Sarah Crowell was inducted into the Culture & Art Category in 2016.
Sarah Crowell is Artistic Director of the Destiny Arts Center in North Oakland, which provides dance, theater and martial arts training to youth to expand their capacity for productive self-expression and promote a philosophy of nonviolence. This work has helped Sarah fulfill her dream of combining a lifelong love of dance with a desire to work for social change. At Destiny, Sarah has served as a dance teacher, workshop facilitator, program director and ‒ from 2002 to 2007 ‒ executive director. She came to the Center after working as a professional dancer who performed with nationally known companies, including Impulse Jazz Dance Company and the Dance Brigade. In 1993, Sarah co-founded the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, a troupe for teens to co-create original dance and theater productions based on their own experiences. The company now performs regularly at conferences, festivals and community events and has been the subject of two feature documentary films. Sarah has received numerous awards, including a 2015 Alameda County Arts Leadership Award. She also has received 9 California Arts Council Artist in Residency grants for her work at Destiny and a National Endowment for the Arts grant to author a curriculum guide for artists working with teens.
