Tom Pearson (Third Rail Projects Co-Artistic Director) is an artist working in dance, theater, and performance as well as film, poetry, visual art, and new media. He is best known for his original works for theater, including the long-running immersive theater hits Then She Fell and The Grand Paradise, and as a founder and co-artistic director of the New York City-based performance company Third Rail Projects. Pearson’s work draws from depth psychology, archetypal studies, and deep dream practices as well as the ceremony of his native Tsalagi (Eastern Band Cherokee) heritage and its focus on the right relationship and story as medicine. He holds an MA from New York University in Performance Studies, and he has received two Bessie Awards for choreography, a Kingsbury Award for writing, and an IllumiNation Award from the Ford Foundation and National Museum of the American Indian for his work in Native Theater. He helms the Global Performance Studio, Third Rail’s international program for cultural listening and exchange. Pearson was recently named among the 100 most influential people in Brooklyn culture by Brooklyn Magazine and awarded artist fellowships in Saint Petersburg, Russia from CEC Artslink (Back Apartment Residency), in the U.S. from the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University; and in Italy from the Bogliasco Foundation. He has been named Creative-in-Reference for Olin College for 2019-2020. His published work is available at tompearsonnyc.com. His performance and artwork can be found atthirdrailprojects.com.