Center For The Arts Staff
The Center For the Arts at Kayenta (CFAK), located in Ivins, Utah was built with the grass roots support of community members who envisioned a vibrant, intimate, professional theater venue nestled in the majestic red rock mountains of the Kayenta community. Many in Southern Utah were united by their passion for diversity in “The Arts” and thus the creation of the Kayenta Arts Foundation became a reality. Soon support from the local business community, government entities and foundations began to grow. All saw the need for an open, creative, inclusive, educational performing and visual arts Center. This region of the country is unparalleled in beauty and recreation and the need for expansion in the arts was real. The vision of Center For the Arts at Kayenta is to be a premier venue where diverse artistic endeavors and education can flourish. Today a full range of over 50 diverse theatrical events and festivals are held annually inside the beautiful Black Box theater as well as outside in the Kayenta Art Village.
Our staff Members
Miranda grew up in St. George and attended Southern Utah University before moving to Los Angeles, CA in 2006. Over the past decade, she has worked closely with remarkable theater and dance artists in Los Angeles and New York to produce boundary-pushing and engaging performances that have toured worldwide.
Miranda has an extensive background in performing arts. She founded Los Angeles Performance Practice in 2010, and the Live Arts Exchange [LAX] Festival in 2013. In Los Angeles, she worked with Center Theatre Group, Center for the Art of Performance (CAP) UCLA, and CalArts Center for New Performance, among others. Performances produced through her company have toured across the United States and throughout the world.
Miranda was the recipient of Center Theatre Group’s Richard E. Sherwood Award in 2014, and awarded a Cultural Exchange International Fellowship in 2015 through the City of Los Angeles and the British Council to work with ArtsAdmin in London. She is a founding member of the Creative & Independent Producers Alliance (CIPA) and the International Presenting Commons (IPC). Miranda holds a certificate from the Institute for Curatorial Practice In Performance at Wesleyan University, an MFA in Producing from California Institute of the Arts, and an Executive MBA from Hult International Business School.
Telah was born and raised in California’s Bay Area. After high school she spent a year studying photography at the City College of San Francisco, and then moved to Tauranga, New Zealand to study Theology at the South Pacific Bible College. Once completing the two year college in Tauranga, she moved back to the Bay Area and started work in the beauty industry. After two years, she packed her bags again and left for Washington state. There, Telah spent four years working for the largest online retailer of real fossils in the world, photographing fossils and minerals. While living in Washington she became a Master Certified Health Coach through Dr. Sears Wellness Institute; she specializes in High Carb Plant Based Eating. She also received her green belt in Muay Thai through United Source Muay Thai where she studied boxing and Filipino martial arts as well. After 4.5 years of Washington’s grey skies and rain, Telah started researching states that had mild winters and hot summers. Google led her to St. George. Telah has lived in St. George since October 2021. She spends her free time doing Animal Rights Activism and enjoys life with her better half, Sean, and their dog Ellie Bean.
Francine is a new face to the theatre, and one that’s excited to keep showing up! Francine has enjoyed theatre since seeing various shows as a kid, and discovered their love for being onstage after being cast for ensemble roles in Tuacahn High School’s Working and The StageDoor’s Big. After graduating from Tuacahn High School in 2021, they are now helping productions in the Center’s box office, from backstage to our own counter.
Marquessa is young performer with a deep rooted love for the arts. She just recently graduated from Utah Arts Academy studying vocal performance/theater and was just recently awarded the southern Utah heritage choir $1000 scholarship and was featured as a soloist in their concert. She is also currently studying to be a make-up artist and can also be found living the dream performing as a Disney party princess at Ever After Events.
David is a retired construction manager with 30 years experience in commercial construction. He is also a degreed Civil Engineer from Michigan State University with, (now retired), Professional Engineering licenses in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska.
His commercial construction management experience involved projects ranging from one-million-dollar city community centers, to 40-million-dollar high schools, up to 300-million-dollar Boeing production plants. During his tenure, he had the pleasure of working on the Seattle Children’s Theater and the Tacoma Pantages Theater remodel.
More recently, David served on the design review committee in Entrada where he helped review and edit their reserve study – the document they used to project maintenance budgets on their facilities components.
