Taryn Mayer
M.A. Student
Taryn Mayer is pursuing her MA in Applied Intercultural Arts Research at the University of Arizona. She holds a BA in Music with a thematic minor in Screenwriting, from the University of Arizona. She is trained in many art forms, but above all, she is a storyteller. Since childhood, Taryn has been singing and writing songs, with one full album under her belt and several singles that have been published under her artist name Tarrynn/Tarrynn Tino. Long having a love for film, Taryn produced an independent documentary called Mind Over Fatter, which has body positivity and mental health themes while telling a story of personal weight loss struggles. She has also made two short documentaries at the University of Arizona, wrote, produced and directed a one act musical, and is a skilled multimedia and professional.
As a JustArts fellow in 2024-2025, Taryn created a workshop event, Fit to Perform, to increase connections and performance opportunities amongst underrepresented people in the local performing arts community. This sparked her passion for relationship building and community event planning. During her MA, she hopes to bridge her love of music, theatre, and improv with increasing feelings of belonging amongst underrepresented groups. This work, she hopes, will also increase empathy amongst majority groups. Her work is informed by the Universal Design framework, verbatim theatre work such as Our Generation by Alecky Blythe, and she’s also inspired by art and theatre therapy researchers and writers such as Karin Diamond, Julia Cameron, and Sue Jennings.