"Community Engagement Expert" - New York Times

ROOTS Theater Artists Keep the Fight Going After 40 Years
by Jim O'Quinn
August 2016

"Among other pieces on the program, Sparks commissioned widely traveled playwright Will MacAdams to script a short play incorporating the personalities and memorable productions that ROOTS had spawned, providing him some 40 hours of interviews and transcripts as fodder. It played like gangbusters." - Jim O'Quinn

Beyond the Building: Performing Arts and Transforming Place
by Jenna Moran, Jason Schupbach, Courtney Spearman, and Jennifer Reut
May 2015

"Some of the most powerful ways to create place is with performance because it mutually constructs space. Performance can animate civic, physical, and psychic space. Performance goes beyond participation to form and inspire opinions, idea, and empathy. There is inherently deep power in story and narrative." - ashley sparks

Lisa D'Amour Juggles 'Airline Highway' and 'Milton', a Tale of Five Towns
by Melena Ryzik
March 19, 2015 - New York Times

"To help prepare locals for the arrival of PearlDamour, the women hired a community engagement expert, ashley sparks, who spread word of their mission and helped open doors."

The State of Cornerstone Theater's Art
by David C. Nichols
October 11, 2014 - American Theater Magazine
I was the community partnerships associate for Cornerstone’s most “ambitious project in decades."

MicroFest USA - Documentation Series
2012 - 13
As the program director for the MicroFest USA series - this body of articles and mixtapes reflect field wide learning from the MicroFests. While I am rarely mentioned by name in these articles - it was through careful curation of people’s experiences that this learning was possible. Mark Valdez and I were diligent in creating immersive learning labs that would foster the national dialogue about creative placemaking and develop the vocabulary for artists and non-artists about the relevance and impact of their work.

Theatre, Spiritual Healing, and Democracy in the City: Go Ye Therefore... in Katrina +5 New Orleans
by Catherine Michna
2010 - Theatre Forum
This article reflects on Go Ye Therefore that I directed while an ensemble member with ArtSpot Productions.