Jane A. Farris has devoted her career to enriching lives through theater education, performance, and the expressive art of mime. With nearly four decades of service at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, she inspired generations of students by fostering creativity, confidence, and meaningful communication through movement and performance.

As a faculty member in the school's renowned theater department, Ms. Farris integrated mime, movement, acting, and directing into a dynamic curriculum that encouraged students to communicate beyond words. She directed approximately 10 major theatrical productions during her tenure while helping establish the school's reputation for excellence in performing arts education. Even after retiring in 2017, she continued to support the next generation of performers by teaching commedia dell'arte, coordinating auditions for incoming eighth-grade students, and mentoring aspiring actors.

In addition to her work in education, Ms. Farris is the owner of Mime on Stage, a performing arts company dedicated to advancing the art of mime through original productions and community outreach. The company became one of her most significant professional accomplishments, producing two full scale mime performances each year that adapted literary classics such as *Wuthering Heights* and *The Velveteen Rabbit* into compelling visual storytelling accompanied by music. Through Mime on Stage, she brought the performing arts to diverse audiences while demonstrating the power of nonverbal communication.

Ms. Farris earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Texas State University in 1973 and later completed a Master of Fine Arts through the Dallas Theater Center and Trinity University. Her educational background provided the artistic and technical foundation for a career dedicated to both performance and teaching.

Throughout her career, Ms. Farris remained actively involved in the arts community through the Surdna Fellowship, where she collaborated on mask making projects that emphasized body language and physical expression. She also directed multiple seasons of mime performances at a downtown Dallas church and formed a graduate school mime group that performed for elementary school students, expanding access to the performing arts throughout the community.

Her work has been recognized through a grant supporting her mime troupe and her participation in the Surdna Fellowship, reflecting her lasting contributions to theater education and performance.

Looking ahead, Ms. Farris remains committed to sharing her passion for theater, mime, and movement while encouraging future performers to embrace creativity and self expression. Guided by a philosophy that values humor, resilience, and the importance of learning from mistakes, she continues to demonstrate that meaningful communication often extends far beyond spoken words.