Edge - Winter 2011 by The University of the Arts

edge

the magazine of

the university of the arts

WINTER2011

LETTER FROM THE President

The world we inhabit faces increasingly complex and intersecting challenges of many kinds — economic, social, environmental. Design represents a unique approach to responding to such challenges. Traditionally, design has been thought of as a way to present information or make products more usable or appealing. Today, government, businesses, and even the general public increasingly see design as an effective mode of problem solving. In this issue of Edge, we examine the expanding role of design, the rise of “Design Thinking,” and what steps may be necessary for the various design disciplines to hold the new ground they are taking — and even to build on it. In two related pieces, we take a look at DesignPhiladelphia, a partnership with the University of the Arts that is the largest celebration of design of its kind in the country; and we feature a question-and-answer session with influential Graphic , , Design alumni Howard Belk ( 81) and Justin Peters ( 91), leaders of the international strategic branding and communications firm Siegel+Gale. We appreciate your readership and encourage you to send us your thoughts on Edge. You can also stay up-to-date on the many events and activities at the University of the Arts by subscribing to the University’s monthly e-newsletter, Verge, by going to uarts.edu/verge.

Sean T. Buffington President The University of the Arts

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4 DESIGNING A BETTER WORLD How ‘Design Thinking’ can change everything

contentS 26 ANIMATING ANIMAL COLLECTIVE

Animation grads’ work on indie rockers’ ‘kaleidoscopic’ music video wins acclaim

From South Broad to ‘Salt’and back again

Easing the Pain of Parking in Philly

Hollywood super-producer Ric Kidney ’75 (Photography/Film) returns to his alma mater

Graphic Design students re-envision the city’s formerly ‘rage-inducing’ parking kiosks

Dance at UArts: Passing the Torch Renowned dance educator Donna Faye Burchfield takes the reins from retiring director Susan Glazer

Alumni notes 50

faculty/STAFF notes 38

in memoriam 65

Alumni News 42

development NOTES 68

alumni Profiles 46

FROM THE ARCHIVES 74

LETTERS

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Sean T. Buffington President Paul F. Healy EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Vice President of University Communications

Jessica Frye ’02,’03 (Illustration, Art Education) Art Director

James Maurer PRODUCTION MANAGER

Contributing Photographers Sean Dyroff Bobby Fisher Cassie Gardner Dave Jackson Michael Kaulkin Paul Kolnik Lani Lee Matthew Lester Photography Katherine Mundy ’12 (Industrial Design) Andy Oster ’00 (Photography) B. Proud Victor Rodriguez ’10 (Photography) Matt Salacuse Diane Victor Kelly Wrage ’10 (Photography) Ken Yanoviak

Contributing Writers Laura J. Armstrong Dana Rodriguez Ashlea Morrell Amanda Black Andrew Donato ’12 (Writing for Film and Television) Mara Jill Herman ’07 (Musical Theater) Beth Kephart Lisa Potter Oster ’99 (Dance Education) HaleyJane Rose ’14 (Theater) Damien Shembel ’07 (Musical Theater) Lindsey Stevens ’12 (Dance) Zachary Wolk ’12 (Writing for Film and Television)

Cover IMAGE Christy Passagno Senior work by Leah Chilcutt performed by Sean Rozanski and Jerrica Blankenship, 2010

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Edge c/o University Communications, The University of the Arts, 320 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19102

Edge, Volume 1, Number 4

Letters or comments on any topic are welcome and can be sent to Edge c/o The Office of University Communications, The University of the Arts, 320 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102; or can be e-mailed to news@uarts.edu.

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Kelly Wrage

Edge is the magazine of the University of the Arts. Readers are encouraged to submit ideas for original articles about University students, faculty and alumni; advancements in arts and arts education; and visual, performing and media arts. The submission of artwork for reproduction is also encouraged. Please include contact information when submitting art. Unless requested, artwork will not be returned.

