Debra
Roberts has lived and breathed arts and spirituality all her life. Her
work as an artist has taken her to England (where she lived for eleven
years), Northern Ireland, Europe, India, and various cities around North
America. Her experience of the arts in service to multicultural
communities (community-building, -expression, and -education) profoundly
impacted her, as does her friendship with elders and Medicine people
from many traditions.
In the 1990’s,
a meeting with Hopi elder Thomas Banyacya, a messenger of Hopi prophecy
who spoke about the vital importance of women stepping forward into
the world, also deeply touched her (see Prasad for Women CD
series, fifthworldwomen.com).
In 1997,
Debra, her husband Joe, and their cat Bo (Debra, Joe and Bo) moved
to the mountains of Western North Carolina. After a month-long
series of strong nighttime dreams about filmmaking (as well as seeing
the movie Starship Troopers, which convinced her that anyone could
do better than that), she started a documentary company called Heron
Productions LLC. After another strong dream in the fall of
1999, she also founded Little Pearls, a non-profit that makes “tiny
films that open hearts and minds” (littlepearls.org).
In 2005,
Debra took a sabbatical and went on a pilgrimage to southern India,
the Hopi Mesas, and the Black Madonna region of southern France. These
sacred places deepened her commitment to the arts as a strong beneficial
force in the world.
1998 TO PRESENT:
It
has been my great privilege to produce or co-produce the following:
THE
HONEYBEE PROJECT. Currently in production. A multi-media
children’s education project on the subject of the honeybee.
PRASAD FOR
WOMEN, a series of five-CD talks for women. (fifthworldwomen.com)
BIG
MEDICINE FROM SIX NATIONS, a book authored by Tuscarora elder Ted Williams,
published by Syracuse University Press. Editor.
LITTLE
PEARLS, a non-profit organization that creates “tiny films
that open hearts and minds”. Founder, Executive Director, Consultant.
(littlepearls.org)
CD (OPERATION SPONSOR-A-SOLDIER) for Tanya Wilson, teaching a holistic
healing technique to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq who suffer
from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
MAMA’S
MAGIC, documentary on poet, educator, and writer Glenis Redmond. (glenisredmond.com)
HONORING
YOUR BELLY, instructional video of teacher / author Lisa Sarasohn teaching
belly-energizing exercises drawn from yoga and other healing arts.
(loveyourbelly.com)
TURTLE ISLAND
TALES, children’s educational
/ entertainment documentary on puppeteer Hobey Ford. (goldenrodpuppets.com)
I
CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW, educational / music video about air quality for
middle school children. For Mountain Air Quality Coalition, NC.
IT’S
ALL ABOUT DREAMS, documentary / musical video for S.T.E.A.M. (Success
Through Education and Motivation), after-school program for “at
risk” teens.
TOBACCO
PREVENTION, video for teens for S.T.E.A.M.
CAMELOT
REAWAKENED: A
VISION FULFILLED, a documentary on composer / musician Richard Shulman
and the creation of his visionary music for symphony orchestra, “Camelot
Reawakened”. (richheartmusic.com)
ACE WHITEWATER
RAFTING, revision of video promotional materials.
ECO TEAM,
a children’s
environmental education video for third graders. For the Environmental
Leadership Center, Warren Wilson College, NC.
BIODIVERSITY
ALL OVER THE PLACE, a children’s environmental educational
video for the Great Smoky Mountains Park, “Parks as Classroom” program.
SHINER
ANTIORIO, promotional video for this American Sign Language signer and
performance artist.
DO THE RIGHT
THING, a documentary educating civic water engineers and citizens around
North America on the dangers of lead in drinking water for infants
and children.
HEAL ME,
promotional video for Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care for use in their
fund-raising and public awareness campaigns. (urgentcares.com)
STEP
SISTERS, promotional piece on the poetic dialogue on race and womanhood
for poets Glenis Redmond and Patricia Starek.
(loydartists.com)
FOCUS
GROUP on PSA for The Gorilla Foundation.
WE ARE NEW
MEXICO, series of English / Spanish TV PSAs for V.I.D.A., NM, for their
public awareness campaign to change misperceptions and prejudicial
thinking about Spanish speaking immigrants.
PARALLEL
THINKING FOR JURY DELIBERATION, a documentary and companion guide for
juries based on the work of Edward de Bono.
LIFE AS
PEACE, a documentary featuring the wisdom of elders and exploring their
understanding of what peace is (including Tuscarora / Iroquois elder,
Ted Williams; Cochiti Medicine elder, Andrew Ahsona; Mary Lou Cook;
Ann Dasburg, and others. Ongoing.
PRIOR TO 1998:
THEATER
FOR THE
LOVE OF MARGE AND WALLER, a forty-artist collaboration stage show and
tribute to Debra Roberts’ parents at Diana Wortham Theatre,
Asheville, NC.
COYOTE GATHERS
HIS PEOPLE, a Native American sacred performance troupe, NM. Performer.
THE
NEW MEXICO LITERACY THEATER, a company touring pueblos, schools, prisons,
and rehabilitation centers around the Southwest, promoting literacy. Director,
actor.
PLAYBACK
THEATER, Santa Fe, NM. Performer.
IMPROVISATIONAL
THEATER workshop for Association for Experiential Education, Santa
Fe, NM.
BEGINNING
WITH WHO WE ARE NOW, Railyard Performance Center, collaboration with
two other artists (dance and theater). NM.
PANTOMIME
(theatre) productions, Plymouth, England.
DANCE
DANCE (African,
Haitian), NM, CA, NC. Performer, choreographer, teacher.
DANCE performance,
Lake Eden Arts Festival, Black Mountain, NC.
DANCE workshops
for the Association of Transpersonal Psychology conferences, CA.
DANCE
workshops in conjunction with Joe Roberts’ drumming workshops
(various, national; adults and children)
MISCELLANEOUS ARTS
CHILDREN’S
SUMMER ART SERIES, Oo-oonah Center, Taos, NM. Teacher.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
PLAY, Waldorf School, Santa Fe, NM. Writer, director.
FOUR WINDS
INSTITUTE, workshops on creativity and intuition. Co-Director, Staff
(theater, arts)
SKITS /
PLAYS, since I was old enough to walk. Writer,
actor.
BORN: Chicago,
Illinois, 1952.
EDUCATION: B.A., Indiana University, Bloomington, IND.