September 30, 2006
Lynn Simonson, Founder of the Simonson Technique and Co-Founder of Dance New Amsterdam, 9-29-06
Lynn Simonson is the mind and body behind the Simonson Technique which she has been teaching for over 35 years. The Simonson Technique is a concert jazz dance form founded on anatomically based principles of body awareness and alignment. Her Technique is currently taught in 19 countries worldwide.
For the last ten years Lynn has directed Expanded Dance, an annual summer retreat for holistic dance practitioners located in Rockport, MA. She is a choreographer in her own right and was director of the Jazz Project and New Vision for Dance at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival for over 12 years. Lynn's expertise in concert jazz, anatomy awareness classes and her educational methods in training future teachers has her sought after by dance schools and organizations worldwide. Lynn devotes her time away from Dance New Amsterdam as a tireless international guest teacher.
Dance New Amsterdam (DNA), one of New York City’s premier dance service organizations, offers professionally produced performance opportunities for dance artists as well as dance education of the highest caliber at all levels. Established in 1984, DNA serves over 2000 dancers from across the globe in 130 classes each week, as well as presents more than 40 concerts in its 135-seat theater each year. DNA’s commitment to the creation, education and presentation of contemporary dance includes artist residencies, subsidized low-cost rehearsal and administrative space, a Commissioning New Works Performance Program and a host of other programs dedicated to presenting the unique range of today’s contemporary artists. As a unique organization able to provide the entire range of dance services to both artist and audience under a single roof, DNA is proud to have been the first cultural institution to relocate to Lower Manhattan post 9/11, and helped ignite the cultural revitalization of this vital area.
DNA is home to the Simonson Technique, an organic approach to movement created and developed by Master Teacher Lynn Simonson. Based on principles of anatomy and kinesiology and inspired by jazz music, this comprehensive technique has received recognition from dancers throughout the world for over 35 years. Hailed as an intelligent and logical method to prepare the body for dance, the Simonson Technique, with its emphasis on injury prevention, comprises a complete dance technique that not only trains dancers in jazz dance, but prepares them equally well for working in modern dance and other dance vocabularies. Offered daily at four levels — from beginner through advanced — Simonson Technique classes currently make up over one-third of the classes at DNA. The Simonson Technique is also taught by certified teachers in 19 countries worldwide.
Posted by David Lemberg at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)
April Greiman, Artist and Designer, 9-29-06
April Greiman has been instrumental in the acceptance and use of advanced technology in problem solving and the design process since the early 1980s. She pioneered digital design and became renowned for her unique experiments with the Apple Macintosh and Quantel Paintboxes. Clients whose projects have become legendary for her experimental merger of type and image include PacTel, Esprit, US West, the Walker Art Center, SCI-Arc, and the United States Postal Service, which commissioned the design of a commemorative stamp for the 19th Amendment in 1995. Over 150 million impressions of this stamp were printed.
A growing interest in the built environment has led to close collaborations with architecture firms such as Emilio Ambasz & Associates, Will Bruder Architects, Frank O. Gehry & Associates and RoTo Architects. These projects range from signage and exhibitions to the development of color, surfaces and materials palettes.
Today, Ms. Greiman brings a unique approach that blends technology and science with symbol and myth, words and images with texture and space. Her singular expertise is focused on color-surfaces- materials consulting and transmedia identity and branding projects for such clients as AOL Time Warner, Sears, Amgen, Inc, Dosa 818 and the new Prairie View School of Art and Architecture, Texas A+M.
Among her most prestigious awards are the Hall Chair Fellowship, Hallmark Corporation (1989); local, state and national design awards, American Institute of Architects (1994-99); AIGA Fellowship (2003), Gold Medal, American Institute of Graphic Arts and Chrysler Award for Innovation, Chrysler Corporation (both 1998).
Books have included April Greiman: Floating Ideas into Time and Space, Hybrid Imagery: The Fusion of Technology and Graphic Design, and Seven Graphic Designers.
Ms. Greiman was born in New York City and studied graphic design at Allgemeine Kuntsgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland and the Kansas City Art Institute. After working as a freelance designer in New York City, she moved to Los Angeles in 1976, establishing her multidisciplinary design practice, currently called Made in Space.
Drive-by Shooting: April Greiman Digital Photography is April Greiman's current exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2006
Elsa Longhauser, Executive Director and Curator, and Lisa Melandri, Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs, Santa Monica Museum of Art, 8-11-06
Founded in 1984, the Santa Monica Museum of Art creates dynamic exhibitions of contemporary art in all mediums and across disciplines, complemented by outstanding educational programs for people of all ages. The only non-collecting museum in Southern California, SMMoA devotes its exhibition spaces—the main gallery and two Project Rooms—to exploring and advancing the work of contemporary local, national, and international artists whose unique bodies of work merit sustained inquiry and recognition. SMMoA diversifies its artistic vision by inviting distinguished guest curators to organize selected exhibitions. Opened in 1988, the museum’s exhibitions and programs celebrate the innovative perspectives of artists who profoundly influence contemporary art and culture.
The museum’s programs cultivate dialogue among diverse communities and increase accessibility for under-served audiences. SMMoA is a longtime participant in the Getty Multicultural Internship Program, which provides funded internships for students. The museum has won three International Association of Art Critics awards and been praised by the National Endowment for the Arts for “the clarity of the organization’s institutional goals; the high quality, interesting and provocative programming; and the museum’s ability to reach into, and beyond, the communities served by the major museums and other artists’ spaces in the Los Angeles area.” The California Arts Council lauded the museum as “a model organization programming at a level much higher than organizations with greater resources.”
Elsa Longhauser has guided the Santa Monica Museum of Art as Executive Director since her appointment in June 2000. Her curatorial vision is complemented by a wealth of art historical and administrative expertise, and a dedication to creating local, national, and international exhibitions and programs that provide audiences with a deeper awareness of contemporary art issues and ideas. With a focus on rigorous scholarship, the highest museum standards, and a commitment to contextualizing the contemporary art experience across historical and national boundaries, Ms. Longhauser’s leadership has transformed SMMoA into one of the core museums “doing the heavy lifting” (LA Times) in Southern California and into a preeminent kunsthalle respected by arts professionals in the United States and abroad.
Since arriving at SMMoa, Ms. Longhauser has organized an array of pivotal exhibitions, including VALIE EXPORT: OB/DC+CON(STRUCTION); The Book Show; Raymond Pettibon 1978-2001; Cavepainting: Peter Doig, Chris Ofili, and Laura Owens; Alfred Jensen: Concordance; Fred Wilson: Objects and Installations, 1979-2000; Dark Places, created in collaboration with guest curator Joshua Decter with installation design by servo; Álvaro Siza/Architect: Drawings, Models, Photographs, created in collaboration with the Pritzker Prize-winning architect; and an upcoming site-specific installation by world-renowned artist Michael Asher.
Lisa Melandri is Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs at the Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA), where she organizes exhibitions and manages oversight of the museum’s infrastructure and exhibition/education program. She is curator for the upcoming exhibitions Enigma Variations: Philip Guston and Giorgio de Chirico, (September 2006 with co-curator Michael Taylor, Philadelphia Museum of Art) and William Pope.L: Garden of Earthly Delights (September 2007), and organized the exhibition Rosamond Purcell: Two Rooms (2003), which is still touring nationally. Ms. Melandri also curates the Project Series at SMMoA, where she has featured the work of such artists as Mariella Bettineschi, Abby Donovan, Mark Dutcher, Kota Ezawa, Roger Herman, Virgil Marti, Adrian Meraz, and Hugh Pocock.
