Hi, I'm Jess. I help people make the world they imagine through transformative experiences in creative community. As an artist, educator and community builder, I have always been drawn to creation as pedagogy which, as an act of transformation, helps us better understand ourselves and each other. My current work includes leading Engine, a creative economy non-profit organization in Biddeford, ME, curating public art and residency programs, and exploring embodiment practices for radical welcome and hospitality. I am always looking to connect with other humans for accompaniment in this work - drop me a line. You can sign up for my occasional newsletter below.
Organiations I have worked with
Artisan’s Asylum, Boston Advocates for Dance, Boston Community Leaders Cohort, Boston Children’s Museum, Boston University, Call to Arts, Center for the Arts at the Armory, CraftMass, Dance For World Community Festival, DNAWorks, Factory 3, Green Street Studios, Harvard Divinity School, New England Foundation for the Arts, New Movement Collaborative, OnStage Dance Company, Permaculture Institute of the Northeast, Permaculture FEAST, Sacred Design Lab, Somerville Arts Council, The Umbrella Arts Center, Village Art Room, Waltham Fields Community Farm, Waltham Woman’s Club, Watch City Arts
Organiations I have worked with
Artisan’s Asylum, Boston Advocates for Dance, Boston Community Leaders Cohort, Boston Children’s Museum, Boston University, Call to Arts, Center for the Arts at the Armory, CraftMass, Dance For World Community Festival, DNAWorks, Factory 3, Green Street Studios, Harvard Divinity School, New England Foundation for the Arts, New Movement Collaborative, OnStage Dance Company, Permaculture Institute of the Northeast, Permaculture FEAST, Sacred Design Lab, Somerville Arts Council, The Umbrella Arts Center, Village Art Room, Waltham Fields Community Farm, Waltham Woman’s Club, Watch City Arts
Sign up for my occasional newsletter
Curatorial Projects
2020 Hope Shadows, Somernova Art Project, Somerville, MA
2019 Art Ramble 2019: Witnessing Change, Hapgood Wright Town Forest
2019 Earth Press Project: Witness, Minute Man National Historical Park Inaugural Art-in-the-Park Project
2019 Migration, curated fiber arts exhibition, The Umbrella Arts Center Main Gallery
2012-17 National Choreography Month (NACHMO) Boston annual dance performance series
Facilitation / Teaching / Talks
2021 Choreographer and Dance Educator, Collective Motion Arts, Saco, ME
2020 Arts in Emergency talk on creative responses to COVID-19
2019- Student Resource & Mentor, Arts & Culture and Social Impact, Boston University BUild Lab
2018 Panel on Artist Residencies presented by the Somerville Arts Council, Center for the Arts at the Armory
2015-2018 General Assembly, Creative Somerville talks on small business and local manufacturing
2011-15 Facilitator, Modern Dance Community Classes: Onstage Dance Company, Newton Community Education, the Dance for World Community Festival, Moving Target, Nazar Bollywood Training Series, Collective Motion Arts Center
2013 Teaching Assistant, Permaculture F.E.A.S.T. Certification Course, Holyoke, MA
2009 TEDx NYU Talk on Embodied Education
2008-09 Teaching Assistant, New York University, Dangerous & Intermingled: Subaltern NY
2006-2008 Head Dance Instructor, BB&N Summer Day Camp
2008 Co-facilitator, Dance Theatre Etcetera @ Brooklyn International High School
2007 Teaching Assistant, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Political Ecology of Food & Gender & Sexuality Studies
2006-08 Flatfoot Dance Company Dance Development Programs, Durban, South Africa
Select Dance/Choreography/Performances/Residencies
2012-17 Intimations Dance, Artistic Director and Choreographer, 2012-2017
2015 Somerville Arts Council Dancing in the Streets, mentored by David Dorfman
2015 aMaSSiT Program
2015 Green Street Studios Company Residency
2014 GreenWorks Residency
2008-2015 Independent Choreographer with work presented at JOMBA! International Dance Festival, Somerville Arts Council's ArtBeat, OnStage Dance Company, Dancers/Choreographers Alliance, MIT/Hacking Arts
2006-2015 Performer for Flatfoot Dance Company, Cambridge Dance Company, Moving Target Repertory/Annie Kloppenberg, Hearbeat/George Woods and Jennifer Kuhnberg, Dear Olivia/Selmadance, OnStage Dance Company, DanceWorks Boston, Heather Inglis/PMT Dance Studio, Crabtree Carabetta Collective, 24Hour ChoreoFest/Sarah Mae Gibbons
Press
2021 Maine Magazine, "The Arts Nonprofit Bolstering Biddeford"
2021 SBSavings Newsroom Community Profile, "Engine Director: Jess Muise"
2020 Portland Press Herald, "Biddeford arts organization Engine hires a new director"
2020 The New England Foundation for the Arts, "NEFA Grows the Creative Economy Department"
2020 The Somerville Times, “Somernova Art Project opens call for proposals”
2019 The Somerville Times, “Call to Arts engages candidates around arts and culture issues”
2019 Harvard Crimson, on the Art Ramble, “Karen Krolak and Nicole Harris Redefine Choreography Through Performance In Hapgood Wright Town Forest”
