Voices Amplified empowers artists by generating brave and equitable spaces in arts education and theatre performance that amplify underrepresented voices and promotes inclusivity. We connect artists, arts educators and community members by inviting collaborative continued arts education.

Founded by Vanessa Becker Weig and Ellie Clark The Girl Project (TGP) acted as the name of our mothership for eight years, but this name inadvertently excluded voices we strive to amplify, including past participants of The Girl Project. And while 2020 brought us unprecedented upheaval, it has also offered time for reflection, consideration, and specification.

At the foundation of our teaching, we utilized intersectional feminist principles that look at the many forms of inequality and where they intersect and overlap. Those intersections of inequality colliding with performing arts as a platform for storytelling is where our activism comes into focus. Through our work we have had the privilege of holding space with many underrepresented voices at these intersections. However, the name The Girl Project does not fully encompass everyone we have met at those intersections and in those spaces. As we play our part in the fight to accept and embrace more nuanced identities - be it gender identity, race, social status, abilities, religion, sexuality - we must play our part to amplify underrepresented voices that are forging a path for inclusion, representation and recognition of past harms. Our mothership name must embrace everyone we meet at every intersection; she must embrace the nuances of all the voices that are fighting courageously for recognition and change. Therefore, our mission became our mothership name, VoicesAmplified!

Voices Amplified began with a space for our youth program ACTivate, While young artists were looking for an artistic home during the pandemic, we provided one. ACTivate takes a holistic approach to training focusing on increasing artistic skills, navigating the logistics of becoming a working artist, creating innovative performance opportunities to make theatre more accessible, and cultivating artists who strive to make a difference in their community. Once the world opened back up, Voices Amplified began adult programming that encompasses our mission statement from our Pride Musicals to our Cabaret Series to our newest project the Voices HEaRd; Women's Theatre Festival we believe our seasons and workshops are a beautiful representations of our Mission and Vision.

• Arts Education/Youth Arts
• Performing Arts

Voices Amplified requests $10,000 to support two major components of our 2026.2027 Season and 2027.2028 Season.

To advance our commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices, we are requesting funding to launch two complementary projects: the Voices HEaRD Women’s Theatre Festival, centering on the theme of Generations, and the Music and Memory Project. Both initiatives are intentionally designed to foster intergenerational connection and offer often-isolated older adults a platform to share their wisdom. Through this work, we continue our dedication to using theatre and storytelling to bridge societal divides and illuminate the universal human experience.

GENERATIONS
An intentional, 10-month creative project in Central Kentucky that brings together a dedicated ensemble of 10 to 15 female-identifying individuals, ages 16–99, to foster intergenerational connection, healing, and mentorship. By pairing the fresh perspectives of younger women with the lived wisdom of elders, participants dissolve social barriers and lift one another out of isolation through shared stories of resilience. Through bi-monthly workshops, the ensemble utilizes devised theater and movement to transform personal reflections into public art, culminating in a live communal performance at the Voices HEaRd 2027 festival.
Rooted in Lineage
To understand where we are going, we must listen to where we have been. We are pairing the fresh perspectives of younger women with the lived wisdom of older women. By sharing personal histories of resilience, we offer each other mentorship and guidance, ensuring that the lessons and strengths of the past are preserved to nurture our community's future.
Transformed through Theater
This journey is a safe, creative exploration of the shared feminine experience. Through bi-monthly workshops, our ensemble will transform personal reflections into beautiful public art using devised theatre and movement.
Uniting Generations
We are dissolving the barriers that keep us apart. Generations provides a consistent, welcoming space where all women ages 16-99 co-create side-by-side. Together, we lift each other out of isolation and provide a grounding sense of belonging as we build a living archive of communal strength.
Beginning in September we will gather bi-monthly on Saturdays on a set schedule according to the group. Starting in April we will meet more regularly and build to a full rehearsal schedule that will lead up to the Voices HEaRd Festival June 23-27, 2027.

VOICES HEaRd 2027 We are thrilled to announce the return of Voices HEaRd: A Women’s Theatre Festival, a powerful celebration dedicated to elevating female-identifying narratives. Centered around this year's evocative theme, Generations, the festival explores the shared triumphs, complex struggles, and enduring legacies passed down through lines of women. This year’s lineup features the groundbreaking Generations collective as its anchor project, a profound community building collaboration, the festival will also involve partnerships with other arts organizations and will include a play, and a cabaret.

Music and Memory
Music has a unique power to unlock doors that time has closed. Scientific research into Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories (MEAM) reveals that music triggers recollections that are significantly more detailed and emotionally vivid than those sparked by visual cues. By focusing on the "reminiscence bump"—the period between ages 14 and 24 when musical taste is cemented—we can effectively reawaken the personal histories of our elders.
Music and Memory is an intergenerational initiative that harnesses this science to foster connection, community, and creative growth across generations in Central Kentucky.

