““Katherine and the entire From the Ground UP team, are one of the most passionate and driven group of mentors I have ever had. Their commitment to the program, theatre arts, and the residents made me feel empowered to take risks.””
Katherine Murphy Lewis
Artistic Director
Katherine Murphy Lewis is the founding Artistic Director of From the Ground UP: A Research and Development Center for New Art. Since 2013 Katherine has championed programing, workshops, residencies and new art development. Crafting her own innovative approach to community and nonprofit leadership and curriculum she has developed a model that puts artists' authentic voices and expressions in the forefront by creating a space for individuals to develop stewardship over their artistry, careers and lives. In the past six years, Katherine has spearheaded a refocusing of the organization’s mission towards serving female and female identifying populations, launching the Young Women’s Residency Program in 2017. This program has evolved into an annual nine month Artists Residency that produces upwards of ten new works from a cohort of multigenerational artists, each presented in From the Ground UP’s annual Mini festival of New Art.
In addition to her work in leadership and education, Katherine had enjoyed collaborating locally and internationally, including her residence with Company of Wolves in Glasgow Scotland, in which she traveled and toured their show Achilles at Edinburgh Fringe and throughout the UK and Europe. Locally she has co-wrote and co-produced the new play, Tonight Nothing, in partnership with Merideth Kaye Clark, which premiered at CoHo Production’s summer of 2019. Most recently she produced and directed You Can’t Be Serious, a hilarious and tragic story about witnessing, and grappling with death. This new work blends contemporary dance, comedy and authentic storytelling that lives between light and dark, between down and up, between the weight of tears and the levity of laughter.
Currently Katherine is leading From the Ground UP into its next phase of evolution, working with the Regional Arts and Council Cultural Cultural Leadership Program Katherine is bringing forth a new phase of programs, all aimed at reimagining who, what and how we create new live art. In doing so she is fostering innovation, expanding artistic spaces and supporting artists who have struggled to find space, support and funding traditional artistic spaces.
Leila Piazza
Development Director
Leila is a prolific writer who has worked in finance, management, and corporate compliance.After years in the banking industry with West One Bank, Bank of America, and US Bank, and corporate investigation company, Steele Compliance, Leila finally pivoted to a career in the arts.
As a grant writer, Leila works with individual artists, for-profit companies, and local non-profits, including Jazz Society of Oregon and Historic Alberta House. As development director for From The Ground Up, Leila gets to combine her professional skills with her deep yearning to love the work she does. A woman of many opinions and a desire to share them all, Leila is particularly adamant about the need for robust arts funding and the belief that we, as a society, have woefully misapplied our financial resources. Leila is happy to help us set our priorities straight. Her motto: Give us your money. You’ll love what we do with it.
Asteria Howard
Company Apprentice
Asteria got her dance start at the age of 3 in a small rural one room dance studio in Northern Michigan. As she grew, she started commuting one hour each way to study at Dance Arts Academy in Traverse City Michigan, where she also started teaching at the age of 17. Asteria obtained her dance degree from Northwestern Michigan College in a modern dance concentration, then took her skills around the globe where she worked in performing arts schools and dinner theaters across Australia and New Zealand. She has been a movement educator for 18 years now and has made it her mission to make dance accessible for all bodies.
When Asteria came back to the states, she landed in Portland on a one way ticket that was supposed to last 3 months. 6 years later, she continues to coach dance and aerial in the Portland Metro Area. Asteria can also be seen performing around venues from coast to coast as a burlesque and pole artist. She is currently the General Manager of the Dance Center at BodyVox where she manages, educates, and cultivates a community for dancers of all levels and abilities to access the joy of dance. You can stay up to date on Asteria’s whereabouts on Instagram at @asteriaatombomb or on her website www.asteriaatombomb.com.