Posted by David Lemberg at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2006
Dr. Jennifer Tonkovich, Associate Curator, Drawings and Prints, The Morgan Library and Museum, NYC, 9-22-06
During the more than eight years she has been at The Morgan Library and Museum, Dr. Jennifer Tonkovich has participated in the organization and mounting of numerous exhibitions, and has served as curator in charge of several shows, including Pierre Matisse and His Artists (2001), Stuart Davis: Art and Theory, 1920-1931(2002); A Love Affair with Line: Drawings by Al Hirschfeld (2002); From Rembrandt to van Gogh: Three Centuries of Dutch Drawings (2006), and Fragonard and the French Tradition (2006).
Dr. Tonkovich is currently preparing an exhibition of Vincent van Gogh’s letters to his young protégé Emile Bernard for fall 2007. She frequently gives lectures at the Morgan in support of drawings exhibitions, and is active at conferences in her field of 18th-century French drawings, where she most recently presented a paper at Oxford University on drawings for architectural decoration and ornament by Gillot. Among Dr. Tonkovich’s most recent publications are “Claude Gillot’s Designs for Turkish Costumes: Some New Sources”, The Burlington Magazine (April 2005); “Rymsdyk’s Museum: Jan van Rymsdyk as a Collector of Old Master Drawings”, Journal of the History of Collections (December 2005); with Dr. Victoria Kirkham, “How Petrarca Became Boccaccio: A Bronze Portrait Bust from the Morgan Library,” Studi sul Boccaccio (2005); and “A New Album of Theater Drawings by Claude Gillot,” Master Drawings (Winter 2006).
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606–1669), The Morgan Library & Museum presents highlights from its exceptional collection of Rembrandt etchings. Pierpont Morgan laid the foundation for this collection—the finest in North America—when he acquired his first Rembrandt etchings from Theodore Irwin, Sr., in 1900 and George W. Vanderbilt in 1906. Today the Morgan holds impressions of most of the 300 or so known etchings by Rembrandt as well as multiple, often exceedingly rare impressions of various states. The exhibition showcases some of the most celebrated etchings from the collection along with a few lesser-known and rarely exhibited examples.
Renowned in the history of printmaking, Rembrandt’s etchings are famous for their dramatic intensity, penetrating psychology, and touching humanity. Celebrating his unsurpassed skill and inventiveness as a master storyteller, the exhibition addresses some of the central and often recurring themes of the master’s work, including portraiture, the Bible, scenes from everyday life, the nude, and landscape.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 20-page illustrated publication, Collecting Rembrandt: Etchings from the Morgan, by Dr. Anne Varick Lauder. The essay traces the history of the Morgan’s Rembrandt collection, relating some of the stories behind Pierpont Morgan’s first purchases during the American Gilded Age while also showcasing the institution’s important holdings of Rembrandt etchings.
Posted by David Lemberg at 06:54 PM | Comments (0)
Colleene Fesko, Vice President, and Director of American & European Paintings & Prints, Skinner Inc., 9-22-06
As Director of Skinner's American & European Paintings & Prints department, Colleene Fesko is responsible for four major auctions per year, overseeing sales that include American and European paintings, prints, works on paper and sculpture from the 16th through 21st centuries. Her particular area of specialization is American art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Since joining the auction house in 1987, Colleene has been instrumental in shaping significant events at the company, thereby establishing Skinner as a major player in the American and European paintings markets. Under her auspices, Skinner once again made auction history in November 2004 by establishing a new world record price of $5.5 million for a previously undiscovered Fitz Hugh Lane painting, Manchester Harbor. This new record surpassed the previous one by over $1.5 million, and the sale of this work marked the third time that Skinner has achieved this important milestone.
Colleene lectures extensively for groups including the Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The American Society of Appraisers, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University and the Peabody Essex Museum of Salem, MA. She has served on discussion panels and conducted workshops for The American Society of Appraisers, and the Rockport Art Association and Harvard University among others. A familiar face on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow, Colleene is also a member of Art Table, a professional organization of women in the arts, and has been a featured guest on NPR's Talk of the Nation.
Posted by David Lemberg at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2006
Tina Landau, Writer and Director, 9-19-06, Part One
Tina Landau is a writer and director whose original work includes the music-theatre project BEAUTY, which won the 2003 San Diego Critic’s Circle Award for Outstanding New Play; the play SPACE, one of Time Magazine’s 1997 Ten Best; the music-theatre piece DREAM TRUE which won the Richard Rogers Award; and the musical FLOYD COLLINS which received the 1996 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk nominations, and seven 1999 Barrymore Awards, including Best Overall Production (Musical) and Best Direction (Musical).
Ms. Landau’s adaptations include versions of DuMaurier’s REBECCA, Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and the epic of GILGAMESH. Directing credits include her Broadway debut in 2001 with the revival of BELLS ARE RINGING starring Faith Prince, which was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Musical Revival.
Ms. Landau also directed a musical version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at the McCarter and Papermill Theatres; MIRACLE BROTHERS at the Vineyard Theatre; Mee’s TROJAN WOMEN: A LOVE STORY and ORESTES both with En Garde Arts in New York.
Ms. Landau has taught at Yale University, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and UCSD Graduate Theater. She is a former TCG/NEA Director Fellow, a National Endowment of the Arts Artistic Associate, a recipient of grants from the Rockefeller, Princess Grace, and W. Alton Jones Foundations, and a PEW National Theater Artists Residency to work with En Garde Arts.
Ms. Landau is the co-author (with Anne Bogart) of The Viewpoints Book, published in 2005 by Theatre Communications Group.
Posted by David Lemberg at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)
Tina Landau, Writer and Director, 9-19-06, Part Two
We continue our ARTSCAPE conversation with acclaimed writer-director Tina Landau.
Tina Landau is a writer and director whose original work includes the music-theatre project BEAUTY, which won the 2003 San Diego Critic’s Circle Award for Outstanding New Play; the play SPACE, one of Time Magazine’s 1997 Ten Best; the music-theatre piece DREAM TRUE which won the Richard Rogers Award; and the musical FLOYD COLLINS which received the 1996 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk nominations, and seven 1999 Barrymore Awards, including Best Overall Production (Musical) and Best Direction (Musical).
Ms. Landau’s adaptations include versions of DuMaurier’s REBECCA, Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and the epic of GILGAMESH. Directing credits include her Broadway debut in 2001 with the revival of BELLS ARE RINGING starring Faith Prince, which was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Musical Revival.
Ms. Landau also directed a musical version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at the McCarter and Papermill Theatres; MIRACLE BROTHERS at the Vineyard Theatre; Mee’s TROJAN WOMEN: A LOVE STORY and ORESTES both with En Garde Arts in New York.
Ms. Landau has taught at Yale University, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and UCSD Graduate Theater. She is a former TCG/NEA Director Fellow, a National Endowment of the Arts Artistic Associate, a recipient of grants from the Rockefeller, Princess Grace, and W. Alton Jones Foundations, and a PEW National Theater Artists Residency to work with En Garde Arts.
Ms. Landau is the co-author (with Anne Bogart) of The Viewpoints Book, published in 2005 by Theatre Communications Group.