Walk Cycle II Faculty member Laura Frazure

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KEN YANOVIAK

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

really like the magazine a lot so nothing to complain about. I guess a suggestion may be to quarry more articles from the field. It would be nice to see a “discussion” style forum through articles where a conversation is posited between current students and the field (alumni, faculty, industry leaders, etc.). The topic could be posed in one issue, articles/opinions collected, and then printed in the next issue. Topics that I would be interested in reading about (or contributing towards!) are: the relevance of various respective arts modes to contemporary society, and how art is presented and has it changed recently, if so why and at what cost or benefit? Thanks for listening!

t’s always great to get the Edge magazine. Being able to see behind the curtains and studio doors to the motivations and ideas that spur the creative spark is very motivating. It might be nice to follow “social” trends and see if alumni and students can/ will weigh in on issues both critical and professional, either in the book or online. This way, like-minded artists will have one more way to find each other and the rest of us can listen-in on the discussions. Keep up the great work! STEVIE BLACK ’84 (PAINTING)

Swampscott, MA

Peter G. Kalivas ’88 (modern dance)

San Diego, CA

would be interested in reading more about what is going on with recent graduates. I think that following three or four, perhaps over the course of a year, and then writing a story about it would be interesting. It might give current students a better idea of what to expect when they graduate. It’s fascinating to see where people end up and how they’re using their degrees, sometimes in fields very different from their majors. Melissa Zetts ’09 (PAINTING)

Gaithersburg, MD Please send all comments, kudos and criticisms to EDGE c/o University Communications, Letters to the Editor, 320 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 or e-mail news@uarts.edu. (left) Kelly Wrage, Untitled, Photography Senior Thesis Work (above) Lindsey Allen Dickson, Rope Weaving, Fibers Senior Thesis Work

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DESIGNING a better W O R L D “Designers express changes in society and changes in public needs. Design can change the world.” — Andrej Kupetz, Managing Director,

German Design Council

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“Design.” Merriam-Webster defines it as “to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan.” Encompassing a wide range of disciplines, design has become much more than the simple dictionary definition. It is increasingly being given a place on the global stage as a potential provider of solutions, not just to consumer needs, but also to solving what have been considered intractable societal issues. From sustainability to economic recovery, iPads to comfortable chairs and cool cars, we see designers’ hands at work on a wide range of efforts to solve, to create, to improve.

(above) Michael Berger, The Wheel/Connections Graphic Design Communications Studio

The ascendancy of “Design Thinking” creates a moment of potential for design, according to Chris Myers, chair of the University of the Arts’ Graphic Design program. He believes that “Design Thinking” can be applied to social problems, curricular structures, and as a method of teaching and learning within our public school curricula.

“There is an identifiable sequence of steps that can be followed to examine, re-examine and open inquiry on a dilemma,” he says. “As opposed to the linear, tightly focused line of scientific or mathematical inquiry, ‘Design Thinking’ can flex to incorporate serendipity and the interconnections of ideas as they arrive throughout the process.” But he also points to the surprise of some of history’s top inventors and designers at how the products of their imaginations were used once they were released into the hands of the users. “People are mercurial, fascinating and inventive, and even in the direst circumstance can defy prediction.” As a result, Myers sees design as a process that requires both innovation and awareness of potential consequence. “What might be most important in ‘Design Thinking’ is that it recognizes the potential victims of the designer’s decisions and incorporates these people as active participants in the development of the solution.”

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From B-School to D-School Chris Garvin, an interactive designer and dean of the University of the Arts College of Media and Communication, sees the designer’s approach as exactly what is needed to address a wide range of issues facing the global community. “The business school model has been the one most followed to this point,” he says. “It is the opposite of that of design programs. Innovation and risk-taking are at the core of design. Even the best business schools teach their students to value safety and predictability over all else. They pore over case studies to learn the models that are most likely to provide the maximum return for the least amount of risk. “Design, in contrast, asks what CAN be, not what IS. And the answer constantly evolves and changes. A BFA teaches a student to analyze and synthesize, to develop a solution, then to repeat the process to improve the solution. It’s an ‘iterative fearlessness.’ “As Thomas Edison once put it, ‘I make more mistakes than anyone else I know, and sooner or later, I patent most of them.’” Howard Belk ’81 (Graphic Design), co-CEO and chief creative officer of Siegel+Gale, one of the world’s premier strategic branding firms, sees that paradigm in his interactions with leaders of clients such as Allstate, American Express, Pfizer, The Y and Sony. “I’ve left successful meetings with Fortune 100 CEOs and they’ve asked me where I got my MBA. When I tell them no, I have a BFA, their faces light up and they pepper me with questions on what opportunities they may be missing. “These folks know the business environment needs both leftand right-brain thinkers and that designers bring a unique analytical approach to problem-solving. Designers are quite

