Jess K. Smith (she/her) is a freelance director, founder and co–artistic director of ARTBARN, intimacy director, and chair and associate professor of theatre arts at the University of Puget Sound. She loves creating work with imaginative interplay between heightened physicality and naturalistic scene work. She has trained with SITI Company and interned with Punchdrunk, Deja Donne, and Seattle Repertory Theatre. Her essay “The Hero in the Human” was published in DEJA DONNE. Dance in Action (Editoria & Spettacolo), and her talk “The Seeing Place” was featured as part of TEDx. She received her MFA in directing at Columbia University under the guidance of Anne Bogart. jessksmith.com.