The Staff

connections for Rhea Carmon, Marcus Carmon, and Elijah Cruise

executive director

Rhea Carmon, also known by her stage moniker, RheaSunshine, has been writing and performing spoken word poetry and slam for 20 years.  Her poems are powerfully motivating with an emphasis on her own personal struggles and how others can overcome.  She is the director of the annual 5th Woman On Stage (2014 - 2018), a producer for Carmon Sense Productions, coordinator for the 5th Woman Workshops, Executive Producer for Beyond the Spark, and the Poet Laureate Emerita for the city of Knoxville.  Rhea has self-published 4 chapbooks and 1 visual poem, released 3 spokenword CDs and is currently working creating a series of workshops for youth, married couples, and individuals wanting poetic therapy. 

Rhea is a doctoral candidate in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. She travels the state of Tennessee performing and speaking as a TN Teaching Artist. For more information on her work, visit her website or email info@rheacarmon.com.

WEBSITE: http://rheacarmon.com

INSTAGRAM: @rheasunshinepoetry

ONLINE PORTFOLIO: https://www.clippings.me/rheasunshinepoetry

Assistant director

Ryan “ryrylee” Andrews has been a part of the 5th Woman since 2017. She is a dynamic artist that has performed across the state of Tennessee for social justice and change. Ryrylee has directed shows for the 5th Woman at Bonnaroo, as well as been a featured performer for Collectively Speaking and other events.

INSTAGRAM @ryrylee

TIKTOK @ryrylee

carmon sense_photo.jpg

marketing director/producer

Marcus Carmon is the Executive Director of Carmon Sense Productions. He has been producing videos, plays, internet content and more for over 6 years. Marcus has produced content for East Tennessee PBS, Blackberry Farms, the Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance, and many more. He is the reigning Haiku champion for Knoxville Poetry Slam and he has released a book of haikus. Most recently, Marcus, whose goes by the stage moniker Carmon Sense, hosted the 2019 How Stage at Bonnaroo. There is nothing this artist cannot accomplish and he is making his space and letting his light shine in venues all over the country.

INSTAGRAM @carmon_sense

How the West Was One - documentary

Hallowed Ground - audio documentary series