“Letters of Love” – A Workshop and Performance of Vulnerability
Wednesday March 19 + Thursday March 20 | 6:15 — 8:45 PM
@ The YES! House | 726 Prentice St, Granite Falls, MN
We can read or write about vulnerability, but something very different happens when we act from vulnerability.
In this two-day workshop, you are invited to practice vulnerability by penning a love letter to someone. Workshop participants, beyond letter-writing, will learn the art and craft of oral storytelling.
Finally, we will host a public share-out, on Saturday March 22nd from 6:15 — 8:45pm, where you will read your love letter aloud from the heart, whether that be from a place of hurt, joy, yearning, pain, confusion, ebullience…whatever is your truth.
A home cooked Singapore-style dinner will be served each evening of the workshop free of charge.
Artist Bio: JJ Kapur
When I was a boy, my understanding of the world was shaped not by books, but by my father’s bedtime stories—an oral tradition rich with ghost tales, folklore, proverbs, and prayers. Without realizing it then, I had been given a gift passed down through generations: the power of oral storytelling to inspire, heal, and connect—a gift that would later propel me to make history in high school as the first Sikh to champion an event in the 100-year history of the National Speech and Debate Tournament.
At Stanford University, where I studied Theater and Performance Studies, I deepened my appreciation for oral storytelling through live theater. I became fascinated by its ability to make sense of personal experiences and cultivate shared understanding.
After graduating, I returned home to West Des Moines, Iowa, serving at the nonprofit CultureALL. There, I helped build Open Book, a human library designed to foster dialogue across cultural differences. As a Sikh growing up in Iowa, I knew the feeling of being othered—but I also knew the joy of connecting with my community through service and care. Open Book blended my passion for storytelling with my mission to bring Iowans together across lines of difference.
My commitment to digital storytelling as a tool for connection earned me a place in the inaugural Steve Jobs Archive Fellowship (2023), a program at the intersection of technology and the arts. I was also honored with the AmeriCorps National Innovative Service Award (2024), the Interfaith Innovation Fellowship (2023), and the John Lewis Youth Leadership Award (2023).
Now, I am pursuing a PhD in Counseling Psychology at the University of Iowa, continuing to explore the ways storytelling fosters empathy, understanding, and healing.
This engagement is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Minnesota State Arts Board.