ATLANTA – Now in its fourth year, First Voices Festival is coming full circle with more opportunities for Indigenous communities and Atlanta patrons. By inviting new collaborators, offering dynamic programming and more access to a variety of activities, new and returning guests are sure to enjoy these celebrations of Indigenous cultures.

The festival opens on November 14 with Art of Activism, a night of storytelling, music and traditional foods at 7 Stages with special guest William Harjo, a Muscogee (Creek) Elder who presents all over the country. A preshow reception in the lobby provided by food vendor and chef Tina Reyes (Apache) of Rez Juice brings us authentic sweet and savory Fry Bread and lemonade.

On November 15 and 16, the energy really picks up with a two day outdoor Powwow presented by Zintkala Zi PowWow, which is led by Buffalo Yellowbird, a citizen of Oglala Lakota Nation. The Powwow includes traditional drummers and dancers, traditional foods (fry bread, buffalo burgers, roasted corn, etc.), Indigenous vendors (jewelry, arts and crafts), demonstrations, and storytelling. Entry to these events is free, they are family friendly, and everyone is welcome.

On November 21, Out of Hand Theater will present Say Their Names at 7 Stages, which features  interwoven film and live performances written by Marcie Rendon, acclaimed author and citizen of the White Earth Nation. Following the presentation will be a community conversation about the lack of media representation for victims in marginalized communities, and how we can create a collective framework for continued dialogue, healing, and action.

First Voices Festival will conclude with a screening of the documentary She Cried That Day at Plaza Theatre on November 28. Director Amanda Erickson, a member of the San Carlos Apache, grew up in Peachtree City and earned her film degree at Georgia State University. Her film is about missing and murdered Indigenous women in New Mexico. This event will also feature a post-show conversation with Erickson.

These events are brought to you by 7 Stages, Turtle Island Trading, Little 5 Points Cultural District, Zintkala Zi PowWow, Plaza Theatre and Out of Hand Theater.

 

History and context:

 First Voices Festival began in 2022 when a few Atlanta organizations put their heads together to produce a multifaceted festival celebrating Indigenous cultures, something they weren’t seeing locally. At the center of these events was the Powwow, a traditional gathering with dance, music, food and socializing that originated among Native American tribes on the Great Plains.

For some, gathering in Atlanta marks a return to ancestral lands. Areas of what are now Georgia and Alabama were the territory of Muscogee (Creek) people, until many were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma in the 1800s where they were exposed to Plains Powwow traditions. Today Powwows are popular all over the United States and Canada, and many people wanted to see such an event in the heart of Atlanta.

Other events at First Voices Festival have included storytelling, talks, shared meals, concerts, and film screenings. All of these events celebrate Indigenous traditions and aim to bring awareness to the First Peoples of these lands, who are still here, and issues confronting them today.

 

About 7 Stages:

7 Stages brings local, national, and international emerging artwork of social, political, and spiritual importance to Atlanta audiences. Since 1979, artists of all kinds have found 7 Stages to be a haven for the development of new work.

7 Stages has resided on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Muscogee (Creek) people for over 46 years. While we produce content that spans nationally and internationally, it is essential for us to keep such inequities at the forefront of all that we do. We aim to honor these communities past, present and future through conversations, practices and programming that imagines and initiates what reparations look like for all. For every ticket sold, we include an Indigenous land use fee. The proceeds are donated to our Indigenous partners annually.

Our Mission: 7 Stages is a professional, non-profit theatre company devoted to engaging artists and audiences by focusing on the social, political, and spiritual values of contemporary culture. 7 Stages gives primary emphasis to international work and the support and development of new plays, new playwrights, and new methods of collaboration.

Our Vision: Our theatre will be a global center for the creation of vital conversations through collaborative performance.

 

Vitals: 

First Voices Festival

A celebration of Indigenous cultures.

November 14-28, 2025 in Atlanta, GA

Learn more at https://www.7stages.org/shows/first-voices-festival-2025/

Press inquiries: email devi@7stages.org

Photos and graphics available by request

Seeking professional actors, dancers, musicians of Indigenous descent.

“Say Their Names” – a live staged reading/developmental co-production between Out of Hand Theater and 7 Stages.

“Say Their Names“, written by Marcie Rendon (citizen of the White Earth Nation), is a multi-media presentation featuring interwoven film and live performances of the script, along with live drummers, dance and music. The goal is to raise awareness about  MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) and inspire audiences to take action to address the issue.

Working with identified partners in the Indigenous community, Out of Hand will create a framework to engage audiences in a discussion focused on Awareness, Amplification, and Action.

7 Stages will present this as part of the Home Brew Series New Works in Development Program during the First Voices Festival: A Celebration of Indigenous Cultures. 

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AUDITION DATE/TIME: 

Thursday, September 18, 2025

3pm – 7pm

Additional times may be available upon request. 

Auditions will take place at 7 Stages Theatre: 1105 Euclid Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

Please complete this form by clicking here to schedule an AUDITION TIME.

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Actors 

Looking for female presenting actors to perform the live staged reading of the script. 

Please bring a 2 minute monologue (spoken word, poetry or storytelling is welcome).

