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The Circus Project was founded in 2008 as a unique program that uses circus arts training as an intervention with youth experiencing homelessness. Founder Jenn Cohen fused together her experience as a professional circus artist and as a Process Work therapist, with the vision that the unique appeal of circus arts would benefit homeless and marginalized youth in unprecedented ways—and that they in turn, would propel the growing field of new circus arts, with their unique perspectives and fervent passion, to new heights.

The Circus Project has since expanded its programs to include recreational and pre-professional classes, partnerships with local nonprofits, and artistic development opportunities. The Circus Project has continually prioritized making quality circus arts education accessible for people facing barriers, and offers over $60,000 in scholarships every year. The Circus Project is one of the premiere circus training programs in the Pacific Northwest, and attracts traveling artists and pre-professional students from across the country.

In 2019, and with seed funding from Cirque du Soleil, The Circus Project founded The Voice Project, a social justice-focused training company for marginalized youth. This program circles back to the founding vision of using the creation of circus arts productions to empower and lift up the voices of youth experiencing hardship. The Voice Project is comprised of six dedicated students and includes students of color, queer and trans youth and youth experiencing homelessness, among other marginalized identities. In November 2019, the inaugural year of the Voice Project performed Gravity Defiant, an ensemble-devised piece exploring themes of societal isolation and healing through community. Watch a short promo of that show here.

Quotes

“The founding idea was that circus has those inherent qualities that are attractive to youth experiencing homelessness, and others who maybe didn’t feel so welcome at a soccer practice or at chess club, or at other interventions. Circus has a history and cultural association of being a place that welcomes people outside the mainstream, or people who are living a more vagabond lifestyle, or seeking a chosen family.”
- Kirsten Collins, Executive Director

“We’re not offering mental health services; we’re not a job placement agency; we don’t offer housing. We offer a place where people can truly be themselves, and be supported and find community.”
- Kirsten Collins, Executive Director

“Whatever that quality inside of you that feels like an outcast, can be embraced here and welcomed.”
- Kirsten Collins, Executive Director

“Circus in its best form is about embracing the totality of who we are and bringing it forward in a way that makes it beautiful and magical and celebrates it.”
- Jenn Cohen, Founder

“To be in the circus and to be good at circus, you have to be really good at self-care. You have to get enough sleep, you have to eat right, you can’t be doing drugs. The things you need to develop in circus — like strength, flexibility, self-care, working well with people, trust — those are the things you need in life to succeed.”
- Jenn Cohen, Founder

“Voice Project is intended for young people who wouldn’t have access to the arts or circus otherwise. We are working to be really intentional about the space that we create for them to come in and to be able to develop relationships with each other and have a safe community where they can be heard and valued.”
- Rhen Miles, Pathways Manager

Press Releases

August 2021: The Circus Projects receives $80,000 grant to offer free circus classes to youth
June 2021: The Circus Project unveils the Domes at Zidell Yards
Jan 2019: Cirque du Soleil awards the Circus Project a $10,000 Grant for its Pathways program for marginalized youth
Nov 2019: Two inspiring performances of Gravity Defiant unite circus arts and social justice