Sean Elias Named 1 of 30 Baltimore Visionaries by Baltimore Magazine

Before any blueprints are drawn, renderings are developed, or ribbons are cut, all big ideas start with a vision. Whether it is the proverbial light-bulb moment or an idea that builds gradually, nagging away at us until it fully takes shape, change starts internally. And Baltimore is a city primed and ready for that sort of change. The following 30 people represent the impetus for this kind of revolution, putting their noses to the grindstone every day without much fanfare or limelight. In a time when the news is dominated by the negative, this group of change-makers, ages 16 to 66, is reinforcing the power of the positive. From developing virtual-reality programs and building accessible public transportation to educating kids through the arts and working to eradicate food deserts, these local luminaries are shaping the future of Baltimore—one big idea at a time.

“My favorite thing ever written about me is that I’m unrelenting in my vision,” Sean Elias says. That vision? To use the power of theater to help lead Baltimore into a renaissance in socioeconomic development. As the head of Iron Crow Theatre, Elias aims to fill the gap between the city’s large theater companies and its community theaters. He’s shaping a professional theater that’s financially solvent and rewarding to the artist by using open calls, which pull talent from here and other cities, diversify our scene, and put dollars back into the local economy. Iron Crow is also the only professional queer theater in the city, producing avant-garde works and igniting dialogues. “We use queer in the broadest sense as ‘the other,’” he says. “Iron Crow is a home for these stories that don’t get told.”

Meet all the visionaries over at Baltimore Magazine