Posted by David Lemberg at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2006
Annie MacManus, Host of the Annie Mac Show, BBC Radio 1, 9-15-06
The Annie Mac Show on Radio 1 began in July 2004, when, working as a production assistant on Zane Lowe's show, she impressed Radio 1 bosses with her demo's and her determination.
Since then her show has gone from strength to strength, attracting a host of loyal followers from around the world, and Annie has established herself firmly as part of Radio 1's “In New Music We Trust” evening output.
Annie is also a talented club DJ and is booked regularly to play the UK’s most credible clubs. She has just completed a DJ tour entitled Annie Mac Presents, where she personally chose DJs, both established and up-and-coming, and brought them to play in her favorite clubs. 2006 will see another UK tour, as well as dates all over the world.
Annie is a regular contributor to BBC2's The Culture show, reviewing new music releases. She has also done work for MTV2, presenting the cult program Gonzo.
Since her show began, Radio 1 has been working Annie hard. This year has seen her stand-in for Jo Whiley, Zane Lowe and Pete Tong on their respective shows and she is the official DEP for the Early Breakfast Show.
Here's Annie's page on MySpace.
Posted by David Lemberg at 05:06 PM | Comments (0)
Anne-Brigitte Sirois, Director of Real Estate Development for the Arts, Lerner Group, New York City, 9-15-06
In 1995, Anne-Brigitte Sirois joined the Lerner Group, Inc., a commercial real estate firm in New York City. As Director of Real Estate Development for the Arts, Anne-Brigitte initiated an ongoing project to market the then-isolated area of Chelsea West to a group of influential art galleries located in SoHo. She formally advocated the creation of a new art gallery community in that area. Chelsea West offered more affordable spaces and a potentially fresh alternative to the fatigued post-nineties Soho art scene.
Twelve months later, her efforts culminated in the first conversion of a large storage warehouse located on West 20th Street into an art gallery building. It provided 110,000 square feet of gallery space and caused the art gallery population of Chelsea West to grow from six to 30 galleries during 1996. Today, Chelsea is home to almost 300 art galleries and hosts a vital scene for contemporary art in New York City.
Between 1996 and 2006, Anne-Brigitte has directly represented transactions totaling a value of over $250 million on behalf of various art organizations in the Chelsea district. She is currently writing a book telling the story of the Chelsea art gallery district, and remains actively involved with Chelsea’s future development phase.
Anne-Brigitte received her M.F.A. from Pratt Institute.
Posted by David Lemberg at 05:02 PM | Comments (0)
Sage Tucker-Ketcham, Founder, Director, and President, Studio STK, 9-15-06
Sage Tucker-Ketcham is the Founder, Director and President of Studio STK in Burlington, VT. Her namesake studio combines an art center and gallery for the community with the mission of supporting and showing emerging artists, as well as creating a space that encourages creativity and promotes the growth of art in the community,
For the past eight years Sage has shown her own work throughout New England, in Florida and Idaho, as well as in several international private art collections. Her work has been reviewed in art publications such as Art New England and ArtRevolutionaries.com.
Since its inception in April 2005, Studio STK has been providing essential art services in the community. To date, Sage has curated over 120 different artists at Studio STK’s Gallery, which is fully booked through August 2007. In addition to her business and curatorial responsibilities, Sage is currently expanding her body of paintings to be submitted to galleries in New York, Boston, and London. Sage has her B.F.A. from the Maine College of Art and currently lives and paints in Burlington, VT.
The mission of Studio STK is to have a space where creativity of all standards can be released in a professional, safe and encouraging artist environment, promote the arts nationally and internationally, develop future personal teaching goals, and promote individualism, self-respect and community through the visual arts.
Posted by David Lemberg at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2006
Jillian Chu, Founding Director, BOUNDcontemporaryDance, 9-8-06
Jillian Chu is the Founding Director of BOUNDcontemporaryDance, San Diego’s newest dance company. As a performing artist Jillian has worked and trained through Laban Centre London, Point Park University, Hubbard Street 2, Thodos Dance Chicago, Allyson Green Dance, Gabriel Masson Dance, and the Patricia Rincon Dance Collective. She was awarded “Outstanding Performer” by the American College Dance Festival Association in 2002 and invited to dance at the Kennedy Center.
Jillian has always looked for opportunities to create work. In Chicago, her choreography was featured in the acclaimed “New Dances” annual series and performed by Virtuoso Performing Arts and Accent On Dance. She has been presented in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh as well as San Diego’s Sushi Performance and Visual Art, Stage7 Dance, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the San Diego Dance Alliance.
In 2006 Jillian created BOUND as a platform to further explore and facilitate the creation of dance works with her peers. She has gathered some of the nation’s most beautiful and engaging performers connected by a common thread — the search for truth in movement and communication — and a strong personal bond to one another. Together BOUND dancers share with audiences the power of movement as an entry point into the human condition through dance that is visually and intellectually stimulating.
In December 2006 BOUNDcontemporaryDance & A.S. Peterson Dance premiere ONETOECHO… honoring the passion ONE artist can share with their community. This contemporary dance concert features choreographers in Southern California who are investigating fresh movement concepts. ONETOECHO is part of San Diego State University’s Presenting Series and sponsored in part by “Dream Homes” magazine.
BOUND’s first ever public event took place in April 2006 in the artsy, thrifty, and colorful neighborhood of North Park in San Diego. BOUND was also invited to be a part of the Sushi Performance and Visual Arts New Wave Showcase, which highlights emerging artists.
Posted by David Lemberg at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)
Charles Santos, Executive Director, TITAS, 9-8-06
Charles Santos, Executive Director of TITAS, located in Dallas, TX. Mr. Santos has had an extensive career in the field of presenting, performing and producing. He studied dance at UT Austin and danced with Sharir Dance Company for nine years. He founded the Austin Festival of Dance, benefiting AIDS Services of Austin in 1992. Mr. Santos moved to New York in 1995 to further his career in arts management as the Managing Director/Development Director for Eos Orchestra. After two years of concerts at New York’s Lincoln Center, 3 CDs and publishing two associated books, he continued his career as the Producer for Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA), a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. At DRA he produced events with such luminaries as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Bill T. Jones and Bebe Neuwirth, as well as creating a grass-roots national fundraising program with dance students across the country.
Before beginning his position at TITAS as Executive Director in October 2001, Mr. Santos was the Managing Director/Producer for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in New York, producing the highly acclaimed Evening Stars series at the World Trade Center. Evening Stars was named as “Best of New York” festivals for the extraordinarily high caliber of music and dance artists being presented annually on the plaza of the World Trade Center.
Founded in 1982, TITAS is the premier Texas presenter of major dance attractions in a series format, with one of the most successful programs in the Southwest United States.
After achieving success with its dance presentations, TITAS began the companion series of music events in 1988. Since then, TITAS has continued to deliver a growing audience for the world's finest performing arts at affordable prices and has established education and outreach programs not available elsewhere in the community.
Now entering its 23nd season, TITAS has presented over 130 of the world's finest performing ensembles, ranging from the greatest classical companies, to the young American ensembles currently leading the dance world, to ethnic troupes rich in the history of other cultures. The eclectic nature of TITAS programming provides the community a window to the world from Dallas that would not otherwise be open.
Posted by David Lemberg at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
Peter Mays, Executive Director, Los Angeles Art Association, 9-8-06
Peter Mays, Executive Director, brings his vast experience with creative and nonprofit management to the Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA). Mr. Mays believes LAAA is now poised to launch the next phase of the 80-year old organization’s expansion and commitment to Los Angeles’ artistic development. Overseeing all LAAA programs and galleries, including the newest satellite exhibition space in the South Bay, Mr. Mays sees the opening of LAAA South as an opportunity to reintroduce LAAA’s work and mission to existing supporters, as well as new constituencies in the art world and greater Los Angeles community.