The Program
Through partnerships with local assisted living facilities and community centers, our youth company ACTivate pairs our young artists (ages 10–18) and their mentors with senior residents for a two-phase immersion program:
Phase I: The Awakening. Youth performers present a curated repertoire of "youth-era" classics—ranging from the crooning of Frank Sinatra to the soulful energy of Motown. This concert serves as a catalyst, sparking dormant memories and opening a window into the residents' pasts.
Phase II: The Exchange. Following the performance, students are paired with residents to listen to the stories the music unearthed. In the weeks between visits, students maintain this bond through handwritten letters, ensuring the connection remains vibrant.
Phase III: The Legacy. Students transform these oral histories into original scenes and monologues. The program culminates in a "Performance Share" where the music and the residents’ own life stories are woven together, performed by the students for their senior partners.

In Lexington, KY, our equity plan, developed via staff, board, and community collaboration, drives our mission. Informed by co-founder Vanessa Becker Weig’s training with ArtEquity and Carmen Morgan, we conduct regular progress assessments and intentionally recruit diverse board members, staff, and artists to reflect our region. Ongoing workshops foster internal cultural competency and actively address barriers to access.
Through vital partnerships with JustFund Kentucky, The Kentucky Foundation for Women, Black Soil, and Project Ricochet, we directly reach underrepresented populations. We ensure equitable arts delivery by providing ASL interpretation, accessible venues, and "Pay What You Can" performances to eliminate economic barriers. Successful initiatives like our ACTivate program, Pride musicals, Voices Amp’d Cabaret series, and Voices HEaRd actively celebrate diversity, amplify marginalized creators, and expand our audience footprint.

Women have always been the primary focus of our programming, anchoring the diverse Voices Amplified Community. Alongside women, our target audience centers BIPOC populations, LGBTQIA+ communities, and local families. This season, we continue to champion these intersectional narratives through productions like RENT, while expanding our reach to build intentional connections with our local elder community. Centering the unique lived experiences of senior women and elders bridges generational divides, bringing a new audience into our creative space.
Our target audience is directly informed by local demographic data, ensuring we actively dismantle barriers to arts access. We offer pay-what-you-can ticket options for select performances to support low-income families and economically disadvantaged individuals. We also provide certified sign language interpretation to include Deaf and hard-of-hearing residents, creating an inclusive, multi-generational environment for all.

Creating space for historically underrepresented voices is essential for fostering community health, mental well-being, and a deep sense of belonging. Women and girls, who form a core pillar of our organization's focus, have historically been misrepresented or silenced in dominant narratives. Similarly, elder communities and contemporary youth frequently navigate profound social isolation, often feeling as though they no longer possess an active voice or agency within society. Voices Amplified is committed to dismantling these barriers, ensuring that the intersecting experiences of women, seniors, and young people are heard, valued, and celebrated.
In times of systemic and personal hardship, theatre serves as a vital tool for healing and human connection. Our mission is to provide an accessible platform where individuals can safely process complex emotions, share their lived experiences, and find communal strength in unifying narratives. We believe every person possesses a unique tapestry of perspectives and potential. By fostering open, meaningful dialogue through the performing arts, we honor each participant as an essential contributor to our collective cultural story. Our explicit goal is to uplift those who feel unseen, ensuring they understand that their voices matter. When we shine a light on personal experiences—especially those overshadowed by mainstream media—we affirm our participants' place in the broader community.
Our Generations and Music and Memory projects put these values into direct action, delivering distinct, targeted benefits across our service area:
The Generations Project: This initiative explicitly creates dedicated creative space for women and girls. By intentionally elevating female-driven narratives, we address historical gaps in representation and empower female participants to reclaim, shape, and share their own stories on stage.
The Music and Memory Project: Open to individuals of all gender expressions, this initiative provides profound cognitive stimulation, memory retrieval, and emotional regulation for seniors, including those in assisted living. By transforming their unique life narratives into musical expression, the project validates their lived histories. This active engagement combats senior isolation, restoring dignity and a sense of purpose to our elders.
Benefits for Youth: As the ACTivate Youth Company receives essential stylistic and vocal training through these projects, keeping them competitive in the arts sector. More importantly, working directly with elders teaches young artists that their creative gifts are not merely for entertainment, but are powerful tools for community service, historical preservation, and deep interpersonal empathy.
Through productions that center marginalized narratives, intergenerational workshops, and community conversations that actively challenge stereotypes, Voices Amplified builds deeper cross-cultural connections. By bridging the generational divide between our youth and our elders, we are creating an inclusive, empathetic ecosystem where everyone’s story is celebrated.

