Jenna Bean Veatch

Jenna Bean Veatch is a multi-disciplinary performing artist who has been accused of creating “pure, unadulterated, heart-stopping whimsy.” She makes not just dance and theater but music, costumes, stop-action-animated films, short stories, and delightful objects, all of which she incorporates into her larger works. Creating is her favorite thing. Her most recent show, 50 HEARTBREAKS (AND I’M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOUkraine), created in collaboration with Nadia Tarnawsky, had highly successful runs in Seattle, Bellingham, and New Orleans. Tom Mohrman of the online publication Wonder and Risk wrote that “50 HEARTBREAKS… is the kind of performance that happens all the time in Seattle, but rarely with this expertise… EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SHOW IS GOOD.” Her work has previously been supported by 4Culture, Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture, and the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation.

Jenna received 2014 GAP funding for artist fees and a new computer for Here’s What Happened. Her project is a short dance film that combines live-action dance with stop-action animation. A collaboration with dancer Sarah Schermer, it features custom-made dolls by artist Annie Schermer. Filmed inside Bellingham’s abandoned former hospital, the film explores transformation and relationships between women in various forms.