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Musicians and Dancers

Looking for accompanying artists of any gender to perform as ensemble members. 

Please bring a sample of your work (limited to 2 minutes)

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*NOTE: All selected performers should be available for rehearsals and performance during the week of November 17-21, 2025. Times TBD. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Please complete this form by clicking here to schedule an AUDITION TIME for the Live Staged Reading / Developmental Production of “Say Their Names” – a co-production between Out of Hand Theater and 7 Stages Theatre.

Let’s raise $100,000,000 and lift the arts in our region out of poverty.

Yep, you read that right. We’re going to raise 100 million dollars to stabilize our regional small and midsize arts organizations. 

It’s broken, let’s fix it.

Arts funding in Atlanta has been broken for decades, and a group of diverse arts leaders, Arts Capital | Atlanta,  have come together to try to fix it and undo some of the damage and inequities that have persisted.

The arts in Atlanta are thriving! There is so much going on all the time it is impossible to experience even half of it. We are lucky to live in the Cultural Capital of the South. However, the cost of this incredibly rich tapestry has been shouldered by artists and arts administrators at small and midsize arts organizations for far too long. The artists have told us loud and clear they are not willing to do it anymore, and they must be paid a living wage.

If Atlanta wants to continue to be a thriving beacon of culture for the south, it is going to have to figure out how to pay for it. To that end, over 20 arts organizations of all sizes and disciplines have been meeting weekly for 2 years to solve some of the systemic issues. We have been meeting with funders in our community with a strong history of arts support and have asked them to give even more, and to encourage their peers to also step up to assist. We are well on our way to success, and now we are asking our community to help lift our message.

If you love and support the diverse arts ecosystem in Atlanta, let’s be loud about it together! Atlanta has some amazing funders in the family foundation space, and we are grateful to each and every one. They have been giving consistently, but it is simply not enough to support all the incredible work in our community. There is an immense gap between the available funding and the work being done every day on stages, in galleries, studios, parks and just about every public space you can think of.

There is also immense wealth in our community, and we need to lift our voices and talk about the arts with friends, neighbors, the business community and the press—anyone who will listen. We have to lift this narrative that the arts in Atlanta are at a crossroads. If enough of us speak up about it, often enough and loud enough, chances are the right people with the right access and control will hear it and support this effort. We’re calling on you, Atlanta, to speak up for the arts. 

We know there are incredible challenges in our world these days and perhaps it seems there are other more urgent matters. As we like to say in the improv world, “Yes and…” We need the arts more than ever to make it through the atrocities we’re witnessing every day. Now is the time. Arts and Culture is under attack, along with our other constitutional rights. Lift your voice. Without the arts, it would just be the atrocities. We need the arts to survive. 

Over 200 arts orgs have been identified in Metro Atlanta, and after surveying them it became clear we need $100M to just get on stable ground.

Once our goal is met, we will not stop there. That won’t fix the systemic issue. We will continue to be loud and fundraise every year and create a new arts funding stream for long-term health, tapping the growing wealth in our community.

Georgia consistently ranks among the lowest funding per capita in the country. Currently about $0.14 per person. There are 8 states above $5 and 3 above $10! Even Alabama has over $1.50. It’s embarrassing! This year Fulton County, one of our largest funders, reduced the budget appropriations for Arts and Culture by almost 50%.

The American Rescue Plan propped up the arts community through covid and we almost had adequate funding for once. Georgia Council for the Arts had an additional $3,000,000 to award for a few years, and it still paled in comparison to other states. The Federal funding around the Employment Retention Tax Credit and the Shuttered Venue Operating Grant provided stability for arts organizations across the country for a short time. All of that funding has ended, while costs have grown exponentially.

The latest blow came May 2nd when the National Endowment for the Arts cancelled and rescinded hundreds, if not thousands (we’re still counting), of grants previously awarded across the country. AC|A is calculating the local impact but the national total is over $20M so far.

Join us in making some noise on behalf of the arts in our region.

• Visit https://www.artscapitalatlanta.org/ to learn more about the current state of the arts in Atlanta and sign up for the newsletter.
• Talk to your representatives about why the arts are important to you and your community.
• Encourage your community to support arts organizations by attending events, donating, and volunteering.
• Write to your local paper.
• Amplify this message and your arts involvement, repost messages about the cuts and contract cancellations, post about your favorite shows and tell your friends when you make a donation. The arts need advocates!
• Tell everyone who will listen that you will be an arts voter in the next election.

AC|A in the News: https://www.artscapitalatlanta.org/news

AJC – NEA cancels previously awarded grants to GA organizations: 

https://www.ajc.com/arts-entertainment/2025/05/nea-cancels-previously-awarded-grants-to-georgia-arts-organizations/

Saporta Report – $100 Million needed to stabilize regional arts groups: 

https://saportareport.com/artscapitalatlanta-100-million-needed-to-stabilize-regional-arts-groups/columnists/mariasmetro/maria_saporta/

WABE – We’ve got about a $50 million dollar deficit:

https://www.wabe.org/weve-got-about-a-50-million-dollar-deficit-arts-capital-atlanta-advocates-for-more-investment-in-atlantas-art-scene/