Calvin Kai Ku is the Executive-Artistic Director of the Medical Clown Project. With over 10+ years of experience providing joy and laughter into healthcare and professional theatrical productions, he strives to build resilience and enhance human connections through humor and play.

Hi, my name is Curtis Mraz. I’m a farmer and a fourth generation beekeeper. I run a small
company in the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley called Smoke & Honey Co. Smoke & Honey Co. is a socially and environmentally conscientious beekeeping business that focuses at the intersection of honey production, education, art, and activism. Thank you for your interest and don’t forget to stay sticky!

Mal Malme is a Boston based theater artist, activist, writer, and professional healthcare clown. Mal co-wrote and performs in The Pineapple Project, a theater piece for kids ages 3-8, that celebrates gender creativity. By day, Mal is Dr. Mal Adjusted, with the Laughter League, at Boston Children’s and Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Mal serves on the board of StageSource, New England’s theater resource and advocacy organization, and is on the Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission. Mal or they/them pronouns please.

Denise Arribas is a human/actor/clown from San Juan, Puerto Rico where she was
born and raised until she started her journey to Atlanta GA a few years ago. She's a
stage/tv actor in Atlanta but most importantly she's been a clown doctor since 2010 for the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit and Humorology Atlanta. When not on camera or
clowning around town you can see her playing with her favorite beast her doggie Gaby!

Leah James Abel is a circus artist and co-founder of D.R.I.V.E. (Diversity, Representation,
Inclusivity, Voice, and Equity), a team of hospital clowns from across the U.S. . In addition to
her work with D.R.I.V.E., Leah is also hospital clown with Laughter League at Boston Children’s Hospital and a performer with Clowns Without Borders USA. When she’s not performing, Leah is also Founder and Executive Director of Circus Up—a social circus organization in Boston that aims to make circus inclusive, accessible, and joyful for all. A licensed clinical social worker, Leah uses Liberation Health as a framework for working with youth from under-resourced and marginalized communities. With Ayla Gavins, Leah consults with circus organizations on racial equity in circus arts education. Leah lives in Boston with her partner Lex and their three dogs.

Clown/Actor
​
Meredith Gordon is an artist working with live performance, clowning, theater, and music. He is inspired by Motown era soul music, Buster Keaton and the circus and uses clowning to comment on the absurdity of our daily experiences. As a clown, he is devoted to expanding perceptions of what is possible in our daily lives and he focuses on the artistic opportunity to revive hope.wojioo
He has worked as a clown and circus artist in children’s hospitals, schools and programs that serve youth at risk. He has an enthusiasm for bringing clowning to the people and places where it is needed most.

Suzi Banks Baum is a book artist and writer. She lives in Great Barrington, MA under a big oak tree. She teaches book making and writing all over the world and likes to make stuff from not fancy materials. Suzi and her niece Ella Rose Mujinga Banks make art together when they meet up for vacation. Ella lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is 9 years old.

Regular Bio

Suzi Banks Baum uses writing, hand bound books, photographs and mixed media collage to say what she means. She believes daily creative practice is a super food.
Suzi is editor and publisher of An Anthology of Babes: 36 Women Give Motherhood a Voice and is a featured contributor to the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts blog for the Pentaculum residency. Among her publications, Suzi’s fiction appears in the Walloon Writers Review and The Collection: Flash Fiction for Flash Memory.

Deeply curious about thresholds crossed into daily creative practice, she writes personal
narrative with an ear for poetry in the ordinary. Her ongoing writing workshop at the Ramsdell Public Library in Housatonic, MA has nurtured over 60 writers. She teaches mixed media and writing for the International Women’s Writing Guild. Suzi travels yearly to work with women artists in Gyumri, Armenia for New Illuminations, a book arts residency. Learn more at suzibanksbaum.com.

Elizabeth Frishkoff, MSW, HANDLE® Instructor, Spacial Dynamics® Level 1, has been a guest instructor for Bridge for 7 years. Her programs with Bridge have been inspired in part by working with the founder’s daughter, Jessica, who in turn has been integral in coaching what activities and trainings staff and students should experience. Elizabeth has an insatiable desire to discover what is easy for people, and what makes life challenging. She delights in exploring subtle ways to shift paradigms and guide people of all ages to higher function and inner freedom. She combines years of study with HANDLE®, Spacial Dynamics®, Waldorf Pedagogy, and Reflex Integration to support unique personal transformation. Elizabeth began her journey as a  HANDLE® practitioner 25 years ago and has consulted with families, schools, programs throughout the East Coast, as well as abroad. The youngest person she works with in her private practice right now is 3 years old, and the oldest is 95 years old. Elizabeth has experience working with people living with the effects of Autism, Tourette’s Syndrome, Stroke, Down Syndrome, Epilepsy, ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia, Sleep Disorders, Motor skills/planning irregularity, and more.

​I am a Mexican psychologist who is passionate about human behavior at its best.  Inspired by Martin Seligman’s work, I chose to take his Program at UPENN and I graduated with a Master’s of Applied  Positive Psychology in May 2009. I have experience working as a therapist with children and families, victims of domestic violence and as a professor in Mexico and in the United States. My signature strengths are love of learning, creativity, curiosity, appreciation of beauty and excellence, as well as gratitude. Recently my family relocated from Connecticut to the southern Berkshires in Massachusetts. Here, we have found, wonderful loving and caring people.