POLINA SMITH — ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Polina Smith is an award-winning artist, theater producer, director and performer. Since a young age, Polina has been passionate about magic, theater, and activism.   She holds a BFA in theater for social change from Concordia University and an MFA in Creative Inquiry from the California Institute of Integral Studies.  Polina founded Crescent Moon Theater Productions in 2014 with the intention to create original, thought provoking theatrical productions that evoke awe and whimsy in audiences. Her first production, In my Mother’s Name, won the Best of Fringe Award.  Since, her work has been performed at PianoFight Theater, the Bioneers Conference, the Tenderloin National Forest, St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church,  Commonweel Garden and The Bindery SF.

Since 2008, Smith has worked with The Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women under the mentorship of Rhodessa Jones. In 2016, she produced CounterPulse Theater's first annual Blessed Unrest festival that brought together more than 30 artists working at the intersection of art and social justice.  Polina curates the art for the annual Bioneers Conference and can often be see clowning around town as her clown character, Dr. Schmidt, who currently holds 49 PhDs.

Polina is the recipient of three Zellerbach Family Foundation Community Arts grants, the Theater Bay Area CA$H Grant, and the Tanette Goldberg Memorial Scholarship for her artistic and social justice work.