To know me is to know…

Kristianna Smith (she/they) is a liberation cultural worker, facilitator , theatre artist, educator, gardener, experience alchemist, intuitive, and Queer Black Mama. For over 15 years, Kristianna has been using play and theatre to dismantle institutional oppression and take up practices that move us closer to a structurally care-centered world. In her whole, Kristianna practices generative conflict, deep joy, and radical dreaming.

A Snippet of the Journey

Kristianna was one of 24 creatives chosen as a 2017-2018 National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellow, where she began development of an arts integrated approach for community members that utilizes theatre techniques at every stage of policy planning. This project led her to discover adrienne maree brown’s work and in 2019, Kristianna was a part of the first open call Emergent Strategy Facilitator Training in Detroit.

They also served on the Steering Committee of Young Women Rising, a program of the Connecticut Commission on the Status of Women, Children, and Seniors, focused on encouraging leadership in young women ages 18-35 in the state until the program's end in 2017. Kristianna was a member of the New Britain Racial Equity Steering Committee in their hometown of New Britain, CT and remains involved in advocating for equity in their local government.

In 2018, Kristianna was honored as one of six women to receive the Connecticut's Women's Education and Legal Fund The Future Is Now Award, honoring young women leadership in the state. In 2019, Kristianna was one of 19 activists awarded the Arthur Lee Perry Award by the CT Working Families Party for her part in helping to pass Paid Family and Medical Leave in the state. She helped in starting Doulas4CT, a coalition working to get doulas a sustainable source of income so they can do their work, supporting families and giving Black Birthers access to joyful, healthy births.

In 2021, Kristianna launched the project Policy Through Play, an experiment in moving local political practice towards liberation.
Using their passion for artists as change makers, Kristianna joined Arts Education in Maryland Schools and Maryland Citizens for the Arts to facilitate the inaugural cohort of their Artist and Arts Educator Campaign School, focused on preparing creatives to run for office in Maryland.

What’s In Praxis

Kristianna uses their social media platforms to explore what is means to embody pleasure as a Black Queer Parent asking, "How might we bring what we dream into being?" You can find some of their musings here or on Tiktok. This exploration has led them to create more spaces, both virtual and physical, which center Black parents, caregivers, space holders, and birthkeepers.

Kristianna and their family have purchased a home and have started a cottage garden (or as close as the center of a New England city can get). Our Garden serves as a practice in possibility. Where Kristianna and their family can learn from the ecosystem they are co-creating with the living beings around them. This project is in many ways born out of Policy Through Play and the need to strengthen community bonds in order to shift practice. Most days, you will find them wandering through the garden.

A sibling to the garden is a 5-issue zine series entitled Seed Packets for Liberated Practice: Harvesting Chaos Collection. This written artwork seeks to affirm and encourage folks to cultivate habits which help move us all towards liberation. Preorder of the inaugural print is available now!

It is Kristianna’s belief that when we are able to center marginalized voices and practice our collective imagination; we are able to devise a world of true belonging where we are, each of us, free to move in the fullness of our being.

Facilitation | Mediation | TRAINING | Coaching | Visioning

Story of How This Began

The first iteration this consulting practice was named Via Arts. It began in 2015 with Kristianna Smith, Dr. Enza Gianonne-Hosig, and a curiosity of how practices used for more liberated classrooms could be applied to make more liberated communities.
Personal liberation led Dr. Enza to leave that seedling of the company while
it led Kristianna to create deeper roots.
Today, the consulting and facilitation of Kristianna Smith is a living practice in evolution and radical imagination.