>>COMMUNITY ARTIST

YOUTH & ELDERS      

As a teaching artist, May Lee-Yang teaches creative writing and theater independently as well as through COMPAS and Mu Performing Arts. As a teaching artist, she has conducted one-day workshops, residencies that last between 1-3 weeks, as well as long-term projects. Examples of long-term projects include:  

HIDDEN VOICES: Stories of Foster Care Youth

Working through Mu Performing Arts’ Mu Stories Program and Wilder Foundation’s Youth Leadership Initiative Program, May worked collaboratively with youth leaders to develop this original theater work to explore foster care and the challenges facing youth who age out.             

HMONG WRITING CAMP

In 2016, May partnered with Pathway Learning Center to run a one-week writing camp for Hmong youth to explore poetry and creative prose—which resulted in a student anthology.

TOPICS UNTOUCHED

In 2014, May worked with youth from Arlington Hills Library to develop TOPICS UNTOUCHED, a collection of vignettes about issues facing youth today: racism, gender norms, drugs, and dating.    

THE ART AND BUSINESS OF BEING A WRITER

In 2013, May taught this artistic job-training program through COMPAS’s ArtScope Program Over six weeks, youth got hand-on experience exploring different forms of creative writing, learning about getting work published, meeting editors, going on literary field trips, and working on an anthology of creative writing.

WE ARE YOUNG

In 2012, May worked with Hmong refugee and Hmong American youth to develop WE ARE YOUNG, an original play through the Hmonglish Theater Program. Through spoken word, live music, dance and comedy, “We Are Young” featured original stories about the modern Hmong American youth experience: a new refugee’s first day of school, what happens when friendships go wrong, and a version of a Hmong American Korean drama.

MAY has worked at sites including the following: