Me and El, somewhere by the side of the road. Florida, USA.
My name is Therra Cathryn Gwyn. “TherraCat” is simply the merging of my first and middle name and a combo of the two things people most call me (to my face, anyway) - Therra, or Cat. Born and raised in Europe, I am a longtime resident of the Deep South. I’m an arts administrator and an award-winning non-profit marketing specialist. Writer, journalist, essayist, copywriter…I’m those things too. I’m also a professional photographer. I’ve worked in the music biz (Rolling Stones tour) and have had a blast being the publicist for various artists (including Peter Tork of the Monkees, for whom I still edit his advice column). I was in professional theatre for years (arts admin, PR and Marketing, costume designer, managing director for a company, stage manager and tour manager) before a brief foray into TV and film (casting) and then transitioned into journalism and later tested my skills in the wonderful world of arts in education. There’s more bits that fill out the QV, but I really don’t think there’s anything I’ve done in my life or career that didn’t in some way lead to or through an artistic endeavor, either mine or someone else’s. I’m a true fool for the arts. Don’t doubt it.
As a features writer and reviewer I have written about music, theatre, film, business, food, culture and travel and interviewed celebrities including Peter Tork of The Monkees and Shoe Suede Blues, actor/writer/director Christopher Guest, young movie and TV star Evan Alex Cole, and comedian Tim Meadows of SNL.
My articles have been published in The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, The Native American Times, Creative Loafing , Mental Floss (magazine), The Walton Sun (Florida), Aquarius, The Community Review, The Signal, The Daily Panic online, Marietta Daily Journal, various Patch (AOL) news sites and Cobb Life, Dunwoody Life and Cherokee Life (magazines), among others.
In 2008 I placed third in the Mona Schreiber Literary Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction. In 2010 I won first prize in the Atlanta Writer’s Club Literary Contest in the Religious/Spiritual/Inspirational catagory.
Welcome to my blog, where you can skim, sample or immerse yourself in Arts In America.
All my best,
Therra Cat (hryn)
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