About

Vice Versa is an interdisciplinary performance artist collective founded by Elena Collins, Brendan Sweeney, and Daniel Townsend in 2025. Building off of previous projects like the SOUND MOVES concert series at the HARN Museum of Art, and Art Walk 2022 at DePauw University, the founders of Vice Versa seek to create new interdisciplinary projects that emphasize cross-modal interpretation, interdisciplinary improvisation, and the unique value of live performance. In a time where the global trends in art seem to move towards the easily replicable, the in personal, and a universal aesthetic experience, the artists of Vice Versa invite audiences to embrace impermanence, and rediscover the magic of experiences that can only happen at a specific place, at a specific time, and with a specific group of people. 

 

Vice Versa creative processes change from project to project. A production may combine pre-composed elements for the cast of artists with in-the-moment improvisation. A performance may be fully improvised, with different cast members trading off the role of "prompter" for the other cast members to react to. A production may have a central theme from which the cast separately interpret in their own artistic mediums (imagine a group of musicians, dancers, and lighting designers all improvising on the theme of "water" simultaneously). A performance could take place in a theatre, but also in a dance studio, museum atrium, exhibit hall, and other "non-traditional" venue spaces. Above all each project is unique, and an audience member can expect to take home a new perspective and experience from every Vice Versa project.

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Central to Vice Versa's vision is sustaining "Living Art," or art that is realized while the creators are still alive. By supporting living artists and providing a meaningful collaborative environment, Vice Versa models the artistic outlook we wish to see in the world at large. We also believe that living art has the greatest potential to enrich lives, both by modeling living artistic practice and relating the lived experience of our current times. 

 

Vice Versa realizes this vision through professional productions across the United States, and by providing mentorship opportunities for emerging artists interested in interdisciplinary collaboration. In producing new projects we support the artists practice and professional livelihoods of our collective members while bringing new and exciting artistic experiences to audiences everywhere. Through mentorship and educational projects, we provide opportunities for emerging artists of different mediums to come together, collaborate, and build new networks of like minded creators that can support each other through their professional and creative journeys. Vice Versa facilitates these mentorship opportunities tuition free, and at little to no expense to the mentees.