unconstrained and optimistic when envisioning success. They are open to unusual ideas and solutions, challenge expectations and aren’t afraid to take things in unusual directions.” (See page 10 for more with Howard Belk.) Global Spotlight on Design Design as a whole has moved into an unprecedented moment in the spotlight. An example: in honoring designers at this year’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum Awards, First Lady Michelle Obama emphasized the ubiquity and potential power of design. “What you do impacts just about every moment of our lives – from the words we read, to the public spaces we enjoy, to the devices that help us do our jobs and run our homes and care for our families,” she told the honorees. “Your work can determine whether a family has shelter or whether a village has clean drinking water. It can help fight disease, educate a child and ensure we pass on a cleaner, healthier planet to all our children and grandchildren.” Ironically, it is the very ascendency of design as a force for change that may necessitate a closer look at how we are developing those who will inherit its reins. Bruce Nussbaum, writing on design in Business Week, points to a perceived lag in design innovation between business – which he sees as the leader – and academia. “Most of the evolution of design into Design/Innovation has taken place within the private business sector. Design/Innovation consultancies, not the schools, have led the way. The embrace of social sciences by design began in places such as IDEO, Continuum, Ziba, Smart and Jump…the vigor now infusing design appears to be coming from outside the field from non-designers. And it may very well be just fine that non-designers take design to the next level. But probably not.”

Chalk drawing by students announcing the DesignPhiladelphia Festival, outside Hamilton Hall.

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KATHERINE MUNDY â&#x20AC;&#x2122;12

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“Up to now, designers have ceded power to the top of the business structure: now for the first time they are poised to seize that power, which is why more attention is being paid to fundamentally changing the way we train designers,” he says. “Many colleges and universities have developed designers with excellent practical skills, but who have been trained in outdated modes. Transformative design can’t occur without the intersection of design, business and cultural knowledge, and in-depth familiarity with technology.”

Bryce Gibson

The Cocktail Party Paradigm Garvin, the designer and dean, agrees.

And he sees one more imperative: call it the “cocktail party paradigm.” “Design graduates need the ability to carry on that cocktail party conversation: they need the breadth and depth of general knowledge – of economics, literary theory, politics – to be able to envision design in the kind of broader cultural context that’s needed. While we have to maintain respect for virtuosity, pushing them to develop a broader view will help them to envision what’s coming, and not fall back on what’s already here.”

More recently, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs echoed the British statesman and scholar when he said, “I’m one of those people who think that Thomas Edison and the light bulb changed the world a lot more than Karl Marx ever did.

Robin Miller

One thing that most everyone – designers, CEOs and government leaders – can agree on is that it is nearly impossible to hyperbolize the impact of design on our lives. Winston Churchill famously observed that “we shape our buildings, and thereafter they shape us.”

(top to bottom) DesignPhiladelphia Event Signage Antiques of the Future at the Design Center at Philadelphia University Philly {heart} Design at the F.U.E.L. Gallery

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Shan Ju Lin

“And we have this incredible chance to do that again in the next five years.”

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University of the Arts and DesignPhiladelphia Partner to Stage One of America’s Largest Design Festivals Sixth annual event featured work by 500 designers in a wide range of disciplines

Q: What do you call an event that features lectures, studio tours, exhibition openings and an experiment in digitally projected LED light graffiti? A: The sixth annual DesignPhiladelphia, one of the nation’s largest design celebrations, staged in partnership with the University of the Arts – and that was just opening night of the city-wide festival. The 11-day event held in October 2010 presented 150 events featuring almost 500 designers in disciplines including architecture, landscape and interior design, as well as fashion, graphic, product and multimedia design, and more. “The University of the Arts is an incubator for the next generation of designers and innovators,” says DesignPhiladelphia co-founder and executive director Hilary Jay, who launched the event in 2005. “University of the Arts students will have the power to DESIGNPHILADELPHIA contribute to society by making HAS become an places distinctive and fascinating, enlightening and thrilling, essential component productive and mobilized. And that is what DesignPhiladelphia of design culture is about at its core – celebratand community ing the creative forces at work in this region and commending in the city Greater Philadelphia as an incomparable place to live, work, play and grow. What a perfect fit.”

