FrameMaker Arts exists to create, articulate and preserve culture through the performing arts.

Vision –

Our vision is to see artists of all kinds around the world take up the spirit of collaboration to create performance pieces that articulate the beauty and spirit of a culture for its enrichment and preservation. Performing arts such as dance, musicianship and drama were once foundational elements of culture and community.  They preserved the heritage and culture of people through stories, sacred performances and compositions that echoed and even surpassed the people’s spoken languages.  This power still exists today, and the vision of FrameMaker Arts is to see this quality of the arts returned to the people. Therefore we seek to create with fresh eyes, to articulate truths in cultural FRAMEworks with beauty and poignancy, and aid the preservation of culture in four unique yet integrated ways:

• Creating art that captures who we are as human beings, what we love and how we live.
• Performance of artwork that makes people stop and pay attention, and see something in their world they have never noticed before.
• Collaboration across artistic genre’s for the encouragement of artistic community and for dynamic and powerful presentations of the arts.
• Education: FrameMaker Arts believes strongly in the ability of art to transform lives beyond the stage, and we embrace this by being firmly committed to passing on our talents to new generations of frame-makers.

About the Frame Maker:

Rachel Lee Davis has been creating dances and teaching dance for nearly 14 years. Never one to settle in a box, her choreography is a blend of multi-cultural styles with contemporary ballet, improvisation and modern technique. In her work, she aims to communicate a relatable, engaging message to her audience without neglecting the deeper inquiries of human nature.

Brought up in a family of music educators, Rachel’s passion for teaching is second only to her vision for making an impact with performing arts in culture and society.  Following a tour in Europe and Morocco in 2008, she returned with a keen awareness of the power and beauty of dance to break social and cultural barriers.  Shortly thereafter, while pursuing multi-cultural studies, dance and education in college, Rachel founded her own community dance program at a local YMCA for homeschool children and underprivileged families who could not afford extravagant studio fees. Since then she has started two additional programs, and developed a signature curriculum for teaching dance to young children.  Since graduating Rachel has participated in dance workshops and master classes across the country, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC, where she continues to push boundaries by performing choreography that challenges stereotypes and educates theologians in the power of the arts.

Since coming to Charlotte, NC two years ago she has helped found the local non-profit ArtsCharlotte, recently stepping down to launch the FRAME project. “I want to reach people with dance and the arts – To make them stop and see something in their world that they’ve never noticed before – to help them see the beauty in every-day life.”  FrameMaker Arts, her organization in-the-making, supports the FRAME project, promotes local community arts through “Intermission Coffee & Chat” in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and plans to offer community dance classes, reading groups, and collaborative arts workshops in the coming year.

“We love watching her work. What gorgeous dancing.”

Kristy & Scott Nilsson, Chorographer & Resident Dance Instructor at Ballet Center of Houston, and Dance Photographer