Voices Amplified has successfully initiated promotional efforts for the Generations project across social media, our official website, and partner sponsor packets. Initial rollout featured custom promotional graphics designed by Cavan Hendron, which generated substantial public engagement and acclaim. While foundational groundwork for the Music and Memory project is currently underway, its official public campaign will launch in alignment with our broader seasonal rollout.
Throughout the season, we will execute targeted marketing campaigns utilizing our Wix newsletter, structured press releases, and active social media platforms. Crucially, we will leverage established local media partnerships to maximize visibility, including feature coverage with Madison Bowling at WKYT and Doug and Lisa High at WTVQ. Additionally, we will secure editorial features in Smiley Pete Publishing and collaborate with regional arts podcasts, including Art Throb and Tom Musgrave’s Open Studio.

Voices Amplified establishes cross-sector partnerships within the Lexington community to amplify and support historically underrepresented voices. By aligning mutual missions, we share resources, expand capacity, and reach a broader population of Kentuckians. Maintaining these deep relationships enables us to tap into diverse regional talent, build new audiences, and support the vital work our peer organizations do. Furthermore, collaborative marketing mutually enhances organizational visibility, elevating our combined messaging while promoting our valued sponsors and donors. Ultimately, these relationships strengthen our operational resilience, our partners’ reach, and the broader civic fabric.
Our collaborative history reflects an intersectional approach to advocacy. In the past, we have partnered with advocacy and cultural groups like Just Fund Kentucky, Lexington Fairness, Lexington Pride Center, AVOL, Lexington’s Gay Straight Alliance, and the Kentucky Foundation for Women Project Ricochet, Black Soil, Greenhouse 17, The Nest, Step by Step, Lussi Brown, and Third Street Stuff.
This season, as we pivot to elevate the narratives of seniors, we are building partnerships with local elder-care and research institutions. We are actively reaching out to partners including Mayfair Village Retirement Community, the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and the Lexington Senior Center.
These combined partnerships yield measurable community outcomes across three primary pillars:
Cultural Impact: By integrating residents from Mayfair Village and the Lexington Senior Center directly into our creative spaces, we combat senior isolation. This transforms elders from passive arts consumers into active storytelling co-creators, shifting the dominant narrative.
Educational Impact: Our collaboration with the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging grounds our programming in clinical insights regarding brain health, cognitive stimulation, and dementia. For our youth company, this fosters profound historical preservation skills, civic engagement, and intergenerational empathy.
Economic Impact: By co-marketing with local grass-roots partners, we stimulate the local creative economy. We create viable opportunities for local artists and draw diverse crowds to neighborhood businesses, proving that inclusive performing arts are a vital engine for regional economic development.

Bridge Generational Divides: Cultivate deep intergenerational empathy by connecting youth artists with the lived histories of our elders, creating a shared space where generations connect.
Support Local Artists: Provide meaningful work and fair compensation for Lexington artists, fostering regional economic and creative growth.
Amplify Diverse Voices: Utilize diverse talent on stage to attract multi-generational audiences, ensuring the stories of women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ populations are celebrated.
Representation Matters: Offer our audience the opportunity to see their age, race, and gender reflected on stage, validating their experiences and fostering belonging.
Accessible & Inclusive Spaces: Create a safe, welcoming environment through financial equity like pay-what-you-can tickets and linguistic inclusion via sign language interpretation.
Spark Dialogue & Education: Connect artists, educators, and community members to inspire cross-cultural understanding.

1. Mixed-Method Post-Performance Surveys
To capture key data, we will administer an anonymous audience survey evaluating four core benchmarks:
Demographic Representation: Track diversity parameters—including race, gender identity, and sexual orientation—to gauge efficacy in engaging underserved populations.
Socioeconomic Accessibility: Analyze the impact of our "pay-what-you-can" ticketing model to determine if financial flexibility correlates directly with increased community access.
Audience Acquisition: Isolate communication channels (e.g., campaigns, word-of-mouth, artist networks) to measure marketing efficacy and understand audience drivers.
Civic and Thematic Impact: Measure audience perception regarding the production’s relevance to pressing socio-political issues, tracking how effectively the art sparks reflection.
2. Digital Dialogue and Community Forums
Following the season, Voices Amplified will host a moderated digital talkback via an online platform. This virtual forum will facilitate dialogue between creative teams, cast members, and the community to evaluate artistic impact, discuss underlying themes, and deepen local engagement.
3. Program-Based Discussion Guides
To extend impact beyond the theater, we will integrate structural discussion prompts directly into our physical and digital performance programs. These frameworks will empower audience members to lead independent, peer-to-peer dialogues within their families, workplaces, and civic networks, expanding our conversational footprint.
Through this methodology, we expect to establish clear data baselines to refine future marketing, validate equitable pricing, and measure long-term community dialogue.

We have never considered this opportunity before and do not know a lot about it. For the summer I believe that we could do it for the Generations performances which will be June 24-27. We are still working out the times. We would be interested in learning more.