C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, MFA/MUP, Why Wow Studio

              

Why Wow is...

A strategic community design consultancy. We collaborate with groups to understand complex systems, re-orient to places, make decisions, and build people’s leadership.


OUR APPROACH

When we start with an outcome in mind, we place limits on our ability to work innovatively. At Why Wow, we let the process drive the outcome and the deliverable. Using arts-based approaches and tools from popular education, we lead community engagement processes, create educational programs, and provide coaching that brings lived and learned experiences together.

We work with an emphasis on rigorous research methods, healing-centered engagement, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and an ethic of play. We love leading processes where everyone is a teacher, everyone is a learner, and all learn together to envision a more just and beautiful future.


SERVICES

Why Wow uses participatory approaches that put people, our environments, and our collective histories at the center of every process.

Services we offer include:
- Arts-in-Health Strategy + Program Development
- Community Engagement Strategy
- Communication + Collaboration Coaching
- Curriculum Development (grade school - university)
- Design + Social Architecture
- Documentary Theatre Residencies
- Fundraising Strategy
- Facilitation
- Program Evaluation
- Program Development
- Qualitative Research
- Strategic Planning


We are now accepting new 2024 clients, collaborators, and partners. If you have a project, idea, or proposal, schedule a DISCOVERY CALL HERE. Ready to work together? FILL OUT AN INTAKE FORM.




ABOUT C. MERANDA FLACHS-SURMANEK

C. Meranda is a theatre director and urban planner with over a decade of experience using the arts as a tool to support cross-sector and cross-cultural collaboration. As a designer of processes, Meranda creates the infrastructure that supports ideation, relationship building, dialogue, and planning.


CURRENT PROJECTS

  1. Center for Arts in Medicine, Developing a tool to understand the work that the arts can do to heal social isolation

  2. Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia, Leading a 2-year participatory evaluation process

  3. LiKEN, Leading a 2-month visioning process focused on fundraising prioritization 


PAST CLIENTS
- Broadway Advocacy Coalition
Carilion Clinic
- The Clinic Performance
- Higher Ground in Harlan
- LEAP NYC
- Miriam Parker Studio
- Royal Family Productions
The Town Hall
- The Town of Patrick County
- Urban Arts
WaterFire International

COLLABORATORS

- Community Health Innovations of Rhode Island
Center for Communicating Science
- Ping Chong + Company


ARTS IN HEALTH ENGAGEMENTS

Meranda has led workshops at health organizations across the U.S., including Children’s Hospital Colorado, Denver Health Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, Northwell Health, Oncology Nursing Foundation, Redline Contemporary Arts Center, Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, and Staten Island University Hospital.