In May, Jones & Co. was invited be one of the vendors for the A.R.T. / New York Spring Community Forum. As a small business owner, the opportunity to meet your audience is priceless, and the Spring Community Forum was the first of a kind of me as Founder and Principal of Jones & Co.
Garlia at the A.R.T./New York Spring Community Forum in NYC
Well... we're at it again! But this time, you'll have an opportunity to find out what working with Jones & Co. is like. On Tuesday, October 27, as part of the two-day A.R.T. / New York's Fall Community Forum, I will be leading a FREE workshop entitled, "Building a Marketing Strategy".
Here's the workshop description:
What if marketing your creative work felt aligned, strategic, and genuinely manageable? This high-impact, 3-hour session shifts your approach from reactive tactics to a powerful, audience-first framework that amplifies your reach without burning out your team. Through collaborative exercises and tailored feedback, you will dismantle the friction points holding your campaigns back and build a clear path from big-picture goals to daily execution. Come with an active project, full season, or creative mission to work on in real time. Leave the guesswork behind and walk away with a high-powered game plan designed to turn your vision into engaged and passionate audiences, and packed rooms.
Thrilled to be one of the workshop leaders for A.R.T. / New York's Fall Community Forum, October 26 - 27, 2026
ABOUT THE FALL FORUM
This Fall, A.R.T./New York’s Community Forum is focusing on the essential building blocks of our collective practice: Building Systems, Deepening Knowledge and Skills, and Nurturing Collaboration.
Across every corner of our field, from rehearsal rooms and studios to administrative offices, sustainable theatremaking relies on strong support structures and shared community wisdom. True field resilience comes from equipping individuals and collectives with practical tools, exploring alternative ways of working, and cultivating deep-rooted networks of mutual support.
A.R.T./New York is dedicated to providing the resources, training, and open spaces needed to help our whole community flourish. This Fall’s Community Forum is designed as a collaborative workspace to rethink standard practices, exchange specialized knowledge, and build lasting relationships across the field.
It will be an incredibly full two days, and I am excited to be in community with so many artists and organizations. A big shout-out to the A.R.T. / New York team for continuing to provide resources and moments of connectivity like this, (and for free), in New York City.
Several of the sessions will be live-streamed. My session will not, but for those out of town, I will be creating a digital course and additional materials from this, so make sure that you are connected to the Jones & Co. Substack!
If you have any questions around my particular session, please feel free to leave a comment. Otherwise, you can certainly find answer to many of your questions on the A.R.T./New York website!
It's almost "International Stuttering Awareness Day" (October 22, 2026), and this year, I'm excited to share a podcast episode that is near and dear to my heart. In April, I recorded an episode of Stuttering as Art with Madeline Wahl.
Stuttering as Art, the podcast, is all about exploring the ways people who stutter create works of art alongside and involving their stutter. I was thrilled to be a guest and deep dive with Madeline about my life as a person who stutters and as an artist. It's an incredible episode, so I truly hope you'll take a listen and learn a little bit more about my origins in Detroit, my journey through high school and acceptance of my stutter after a year of fluency as a teenager.
I share things I haven't before connected to the story of my stutter. Take a listen and let me know what you think in the comments or on my patreon!
Madeline Wahl (she/her) is a writer and visual artist from the U.S. currently residing in Glasgow, Scotland.
She recently completed her MLitt in Fantasy Literature at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She was a speaker at the Glasgow International Fantasy Conversations (GIFCon) for 2023 and 2024. Previously, she has held editorial positions at Reader’s Digest, HuffPost, and Golf Channel. She was a speaker at the Australian Speak Easy Association’s online 2020 conference and has previously written about stuttering for The Stuttering Foundation. She holds a BA in Advertising/Public Relations with a minor in Psychology and a minor in English-Writing from the University of Central Florida. She is working on her first novel in YA Fantasy and her first nonfiction book proposal on millennial caregiving. In her spare time, she is also a travel writer and editor who unveils a humanistic view of travel, honing in on the relationship between solo travel, travel after loss, and exploration of self through exploration of a new space.
I started in 2016 with a dream to be like Amanda Palmer and make my entire living there so that I could independently produce and focus on my writing.
That has been hard.
A colleague of mine from the cell, and my very first patron, raved about Amanda’s book, “The Art of Asking”, so I found the money to get the audio book and listened to it during every free moment, furiously taking notes on my phone and dreaming about the hundreds of patrons I would soon have on patreon. My children were really little back then, and I was younger, so had a bit more energy and desperately needed to change my situation.
