Born in Queens, NY in the U.S, C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek (they/them/theirs) is a civically-engaged artist, theater maker and urban planner.
C. is an Adjunct Instructor with the Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech, Artist-in-Residence with the Dr. Robert L. A. Keeley Healing Arts Program at Carilion Clinic, and Co-Investigator with the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine researching the measurable impacts of the arts in public health. With Civic Arts, they are developing a training in professional policy and engagement to integrate arts and culture into the ways we create our cities.
C. collaborates with the arts-in-healthcare focused ensemble The Clinic Performance and award-winning theater Ping Chong + Company. C. has been recognized for their work through a Visiting Fellowship with Skidmore College’s Storytellers' Institute, and speaking engagements across the world.
Their dual-degree master’s in Urban & Regional Planning and Theatre’s Directing & Public Dialogue focuses on the centrality of the arts to navigating complex social issues.
Their Ashkenazi Jewish lineage and working class upbringing are primary motivators of their aesthetic process and longings for equity and justice.