TOM ARVETIS founded Adventure Stage Chicago—a professional theatre for families and young audiences—at the Northwestern Settlement, a social service agency that has served Chicago's West Town community for nearly 130 years. As an artist, Tom is a writer/director whose work investigates the intersection of identity, family and community. He has written four plays: I Dream in Blues, Walk Two Moons (published by Dramatic Publishing-AATE Distinguished Play of 2013), Spark: Chapter One of the Prometheus Project and Sight Unseen: Chapter Two of the Prometheus Project. Directing credits include: Augusta and Noble by Carlos Murillo (world premiere), Six Stories Tall by Marco Ramirez (Midwest premiere and national tour), 500 Clown: Trapped (national tour), And A Child Shall Lead by Michael Slade, Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back by Jason Tremblay (New Visions/New Voices at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; world premiere), Dragon/Sky by Elizabeth Wong (workshop), The Blue House by José Cruz Gonzáles (world premiere), I Dream in Blues (world premiere), A Woman Called Truth by Sandra Fenichel Asher, The Search for Odysseus by Charles Way (Midwest premiere), The City Wears a Slouch Hat by Kenneth Patchen (stage premiere). In 2013, Tom received the Orlin Corey Award for Artistic Excellence from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE). Tom was a member of the AATE’s first Theater Leadership Institute in 2007, an Ann Shaw Fellow with TYA/USA in 2009 and twice a finalist for a Chicago Community Trust Fellowship. He has served on the AATE board of directors and as an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University.