Mr. Mays is also an experienced painter, printmaker, book illustrator and graphic designer whose artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums.
LAAA was founded in 1925 to provide the Los Angeles community with the opportunity to view fine art as well as establish a collection of European and American art "for the people of Los Angeles." At the time of its inception, there were very few public venues in L.A. dedicated to the exhibition of art. LAAA's founders included esteemed civic leaders such as Harry Chandler, Rufus Von Kleinsmid, William May Garland and Edward A. Dickson. Many of the LAAA's founders went on to play key roles in the founding of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion as well as Otis Art Institute.
Originally named the Museum Patrons' Association, the organization had over 3000 members in its inaugural year. One of LAAA's first triumphs was an exhibition on loan from the Louvre, which featured Whistler's portrait of his mother. In 1934, LAAA hosted a landmark "All-California Art Exhibition" at the Biltmore Salon and featured the work of over 1500 California artists. Many celebrated names have led LAAA throughout its rich history. Lorser Feitelson, internationally renowned artist and host of the 1960s NBC series, "Art in Our Times," served as the LAAA's Director for many years.
Posted by David Lemberg at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)
September 02, 2006
Ethan van Thillo, Founder and Executive Director, San Diego Latino Film Festival, 7-7-06
In 1995, Ethan van Thillo transformed the Cine Estudiantil into the San Diego Latino Film Festival. In 1999, to broaden the scope of the festival following four successful years, Ethan established Media Arts Center San Diego. Since then, Ethan created the successful Teen Producers Project which now is celebrating its fifth anniversary. Ethan has served on various funding panels including the San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture and Latino Public Broadcasting. Most recently, he participated on the national nominating committee for Rockefeller Foundation's 2004–2005 Film and Video Fellowships and the National Endowment for the Arts funding panel for Media Arts.
The San Diego Latino Film Festival was established 13 years ago as a student film festival focusing on works by Latinos and/or about the Latino Experience. Since then, the San Diego Latino Film Festival has developed into one of the larger and well-respected Latino film festivals in the country. Over 120,000 people have attended during the past seven years and 1000 films/videos from across Latin America and the United States have been screened.
Past festival guests have included such renowned individuals as Alfonso Cuaron, Gael Garcia, Diego Luna, Lupe Ontiveros, Edward James Olmos, Elpidia Carrillo, Tony Plana, Bruno Bichir, Carlos Bolado, Carlos Avila, and Ray Bradbury.
Posted by David Lemberg at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)
Dr. Elaine Chew, Assistant Professor, University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, 7-7-06
Dr. Elaine Chew is an Assistant Professor in the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, where she is also a key investigator at the Integrated Media Systems Center. In 2004, Elaine was honored with an NSF Career award for her proposal on performer-centered approaches to computer-assisted music making, in which she stated that her purpose was “to establish engineering music research as a core academic discipline” and to “promote the use of computational research in music processing by humans as a basis for creating and improving human-computer interaction in computer music systems”.
Elaine's thesis, completed under the supervision of Jeanne Bamberger, with OR co-advisor Georgia Perakis, proposed a mathematical model for tonality, the system of relations that serves as a framework for our hearing of tonal music, and computational methods for abstracting tonal structures. Her Spiral Array model and associated algorithms introduced an “interior point” approach to the problem of key finding in computational music cognition.
At USC, Elaine's foray into mathematical modeling of music flourished and expanded to include collaborative projects in music information retrieval, distributed immersive performance, and musical expression synthesis. She also developed a course on computational methods for music perception and cognition.
Apart from creating computer models to analyze and manipulate music, Elaine also performs frequently as an articulate proponent of post-tonal music. Her performances can be heard on NPR and WGBH’s Art of the States program.
Posted by David Lemberg at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)
Dr. Eric Denker, Senior Lecturer, Education Division, National Gallery of Art, 8-25-06
Dr. Eric Denker is Senior Lecturer, Education Division at the National Gallery of Art. Dr. Denker received his Bachelors from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, and his doctorate from the University of Virginia, writing on the American artist James McNeill Whistler. His dissertation was the subject of a book and an exhibition that he curated for the National Portrait Gallery in 1995, In Pursuit of the Butterfly: Portraits of James McNeill Whistler. In 1995 he also organized the exhibition Prints by Whistler and his Contemporaries at the National Gallery of Art.
Dr. Denker is the Senior Lecturer in the Education Division at the National Gallery of Art, where he has been since June 1978. From 1998 to 2006, he also has served as the Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Corcoran, overseeing the permanent collection and coordinating an active special exhibition schedule, including historical shows of John Singer Sargent drawings, James McNeill Whistler in Venice, Childe Hassam prints, and contemporary print exhibitions focusing on Wayne Thiebaud, Roy Lichtenstein, William T. Wiley, and Rupert Garcia.
Dr. Denker also serves in Washington as an Adjunct Professor at both Georgetown University and at Cornell University. He frequently lectures in Italy for the Smithsonian Institute and for the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, and around the Washington area on Venice, Italian art, Dutch painting, French 19th-century art, and the history and techniques of printmaking.
The National Gallery of Art is currently exhibiting Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
Marjorie Portnow, Landscape Painter, and Associate Professor of Art, Western Connecticut State University, 8-25-06
Marjorie Portnow’s landscape paintings represent her keen observation of nature and the sense of the passing moment. A painter who works in situ, often selecting a high vantage point, Ms. Portnow tends to choose places with large, panoramic, unobstructed views, without development, houses, or people.
Ms. Portnow received her B.A. in art history from Case Western Reserve University and an M.F.A. in painting from Brooklyn College. Her work has been exhibited widely, in solo exhibitions at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Fishbach Gallery and Kornblee Gallery in New York City, the Harcus-Krakow Gallery in Boston, Hollins University in Roanoke, VA, and Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH. Her work is represented in permanent collections throughout the U.S., including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Albany Museum of Art, the Gibbs Museum of Art, The National Academy of Design, and Middlebury College Museum.
Ms. Portnow is the recipient of two Ingram Merrill Grants, two Bunting (Radcliff Institute) Institute Grants, two National Endowment for the Arts Grants, and two Tiffany Foundation Grants and is an elected member of the National Academy of Design.
Ms. Portnow has taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, New York Studio School, Brooklyn College, The National Academy of Design, The Skowhegan School, the University of Pennsylvania, The University of California and Virginia Tech, among other institutions.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:50 PM | Comments (0)
Dr. Lawrence Wheeler, Director, North Carolina Museum of Art, 8-25-06
Dr. Lawrence J. Wheeler was named director of the North Carolina Museum of Art in October 1994. Since then, the Museum has become one of the region’s and the nation’s most popular and dynamic centers for the visual and performing arts.
During his tenure, Dr. Wheeler has presided over the completion of the landmark Museum Park on the Museum grounds, and has greatly enhanced the Museum’s collection of contemporary art while continuing to build on what is considered one of the finest collections of European old master paintings in the Southeast. In 1999 and 2000, Dr. Wheeler ushered in the “era of the blockbuster shows” at the Museum with record-breaking back-to-back exhibitions, Monet to Moore: The Millennium Gift of Sara Lee Corporation and Rodin: Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection. The Rodin exhibition, which attracted over 300,000 people to the Museum, was the cornerstone of Festival Rodin, another of Dr. Wheeler’s initiatives, which became the largest marketing effort for the arts in the history of North Carolina. From October 2004–January 2005, the Museum hosted another blockbuster exhibition: Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris.
