Carlton V Bell II

director | producer | cultural organizer

Carlton V Bell II (pronouns: they/them) is a Black, queer, southern cultural worker curating space + time at the intersections of theatre, film, education, & community organizing as mediums to facilitate liberation strategies. Carlton’s practices are rooted in an Afro-Queer paradigm with an emphasis on oral tradition; Investigating, Fabulating, and Documenting the Black queer experience & aesthetic.

Named one of Alabama’s Entertainers of The Year in 2019, as well as premiering in the CNN Docu-Series “Blind Angels”. Primarily operating as an ARTIVIST in their local community as Director of Development & co-founder of Birmingham Black Repertory Theatre Collective and their full-time work as Program Associate for the Sex Worker Giving Circle at Third Wave Fund of which they are also a former fellow & advisor to its annual grant-making cohort.

Other Awards include; the recent winner of the 2023 Black Lens Filmmaker Award (Sidewalk Film Festival), 2023 Cauthen Fellowship (Alabama Folk Life Association), 2023 Sara Spencer Award for Child Drama (South Eastern Theatre Conference), 2023 Barbara Whitman Award Finalist (Stage Directors & Choreographers Society), Artist Disruptor Award (The Center for Cultural Power).

Other organizational affiliations include; LGBTQIA+ in Theatre (Committee Chair) South Eastern Theatre Conference, City of Birmingham LGBTQ Advisory Council, National Black Theatre Day Planning Committee, Sex Worker Liberation Project Cohort with Black & Pink Network, and the BIPOC Leadership Circle w/ Arts Equity, Member of the Stage Director & Choreographers Society