Meida Teresa McNeal

Meida Teresa McNeal is Director of Honey Pot Performance. She works with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events' Executive Administration team as the Senior Manager of Arts & Community Impact Investments building and implementing artist recovery programs and creative placemaking grantmaking initiatives. Previously she worked with the Chicago Park District as the Arts & Culture Manager, supporting community arts partnerships, youth arts, cultural stewardship, and civic engagement initiatives. She holds a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and an MFA in Choreography & Dance History from Ohio State University. She is the recipient of several awards including a Chicago Dancemakers Lab Award and a 3Arts Award in Dance. She has taught dance, community engaged arts, critical performance ethnography, and black diasporic cultural production at Northwestern University, Brown University, Governors State, and Columbia College Chicago.  Positioned as an artist, scholar and administrator, she merges theory and practice into lived applications that cultivate dialogue, decolonize knowledge, and shift consciousness.