Jillian Walker, the 2017-18 UMS Education and Community Engagement Research Residency Artist, has been working throughout the season with UMS and U-M and community partners to develop Tignon, a play with music inspired by an 18th-century New Orleans law requiring women of color to cover their hair in public.

Walker is a singer, writer, performer, dramaturg, and thought leader with a passion for creating seismic cultural shifts. Her theatrical work bends genre and ruminates on “non-traditional” themes to deliberately disrupt the status quo and dig for a path to collective liberation. Named “one of New York City’s most exciting playwrights” by the Bushwick Starr in 2016, her latest work, SKiNFoLK: An American Show, appeared in 2017 ANT Fest (aka All New Talent Festival) at Ars Nova. Her first play, SARAH’S SALT, is the winner of the Columbia@Roundabout Reading Series. She was born in Detroit, MI, and aspires to uphold the tremendous cultural legacy of her birthplace.