Beginning October 2006, the North Carolina Museum of Art will present Monet in Normandy. The exhibition presents 50 paintings, including some of Monet's most celebrated works -- his paintings of Normandy's fields and coast, his garden and water lily pond at Giverny, and Rouen's cathedral.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)
Bijan Khezri, CEO, Artist Pension Trust, 8-18-06
Bijan Khezri is a graduate in international economics from the Institut de Hautes Etudes Internationales at the University of Geneva. Mr. Khezri worked for BNP Paribas in London where he led the global technology sector’s equity financing group. In 1998, he joined the board of directors of three leading technology companies: Baltimore Technologies plc (UK), VPNet Technologies Inc. (United States) and Jetter AG (Germany). Mr. Khezri led Jetter’s IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1999 and remained on its board until 2004.
In 2004, Mr. Khezri co-founded Saphire Finance LLP, a London-based principal merchant banking partnership.
In June 2006, Mr. Khezri became CEO of the Artist Pension Trust. He has been passionately collecting young emerging artists for many years. With his professional finance background, he brings his multi-faceted experience to APT.
Established in 2003, MutualArt, Inc. is an independent company dedicated to developing new financial service products for the art world. MutualArt’s Artist Pension Trust is the first-ever financial institution to champion artists as client and beneficiary. MutualArt has applied the discipline of financial services and the math of risk diversification to the art world to create the first investment service program for artists. Selected artists participate in the Trust by investing artwork on a barter basis. Trusts operate in Beijing, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and New York.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
Jimmy Gamonet, Artistic Director, and Iliana Lopez, Ballet Mistress, Ballet Gamonet (Miami, FL), 8-18-06
Mr. Jimmy Gamonet received Gold Medals in both the Performance and Choreography categories at the 2nd International Dance and Choreography Competition in Peru in 1979 and, in 1980, and participated in the Third International Ballet Competition in Osaka, Japan. In 1983, he won the highest award for Choreography at the Dance Competition of the Americas in Miami.
The works of Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros have been performed throughout North America, South America and Europe, and include nearly three dozen set on the dancers of Miami City Ballet during his 14-year collaboration as Resident Choreographer with the company.
Mr. Gamonet’s works have been commissioned/underwritten by AT&T, The Wolf Trap Foundation, The Catherine Filene Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow, Neiman Marcus, Barnett Bank of South Florida, The Firm of Steel Hector & Davis and The Windmere Corporation, among others.
Mr. Gamonet's work in ballet's neoclassical style — both abstract and narrative — has been noted and rewarded at a national and international level. He has received three separate Choreography Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, including the prestigious three-year Fellowship, awarded to artists whose “work on a level of national excellence over time extends the aesthetic boundaries of the discipline”. The State of Florida also acknowledged his accomplishments with several Choreography Fellowships. In recognition of his contributions to the art form, Mr. Gamonet was one of eight choreographers chosen for the National Repertory Program.
In 1997, Mr. Gamonet developed a course curriculum for an innovative Choreographers Workshop. His mission: to build a training program with a final goal of educating, nurturing and encouraging aspiring choreographers to continue serious work in the field of dance composition. For several years Mr. Gamonet has been a member of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Dance Advisory Panel and has served as judge panelist of the International Ballet Competition in Peru for the past 8 years.
Miss Iliana Lopez joined the Miami City Ballet as principal dancer in 1987.
Miss Lopez danced principal roles in Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, Theme and Variations, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Serenade, Raymonda, Nous Sommes, Partita, Transtangos, and Supermegatroid, among others, and she originated many lead roles in Ballet Gamonet's repertoire such as Carmen, Purple Bend, Concerto for la Donna, D Symphonies, Movilissima Noble, Caplet, Symphony Allemande, Prokofiev Piano Concerto, The House of Bernarda Alba, Grand Pas Classique.
In 1997 Miss Lopez appeared on the cover of Dance Magazine. In 2000 she received the National Medal of Arts "Arturo Michelena" in Venezuela, for her outstanding contribution to the arts. She appeared on the cover of Pointe Magazine in 2001 and on the cover of Dancer Magazine in 2004.
Miss Lopez was invited to the White House by President Clinton and the First Lady, following a performance gala at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and was given the Key to the City of Baton Rouge, LA in 2003. March 12, 2004 was declared Iliana Lopez Day by the City of Hialeah, FL.
Miss Lopez became a Ballet Mistress in 2004, when she retired from the stage, and now she joins long-time friend and colleague Jimmy Gamonet de los Heros at Ballet Gamonet as Ballerina and Ballet Mistress.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)
Eric Lewis, Composer and Pianist, 8-18-06
One can only wonder where Eric Lewis's music comes from. From an early age he had regular lessons and clearly showed an aptitude. But plenty of people study music. Eric Lewis inhabits it. Devours it. Transforms it. His command of the things that can't be taught has made him one of today's most sought after musicians, with Cassandra Wilson, Wynton Marsalis, Elvin Jones, and Roy Hargrove just a few of the artists tapping the young talent to sit at the piano and infuse their music with his skill and passion.
Upon first look, it's hard to reconcile Eric's look with his incredible ability. The quiet artist who lives with music in his head, then gently coaxes it forth, caressing the keys with long tapered fingers — Eric Lewis is having none of it. From the shock of an Afro to the meaty hands with the span of baseball mitts to the athletic stride, nothing about Eric is holding back. When he sits down to play the piano, attacking the keys until they give up, bringing forth pure, unchecked emotion, there's a blue collar ethic to the way Eric makes music, as is evidenced by the small calluses that dot his fingertips. His hard work has paid off, with Mercer Ellington, Robin Eubanks, Jon Hendricks, Shorty Rogers, Donald Byrd, Ornette Coleman, Clark Terry, Betty Carter and Wes Anderson all employing Eric's talent.
Once the Camden, NJ native graduated from high school, Eric decided to make some noise on a grand scale. Within months of his graduation from the Manhattan School of Music in 1995 he was touring with Marsalis and Wilson, reaching out in every direction to make music. With the Marsalis Quintet, the music was classic jazz, while with Wilson Eric experimented with funk, gospel, folk, blues, and classical.
Since Camden set him loose on the world Eric has performed for President Clinton at 1996's Democratic National Convention, and at 1998's live television broadcast from the White House, "Jazz and Democracy." 1999 offered a formal confirmation of what was rapidly becoming clear when Eric won the Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. It's a contest that goes beyond simply rewarding musical proficiency to recognizing the elusive combination of knowledge, command, passion and expression. It effectively crowned Eric a piano master. And he was just 26 years old. Straight from the competition he was invited to join the band of one-time John Coltrane collaborator Elvin Jones.
Jones was just one of many music authorities who saw in Eric the future of jazz. During his tenure at the piano for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Eric regularly celebrated the history of the genre. In less than a decade as a professional musician he's redefined what the piano can do in the hands of one man.
