About Thresh
Thresh is a dynamic, women-led arts impact organization dedicated to fostering community and change through cross-cultural arts productions. By focusing on identity, race, and gender, Thresh leverages interdisciplinary art forms—including dance, music, visual art, and film—to illuminate issues of the current times through powerful storytelling.
Thresh is women-led and for everyone. Our projects produce stories that build on the wisdom of generations of women, showcasing the agency and influence of women as catalysts for change. For over two decades, our work has portrayed and included cultures from across the globe with the goal of revealing universal themes that lead to increased interconnectedness in modern society.
Core Aspects of Thresh
Mission Statement
Thresh’s mission is to empower individual voices within the context of a global community.
Vision
Through multicultural storytelling, Thresh’s vision is to bring harmony and embrace universal experiences.
What We Do: Arts Impact
Thresh integrates the arts and social change, using storytelling to engage audiences and strengthen communities. We, at Thresh, recognize that the arts and their impact on societal growth and change are inseparable. For over 20 years, Thresh has used multidisciplinary arts to empower individual voices within the context of a global community. Our goal is to deploy the arts to help individuals and communities transcend everyday constraints and actively participate in making change.
How We Do It (Method):
Building Community Through Embodied Learning
Our process and performances are grounded in embodied learning, a practice that places the physical experience of the body at the center of understanding and communication. Thresh was founded by Preeti Vasudevan whose career in storytelling, dance, choreography, movement, collaboration, and interdisciplinary work are at the heart of our vision. These practices revealed the power of embodied learning as a powerful tool in understanding differences. As Thresh tells stories, artists and audiences are gathered for deep listening, being present cerebrally and viscerally. This fosters universally shared experiences, healing, and building community.
Our Team
Preeti Vasudevan: Founder & Artistic Director
Award-winning choreographer and cultural storyteller Preeti Vasudevan's provocative theatrical works redefine individual identity, uniting artists and audiences alike. Her creations have been lauded as a refreshing collision of Eastern and Western aesthetics pushing for a new expression in art-making. Using just about every mode of the performing arts (including dance, music, poetry, visual art, mime, and theater), Preeti invites cutting-edge collaborators to form a 21st-century language of expression. Her unconventional storytelling challenges the status quo of dance-theater, bridging ancient traditions with the contemporary world.
Known for igniting groundbreaking artistic partnerships, Preeti frequently collaborates with celebrated artists such as legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Guggenheim awardee Paul Kaiser and with leading ensembles like Silkroad. Preeti’s works have been commissioned by distinguished institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art NY, Glimmerglass Opera Festival NY, Guggenheim’s Works & Process NY, New Victory Theater NY, Morph Dance Company UK, and The Alliance Francaise, among others. She has been invited to sit on panels at the National Endowment for the Arts US, US Consulate panel on women creatives, Joyce Theater, and Asian American Arts Alliance.
Felicia Reid: Design & Strategy
Felicia Reid is a creative visionary with over seven years of experience in visual design and communication strategies. Based in New York, she holds a Master’s in Design Management and Communications from Georgetown University and runs Creatively Inclined Designs, LLC, crafting digital and print materials for diverse clients. Passionate about impactful work and the arts, Felicia serves on the Thresh team as the Strategy and Design Manager, contributing her expertise in digital design, brand strategy, content marketing, and social media management.
Fun Fact about Felicia:
"I am a music lover and I make it my duty to see at least one live artist/band performance a month."
Shikera Usher: Development
Dynamic and experienced nonprofit leader with over 20 years experience in Education, Leadership Development, Fundraising, Strategic Planning, Performance Management, Governance and Operations. Extensive work with a variety of nonprofits on impactful projects, from developing strategic plans to conducting in-depth research and optimizing organizational performance. Shikera's expertise has helped nonprofits achieve their missions more effectively and efficiently.
Fun Fact about Shikera:
"I am the eldest of 13 children, an avid lover of literature, nature, art, poetry, dance and music AND the Self-Proclaimed Car Karaoke Champion of the North East."
Terri Bruce: Development
Terri Bruce is a human services professional with over 20 years in the community, economic, and workforce development arenas, with expertise in nonprofit evaluation, organizational development, strategic planning, grant writing, grants management, and fundraising. She currently resides in Downeast Maine.
Mary Serbe: Educational Advisor, Grant Writer, and First Voices Advisory
Board Member
Mary Serbe is a certified art educator with an MAT from the Art Institute of Chicago who has taught in schools, museums, and arts organizations with students from preschool age to adulthood. For four years, she was Education Director at the Yellowstone Art Museum, overseeing all aspects of education and learning including partnerships, classes, tours, docents, a dedicated gallery to art of young people, and all online learning and engagement. Currently, she is curator and co-proprietor of Kirks’ Grocery, an alternative art gallery, performance venue and gathering space where she also teaches and manages educational programming. At Montana State University Billings, Mary teaches Fundamentals of 2D Design.
Mary Serbe has had the privilege of being part of the Advisory Board for the First Voices project since 2020. She currently serves in that capacity in addition to writing grants and developing documentation and educational resources for First Voices.
Fun Fact about Mary:
"I was a baton twirling captain in high school, including fire baton."
Say Solace: Arts Administration Assistant
Say Solace is an arts administrative assistant with backgrounds in performance, directing, arts administration, and education. Originally from Florida, they hold degrees in Theater, B.A., and Psychology, B.S., from the University of Florida. They are now based in Brooklyn, NY where they support Thresh’s storytelling mission and attend the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory.
Fun Fact about Say:
"I love playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends, and have a collection of dice sets!"