Frances Hellums

Frances Hellums (she/hers) is an actor, director, and educator. Born in London, England, raised in Houston, Texas, she is now based out of the Greater Boston area.

Frances is a graduate of Boston University School of Theatre where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts Performance with artistic concentrations in Musical Theatre and Directing as well as an academic concentration in Applied Human Development and Psychology. While at Boston University Frances spent time at the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France where she studied French, painting, and psychology. She also attended ballet classes at L’Ecole de Danse Classique d’Aix. She is also a proud alum of the Vineyard Arts Project Musical Theatre Lab and Boston University Summer Theatre Institute.

While attending Boston University, Frances worked extensively with Theater in the Open as an actor, teaching artist, and curriculum consultant. During the summer of 2020, Frances designed and implemented an updated visual arts curriculum for TITO’s Summer Arts Workshop to be taught virtually during the coronavirus pandemic. She remained a consultant for the program into the next year as she adapted the curriculum for a return to in person programming.

In conjunction with her passion for theatre education, Frances’ study of behavioral health and artistic practice has sparked an acute interest in the therapeutic potential of art making and play in education and clinical psychology. After graduation, Frances joined ARTrelief, an Expressive Arts Therapy Center in Watertown, MA as a Therapeutic Mentor where she worked with children coping with complex trauma, behavioral struggles, ASD and various other psychological diagnosis.

As an artist Frances focuses on the creation of organic storytelling through creating spaces of deep humanity and radical empathy. She puts an emphasis on an understanding of the work that transcends narrative and uses movement and stage picture to connect to truth and authenticity.

As an educator and human being her guiding mission is that we are each doing the best we can with the resources we have available to us. Only by identifying needs and finding ways to address those needs will we all be able thrive. She hopes to be a resource and support to young people on their own unique journeys to become their best selves and realize their fullest potential.

In addition to her work at the Huntington, Frances continues to substitute teach grades k-8, and pursue her artistic career as an actor and director.