2018 Boston Magazine, “Has Boston Given Up on God?”
2017 WCVB Channel 5’s Chronicle, Religion: Millennials Looking Elsewhere
2015 The Boston Herald, “Finding Dance in Boston’s Unexpected Places”
2015 The Boston Herald, “Meet the Intimations Dance Troup”
2014 The Somerville Times, “Artisan’s Asylum: A Warehouse of Creativity in the Old Ames Envelope Building”
2014 Conversing with Choreographers, Monkeyhouse
2014 Luminarium’s Backlight Series
2013 The Boston Globe, “Finances set Green Street back on its heels”
2013 24-Hour Choreofest Interview
Education / Training / Certifications
2019 University of Pennsylvania, Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy
2009 New York University, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, B.A. with Presidential Honors, Dance in Education as Transformative Pedagogy
2006-2007 University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dance & Performance Studies and Economic Development
2017 Daring Leaders Training by Bréne Brown
2012 Master Gardener Certification
2011 72 Hour Permaculture Certification
1989- Study in a variety dance, movement and embodiment practices
2020 Hope Shadows, Somernova Art Project, Somerville, MA
2019 Art Ramble 2019: Witnessing Change, Hapgood Wright Town Forest
2019 Earth Press Project: Witness, Minute Man National Historical Park Inaugural Art-in-the-Park Project
2019 Migration, curated fiber arts exhibition, The Umbrella Arts Center Main Gallery
2012-17 National Choreography Month (NACHMO) Boston annual dance performance series
Facilitation / Teaching / Talks
2021 Choreographer and Dance Educator, Collective Motion Arts, Saco, ME
2020 Arts in Emergency talk on creative responses to COVID-19
2019- Student Resource & Mentor, Arts & Culture and Social Impact, Boston University BUild Lab
2018 Panel on Artist Residencies presented by the Somerville Arts Council, Center for the Arts at the Armory
2015-2018 General Assembly, Creative Somerville talks on small business and local manufacturing
2011-15 Facilitator, Modern Dance Community Classes: Onstage Dance Company, Newton Community Education, the Dance for World Community Festival, Moving Target, Nazar Bollywood Training Series, Collective Motion Arts Center
2013 Teaching Assistant, Permaculture F.E.A.S.T. Certification Course, Holyoke, MA
2009 TEDx NYU Talk on Embodied Education
2008-09 Teaching Assistant, New York University, Dangerous & Intermingled: Subaltern NY
2006-2008 Head Dance Instructor, BB&N Summer Day Camp
2008 Co-facilitator, Dance Theatre Etcetera @ Brooklyn International High School
2007 Teaching Assistant, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Political Ecology of Food & Gender & Sexuality Studies
2006-08 Flatfoot Dance Company Dance Development Programs, Durban, South Africa
Select Dance/Choreography/Performances/Residencies
2012-17 Intimations Dance, Artistic Director and Choreographer, 2012-2017
2015 Somerville Arts Council Dancing in the Streets, mentored by David Dorfman
2015 aMaSSiT Program
2015 Green Street Studios Company Residency
2014 GreenWorks Residency
2008-2015 Independent Choreographer with work presented at JOMBA! International Dance Festival, Somerville Arts Council's ArtBeat, OnStage Dance Company, Dancers/Choreographers Alliance, MIT/Hacking Arts
2006-2015 Performer for Flatfoot Dance Company, Cambridge Dance Company, Moving Target Repertory/Annie Kloppenberg, Hearbeat/George Woods and Jennifer Kuhnberg, Dear Olivia/Selmadance, OnStage Dance Company, DanceWorks Boston, Heather Inglis/PMT Dance Studio, Crabtree Carabetta Collective, 24Hour ChoreoFest/Sarah Mae Gibbons
Press
2021 Maine Magazine, "The Arts Nonprofit Bolstering Biddeford"
2021 SBSavings Newsroom Community Profile, "Engine Director: Jess Muise"
2020 Portland Press Herald, "Biddeford arts organization Engine hires a new director"
2020 The New England Foundation for the Arts, "NEFA Grows the Creative Economy Department"
2020 The Somerville Times, “Somernova Art Project opens call for proposals”
2019 The Somerville Times, “Call to Arts engages candidates around arts and culture issues”
2019 Harvard Crimson, on the Art Ramble, “Karen Krolak and Nicole Harris Redefine Choreography Through Performance In Hapgood Wright Town Forest”
2018 Boston Magazine, “Has Boston Given Up on God?”
2017 WCVB Channel 5’s Chronicle, Religion: Millennials Looking Elsewhere
2015 The Boston Herald, “Finding Dance in Boston’s Unexpected Places”
2015 The Boston Herald, “Meet the Intimations Dance Troup”
2014 The Somerville Times, “Artisan’s Asylum: A Warehouse of Creativity in the Old Ames Envelope Building”
2014 Conversing with Choreographers, Monkeyhouse
2014 Luminarium’s Backlight Series
2013 The Boston Globe, “Finances set Green Street back on its heels”
2013 24-Hour Choreofest Interview
Education / Training / Certifications
2019 University of Pennsylvania, Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy
2009 New York University, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, B.A. with Presidential Honors, Dance in Education as Transformative Pedagogy
2006-2007 University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dance & Performance Studies and Economic Development
2017 Daring Leaders Training by Bréne Brown
2012 Master Gardener Certification
2011 72 Hour Permaculture Certification
1989- Study in a variety dance, movement and embodiment practices
