Art Connects

Los Angeles-based actress and community organizer Toyin Moses ’98 made a name for herself playing the role of Yolande in the Robey Theatre Company’s production of Knock Me A Kiss. She has also had roles on television shows and in films and commercials. Between productions, she dedicates her time to providing art experiences for disadvantaged youth and incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. Moses works wit h California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) — a nonprofit that provides low-cost legal services for artists — with the Arts in Corrections initiative. Currently, she is running a reentry program, Designing Creative Futures, that connects formerly incarcerated individuals with paid internships at art nonprofits. She has also worked with Inner-City Arts, a nonprofit in Los Angeles that provides arts education to the underserved youth of the Skid Row area. As school budgets get cut, the first things to go are art classes, and Inner-City Arts fills that void.

In add ition to serving as a class agent, Moses also serves as the AAEC vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is dedicated to creating a connected and caring community. She uses her experience and certificate in DEI from Cornell to bring everyone together. So far this year, she has hosted webinars with guest speakers to discuss bias, language, and identity.

Prep for Life

One of the most valuable lessons Molly Hanson ’00 learned on the Hilltop was how to take calculated risks. The confidence she gained has helped her transition through multiple careers.

After studying economics at Bates and some statistics at Northwestern, Hanson started working for CNN and the Turner Broadcasting System in strategic planning and sales. She leveraged her skill set and transitioned to a position in financial planning and wealth management — a role she maintained for ten years. In 2016, she accepted an invitation to serve on the Pomfret Board of Trustees. A year later, when she was between careers, she had the opportunity to join the Pomfret faculty to teach a one-term financial course. “It was awesome! I remain connected to some of my students to this day,” says Hanson. “It also informed my perspective as a Board member. I know how hard the students and faculty are working every day.”

Hanson is now doing business brokerage, which she absolutely loves. “I’ve had a few different careers and have never been afraid to transition to something new. I attribute that to my Pomfret Experience. My time as a student helped build my confidence and increased my willingness to try new things and take calculated risks.”

VassarPierce[formerPomfretstaffmember]and Laura Keeler Pierce ’03 are thrilled to announce the birthoftheirson,MatthewVassarPierceIII(Percy),on December21,2022.Percyispicturedinhisfavorite blanket,agiftfromJuliaand John Curtis ’58 a road trip around sites in Washington, DC; New York City; and then to upstate New York, where my husband, our children, my brother, and his family all got to meet my dad’s skeleton. I had to wait to deliver my dad’s skeleton to his school because they were out on holiday break. The film crew and I will resume in the next few months to complete the last leg of the physical journey. In the meantime, you can follow along this physical and emotional journey with me on my Instagram account @deaddaddytrip if you’re interested.

‘Life is short. We don’t have much time to gladden the hearts of those who walk this way with us.’ I wish I’d had more time with my parents and that they could have met my children. But I didn’t. My goal in documenting and sharing my story is to encourage us all to spread love, kindness, and vulnerability. Losing people we love is unfortunate, but it is also inevitable. I have learned that being open about my feelings, and being open to finding those moments of hope in the most desperate of times, has made me feel better — and I hope I can inspire you to do the same.”

Ted Cooke wrote, “I may be a little late, but it’s still fun to announce that Sarah Evans ’08 and I were married on August 14, 2021, on the hottest day of the summer, surrounded by family, friends, and 99.98% humidity. The union and celebration took place in Marion, Massachusetts, in Sarah’s grandmother’s garden. Sarah’s parents were married in the same spot, and she wore my family veil, which is over 100 years old. What a way to blend family histories! Sarah was joined by Ali D’Agostino ’08 and Sarah Annicelli ’08 at the altar as her bridesmaids.”

2006

Olivia (Gray) Konrath wrote, “My dad passed away in March 2017. His death wish was to become a skeleton on display in the science building of his high school, St. Paul’s School, in Concord, New Hampshire. It was a multi-year process, during which my mom was diagnosed with cancer (eight months after my dad died). She died while I was three months pregnant with my first child. Then my second child was born. Yet his skeleton has been completed.

W ith the help of my friend and Emmy award-winning director of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Erik Osterholm, I am making a documentary. It is about my dad, as well as about my journey through grief in the wake of the loss of my parents. A film crew followed me along in December 2022 as I picked up my dad’s completed skeleton from the home of world-renowned physical anthropologist Dr. David Hunt. We took the skeleton on

Kaitlin Zeek ’07 was married to Jarrod Robinson on August 13, 2022, in Newport, Rhode Island. Pomfret alumni in attendance were (l-r): Andrea Hunter Martone ’06, Micaela Long ’06, Jarrod, Kaitlin, Brian Flynn ’07, Ray Zeek ’11, Jennie Bellonio Male ’06, Taryn Cornelssen ’05