I launched my patreon in July of 2016 with a simple thank you post.I dove deeper in August of 2016 with a little post about getting ready for #48hoursinharlem with two small kids surrounding me.
I had a spike in 2020, when people were home a feeling guilty around racism. No joke.
Patreon growth since 2016.
But in recent years, for a variety of reasons, mainly financial, people had less money to support independent creators.
After 10 years, I’ve learned a lot of lessons, and am planning on making my first big reward and level adjustment in the coming weeks.
The question you might be asking is “what are you creating?”
If you’re taken a look at my patreon over the years, or even recently, you’ve seen videos and links to substack writing or podcasts I produce or stories about my family. You’ve seen a variety of things that all give a behind the scenes look at what my life has been like as a creator. You even had a back seat to a year of pivotal change for me: 2018, when my divorce was finalized and when I was hired at The Public.
But what does this all mean?
Most recently I’ve been refocusing and rebuilding.
My ecosystem begins with 55AP (Think Oprah’s HARPO or Issa Rae’s HOORAE)
“Producing with Garlia” is the podcast I’ll be building out, but it’s also more than that…
Producing with Garlia” is where everything lives: my writing, my essays on producing and parenting, strategy for theatre makers and arts administrators, and soon, in-depth conversations with the people shaping this field.
It’s a newsletter (Substack), a podcast, and a community (Patreon) built around one idea: everything is performance — how we produce, how we parent, how we write, and how we build structures that let us actually sustain. You can find the podcast on Patreon and on your favorite podcast platform.
So after 10 years… I FINALLY figured it out!
But that’s what Patreon is for. Patreon isn’t for perfection, but for growth and transformation, and the people that have been here since DAY 1…. The patrons that have stuck with me from the get go… from frequent to infrequent posting and unfulfilled rewards because life and solo parenting. The ones that said, “don’t give me anything.”, we just want to support. We see potential, we believe in you.
Patreon is for that belief. That interest and desire for me to give back a little more. Not a magnet or note card, but an ecosystem of creation built upon an infrastructure of care that accompanies 14 years of being a parent and artist in a world that values war over peace (quite literally if you’re keeping up with this weekend’s news).
In the coming week(s), I will be streamlining my patreon levels as well, so now is the time to enter at $1/$3 as those levels will shift to seasonal, but once you have it, you’re grandfathered in! 🙂
My new levels will be re-named to reflect my hometown of Detroit.
BELLE ISLE
WOODWARD AVENUE
ARDEN PARK
UNIVERSITY DISTRICT
BOSTON-EDISON
PALMER PARK
More details to come via my patreon and right here on my blog.
So welcome to what I’m rebuilding.
Would you consider becoming a paid patron at $1 a month?
When you move from free to paid, you’re telling me the work matters enough to invest in, even just a little. And right now, as I’m rebuilding and going deeper on fewer things, that means everything.
New month starts Sunday (tomorrow).
If there’s ever a moment to make it official, it’s now.
If you woke up and wondered why this snow wasn’t around for Santa and the reindeers, you’re not alone. Whether you’re facing another school closure, on a delayed bus, train, plane or defrosting the windshield after digging out your car, I’ve got a couple Snow-related audio plays from Playing on Air to keep you company and alleviate a little frustration.
I’m the Associate Artistic Director & Creative Producer of Playing on Air, and we’re just about to conclude our ’25-’26 Season. Founded in 2012 by Claudia Catania, Playing on Air produces short-form audio plays with pretty incredible actors.
Here’s 4 plays for you to listen to today from our extensive archives!
With a storm raging outside, a horror screenwriter (Jesse Eisenberg) and his wife (Heidi Schreck) are cozying up for a romantic weekend in the middle of nowhere. The weather outside is frightful — and so is the mysterious couple that just arrived on their doorstep.
When runaway snow tubes send a dad and his grown daughter flying off a cliff, they’re left hanging on for dear life — and testing the limits of a punchline. This winning comedy, recipient of the 2020 James Stevenson Prize for Short Comedic Plays, cheerfully prods family bonds between parents and their grown children.
Written by Mallory Jane Weiss and directed by Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God),I THINK IT’S WORTH POINTING OUT… is a world premiere starring real-life father and daughter Danny DeVito (“It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”) and Lucy DeVito (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” ). It was first performed live at Playing on Air’s 2020 Digital Holiday Benefit.
