FOUNDER & CEO, MOSAIC YOUTH THEATER OF DETROIT

Rick Sperling has been a dynamic force for youth and arts in Detroit for more than twenty years. As founder of the internationally-acclaimed Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, Sperling was named a 2008 Michiganian of the Year by the Detroit News for “inspiring self-discipline, a sense of teamwork and high personal standards in thousands of Metro Detroit children.” As a result of his work with Mosaic, Sperling has also received the Detroit Free Press award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre. Under Sperling’s leadership, Mosaic was named Best-Managed Nonprofit by Crain’s Detroit Business in 2006.

In addition to his work with Mosaic, Sperling is one of the founders of COMPAS (Center of Music and Performing Arts Southwest) which serves Latino youth and families in Southwest Detroit. He is also a Board Member of CityYear Detroit and a member of New Detroit’s Cultural Exchange Network. Sperling is a graduate of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Leadership Detroit program. In 2001, he was named one of Crain’s Detroit Business’ “40 under 40”. Prior to founding Mosaic, Sperling was Director of the Attic Theatre’s Education and Outreach Ensemble in the Detroit and Pontiac schools.

Rick Sperling has been featured nationally as a presenter and panelist for the National Council on Foundations, National AfterSchool Alliance, National Guild for Community Arts Education, American Alliance for Theatre and Education, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, American Council on Education, and the International Museum Theatre Association. In 2006 and 2007, he was chosen along with the founders of CityYear, Teach for America, Jumpstart and YouthBuild to participate in A Gathering of Leaders — “Connecting our nation’s most visionary social entrepreneurs, business leaders, policy-makers and philanthropists”. In 2009, Sperling was selected to be one of 75 nonprofit and philanthropic leaders from across the nation to participate in The Independent Sector’s StrategyLab.

Sperling earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Oberlin College, where he won awards for excellence in both Theatre and Sociology. After graduating he went on to train with master teachers in several disciplines including: political theatre at New York University with legendary Brazilian dramatist Augusto Boal, author of “Theatre of the Oppressed”; physical theatre with Tony Montonaro at the Celebration Barn in Maine; community-based theatre with R.G. Davis at the New College of California; process drama with Cecily O’Neil at Ohio State University; and Shakespearean acting with Earle Hyman at HB Studio in New York. Sperling has also studied with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in England, the Tony-award winning San Francisco Mime Troupe, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Dell’ Arte School of Physical Theatre in northern California.

Sperling has acted in over 50 plays and directed over 25 productions. As a professional actor and director, he worked frequently with the Attic Theatre and the Performance Network Theatre of Ann Arbor, where he won the Ann Arbor News award for Best Actor in a Comedy. As a playwright, Sperling has created many critically-acclaimed scripts through a writing process called “Collective Creation” where actor research, improvisations and writings are weaved together into a cohesive play. These scripts include American Tune, produced at the Performance Network, Body Blow!, produced at Oberlin College and Cranbrook, Scripts created collaboratively with the young artists of Mosaic include: Now That I Can Dance — Motown 1962, Hastings Street, Crossing 8 Mile, HeartBEAT, The Children of Abraham Project (with Rachel Urist), Everybody’s Talkin’ and What Fools These Mortals Be!

As a theatre instructor, Sperling has been teaching teens since he himself was a teen. He taught Improvisational Theatre classes when he was a student at both Ann Arbor Community High School and Oberlin College. He went on to conduct theatre workshops across the country and around the world -- including workshops at New York University’s Laboratory of Critical Arts and Learning, San Francisco State University, Lasalle-SIA School of the Arts in Singapore and the Meeting Place International Theatre Conference in Denmark.