Script co-written by Leo D. Martinez and Merudjina Normil. Performed by Merudjina Normil.

Don’t Touch The Art is a reminder, a celebration, a moment, and a truth. This is a celebration of the body. A graduation of the body. A return to the body. And a meditation on the process and journey of healing from sexual trauma through a reclamation of mind, body, heart, and soul. It is a journey and a meditation through the mediums of painting, sound, movement, and video. The story is centered around black bodies, cis, trans, questioning, and non-binary.

Merudjina Normil is a Black Haitian-American, non-binary multi-medium & multi-dimensional artist currently residing in Pittsfield, MA. They are an alumni of Williams College and Pittsfield High School. They are interested in how different mediums can tell a story and hold a story. They see art as a medium of healing and community. Art is a reminder that the process is about moving through and allowing time to see, to be, and to heal.

Leo D. Martinez is a Black Dominican-American, trans non-binary writer and artist from Harlem, New York. They are a recent graduate from Williams College with a bachelor’s in English and concentration Latina/x Studies. Their writings explore the intersections, disconnections, and parallels of gender fluidity, nationalism and race, unruly bodies, and spirituality as healing. They are on a pilgrimage of connecting with their familial ancestors and the queer and trans community across the Black Diaspora.

This performance takes the audience from The Foundry riverside patio to the green then back to the patio for a post-performance dialogue with the performer that will be led by theater artist Sara Katzoff (She/ Her,/Hers.)

Katzoff recently received her MFA in Theater Directing from Boston University. She attended Dell’Arte International for Professional Training and Certification in Ensemble based Physical Theater and received her BA in Performance Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. She is the Co-Producing Artistic Director of Bazaar Productions/The Berkshire Fringe and has served as an adjunct professor and guest artist at University of Albany, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Bard College at Simon’s Rock.