Producing Artistic Director
As Producing Artistic Director and Literary Manager at Theatre NOVA in Ann Arbor, Shelby champions bold new plays and the artists who create them. She has directed (Death of a Driver, In Search of the Mothman) and produced (The Year Without a Panto Claus, Jorge Luis Borges Gives a Lecture on Anatomy) mainstage productions, guided the annual Michigan Playwrights Festival (2024-2025), and conceived and launched the theatre’s New Play Development Residency, offering playwrights resources, time, and artistic collaborators to develop new work.​ Shelby has successfully secured significant grant funding while also leading marketing, community outreach, education, and audience engagement efforts. She works alongside the National New Play Network as a representative of Theatre NOVA's Member Theatre status, and has read for the NNPN Showcase. She collaborates on season programming, artistic strategy, and hiring, advancing Theatre NOVA’s mission to produce innovative work while sustaining organizational growth.
Actor
Shelby has acted for the University of Michigan's CRLT Players and PEAR Office, and the Michigan Shakespeare Festival Interstate Touring Company. She voices London and Monica in the award-winning podcast, The Call of the Void.
Educator
Shelby was the Director of Theatre at Patrick Henry Middle School from 2017-2023, where she produced and directed 12 plays and musicals with the mission to engage, enlighten, and empower students through theatre. She taught workshops across southeast Michigan for students elementary age to adult at Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, Engage at Eastern Michigan University, Theatre Nova/Ann Arbor Rec and Ed, the City of Farmington Hills, and the Woodhaven Recreation Department.