Shawn Shafner (he/they)

Shawn Shafner (he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, educator and activist based out of Washington, DC. Shawn is passionate about facilitating a fiercely loving relationship with our bodies, planet, and global neighbors through devised ritual theatre, community-based art and education projects, and creative wellness coaching. Since founding The People’s Own Organic Power Project in 2010, he has created award-winning theater, film, podcasts, a book, and countless educational events to catalyze conversation about sustainable sanitation from the floor of the United Nations to the mountains of Rwanda. Get the full scoop at www.thePOOPproject.org

While earning an MFA in Social Practice Art from GWU’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design (Summer 2024), he organized community engagement for a tiny house gallery honoring fallen medical heroes on the National Mall, collected acorns from across campus for an edible installation and to aid local nonprofit “Tomorrow’s Trees” in reforestation efforts, and facilitated a semester-long fellowship alongside the Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park to grow native ecology and Indigenous visibility on campus. Shawn is a seasoned teaching artist, and has developed arts-integrated curricula for families with young children, pK-12 schools, community centers, and offered master classes at over two dozen colleges and universities. Shawn coaches individuals in creative wellness and teaches meditation at IMCW’s Downtown Dharma center and at Trybal Gatherings retreats. Shawn leads movement classes through the lineage of acclaimed choreographer Tamar Rogoff, performs with Marisa Michelson’s Constellation Chor Ensemble, and offers singing lessons in Michelson’s Vocal DeArmoring path. Shawn’s work is featured in three books, he is the humble recipient of some fancy fellowships, grants and awards, he’s performed at Madison Square Garden, with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center and many more – but he doesn’t like to brag. He just wants to spread love, have fun and make meaningful connections. So let’s get started already! On your next exhale, send out compassionate wishes to a hurting world. And on the next, let’s activate those wishes as feats of loving kindness.