It’s 1933, and a young Jewish immigrant has returned to his Polish hometown in search of a wife. On a snowy afternoon, he sets his sights on Chava, a savvy, sarcastic shopgirl in a local hat store.
Directed by Colette Robert (STEW, Behind the Sheet),HOW MY GRANDPARENTS FELL IN LOVE by Cary Gitter (EST’s Youngblood, The Sabbath Girl) features a sparkling cast: Eli Gelb (Skintight, Indignation) and Lucy DeVito (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” PoA’s Gun Show). After the play, host Claudia Catania moderates a conversation with the artists.
The year is 2030. On the snowy outskirts of DC, an underground musician (Tony winner Julie White) and her pragmatic teenage daughter (Erin Wilhelmi) battle the forces, seen and unseen, that threaten their survival.
Directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt (Colt Coeur, PoA’s 52nd to Bowery…), Bird is a world-premiere recording and, in partnership with the Axe-Houghton Foundation, a Wordsmith Duo commission.
After their previous run as mother and daughter in Broadway’s A Doll’s House, Part 2, White (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, “Alpha House”) and Wilhelmi (To Kill A Mockingbird, The Crucible) reunite in this final episode of the 2020 Fall Season. After the play, they join Rachel Bonds, Campbell-Holt, and host Claudia Catania for a behind-the-mic interview.
One of the many things I love about the Obsidian Theatre Festival (OTF), is that we stream our work! It is a unique component of both OTF and the festival I co-founded, the Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival. It is very valuable component to me because when my kids were younger, my ability to see live theatre in New York city was great impeded by finances. I couldn’t afford childcare, nor did I have enough money to pay for theatre tickets on a regular basis. In fact, I never stood in line for Free Shakespeare in the Park tickets, a NYC ritual. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but, I was working while in grad school, and once I had kids, the idea of standing in line was not my ideal scenario. When I was able to see the occasional show, (not at the small white-box where I worked), a friend usually had to watch my kids, or their dad stayed with them if he wasn’t working. It’s actually something that I think about often because I have been there, and I want parents and caregivers to still be able to see theatre without the mental gymnastics of who is going to care for their child / children or family member, and the financial inquiry as to whether or not they can afford it.
With the rise in streaming and virtual productions during the height of the pandemic and lockdown, I am as passionate as ever about being part of any organization that prioritizes accessibility in this way.
So, if you are looking for ways to support the work I produce AND Black theatre from the comfort of your own home, if you have a child or family member to care for, or if finances are tight, then check out OTF.
The Obsidian Theatre Festival is an annual Black theatre festival that takes place at the end of June in downtown Detroit. It’s hard to believe that we are entering our 4th season this year! It is my 3rd season as part of the festival, but I watched that first year and took notes, messaging John my thoughts at the end of each stream or chatting after the fact. It was exciting to watch him do the livestream each night (channeling our hometown Channel 7 Action News) and although that aspect of the festival has not continued, we are providing free access to the work that we produce every year.
This year, the festival will be entering its 4th Season, running June 27 – 30th. Prior to the Festival, the week will begin with the GhostLight Arts Initiative‘s Inaugural Detroit IMPACT Arts Conference. More on that in the coming weeks! But the Propulsion Theatre Project that we launched as part of our Mellon Funding we received has a symposium there and this is a real chance for our audiences to engage with the Ghostlight Arts Initiative separate from the festival! Dr. Rashida Harrison and Sarae Daniels have been the backbone of GLAI over the last several seasons. Sarae has been with GLAI and the festival since it began in the Arts Education department, and Dr. Harrison has always been a guest or panelist in the post-show conversations that are a big part of the education content that founder, John Sloan III finds essential. I cannot wait to share the speakers and panelists that will be part of this season’s Inaugural conference. It will be an exciting (and exhausting) week, and I am so honored to be part of this team doing this work in my hometown.
Members of the film crew during a changeover – 2nd Annual Obsidian Theatre FestivalA camera operator from our film crew capturing a Dress Rehearsal – OTF – Season 2Dr. Rashida Harrison; Playwright, MD Schaffer and Sarae Daniels following a post-show conversation for MD’s play – OTF Season 2Sarae Daniels chatting with my Dad, Dr. James Allen Jones – OTF Season 2Kennikki Jones-Jones Directing the cameras, OTF Season 2
The 4 finalists this season are: Aaron Mays with “Black Santa”, Prentiss Matthews III with “The Golden Loc” , Azure D. Osborne-Lee with “Crooked Parts” and Lori Roper with “The Sisters Grey”.