Eric's latest CD, "Hopscotch", is available in stores.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)
Chris Christian, CEO, World Digital Media Group, 8-11-06
Chris Christian began his professional music career as a performer in Nashville in 1974. He has been a performer, songwriter, publishing company executive, recording engineer, record producer, and record label executive, all leading up to his current role as founder and CEO of World Digital Media Group, which is the largest record label in Texas. His biggest current project is producing the first album of Ali Lohan, the younger sister of Lindsay Lohan. Ali’s album debuts later this fall, and features the up-and-coming star singing Christmas-themed songs.
Chris coined the phrases “new music paradigm” and “from creator to consumer” to describe how the digital age is changing the music industry forever, especially for young, independent musicians and bands who have more opportunities than ever to be discovered. Chris’s music industry accolades include nine Grammy Award nominations as a music producer, artist and publisher, with Chris winning four Grammys. He has also been nominated for seven Gospel Music Association Dove Awards as a music producer, publisher and songwriter, winning five Doves.
Chris launched the music career of Amy Grant, and he has produced more than 60 albums that together sold in excess of 10 million copies. He has written more than 2000 songs, many of which have been recorded by such artists as Elvis Presley, Olivia Newton-John, The Carpenters, Sheena Easton, and Donny and Marie Osmond. He has had many Top Ten Billboard singles as an artist and producer.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:44 PM | Comments (0)
Jodee Nimerichter, Associate Director, American Dance Festival, 8-11-06
The American Dance Festival, now celebrating its 73rd anniversary, began in 1934 as the Bennington School of Dance in Bennington, VT. Founded by Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, and directed by Martha Hill, it was the desperately needed laboratory in which they could experiment, train students and create the early works that made modern dance one of the great cultural triumphs of the 20th century. The Festival, held at Connecticut College in New London, CT from 1947 to the fall of 1977, was relocated in 1978 to the Duke University campus in Durham, NC, where it remains today, headed by Charles Reinhart, ADF’s director since 1968. With its numerous programs for dancers, students, choreographers and artists, ADF supports and develops new modern dance works, both nationally and internationally, while preserving the history of the field. Its school is one of the country’s oldest training institutions for dancers.
At the heart of ADF are performances by professional dance companies, ranging from the experimental to the established. The Festival has premiered over 580 works — many of which have become landmarks in American dance — by artists such as Martha Graham, José Limón, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Erick Hawkins, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Pilobolus, Meredith Monk, Martha Clarke, Mark Morris, Bill T. Jones and Eiko & Koma, among countless others.
Since 1987, the ADF Black Tradition in American Modern Dance project has preserved, celebrated and created access to classic dance works by African-American choreographers. Developed from this project was the ADF-produced, Emmy-Award winning television series “Free to Dance: The African American Presence in Modern Dance.” Jodee Nimerichter joined ADF as Associate Director in January 2003. She assists with the day-to-day administration/management and long-range planning of the Festival. She helps curate ADF seasons and has traveled nationally and internationally, including Argentina, Israel, The Netherlands, and Germany, to see work. Ms. Nimerichter is active in the dance field serving as a guest panelist and is involved in the group, Next Generation of Arts Administrators.
Prior to returning to ADF, Ms. Nimerichter was a production member of the award-winning series, GREAT PERFORMANCES/DANCE IN AMERICA, at Thirteen/WNET New York. There she co-produced the performance documentary, “Born to Be Wild: The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre”, which was broadcast in February 2003.
Ms. Nimerichter has also co-produced television recordings of the Broadway revival of “The Women”, starring Cynthia Nixon and Kristen Johnston, and the Broadway musical “Fosse” which was the first DANCE IN AMERICA program recorded in hi-definition. She was associate producer for the live broadcast of the Broadway production “The Man Who Came To Dinner” (which was the inaugural production in the PBS series, STAGE ON SCREEN) and “Fosse Millennium 2000”.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)
Sal Trapani, Professor, Acting/Directing, Western Connecticut State University, 8-4-06
Sal Trapani received his MFA from the University of Southern California. He has worked at many New York, regional and international venues as a director, writer and composer including the Minetta Lane (“Raft of the Medusa”), Circle Rep, Westside Theatre, Circle in the Square, Kaufman Theatre, Irish Arts Center, Merkin Concert Hall, La Mama ETC, Lincoln Center, Playwright’s Horizons, Hudson Guild, 52nd St. Project, New Dramatists, the John Drew Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, the Powerhouse (Los Angeles), the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Holland Festival. In collaboration with pianist Anthony de Mare, Mr. Trapani’s work was presented at the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art and the Klaaver International Piano Festival in Talinn, Estonia.
Mr. Trapani’s original musicals FOOD — A Sixteen Course Musical, Antigone’s Last Dance, Macbeth 2000 — A Multi-Media Rock Opera, A Trip to the Farm (children’s interactive musical), and his adaptation of Twelfth Night — The San Francisco Psychedelic Musical have been performed in New York and to outstanding critical notice at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He also directed and adapted ENEMY: Project Ibsen, a multimedia adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People. He is currently working on Orpheus, an updated musical version of the Greek myth. As an actor, Mr. Trapani has appeared on stage, film and TV. Most recent credits include Law & Order and One Life to Live. He is a member of Circle East Theatre Company, the Greylock Project, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)
Robert Capanna, Executive Director, Settlement Music School, 8-4-06
Robert Capanna came to the Settlement Music School in 1976 as director of the School's Kardon-Northeast Branch; in 1982, he was named Executive Director. Since that time, Settlement has grown from three to six locations serving over 9000 students on-site and 6000 students off-site.
Mr. Capanna is an active and widely respected composer. Originally a trombonist, he received his Bachelor and Masters of Music degrees in composition from the Philadelphia Music Academy. In 1974, he was the Bruno Maderna Fellow in Composition at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood and was awarded the Koussevitsky Prize in composition.
Mr. Capanna's works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Concerto Soloists, Penn Contemporary Players, Orchestra 2001, Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, Mendelssohn Quartet and Colorado Quartet and in numerous chamber music and broadcast series. He has received commissions from the Huntingdon Trio, Philadelphia Trio, the Philadelphia Singers and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, among others.
Mr. Capanna is President of the Presser Foundation, Chair of the Music Panel and Planning Committee of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and past President of the Musical Fund Society and Musical Fund Society Foundation.
Settlement Music School, founded in 1908, is the largest community school of the arts in the United States. It is dedicated to providing people of all ages with the highest quality instruction and activity in music and the related arts. With five branches in the Philadelphia, PA region and one in Camden, NJ, the School now serves about 15,000 students of all abilities, and awards nearly $2 million a year in financial aid. There is at least one Settlement Music School alumnus in every major symphony in the United States and Settlement is the largest employer of musicians in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
Although many people think of music as a specialist activity reserved for those with “talent”, the experience of Settlement Music School and similar community-based programs across the United States is that every student can benefit from music instruction and activity. Music study encourages self-discovery, self-confidence and self-discipline, and supports cognitive as well as emotional development. It makes stronger individuals and, consequently, stronger communities.
In addition to a Core Program of individual and class instruction in music and dance, Settlement provides a full-time, arts-based pre-school for children from at-risk families; music and dance therapy; day-time programs for seniors; programs for independent pre-schools, daycares and charter schools; and an Advanced Study program for pre-professional high school students.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)
Cho-Liang Lin, SummerFest Music Director, La Jolla Music Society, 8-4-06
As one of Southern California’s leading presenters of world-class performing arts, La Jolla Music Society contributes to San Diego’s cultural vitality year-round through a rich variety of concert series such as Celebrity Orchestra Series, Celebrity Recital Series, Jazz Series, Revelle Chamber Music Series, Discovery Series and North County Series. The Society’s signature event each year is the acclaimed La Jolla SummerFest, a three-week chamber music festival of performances, live broadcasts, open rehearsals, educational encounters, pre-concert talks, and social events. All of the Society’s activities are supported by extensive education and outreach programs, such as artist residencies and music instruction at the Community Music Center, which are designed to enlighten adult and young audiences, as well as aspiring and emerging artists.
