Q&A with Matthew Elijah Webb
Q: What brought you to Mosaic?
A: I started Mosaic when I was 10 at one of the First Stage companies in Grosse Pointe. I met Breon Arzel Jackson and Shavonne Coleman there, both alumni of the program. I joined because I needed an outlet for my creative side. I was always moving around and talking and singing and dancing and I wanted to do it with other people and in front of an audience…because I liked the attention. Haha.
Q: What’s the most impactful thing you learned/gained from participating in Mosaic?
A: Community. Professionalism. Networking. All of these things were pillars of my experience.
Q: What are you up to now? Is there anything about your Mosaic experience you carry with you in your work? In life?
A: I am just recently graduated from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale (formerly known as Yale School of Drama). I am still acting, and auditioning. I was Off Broadway working on “Fat Ham” and that was pretty fun!
Q: What, if any, difference/impact has Mosaic made in Detroit? In the world?
A: Mosaic has brought these young black and brown kids together to make some REALLY good art. I’m over the rhetoric that there are kids out on the streets and the arts is a means to save them from that life. It’s true…but, Mosaic has cultivated a space for young artists to hone craft in a meaningful, nurturing, and artistically challenging way
Q: Please finish the phrase “Mosaic is…”
A: …art in all of its ways.