I sincerely hope that you make your way to the festival this summer in Detroit. Before you book your flights or reserve your FREE tickets or purchase a festival pass to support, you can stream plays, panels and additional content from the first 3 seasons for Free on our website!
You can visit the OTF website to join. OTF has 3 streaming options, and each month two featured pieces or “spotlight productions” will be highlighted and shared on the festival’s website. Interested viewers can visit obsidianfest.org/watch and subscribe to any one of the three streaming packages: Slate, Noir and Black Pearl. Subscribers can enjoy Free access to all Featured and Educational Content with Slate. Noir is available for $1/ week with access to Featured and Educational Content plus a Free Gift. Noir+ is the annual version with a Discounted rate of $50/year. A Monthly subscription option is available with Black Pearl for $10/month. It includes advance invitations to Special Events and a Free Gift. Black Pearl+ is the Annual option at $100/year.
Watch two excerpt from “The Underground Color Wheel” by Cris Eli Blak which was part of Season 3 below!
ABOUT THE PLAY: In The Underground Color Wheel, we follow the twenty-year journey of painter Ivory Nichols. Despite coming from humble beginnings, Ivory doesn’t dream of being a good artist, he dreams of being a great artist. As his success grows and he begins to see his biggest dreams coming true, he finds the support of his “Ebony Mona Lisa,” Ashlyn, his best friend, Enzo, and his assistant, Lorelei. As time goes by and the pressures of success weigh heavier, the line between his art and his life begin to blur, putting everything on the line.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Cris Eli Blak’s work has been produced around the world. He is the winner of the Black Broadway Men Playwriting Initiative and is currently the artist in residence at the State University of New York – Oswego and the recipient of the Emerging Playwrights Fellowship from The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre.
I am thrilled to share this work with you. Please let us know what you think and spread the word. Support like yours keeps projects like this going and supports local artists.
Last we spoke, it was the Tuesday before #48hoursinelbronx, January 30th The rest of that week I was in a flow and checking things off my list. The adrenaline of a pending production was upon...
I had a really exciting conversation today / yesterday- Thursday, January 4th. I am so excited about it and it is something I manifested… something I have wanted to do… and in a divine way,...
I am so thrilled to share that I will be one of the keynote speakers for the Louisiana Arts Summit in Baton Rouge in October! This will be my first time as a keynote speaker and because I have a dream of giving a TED talk, this will certainly not be my last.
The summit will take place from October 4th - 8th. This will be my first time in Baton Rouge, and I am looking forward to the creative connections and spending time with a very dear friend, who recommended me for this keynote in fact 💜.
I have been working on my speech, and in addition to speaking to open up the summit, I will be on a few panels as well! If you are in the area, please click the Register Here button below to learn more about the summit and attend.
It's that time of year again! the 12th Annual "48Hours in...™Harlem" will take place two weeks from today on Sunday, August 27, 2023. We will have two performances at the National Dance Institute in Harlem. Don't miss the 7pm or the 9:30pm EST shows of 6 new 10-minute plays by these 6 incredible writers:
Top Row: Andrea Ambam Christin Eve Cato Julienne Hairston
Bottom Row: Johnny G. Lloyd a.k. payne M.D. Schaffer
They are $25 online and $30 CASH ONLY at the door! Make sure to visit the above link to our website for the address and to learn more about this incredible Obie Award Winning collective that I have been part of since we began in 2010.
I only know a couple of this year's directors, but look forward to welcoming,
Top Row: Christopher D. Betts Tyrone Davis Kelly GreenLight
Bottom Row: Benton Greene Ava Novak Kirya Traber
Last but certainly not least are the actors! We would not be able to put these new plays out into the world without them. Make sure you stay tuned to our website and Instagram Feed to see their headshots!
Toree Alexandre
Murphy Lorenzo Applin Jr.
Taylor A. Blackman*
Maya Carter
Kayla Coleman*
Brittany Davis
Marchael Giles
Kara Green
Gerrard James*
Christopher B. Portley
Morgen McKynzie
AhDream Smith*
Booker Vance*
Imani Pearl Williams*
Justin K. Winley
* these Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association*
