Personal Mission:

I create vibrant community through song, story, music, and dance.

Action in the World:

In the last 23 years Tim has worked as an actor in educational theater performing in 25 shows for young audiences in 20 states, to an average of 200 kids per show. Some of the topics of these shows have been violence prevention, recycling, living with an addicted family member, refusal skills, dealing with harassment/bullying and how to make friends. Recently he appeared in a play with the Blue Apple Players that dealt with the issue of childhood sexual abuse. Tim played the role of perpetrator in the production, but that was not the most difficult part. In an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal (his hometown newspaper) he shared how his journey as a survivor of sexual abuse informed his character and participation in the production. Since that performance several children were empowered to come forward and report their own stories of being abused. Also with the Blue Apple Players, Tim was part of the original cast of actors who used their acting skills to help social workers across Kentucky practice their forensic interviewing skills in service to at risk children. Using anonymous cases from Child Protective Services, the actors portrayed the roles of abused and neglected children while the social workers first practiced then received feedback and instruction on their interviewing skills.
Tim is also a dance instructor. In the last 10 years he worked as an artist in residence through “Arts Reach,” a service paring artists with community centers and Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs to provide dancing and acting lessons to children that would not otherwise have access to such experiences. He recently partnered with the Louisville Central Community Center to serve as choreographer for the original production “Notown to Motown,” a celebration of African American song and dance from the time of slavery to the glory days of Motown. For the last three years he has provided dance instruction at the “La Casita” fundraiser, a local non-profit agency which supports Hispanic women and children who are in need. He also recently created a Latin Dance class for the LGBT Community, a first in Louisville.
As a musician, Tim plays guitar and sings in an acoustical trio. Weary of playing the same old pub scene, they created and performed a two hour concert called “The Peace, Love, and Soul Show” in recognition of the challenging political and economic times we live in.
Tim Kelty carries out, and lives his mission in the greater Community in which he lives. It is an honor to introduce him to those in The Mankind Project that do not already know him.