Introducing CG’s next Managing Producer: Rainier Pearl-Styles

Following an extensive search, the Common Ground Arts Society Board of Directors is proud to introduce our Incoming Managing Producer: Rainier Pearl-Styles.

“The Common Ground board is very excited to welcome Rainier to the organization as the Incoming Managing Producer,” says Board President Ainsley Hillyard. “Rainier brings an incredible amount of skills, knowledge and experience to Common Ground and has integrated herself into the arts community with curiosity, thoughtfulness and a great deal of care. She offers a deep understanding of the work we’re currently doing as well as a fresh perspective of the arts ecology here in amiskwaciwâskahikan. We are incredibly lucky to have Rainier in this position and are very excited to support her as our Incoming Managing Producer.”

ABOUT RAINIER
Rainier Pearl-Styles (she/her) is a many-hats-wearing theatre creator and recent transplant from the coasts of the United States. She is driven by community engagement and education, and has been the Operations Associate for Ballet Edmonton, served on the education workgroup for San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and is a proud co-founder of the Fork & Shoe Theatre Co-op, a patchwork production company focused on accessible self producing and resource sharing. As an educator, Rainier has worked across the U.S. as a guest teaching artist, administrator, performer, classroom teacher, and even gym coach. Rainier is also a producer, collaborating with Boston Theater Company, Small Matters Productions, Edmonton Fringe and more!

Rainier’s personal artistic work focuses on embodied practice as a tool for social justice, community engagement, and deconstructing “classical” texts through clown and storytelling. As a queer, Jewish clown, her work blends cultural practices with reconstructing processes to create and deepen community. Outside of theatre, she enjoys fibre arts, being outside, and making a fool out of herself in everyday life. rainier-pearl-styles.com

“When I first moved to Edmonton, I met the folks at Common Ground Arts almost by accident,” says Incoming Managing Producer Rainier Pearl-Styles. “Since then, their warm welcome has been instrumental in helping me integrate into Edmonton’s art scene. Through Producer Labs, garbage parties, resource sharing, and my previous involvement with RISER Edmonton, I have found an artistic community here. I’m honoured to continue to build a legacy of radical inclusion at Common Ground, and give back to this city that has welcomed me with such open arms.”

SO WHAT’S NEXT?
Rainier will work alongside outgoing Managing Producer Mac Brock and the rest of the Common Ground Arts team over the coming months. She is expected to transition to the role of permanent Managing Producer later in Summer/Fall 2026.

This transition will mark the end of Mac’s five years with Common Ground Arts Society over a transformative period which saw the debut of RISER Edmonton and the Prairie Mainstage Series.

“In a relatively short time, Rainier Pearl-Styles has made an incredible impression on our city’s theatre community,” says Outgoing Managing Producer Mac Brock. “She has such a unique combination of organizational leadership and grassroots community-building skills that lend themselves so directly to CG’s mission and values. I know that Rainier will not only maintain the work that has set Common Ground apart as a leading voice in prairie indie theatre, but broaden and deepen our ability to care for and challenge theatre-makers here and across the country.”

Mac will remain with Common Ground through Found Festival 2026.

Hiring calls for two roles, Found Festival Producer and Season Producer, will be posted in the weeks to come.

GOT QUESTIONS?
Get in touch:
Common Ground Arts Society Board of Directors:
board@commongroundarts.ca

Outgoing Managing Producer Mac Brock:
macbrock@commongroundarts.ca

Incoming Managing Producer Rainier Pearl-Styles:
rainier@commongroundarts.ca