Our mission is to encourage artistic expression and creative opportunities through education, participation, and performance.
Beth White and Lorrie Monte first met at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado before both eventually moved to West Virginia in 1981. Both women wanted to create dance, but lacked performers, so they began teaching dance classes in whatever spaces would accommodate them. They quickly connected with Carli Mareneck, a dancer who was teaching classes in Union at the time.
The three women began rehearsing and performing throughout Greenbrier and neighboring counties, places like Carnegie Hall to the Greenbrier Valley Theatre. The collaboration quickly grew and established itself as an outlet for many local artists to create original dance and movement theatre pieces that allowed them to express ideas and political views to an audience.
Beth White (left) & Carli Mareneck
We are a community based performing arts organization and school that enriches the Greenbrier Valley of southern West Virginia.
In 1982, Trillium was officially incorporated in West Virginia and moved into studio space on Washington Street in Lewisburg to continue teaching classes and choreographing original dance. It wasn’t until 1992 however, that Trillium received federal non-profit status with the help of Beth White, Betsy Janeczek and Jo Weisbrod.
While appreciative of the existing performance spaces, Trillium dreamed of finding a venue of their own. In 2007, three board members, Ann Davis, Lin Preston, and Larry Levine, took a giant step toward making that dream a reality by forming ALL Arts, LLC. which then purchased the Historic 1939 Lewis Theatre building. ALL Arts serves as the managing body for the facility, including the film business itself. In turn, Trillium is the arts company in residence company for the theatre.
Trillium celebrates collaborating in the creation of original performance work that embraces dance, music, theatre and film.
They also began a capital campaign to renovate the theatre into a space suitable for live performances. By late 2009, the first phase of renovation was complete, allowing Trillium to host its first concert production in its new home at the Lewis Theatre.
Our collective is now comprised of artists, teachers, students, a large band of community performers, board members, donors, staff, and an ever-growing audience. Each group is as vital as the next in helping us fulfill our mission to encourage artistic expression and creative opportunities through education, participation and performance.
Carli Mareneck, Beth White and Lorrie Monte in 2012