artist statement

"as a poet in american theater/ i find

most activity that takes place on our

stages overwhelmingly shallow/ stilted &

imitative. that is probably one of the

reasons i insist on calling myself a poet or

writer/ rather than a playwright/ i am

interested solely in the poetry of a

moment/ the emotional & aesthetic im-

pact of a character or a line/"

Unrecovered Losses/ Black Theatre Traditions

-ntozake shange

Wielding ecowomanist and Black feminist practices, I devise theatrical ceremonies for reclamation, re/memory, revival, and revolution. Ignited by my family's stories of land loss and reclamation, I devise choreographic, visual, poetic, and experimental theatrical ceremonies that venerate the cultural and spiritual technologies of southern, rural Black folks. By centering historical and contemporary ecowomanist, ethnographic, and environmental methodologies and movements for climate reparations and liberation, my current body of work illuminates how “generative apocalypse,” upends regressive political, environmental and economic systems to make way for a more just society. Fueled by messy, magical, and medicinal rituals for Black liberation, thriving, and climate intimacy, I imagine my work as a gathering ground, where portals of possibility conjure communal, personal, and planetary evolution.

biography

A native of Houston, Texas, Ebony Noelle Golden carries the legacy of self-emancipated sharecroppers whose search for economic and educational freedom spanned from rural East Texas and Louisiana across Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, and California. Grounded in ecowomanist and Black feminist traditions, she creates theatrical ceremonies where re/memory, revival, and revolution intersect.Ignited by the movement for climate reparations and land reclamation, she founded Jupiter Performance Studio in 2020 as a sanctuary for the study and performance of rural, southern Black folks’ creative, cultural, ecological, and spiritual traditions. Through messy, magical, and medicinal rituals for liberation, thriving, and eco-intimacy, her work serves as a gathering ground: a space where portals of possibility conjure communal, personal, and planetary evolution. Additionally, Ebony serves as the principal strategist and founding CEO of Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative (BDAC), which she established in 2009. BDAC designs strategic interventions for cultural wellness and social change, having guided over 90 cultural startups, family businesses, grassroots groups, philanthropic initiatives, arts institutions, and governmental agencies. Her movement-building partnerships actively support global efforts in environmental justice, women’s rights, housing equity, education access, and cultural sovereignty.

Since 2017, Golden has been developing in the name of the m/other tree, a body of work that uplifts wisdom, healing practices, and earth-affirming rituals of southern Black women and femme healers. In 2024, The Apollo and National Black Theatre in New York, NY co-produced and presented Golden’s The Divining: Ceremonies from in the name of the m/other tree, a multi-disciplinary immersive ritual that unfolded on the streets of Harlem and the Apollo Stages at the Victoria Theater. The next episode of this theatrical ceremony, again, the watercarriers, centers on women mystics over the age of 60, the primordial mothers described in Yoruba cosmology as the Iyaamí, and Golden’s own maternal lineage. again, the watercarriers toured in 2025. 

Golden’s work has also been presented at the Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, NY (2023); Double Edge Theatre, Ashfield, MA (2022); The Shed, New York, NY (2019); and BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Bronx, NY (2018), and has been profiled by The New York Times and National Endowment for the Arts.
Golden is the recipient of grants from Foundation for Contemporary Arts (2023, 2025), a New England Foundation for the Arts National Theater Project Creation & Touring Grant (2023), an Association for Theatre in Higher Education Transformational Practice Award (2022), a Creative Capital Award (2020), and fellowships from Cave Canem Foundation (2010, 2011, and 2012). 

She was selected as the first Performing Artist in Residence at University of Texas- Marine Science Institute, inaugural SOUL Directing Resident at National Black Theatre and Hi-ARTS’ inaugural Skylab artist-in-residence. She has also been awarded residencies at MacDowell, Peterborough, NH (2023) and Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY (2023). Golden holds an M.A. from New York University, an M.F.A. from American University, and a B.A. from Texas A&M University.

Websites:
bettysdaughterarts.com | jupiterperformancestudio.com

Photo Credit: Melisa Cardona