Top: Sabrina Motley (photo: Trent Johnson)
Below: Roberta Gasbarre (photo: Amanda Corbett)
Registration Note: This members-only free program requires registration.
Mark Fridays at Noon on your calendar to savor the liveliest and most interesting conversation you’ll hear all week. Designed exclusively for Smithsonian Associates members, this twice-monthly web podcast series invites you to go behind the scenes and into the working lives of some of the most intriguing people from all across the Smithsonian and Washington’s worlds of culture, science, and education.
THIS MONTH’S FEATURED GUEST
Sabrina Lynn Motley, Director of the Festival, at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
About our Guest
Sabrina Lynn Motley joined the Center in 2013 as director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Before coming to the Smithsonian, she was connected to many cultural institutions nationally. Sabrina served as senior director of programs and exhibitions at Asia Society Texas Center; was vice president of Vesper Society, a social justice foundation; was program and education director at the Japanese American National Museum (a Smithsonian affiliate); and curated public programs for the Getty Museum, and community-based exhibitions for the California Endowment. She also hosted “The Global Village” on KPFK in Los Angeles.
Sabrina has creatively and fiercely guided the Festival through many necessary changes, most recently its move to a national digital platform. She talks to us about her journey to the Mall, Festivals past and present and the future … and answers the question of why “making matters” -- in our not-to-be-missed conversation.
Meet the Host
“I love talking to people who are passionate about what they do, no matter the disciplines in which they work. It’s exciting for me to learn what makes them tick, where they find inspiration, and—especially now—how they remain innovative and imaginative when there’s a challenge to face. I always come away with something new and fascinating to spark my own thinking.” —Roberta Gasbarre
Read more...
Roberta Gasbarre’s more than 40-year-long career spans creative work in areas from experimental productions to chamber musicals, theater for young audiences to heritage arts—and in all aspects of arts-based learning. She has spent 22 years as the director of Discovery Theater, Smithsonian Associates’ educational museum theater program, which also reaches into classrooms in the District’s public schools.
She has created and collaborated on educational and artistic projects for many Washington-area theaters including Arena Stage and the Shakespeare Theatre Company, as well as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Library of Congress, Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center, George Washington University, American University, the University of Maryland, Kaiser Permanente’s AIDS and health education initiative, the Washington Revels, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Roberta received her MFA from Towson University, specializing in interdisciplinary world theater.
Upcoming Fridays at Noon Programs
Patron Information
- If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.
- Unless otherwise noted, registration for streaming programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program.
- Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
- Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
- View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.
