Miri Hunter, Founder
Miri Hunter, Ph.D. is the Founder of the non profit organization Project Sheba, her focus has been on using the arts, (visual, performing and literary) to transform culture through the use of storytelling in order to access individual wisdom. This, she believes, creates a culture of critical thinking and a healing for individuals and communities. Dr. Hunter is a multi-disciplinary artist and scholar, holding a Ph.D. In Humanities, an MA in Playwriting and Directing and a BFA in Music Theory and Composition.
Hunter is the Producing Artistic Director of the Hi-Desert's Thought Theatre Morongo Basin Company and Co-Founder of the Desert Fringe Theatre and Cultural Arts Festival. In addition to being nominated for the 2022 National Alan Schneider Directing award, she has also been awarded the distinction of Best Director of a Play by Broadway World for the Palm Springs region. She has several Desert Theatre League nominations and awards to her credit for acting, writing, producing, as well as directing. Her company also won Hi-Desert Ovation Theatre Awards for acting, producing and directing.
As a playwright and performer, she has toured colleges and several performance art festivals with her original one woman shows “Grandmothers of the Universe,” “Stand for Freedom Cabaret,” “The Bobby Jo Jackson Trilogy,” and most recently “Musings of a Black Woman in a Brown Desert.”
The band, Hunter and the Wick’d, the California based Americana duo, consists of members Miri Hunter and Thom Merrick. Based out of Wonder Valley CA, their songs are an exploration of melodies and lyrics influenced by their proximity within the Mojave desert. The songs are also influenced by their backgrounds in punk, classical and blues, making for an eclectic soundtrack to the story of modern life. This duo has woven and inspired what Nashville is calling Desert Country Rock (DCR). The music of Hunter and the Wick’d combines elements of Americana, Country and Folk to create a unique, contemporary sound.
Dr. Hunter began painting after leaving LA in 2013 and taking up residency in Joshua Tree. Her art is inspired by the beauty and high vibrations of the desert but also by her connection to East African talismanic traditions and her cultural standpoint as a mixed race woman in the United States.
Her first exhibit was in February 2017 at the Glass Outhouse in Wonder Valley. She continues her exploration of art by exhibiting as part of members’ exhibits at the 29 Palms Art Gallery, at the 29 Palms Visitor Center as well as the newly formed Hi Desert Artist Gallery in Yucca Valley. In the Fall of 2023, she was part of the Morongo Basin Artists of Color Collective show at the Compound in Yucca Valley. She continues to exhibit throughout Southern California including such galleries as the Walter N. Marks Center, in Palms Desert CA.
Dr. Hunter is an Adjunct Teaching Professor at St. Mary's College, Moraga CA. She has been a valued educator with the LEAP program since 2010, teaching cohorts in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and playing a key role in the development of our online offerings. She instructs a course titled Personal and Professional Assessment (PPA), which introduces adult learners and returning students to theories of adult development, experiential learning, and the dynamic relationship between lived experience and academic growth. Through this course, students explore their personal and professional journeys and articulate those insights in Experiential Learning Papers.
Dr. Hunter’s deep expertise in transformative pedagogy and experiential learning has profoundly supported LEAP students, enabling them to bridge their life experiences with academic inquiry. Her guidance has empowered students to see the value in their personal narratives as a foundation for scholarly exploration. Leveraging her broad expertise and compassionate mentorship, Dr. Hunter has also served as a Senior Capstone Advisor within LEAP, offering dedicated support to many of her students throughout their educational journeys. While such contributions often go unnoticed, her dedication was rightfully acknowledged when she received the Distinguished Teaching Award from St. Mary’s in 2022.
Dr. Hunter embodies a remarkable blend of intellect, empathy, creativity, and leadership—qualities that greatly enhance our world culture.
