Fountain Voices is an innovative program providing arts education in under-served schools. This nine week curriculum is designed to build community and cultivate empathy utilizing the power of theatre and creative story-telling. Currently in place at Hollywood High School, Helen Bernstein High School and Compton Unified School District, Fountain Voices’ playwriting curriculum provides students with the opportunity to tell their own stories while engaging with each other through acting games and writing exercises. Fountain Voices conforms to multiple VAPA and ELA Common Core standards, strengthening students’ English Language skills while teaching the key elements of playwriting, and the art of cultivating material through interviews. The program culminates with short plays, written and performed by the students, based on interviews they conduct in their own communities - with their elders, teachers, peers, and community leaders, exploring a wide range of cultural and generational perspectives, and telling a collective story about the community they live in, and the one they aspire to create. If you’d like to support this program and/or register your school, please email Nathan James, Theater Education Manager. nathan@fountaintheatre.com

KABC Eyewitness News - 2023

The Fountain is grateful for generous support provided for its arts education programs by many donors including:

Arthur & Kristin Auerbach

Toby & Daniel Bernstein

Maggie Bryant

Diana Buckhantz & The Vladimir & Araxia Buckhantz Foundation

Carrie Chassin & Jochen Haber

Deborah Culver

East Hollywood Neighborhood Council

Mrs Sue and Rabbi James Kaufman

The Honorable Sheila Kuehl

Deborah Irmas & The Audrey & Sidney Irmas Charitable Fund

The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

Los Angeles County Arts & Culture

Carrie Menkel Meadow and Robert Meadow

Fay & Les Mitchnick

The Honorable Mitch O’Farrell & The 13th District

The Friars Charitable Foundation

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Sharyl Overholser

The Phillips-Gerla Family

Ashley & Debbi Posner

Allison Thomas

Steven Warheit & Chris Christensen

Mary Jo & David Volk

Dorothy Wolpert

Allison & Jason Zelin

Fountain Voices Team

  • Sherrick O'Quinn

    Theater Education Manager

    is an actor, educator, minister, and artist originally from Louisville, KY. He joined the Fountain team in September 2022. Sherrick began his career in Louisville, KY working on stage and in film, TV, commercials and voiceover prior to moving to Los Angeles to complete his MFA in Acting degree at the University of Southern California. He formerly ran the GO College program which empowered and prepared at-risk high school students for college-going and career readiness prior to pursuing acting full-time. He spends his time acting, creating, coaching and working as a teaching artist. Sherrick is blessed to be part of Fountain Theatre's mission to support and amplify diverse voices and create tangible change. His aim is to find intersections in art, work, and his daily life to be a change agent that encourages others to step into their voice, purpose, and light.on goes here

  • France-Luce Benson

    Creator of Fountain Voices/Lead Teaching Artist

    MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University

    Winner of 2021 Lorraine Hansberry Award, Recipient of NYSCA Individual Artist Grant, Miranda Family Foundation Grant, Sony Pictures Television Diverse Writers Fellow

    Graduate of The Actors Fund Teaching Artist Fellowship

  • Megha Nabe-Ikwaukor

    Megha Nabe-Ikwuakor is a writer and educator with a focus on art for social change. Always wanting to shape and inspire young minds, Megha has been a long-time Head Mentor at the Young Storytellers Foundation, Teaching Artist with Fountain Voices, and is the Director of Community Relations at Dream A World Education, which provides arts education in under-served schools,. When she’s not doing one of these things, she can be found watching (gasp!) the Real Housewives. Like, any of them.

  • Shannon O'Boyle

    Acting teacher, SBG Studios

    Graduate of the Actors Fund Teaching Artist Program

    Mentor, Young Storytellers

  • Stephen Gillikin

    Taught at PS ARTS in 2022. Taught at Compton Early College in 2022

  • Jeremy Feight

    -Atlantic Acting School, Writer/Creator - "FEVER"
    -Producer and Facilitator at AYE DEFY, Founder of Non-Profit Arts Education Org "IGNITE - Ghana"

PRESS

Fountain Voices featured on NPR KPCC 89.3 Fresh Air segment and Southern California NPR radio stations - 12/15/2022 & 12/16/2022