The Office of Creative Propulsion supports JMU students, faculty, and staff in ideating and facilitating participatory arts engagement opportunities within JMU, Harrisonburg, and surrounding communities.
Please contact the Office of Creative Propulsion with any access needs.
Our Initiatives
JMU's Dance for PD® Program
Led by JMU Dance Professor Emerita and certified Dance for PD® teaching artist Kate Trammell, and assisted by School of Theatre and Dance Music Director Toby Twining and JMU Dance, Music, and Occupational Therapy students, these weekly classes are based on the Dance for PD® approach developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group. Learn more here.
The Gray Catbird Project
Sound Ecology: Human Noise and the Gray Catbird is an interdisciplinary project seeking to help audiences understand how human-generated soundscapes impact birdsong, including the song of the Gray Catbird. Learn more about the project here.
Sound Ecology: how soundscapes impact the gray catbird and their avian communities
Feb 24, 7 p.m. - Forbes Center Recital Hall
Learn more about this event here.
Panel Discussion - Silent Spring: A Conversation about Sound Ecology
March 27, 6 p.m. - Arboretum Education Center
Learn more about this event here.
Musical Performance - The Beauty of Birdsong
May 5, 7 p.m. - The Courtyard at 17 N. Court Square
Stories and Songs
A continuation of a National Endowment for the Arts-funded project titled "Transitioning & Traversing: Stories and Songs of Incarceration, Equity, Justice, and Community", the OCP collaborates with JMU Social Work and Music Education students to facilitate music-making at Harrisonburg's Gemeinschaft Home. Watch videos from the 2018 performance of Gemeinschaft Home resident-created songs here.
