Lenora Champagne
Lenora Champagne is an American playwright and performing artist. Early years. As a child, Champagne wanted to be a doctor. She moved from Louisiana to New York City in the early 1970s expecting to be a painter, but took up performance art instead. She graduated with a BA in English from Louisiana State University, 1972, a MA in drama from New York University, 1975, and a PhD in performance studies from New York University, 1980. Career. In 1981 Champagne began work as an actor and director. From 1993 to 2000, she was a member playwright at New Dramatists . In 1995 she spent time in Canada through an NEA artist's residency grant. In 2013 she taught in Japan as part of a Fulbright grant. Champagne is a professor and head of theatre and performance at Purchase College, SUNY. Champagne frequently collaborates with sculptors, media artists and installation artists. Her live performances can be seen in galleries and arts spaces such as Franklin Furnace, the New Museum, and Creative Time's Art on the Beach. She also co-created an installation for the New Museum's Art Mall as Social Space show in 1992. Works. Champagne is the author  of one book and also a number of essays, plays and performance texts. Plays include: Awards. Selected awards include: Personal life. Champagne lives in New York City's West Village with her husband, playwright and director Robert Lyons, and their daughter Amelie.