CLASS NOTES

Left to right: Ann Starodaj BCEP ’12, Isabelle Coler ’11, Lotte Allen ’10, Bartek Starodaj BCEP ’12, Thea Piltzecker ’11, Clare Conniff ’11, Sarah Lasseron ’11, Adam Kearney ’11, Rachel Heidenry ’11

2022

Joey Carbone has a new role as a paralegal specialist at the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. He was assigned to the Complex Fraud and Cybercrime unit, where he assists attorneys prosecuting cases involving healthcare fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. He is also studying for the LSAT and preparing his law school applications. Joey has recently joined a soccer team and has been enjoying all that New York City has to offer.

Jonja Merck is in New York City attending the MFA Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at New York University Tisch School for the Arts. As a composer in the program, he has written more than 15 songs within the first few weeks. He is also a music director, pianist, and conductor for musical theater productions. Jonja is a proud member of MUSE (Musicians United for Social Equity). @jonjamerck

Maxwell Toth is working as the principal gifts and campaign management coordinator for University of Massachusetts Amherst, assisting with the logistical side of the university’s advancement division (inclusive of fundraising, alumni engagement, and communications) and ongoing capital campaign—he may be a Minuteman at present, but he’ll always be a Raptor at heart. During the summer of 2022 he completed an internship in the advancement department of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, an experience that got his feet wet in the world of nonprofit philanthropy. He resides in the Connecticut River Valley with his family and rollicking black lab, Oliver.

2019

Piper De Palma is a filmmaker and actor based in Los Angeles. She studied film and theater at Bard and works at Tribeca Productions. Piper made her feature debut in Spiral Farm (2019), which premiered at Slamdance Film Festival in Park City and won best film at Taormina Film Fest. She recently completed her first short, “Carmilla,” starring Avis Zane ’21 and Hannah Eisendrath ’22. The film won the audience award at the Wicked Queer film festival in Boston and has been shown at numerous festivals around the world including Nòt Film Fest, Soho Horror Film Festival, and the Rio LGBTQIA+ Festival de Cinema. “Carmilla” is available for streaming on Kinoscope.

2017

Katarina Ferrucci is in her final year of candidacy at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School for her PhD in clinical and population health research, studying quality of care and patient experience among transgender and gender-diverse patients in primary care and mental-health treatment settings. She is also a certified nutrition coach and operates an independent, virtual business: KAF Nutrition Coaching.

Sarah Ghandour (BM) received a Fulbright Research Award to Slovenia, where she will research and learn folk and classical Slovenian music.

Congratulations to Rose Nelis (BM), who joined the Cassatt String Quartet earlier this year. Acclaimed as one of America’s outstanding ensembles, the New York City–based Cassatt String Quartet was formed in 1985.

2016

Ashley Sheppard-Quince began working as a development executive at Paramount+ Originals in February 2022, after previously working at Nickelodeon, Creative Artists Agency, HBO, A24, Focus Features, and Searchlight Pictures.

2013

Danielle Sinay and classmates Michael Anzuoni, Wyatt Bertz, Nolan English, Tuck Gaisford, Miriam Huppert, Imani Jones, Stephen Kovalcik, Ian Smedley, and Emma Thake are getting very excited for the 10th reunion and want you to be there too! The Class of 2013 will be hosting the Annandale Roadhouse on Friday, featuring live music and cocktails —memory lane all weekend long. Make your plans and follow us on Instagram @bardclassof2013.

2011

Izzy Barber, also a 2008 graduate of BHSEC Manhattan, had a painting exhibition, CRUDE FUTURES, in spring 2022 at the James Fuentes Gallery, owned by James Fuentes ’98, in New York City.

Giampaolo Bianconi became associate curator of modern and contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in October. He came to AIC from Museum Brandhorst, in Munich, Germany, where he was a curator.

Rosie Lopeman has been teaching oil painting at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture for the last three years. She is also privately teaching plein air cityscape painting workshops in New York City.

Thea Piltzecker is a producer for season seven of The Circus on Showtime. The new season began on September 25, tracking the midterm elections, Trump’s legal cases, and breaking political news. The Circus airs at 8 pm on Sundays and is available for streaming. Thea was also married in September and was overjoyed to celebrate with Ann Starodaj BCEP ’12, Isabelle Coler, Lotte Allen ’10, Bartek Starodaj BCEP ’12, Clare Conniff, Sarah Lasseron, Adam Kearney, and Rachel Heidenry

2010

Hannah Sheehan was interviewed in May 2022 by the digital publication Welcome to the Jungle, where she discussed the sociopolitical implications of student loan debt.

SONNET : LEAST SAID

Lines of Engagement derived from John Ashbery’s “Soonest Mended”

That a poem changes information into knowledge differently from other discursive forms.

That a poem’s meaning is an incipience that alters as it gathers.

That thinking with a poem alerts or awakens the sensorium.

That the affective bearing of a poem is carried by its tone as much or more than its subjects.

That a poem discovers its objects and incidents through a syntactical matrix of relation.

That poems are movements in time; they are not an arrest or capture of time.

That the perception of poetic beauty or joy is related to the unexpected.

That clarity can be mysterious.

That poems can neutralize hierarchies of value.

That humor in a poem is an aspect of generosity.

That anything can happen in a poem is a kind of optimism.

That poems are experiences which, as William James said, are “what I agree to attend to.”

That poems are acts of attention in several registers simultaneously.

That poems are events, perpetually altering the way today becomes tomorrow.

Ann Lauterbach, David and Ruth Schwab Professor of Languages and Literature and faculty in the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, has been at Bard since 1997. Her 11th volume of poetry, Door (Penguin Books), is scheduled for publication in March 2023. Lauterbach’s collection Or to Begin Again was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award in poetry and she is the recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships.

