Indy Convergence
Our Staff

Our Staff

Robert Negron—Producing Artistic Director

Robert is a innovative artist, educator, and community advocate who has guided Indy Convergence’s artistic direction and asset-based engagement methods since the company was founded in 2008. As a professional actor, playwright, craftsman, producer, and consultant, Robert combines his deep creative expertise with a passion for building meaningful, resident-driven projects that unite art and community. His leadership has helped shape Indy Convergence into a powerful platform for artistic exchange, local empowerment, and transformative collaborations.

As Producing Artistic Director, Robert has directed over twenty-five Convergence artist residencies in Indianapolis, Canada, and Haiti. He is also the founding artistic producer of A Rising Tide, a seasonal performance series presented on floating and all-terrain stages along the shores of Indianapolis’ White River. Robert has been instrumental in shaping the company’s community engagement initiatives and actively contributes to many resident-led committees and task forces. In 2021, he co-managed the Belmont Beach project, collaborating with Near West residents and stakeholders to create “…a signature community gathering space [that] expanding neighborhood-based capacity to lead and engage in positive community change” (Belmont Beach, n.d.).

As co-chair of the Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) White River Committee, Robert stewarded the New York Street bridge lights project, an iconic lighting installation under one of Indianapolis’ busiest downtown bridges. He also provided maintenance for the Urban Nature Trail and led educational engagements on the river’s history and significance. Currently, Robert serves as the ROW White River Committee’s Near West community liaison, continuing to provide support for its programs. Additionally, as a founder and co-chair of the Near West Livability Task Force, he has spearheaded programs like the West Michigan Street Festival, Near West Flow Fest, the Portico Project between Super Tortas restaurant and the Linebacker bar, and numerous neighborhood Art Walks.

In 2019, Robert was nominated by the Near West Steering Committee to serve as Thrive Indy’s Near West Resiliency Ambassador. In this role, he spearheaded projects such as a community garden, a seed library, and a mobile community tool shed, advancing his advocacy for local, sustainable solutions. His dedication to community impact was further recognized when he was selected to attend the Indianapolis Food Access Coalition’s Food Champion program, where he launched a community garden project that produced over 200 pounds of food.

Robert has presented his work on artistic asset-based community development at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Indy Design Week, where he addressed common challenges in the ‘artist-as-community-builder’ model and advocated for engagement strategies that prioritize people-centered projects, long-term sustainability, and initiatives that are firmly rooted in and reflective of resident culture.

An actor by trade, Robert’s performance career spans a number of regional theatres, including the Rubicon Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Boston Court, the Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Fonseca Theatre, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He completed professional training in performance at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the South Coast Repertory Professional Conservatory. In 2013, he expanded his skill set by attending the Earthship Academy, where he trained in autonomous building design and sustainable off-grid techniques.

Robert’s artistic interests lie at the intersection of the arts and resident-driven initiatives that amplify local voices, strengthen community connections, and use the arts as a catalyst for incremental, resident-led growth.

Caitlin Negron—Managing Director

Caitlin is an accomplished arts administrator, program director, educator, professional dancer, and BASI-certified pilates instructor, who specializes in arts-driven community development. As a co-founder of Indy Convergence, Caitlin has played a pivotal role in shaping the organization’s vision and success since its inception in 2008. Under her steadfast leadership, Indy Convergence has evolved from an annual pop-up artists residency to a year-round arts and culture organization with a permanent home in Indianapolis’ Near Westside, where it continues to serve as a catalyst for creative and community-drive impact.

Caitlin has co-curated and produced the residency program since 2008. In addition to overseeing Indy Convergence’s creative development, she has managed and produced numerous high-impact projects, including Arts Walks, the Near West Storytelling Project, A Rising Tide, the Near West Rara, and other community engagement events. Her dedication to building meaningful partnerships has led to invitations to collaborate on arts events such as the Black N Brown Get Down, Reconnecting to Our Waterways 10th anniversary celebration, and Stringtown Rocks. Caitlin has also served as an arts advocate on panels with Indiana Arts Commission’s OnRamp program, SKL Class XLV, Indiana Dance Festival, the Indianapolis Foundation, and presented at the Indiana Arts Homecoming.

With a strong foundation in both the arts and community engagement, Caitlin’s academic background includes a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and a B.A. in Anthropology from Southern Methodist University. She has further honed her skills at the American Dance Festival, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Nonprofit Management. As a performer, Caitlin has danced in works by celebrated choreographers such as Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Alvin Ailey, and Stephanie Martinez, among others. Her career as a company member at Dance Kaleidoscope and as a freelance artist has given her the opportunity to perform widely across Indianapolis, the greater Chicago area, and Los Angeles.

Caitlin’s work has been recognized by the Indy Arts Council Creative Renewal Grant and the Arts Council’s Individual Artist Grant. Having served as Indy Convergence’s Executive Director from 2008 to 2023, Caitlin now continues to guide the organization’s growth as its Managing Director, dedicated to making a lasting impact on the arts and culture landscape of Indianapolis and beyond.

Jess Carr—Executive Artistic Producer

Jess is a dedicated nonprofit arts producer, administrator, program manager, and grant writer with over 20 years of experience leading cultural programs, nonprofit projects, events, and other events. Her work is driven by a commitment to social justice and operates at the intersection of arts, education, collaboration, and intercultural exchange. 

Before joining Indy Convergence, Jess spent 15 years as an artistic producer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) where she led a wide range of arts engagements, social justice fundraisers, and artistic development projects. Her work included the Green Show, the Daedalus Project, OSF’s Juneteenth Celebration, the City of Ashland’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, CultureFest, Southern Oregon Pride Festival, Hip Hop Poetry Open Mics, Black Swan Projects, the Every 28 Hours Plays, Hip Hop Boot Camps, and Mixing Texts intensives. While at OSF, she also stage managed the Green Show during Dance Kaleidoscope’s residency, founded and directed an award-winning experiential learning program for emerging theater artists, and served as the company’s talent acquisition specialist.

Jess is also a professional stage manager and educator. With a keen interest in instructional design, she develops learner-centered programs for cohorts of adolescents and early-career professionals. Her asset-based approach emphasizes real-world learning, collaboration, and self-direction, moving beyond traditional classroom settings to facilitate meaningful, personalized growth. As a stage manager, Jess has worked across a broad spectrum of performance genres–such as spoken word, dance, theatre, improv, circus, and music–providing creative teams with the structure and support to bring their artistic visions to life.

Jess is a Bennington College alum with a specialization in stage management and holds an M.S.Ed. in Adult Education from Southern Oregon University.