Taiwanese-American violinist Cho-Liang Lin, Artistic Director of La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, is lauded the world over for the eloquence of his playing and for the superb musicianship that marks his performances. Renowned for appearances as a soloist with major orchestras, he is also frequently heard in recital and in chamber music. Musical America named Mr. Lin its Instrumentalist of the Year in 2000.
As Artistic Director of La Jolla SummerFest, the Los Angeles Times stated that Mr. Lin “has put together another bracing and provocative series.” An advocate of contemporary composers, Mr. Lin has invited prominent composers to this festival while actively seeking and promoting commissions from these composers. As a solo artist, he has premiered works by Tan Dun, Joel Hoffman, Christopher Rouse, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Elie Siegmeister, Bright Sheng, George Tsontakis, George Walker and Chen Yi. In San Diego and Taipei, he has presented the world premieres of two concertos by the Taiwanese composer Gordon Chin.
Cho-Liang Lin has recorded for Sony Classical, Decca, Ondine and BIS. Some of his albums have won such awards as Gramophone’s Record of the Year, as well as two Grammy Award nominations. On Sony Classical, his discography includes standard violin repertoire such as concerti ranging from Mozart to Stravinsky as well as chamber music of Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Ravel. For Decca, he recorded the Concerto for Violin and Guitar by Aaron Jay Kernis with Sharon Isbin, conductor HughWolff and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. For BIS, he recorded Chen Yi’s concerto Folk Dance Suite. His recording of the concerto by Christopher Rouse on Ondine was recently named one of the best classical releases of 2004 by The New York Times.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)
Diane Ladd, Golden Globe– and British Academy Award–Winning Actress, Director, Producer, 7-28-06
Diane Ladd has been nominated three times each for Emmys and Oscars. She is the recipient of 23 awards, including a Golden Globe and a British Academy Award; and has been heralded by Time magazine as “one of the ten top actresses, not only in this country, but in the whole world.” As the writer and director of MRS. MUNCK, Diane won three Best Director awards and co-opened the Edinburgh Film Festival in Scotland. She has starred in many films, including the Academy Award Winners “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974), “Wild At Heart” (1990), and “Rambling Rose” (1992). Diane and her daughter, Laura Dern, made show-business history as the only mother/daughter duo to be nominated for an Oscar in the same film.
Diane’s book, Spiraling Through the School of Life, was released by Hay House, Inc. earlier this year. Her next book, Two Rebels with a Cause, should be in bookstores in Fall 2006. In it, she depicts the parallel struggles of Martha Mitchell and Diane Ladd as they fought for the rights of others in their plight to make America a better place.
Diane is the Founder and President of the Art & Culture Taskforce, a charitable organization dedicated to strengthening Education and the Arts in America. She's recognized as a leader in actively pursuing improvement in all facets of the creative arts. Diane is a member of the Board of Advisors for The National Foundation of Alternative Medicine; and is a nutritional lecturer, consultant, medical intuitive, and healer who has worked in tandem with many notable doctors for more than 20 years.
An astute business person, Diane’s creative and fiscal success is a strongpoint as President of Exxcell Entertainment, a film production company she founded in the late 1990s with her husband, Robert C. Hunter, Chairman and CEO. She is a Screen Actors Guild national board member, holding a number of noteworthy positions through the years and is active in seeking gainful work for her constituents. As a successful director, producer and actor, her lobbying efforts were instrumental in keeping US productions in America as she persuaded key members of Congress to pass tax legislation favorable to investors, the film industry, and its workforce.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
Pierre Parisien, Head Artistic Director, Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas, 7-28-06
As protector of the creative concept, it is Pierre Parisien’s responsibility to ensure that the artistic creation of each of the five Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas stay true to their form. A native of Montréal, Québec, Pierre is a degree-holder in Theatre from the University of Ottawa and worked for many years as a director, artistic director, stage manager, production manager, actor and coach for theatre companies throughout Québec and Ontario.
Pierre was the stage manager for Saltimbanco in Tokyo in 1994. From 1995-1998, he was Artistic Coordinator for the touring show Quidam in North America; following which he became Assistant to the Artistic Director for the re-staging of Saltimbanco for the launch of the Asia-Pacific Tour. From 1998-2005, Pierre was the Artistic Director of Saltimbanco, Alegría and Quidam during their respective Asia-Pacific Tours.
In 2005, Pierre was promoted to Head Artistic Director for the Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, which includes KÀ at MGM Grand, Mystère at Treasure Island, “O” at Bellagio, ZUMANITY, ANOTHER SIDE OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL at New York-New York Hotel and Casino, and the new production at Mirage, LOVE. He works with over 350 performers, as well as the artistic and coaching staff to preserve the creativity and artistic integrity for which Cirque du Soleil is known.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)
Professor Henry Adams, Professor of American Art, Case Western Reserve University, 7-28-06
Professor Henry Adams was recently singled out by Art News as one of the foremost experts in the American field. A graduate of Harvard University, he received his M.A. and Ph.D from Yale where he received the Frances Blanshard Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in art history. In 1985 he received the Arthur Kingsley Porter Prize of the College Art Association, the first time this had been awarded to an Americanist or a Museum Curator. In 1989 William Jewell College awarded him its distinguished service medal for his services to Kansas City and the Midwest. In 2001 he received the Northern Ohio Live Visual Arts Award for the best art exhibition of the year in Northern Ohio.
Dr. Adams has produced over 200 publications, including scholarly and popular articles, books, catalogues, and exhibitions catalogues. These focus principally on American artists of the 19th and early 20th century and include pieces on George Caleb Bingham, Thomas Cole, John F. Kensett, John La Farge, William Morris Hunt, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, George Bellows, Charles Burchfield, Thomas Hart Benton, Fairfield Porter, and David Hockney. His books include John La Farge, 1987, Thomas Hart Benton: An American Original, 1989, Thomas Hart Benton: Drawing from Life, 1990, Albert Bloch: The American Blue Rider, 1997, Viktor Schreckengost and 20th-Century Design, 2000, Eakins Revealed, 2005, and Andrew Wyeth: Master Drawings from the Artist’s Collection, 2006.
Dr. Adams has served as curator of Fine Arts at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, as curator of American Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, as Curator of American Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, as director of the Cummer Museum of Art in Jacksonville, FL, and as interim director of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Kansas City. He has also taught at the University of Illinois, the University of Pittsburgh, Colorado College, The University of Kansas, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He currently serves as Professor of American Art at Case Western Reserve University.
In 1989, in partnership with film maker Ken Burns, Dr. Adams produced a documentary on Thomas Hart Benton which was broadcast nationally on PBS to an audience of 20 million. His book on Thomas Hart Benton will be read from, and featured as a prop, in the forthcoming movie Prison Song, featuring Q-tip.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)
Judith Fugate and Medhi Bahiri, Co-Artistic Directors, Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY — 7-21-06
Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY was founded in 1997 by Co-Artistic Directors Judith Fugate and Medhi Bahiri.
