Meet Ada McCartney

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ada McCartney.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Ada. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
By day, I am an educator at Arizona School for the Arts, by heart, I am a literary artist– a poet, story weaver, movement enthusiast. I have performed my work and taught workshops from Mesa to Michigan to Madrid and several places in between. Growing up in rural Michigan, I struggled to identify with the job, career and life options that were present in my community. My parents, stained glass artists, and entrepreneurs were the closest thing I knew to inspiration, but I didn’t like all the sharp edges and precise cuts that the art required. I had a few inspiring teachers but retained an inkling that I was meant for… something else. Then, I was introduced to Slam Poetry. It was the perfect fusion of theatre, story-telling, grassroots art. I was utterly hooked finding success and satisfaction in regional competitions. And still, I felt the urge to innovate. To make … something else.

During the summer of 2007, I was in a bicycle accident that broke my body and turned my universe on end. It was the summer between high school and college, and I consequently spent the majority of my college experience working through grief and trauma- gaining a distinct appreciation for what it means to be disabled. Studying creative writing, theatre, and yoga, I began to search for the intersection of these diverse subjects. I fell in love with service-learning, and after a transformative semester of experiential education in Philadelphia, I embraced teaching. I have developed a love of holding space for other people to explore, to cultivate their own story-telling voice, and to dialogue with one another. I found employment as a teaching artist, and came to love, in particular, working with incarcerated youth and adults.

Moving to Tempe in 2013, was equal parts challenge and magic. The Sonoran landscape opened my heart to the brutal and beautiful desert and all its inspiring qualities. I had the opportunity to start from scratch, swinging from one teaching artist gig to another becoming familiar with a wide swath of the valley art scene noticing what felt right and what didn’t. One of my favorite professional experiences so far is co-founding Laughing Pig Theatre Company. In our first season, we wrote and produced a two-woman show called, “Survival Skills’ which reinvigorated my love of writing for the stage. Working first in theatre, and now in special education at ASA, I’ve found that a niche isn’t something finite, but rather it’s created: one day at a time. This fall, I will embark on a new journey: pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at Naropa University.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am a writer, performer, speaker, and workshop facilitator specializing in spoken word poetry and theatre techniques for dialogue, conflict resolution, and social change.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I feel like I’m still getting to know Phoenix, Arizona. It’s not a particularly friendly or easy city to be an artist in, but the fact that its art community is fairly young makes it an amazing place to innovate and experiment.

Contact Info:

• Email: mccartney@goasa.org
• Instagram: @adamccartney

Image Credit:
Tony Holt, Ada McCartney

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