Many people talk about the pandemic as taking time to slow down, to pause, to stay at home. This was not the case for Josy. As an actor, director, playwright, community builder, and arts administrator, Josy had a busy experience throughout the pandemic.
Pre-pandemic and during a large portion of 2020-2021, Josy was working on her project titled, “HOME”, for which she was awarded a residency through Akron Soul Train.
2021 was a stacked year for Josy. She continued her progress on “HOME”, she also was a Dramaturg and Playwright for al otro lado del rio, (Across the River) with the New World Performance Laboratory. This was adapted to meet COVID-19 safety protocols by making the piece a one-person show with limited audience seating and partitions between the seating.
In the summer of 2021, she became one of four co-leaders of CATAC (Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture). Their mission is to embolden innovative performances and artist-centered events that nurture social change and foster community. That fall, Josy was named Associate Producer for the BorderLight Theatre Festival which takes place in downtown Cleveland. This multi-day festival hosts dozens of artists throughout a variety of spaces, showcasing diverse performances. Josy continued this work through 2025.
Josy’s hard work did not go unnoticed as she was awarded Woman of the Year in the category of Creativity by the Summit Historical Society in 2021. Additionally, Josy was named one of the Great Akron Chamber of Commerce “30 for the Future” and received the Summit Artspace Arts Alive award in 2022.
Josy has a passion for activating spaces that might not otherwise be activated, helping people change the way they view their lived environment and experience places in a new way. She’s done this through multiple performances beyond the “HOME” project (which premiered inside of a West Hill home). Her performance “FREIGHT" activated a freight elevator, and "if a tree falls," was an outdoor movement piece about Black Joy that incorporated a tree into the performance.
“I don’t understand how people process anything without art or movement, even if it's just physical processing. I use a lot of my work to stay connected to people, even though I am introverted. I use my art as a form of processing and connection."
Josy’s growth expanded to include theatre lighting. In 2023 she received a Creative Investment grant through ArtsNow and the Ian Patrick Schwarber Foundation to learn the ETC lighting program for theatre. [then completed the FOCUS Apprenticeship through Dobama Theatre, where she was paired with lighting designers and theaters in Northeast Ohio to continue to hone her skills. This lighting interest led to her first lighting design project in 2024 for “Nine Lives”— a multimedia jazz performance performance created by Chris Coles. With a continued strong interest in lighting design, Josy is furthering her education in architectural lighting design to receive her Masters Degree.
“The world is noisy and so much is happening,” Josy said. “It's sometimes hard to know what to do. To be an artist gives you a task in the resistance whether that be showing Black Joy or questioning human evolution, it gives you an action. A thing to do. Posting isn’t enough for me. Going to protests isn’t enough for me. What is the thing I should be doing? I think art is the thing.”
March, 2020
West Hill