published by Bottlecap Press.