About Us

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Let art find you, and you might find yourself in art. 

- Jessica Cerullo, Director

Connect to Create began during the global pandemic and in response to the United States Surgeon General's call to action regarding a public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection.  Our offerings are supported by the growing field of neuroarts and the wish that the arts - in all its forms - become an integrated part of mainstream medicine and public health.

Our classes and coaching sessions are scaffolded on somatic, and expressive arts practices, and seek to serve individuals and communities in Eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island. Our retreats offer opportunities for visitors to benefit from our offerings supported by the local Connect to Create Community and the natural beauty of seaside New England. Our arts-based initiatives are wildly inventive and co-created with community partners.

Our offerings are an active and unabashed celebration and yearning for a healthier and more connected community. We believe the arts have much to offer as we seek to make sense of our shared world and to communicate effectively and authentically. 

Jessica Cerullo is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose training and career are rooted in the theater. Harnessing the arts and taking a somatic-based approach, she guides collaborators into their creativity in ways that begin to repair the body’s response to stress so they can hone their presence as listeners, speakers, and creators. 

For over two decades, Jessica has taught and facilitated international arts-based retreats and trainings for artists and educators at MICHA, the Michael Chekhov Association. Her independent community-based projects have enjoyed partnerships with groups such as an immigrant rights coalition, poverty alleviation advocates, pandemic caregivers, the incarcerated, arts and culture organizations, historical societies, public schools, and universities. Her book, Some Stranger Somewhere documents one of her many projects. 

A former Associate Professor of Theater at Whitman College where she taught acting, speech, voice, and solo performance, Jessica continues to lecture on the intersection of arts and well-being and to teach acting at Connecticut College. Her work in the classroom, coaching, and group facilitation is consent-based and trauma-informed. Her practical study of Open Space Technology, Intergroup Dialogue, Critical Response Process, Psychophysical Acting Techniques, and Body Mind Centering(TM) underpin her work. 

An active community member in New London County, Connecticut, Jessica serves on the board and chairs the Outreach Committee at the La Grua Center for Arts and Culture. In 2023 she was appointed to serve Stonington, Connecticut's Cultural Commission. She is a designated facilitator for the State of Connecticut's Office of the Arts where she promotes cross-sector community conversations. 

Jessica holds an MFA in Contemporary Performance from Naropa University and a BA in Communications from Hofstra University. She is a graduate of the National Theater Institute, USA, and Moscow and is currently engaged in a multi-year study of Body Mind Centering(TM)  for certification. The CT Office of the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Center for Performance and Civic Practice have supported her recent community-based arts work. 

For more information about Jessica's Lineage of teachers click here.