Judith Fugate, former Principal Ballerina with New York City Ballet, danced roles in virtually every ballet in the NYCB repertoire, counting among her partners Peter Martins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Helgi Tomasson. She left the company in 1997 to pursue a career as freelance Guest Artist and Co-Artistic Director of Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY (formerly DanceGalaxy). Miss Fugate has toured extensively with groups led by renowned artists such as Mr. Baryshnikov, Cynthia Gregory, and Mr. Martins. She has appeared on Live from Lincoln Center with Ray Charles in Peter Martins’ ‘A Fool for You”. In the Metropolitan Opera's production of La Traviata, conducted by Placido Domingo, she was partnered by Fernando Bujones and Peter Boal.
Miss Fugate works as repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust and has staged his ballets in the Uniterd States, Europe, Asia, and South Africa.
Medhi Bahiri, International Guest Artist, brings a wide and diverse background in dance to his position as Co-Artistic Director of Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY. He has been Principal Dancer with Ballet West and Boston Ballet, and a member of Maurice Béjart's Twentieth Century Ballet. As Principal Guest Artist, Mr. Bahiri has appeared with: Ballet National de Mexico, Ballet de Santiago (Chile), Universal Ballet of Korea, Ballet du Louvre, Tulsa Ballet, and Ballet Philippines. Touring in the United States and Europe, his partners have included Cynthia Gregory, Ann Marie D'Angelo, Valentina Kozlova, Cheryl Yeager, Evelyn Cisneros, Marie-Christine Mouis, Christine Spizzo, Christina Fagundes, and Laura Young, among others. Mr. Bahiri is a winner of the First Prize of the Prix de Lausanne dance competition (recognized for his outstanding artistic achievement and original style) and the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. As a noncompetitor he was distinguished as Best Partner at the Jackson and Tokyo ballet Competitions.
The mission of Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY is to present audiences with the highest level of professionalism and artistry possible; cultivate, educate, and develop new audiences; provide expanded artistic opportunities for accomplished dancers and choreographers, and keep the cost of production and ticket prices affordable. As part of Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY audience development and community outreach, the company offers lecture/demonstrations, master classes, and open rehearsals.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)
Mitzi Lizárraga, Director of Development Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA — 7-21-06
The mission of the Museum of Photographic Arts, located in San Diego, CA, is to inspire, educate and engage the broadest possible audience through the presentation, collection, and preservation of photography, film and video. MoPA officially opened its doors on May 1, 1983 as one of the few museum facilities in the United States designed exclusively to collect and present the world's finest examples of photographic art. The appointment of nationally renowned curator/photographer Arthur Ollman as Executive Director brought visionary leadership and instant credibility to the nascent museum.
MoPA’s permanent collection currently includes more than 7000 photographs that span the history of photography. The museum's permanent collection was richly enhanced in 1992 with a bequest from the estate of the late photographer and Academy Award–winning filmmaker Lou Stoumen. In July 2002, the collection was again enhanced with the gift of the entire Nagasaki Journey: The Photographs of Yosuke Yamahata, August 10, 1945 archive. MoPA has produced 15 exhibitions that have traveled to museums around the globe and has published 16 exhibition catalogues.
After a one-year renovation and expansion project that quadrupled the museum's size, MoPA reopened March 4, 2000. The expansion included additional galleries, a classroom, print-viewing room, and a 20,000-volume library, as well as augmented archival facilities and support areas. In addition, the expansion includes a 226-seat state-of-the-art theater that fulfills the museum's mandate of presenting the arts of photography, video and film. In April 2006, founding Director Ollman retired from his position at the museum. In June, Deborah Klochko was appointed Executive Director.
Mitzi Lizárraga, Director of Development, joined MoPA in February 2006. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Lizárraga was the principal and CEO of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, an arts-focused school in partnership with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The George Washington University, and The District of Columbia Public Schools in Washington, D.C. In 2003, Ms. Lizárraga was a Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholar to Japan.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)
Pam Crowe-Weisberg, Executive Director, Kimball Art Center, Park City, UT — 7-21-06
The Kimball Art Center is a nonprofit community art center celebrating its 30th anniversary. It all began in 1976 when philanthropist Bill Kimball, along with support from members of the Park City community, renovated an abandoned garage to create a nonprofit community art center. Now, under the direction of Pam Crowe-Weisberg, the Kimball is expanding its community outreach and developing into one of the best art centers in the West.
Year-round, the center’s three galleries offer a variety of exhibitions. The Kimball plays host to significant national exhibitions, as well as to shows featuring up-and-coming local artists. In conjunction with each exhibition, regional schools tour the galleries and participate in art education and hands-on creative projects. The art center also offers art classes year round to both children and adults, and gives members access to ceramics, photography and painting studios.
The Kimball Art Center is the cultural hub of Park City. In addition to the annual Park City Kimball Arts Festival and the Kimball Art Auction & Gala, other special events include opening receptions for exhibitions, the annual Arte Latino, Art Talks, and Park City’s monthly Gallery Stroll with live jazz showcasing 23 of Park City’s galleries. The Kimball is open to the public and admission is free.
Pam Crowe-Weisberg is the Executive Director of the Kimball Art Center, located in Park City, UT. Pam Moved to Park City from New York City five years ago, after working in the fashion industry for 30 years. Pam received her undergraduate education in business at New York University and received her Masters degree in costume and textile design from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
Edward Morgano, Arts Supervisor for The New York City Department of Education’s Region Five Learning Support Center, 7/14/06, Part One
Edward Morgano is the Arts Supervisor for The New York City Department of Education’s Region Five Learning Support Center. He supervises visual arts, music, theater and dance for 113 schools in three community school districts in Brooklyn and Queens. Mr. Morgano is one of ten Regional Arts Supervisors assigned to oversee the kindergarten through high school arts programs for schools in their regions. Prior to that assignment he supervised arts education for Brooklyn high schools. As an experienced visual arts educator with over 35 years in New York City, he brings his experience as a classroom teacher and high school supervisor to his current role.
An important aspect of Mr. Morgano’s work is building strong ties between schools and cultural institutions, community based organizations and local artists and studios. In partnership with these organizations, he provides professional development workshops for superintendents, school based supervisors and teachers. While these workshops focus on arts education, they also provide professional development for teachers in other academic disciplines in an effort to integrate arts learning into all academic areas.
Mr. Morgano was on the committee to create the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Visual Arts, an innovative curriculum guide for arts teachers. Key components are its five Strands for Learning: arts making, arts literacy, interdisciplinary connections, using community and cultural resources and careers and lifelong learning in the arts. The second component is its benchmarks for students in grades 2, 5, 8 and 12. Teachers reach these benchmarks using the Blueprint as a guide rather than as a prescriptive lock step curriculum. The Blueprint is available at the New York City Project ARTS (Arts Restoration for the Arts) website. There are Blueprints for Visual Arts, Music, Theater and Dance, also listed on the Project ARTS website.
Mr. Morgano is on the Education Advisory Committee of the Queens Museum of Art and was the recipient of The School Art League, Charles Marshall Robertson Award, for outstanding contributions as an arts educator.
Posted by David Lemberg at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)
Edward Morgano, Arts Supervisor for The New York City Department of Education’s Region Five Learning Support Center, 7/14/06, Part Two
We continue our conversation with Edward Morgano, and talk about the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts and the Arts and Cultural Education Services Guide [PDF], and New York City schoolchildren participation in the acclaimed documentary, "Mad Hot Ballroom".
Posted by David Lemberg at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)