Jessica Cortez

Jessica Cortez ('20) (she/her) is a Chicana theatre artist from San Diego, CA currently living and creating in Brooklyn, NY. Jessica graduated from the CUNY School of Professional Studies MA in Applied Theatre program where she was awarded the Graduate Apprenticeship for Diversity in Applied Theatre. She has worked as a teaching artist with arts organizations including the Creative Arts Team, Ping Chong + Company, Girls Leadership, Teatro Izcalli, and the San Diego Opera. Jessica received her BA in both Ethnic Studies and Theatre Arts with a minor/certification in Leadership & Nonprofit Management from the University of San Diego.

She is passionate about centering people of color in all of her creative work and views theatre as a tool for community building, education, and activism. Jessica has performed as an actor, stilt walker, ballet folklorico dancer and fire spinner. Last summer, Jessica received a scholarship to participate in the Sandglass Theater puppetry intensive and has been exploring ways in which puppetry can be utilized for protest and celebration. In addition to performance, she has also worked as a creative producer and production manager, organizing the Live Painting Program for the Do Lab at Lightning in a Bottle and managing Animal Cracker Conspiracy's TransMythical procession at the La Jolla Playhouse Without Walls Festival. Most recently, Jessica was a Create Change artist in the 2022 Laundromat Project Create Change Fellowship program.