IlluminArt Productions was co-founded in 2002 by Arlene Sorkin, MSW, Executive Producing Director and Patty Ceresnie, Actor/Director, Artistic Director Emeritus, both residing in a Michigan suburb of Detroit. After Ms. Sorkin’s move to Staten Island, NY in 2005, IlluminArt officially gained non-profit status.
In Michigan, peer education sites were established, utilizing Illusion Theater’s (Minneapolis, MN) Project TRUST at 3 high schools. Over 20,000 students saw bullying and violence preventions plays under the direction of Ms, Ceresnie. Programs in Michigan were discontinued in June 2013 & are growing in New York exclusively with new initiatives.
In Michigan, peer education sites were established, utilizing Illusion Theater’s (Minneapolis, MN) Project TRUST at 3 high schools. Over 20,000 students saw bullying and violence preventions plays under the direction of Ms, Ceresnie. Programs in Michigan were discontinued in June 2013 & are growing in New York exclusively with new initiatives.

- ACTive Adults write and perform about their experiences and the challenges of aging.

- Alumni of Camp Good Grief of Staten Island who have lost a parent or a sibling are heard through Sometimes I Just Want Ice Cream, an IlluminArt original musical about living with loss.

- "Truth in Excess, a new play about the hidden harms of alcohol was written with 10th grade musical theater students at Susan E. Wagner High School.

- IlluminArt has initiated our Write-a-Play program with 3rd & 4th grade students at PS 57 in Park Hill where they have not had an arts program in 5 years.