Austin’s Poet Laureate Launches A New Theater School For The Next Generation Of Artists

For KUT, Chad Swiatecki reports that Austin’s inaugural poet laureate, Zell Miller III, is launching a new nonprofit theater company — Black Rose ATX — with a focus on youth programming, school partnerships, and creative access. Miller traces the idea back to a formative moment in middle school, when a theater class he never planned to take became “life-changing,” setting him on a path that blended performance, poetry, and community storytelling. Now, he says, the goal is to recreate that spark for Austin students who might not otherwise see themselves reflected onstage.

“What’s a beautiful thing for me is to be able to walk into a school and do a poem and then see the reaction of the kids,” Miller told KUT. “And hopefully they’re like, ‘Oh, I wanna take that class.’ … What if I had somebody like me who walked into a school when I was that age?” As Swiatecki reports, plans for the new school include seasonal arts camps for elementary through high school students, blending theater, writing, and performance, with scholarships reserved to ensure access. Board member Melissa Villarreal framed the mission plainly: “This isn’t just about creating art for the sake of creating art. It’s about listening to what communities are experiencing right now and responding in a way that gives young people a place to process that, and to be seen.”

‍