2007

Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford and his collective will be curating and serving as the artistic directors of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

2003

Mollie Meikle left her job with the Office of the Mayor of New York City and has been diligently collecting National and State Park Passes. She’s counting down the days until her 20th reunion and can't wait to see everyone. Mollie and fellow reunion-lovers/ committee members Dumaine Williams, Pia Carusone, Juliet Morrison, JP Kingsbury, Cynthia Conti-Cook, Rebeccah Johnson, Eben Kaplan, and Corey Sullivan encourage everyone in the class of ’03 to make the trip back to Annandale this May—20th y’all! Follow your class on Instagram @bardcollege2003.

2002

In June, Tate DeCaro published a book, Are We There Yet? An Illustrated Journey of Coping & Creativity During COVID-19, which pairs illustrations by 20 talented artists with “pandemic accomplishments” (from 2020–21) from more than 50 contributors. Learn more at NewYorkTate.com.

2000

Julius Masri recently released a solo album, The Arabic Room, under the project name Mephisto Halabi on the German label Unrock. The album has received great press and was featured prominently in such publications as Wire, Pop Matters, and Foxy Digitalis Julius is also the recipient of a 2022 University of the Arts Creative Research and Innovation Grant, as well as a summer fellowship at Yaddo. The album can be heard here: mtimusic.bandcamp.com/album/thearabic-room.

1994

Hilary Lopez was named executive director of the Reno (Nevada) Housing Authority last July. Lopez, who has

more than 20 years of experience in affordable housing finance and policy, was a senior associate at Praxis Consulting Group, structuring financing for affordable housing projects and utilizing federal programs and private financing to help clients build and preserve affordable housing.

Craig Peterson was named president of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) last October. He had been vice president for visual and performing arts at the Henry Street Settlement and was previously director of programs for Gibney Dance. LMCC produces the River to River Festival and runs the Arts Center at Governors Island. The organization will celebrate its 50th year in 2023.

1992

Jonah Gensler is chief executive officer of LSA Family Health Service, a leading community nonprofit supporting thousands of low-income and immigrant families in East Harlem. Jonah brings deep experience in nonprofit executive leadership, social services, and community engagement. He previously served as an executive leader at Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House, Ironbound Community Corporation, Trickle Up New York, and Samaritan House.

Andrea Stein published Typecast: What Happens When Your Ex Writes the Script? in September. The novel follows Callie Dressler, who thought she’d put her past where it belonged— behind her. But when her ex-boyfriend brings their breakup to the big screen, she can no longer deny that their history has been looming over her all along.

1990

Last fall, Laura Muller started as director for STEM and undergraduate education at the Jackson Lab in Bar Harbor, Maine. One of her responsibilities is directing its Summer Student Program, founded in 1924, which last summer hosted its 87th cohort of students, including Bard student Fuadur Omi ’24

Margaret Sawyer retired from teaching high school visual arts in New Haven, Connecticut, and has completed a photographic retrospective of those years, published by City School. Now, with the inspiration of her children and grandchildren, she has turned to publishing children’s books.

1984

In 1993, John Noakes received his PhD in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, he was named dean of the school of education and associate provost at Arcadia University, in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

1970

Jane Evelyn Atwood was featured in the New York Times for her photo book Rue des Lombards

Peter Boffey has published the sixth and final volume of The Three Naked Ladies of Cliffport Fifty years in gardening, landscape design, nursery production, and the seed trade in Northern California and Oregon as well as his experiences while traveling—with brief residences— in France, Israel, and Morocco, have deeply informed this fiction. Now retired after 20 years as a student and teacher of the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education, he enjoys exploring the Pacific states with a focus on flora, fauna, geology, and cultural history. A grandfather, Peter lives with his wife, Ophira, in the San Francisco Bay area, regularly volunteering as a docent at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek and serving as a roving ambassador at the University of California Botanical Garden in Berkeley. peterboffey.com

Sarah Sledge and Tom Begich ’82, photo by John Hayes

LEGIS-LATER

Tom Begich ’82 was certainly not the only one at his 40th reunion this past summer who was on the verge of a career shift—retirement age looms, after all—but he was certainly the only state senator about to leave politics behind. Begich was elected to the Alaska Senate in 2016, and three years later he was elected minority leader by his caucus, focusing on issues including education, and especially pre-K; alternative energy; social justice; and healthcare. Despite his progressive politics, he was able to work with Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy to get unanimous approval of the Alaska Reads Act from the Republican-controlled Senate. The bill was signed into law by Dunleavy in June. But the resistance Begich faced from Democratic colleagues who didn’t “want to give the governor a win” stole some of the joy from the accomplishment. He waited until after the election filing deadline before making the surprise announcement of his retirement. He was criticized by some in his party for his timing, since it meant fewer of their candidates could enter the race, but his loyalty was to the people, not the party. Just as he considered the Alaska Reads Act a win for Alaskans, rather than some sort of political touchdown, he felt that his aide Löki Gale Tobin would be the best person to succeed him. Tobin, who had worked closely with Begich for three years, told the Anchorage Daily News, “It’s not often that an older white man is going to step aside and say, ‘I think it’s time to make space for a younger woman of color who is as connected and deeply engaged with the community as I am, but may not be given this opportunity because of whatever factors come down societywise.’” In returning to music and storytelling, Begich, who will receive a John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service at this year’s Commencement, hasn’t given up on changing lives. “My goal is to reach people where they live,” he says. “My songs and my poetry speak to that. They reflect a life devoted to our community, and designed to move us further down the road.” So keep an eye out. Begich and his wife, singersongwriter Sarah Sledge, might be coming to a house party near you. To keep tabs on their schedule, go to tombegich.com.