book signings and product launches. Along with panels on sustainable fashion design and adaptive materials, the lineup included a lighting design challenge that gave participants the chance to produce a prototype; a show of furniture, lighting and jewelry made from trashed skateboards; and “Philly Works,” a survey of design, craft and manufacturing in the region that included an exhibit of local products, as well as a catalog and online database. “DesignPhiladelphia has become an essential component of design culture and community in the city,” says University of the Arts president Sean Buffington, who notes that the school has had a long history of involvement with the festival: former Industrial Design faculty member Jamer Hunt was a co-founder along with Jay. The match makes even more sense going forward, says Buffington, as the University makes plans for an integrated school of design to bring together all of its design-based programs. “To be able to partner with DesignPhiladelphia as we build that new school is really exciting,” he says. Beth Van Why, DesignPhiladelphia’s programming director and a University of the Arts adjunct associate professor of Industrial Design, says the celebration is a natural fit for the University. “DesignPhiladelphia brings designers to campus and the city, augmenting curriculum and exposing students to a broader range of topics and discussions. This partnership allows both entities to highlight the strengths and successes of the other.”

Expanded by nearly a week over its five predecessors, the 2010 festival featured more than 100 exhibitions, workshops, open studios, lectures, street happenings,

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view from the top

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Howard Belk ’81 (Graphic Design) [opposite, top] is co-CEO and chief creative officer of Siegel+Gale [opposite, bottom], one of the world’s premier strategic branding firms; Justin Peters ’91 (Graphic Design) is the global creative director of S+G, which is headquartered in New York with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Dubai, Shanghai, Beijing and Hamburg. Siegel+Gale has created comprehensive branding programs for organizations including 3M, AARP, Allstate, American Express, Comcast, Dell, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Girl Scouts of America, Microsoft, the NBA, the Reagan Library, Sony, The Y and Yahoo, among many others. Edge asked Belk and Peters to share some thoughts on the importance of design in an increasingly connected world, how they began on their paths to the top of their industry and what current design students should do to be successful.

Edge: It seems that with the increasing global focus on design as a way of approaching issues on both large and small scales, it must be an ideal time to be a designer.

Peters: In design, it’s not just about personal expression, it’s about problem solving; and when creative people work collaboratively, whether it’s in school or in a professional studio or agency, that work with its multiple Howard Belk: It’s a phenomenally exciting perspectives can be more relevant and at the time to be in design. It’s possible to do im- same time less expected… perfect for driving pactful work that touches millions of people; change in our complex world. the world is more connected than ever, and that is increasing the influence of designers. Edge: Both of you are University of the Arts alumni. What or who influenced you the Justin Peters: Now, more than ever, design- most during your college years? ers have the ability to effect positive change in social and cultural groups of all sizes. Belk: The Graphic Design faculty, certainly. There are lots of opportunities for creative Ken Hiebert, Hans Allemann, Bill Longfolks who take the time to observe the world hauser, Christine Zelinsky. And Ken Cararound them and interpret what’s going bone came in from New York as a guest on to express their points of view through lecturer. Justin eventually worked for him. design. (Editor’s note: Ken Carbone, co-founder and chief creative director of the Carbone Edge: Why is that the case? Smolan Agency in New York City, is one of America’s most highly respected graphic deBelk: The business environment has a need signers and an alum of UArts.) for both left- and right-brain thinkers. Designers bring a very analytical approach to Peters: Chris Myers recommended me to problem-solving, and they are comfortable Ken. The faculty’s network started the envisioning surprisingly fresh interpretations wheels of my career in motion and the influof success. The most successful designers, ence of the faculty continues today. and people in general, are open to unusual ideas and solutions; they challenge expecta- Belk: That’s the same way I got my first job. tions and take things in unusual directions. Department Chair Ken Hiebert made a call recommending me to UArts alum Wynn Medinger.

FOCUS FEATURES ON DESIGN

Edge: How did your experience at the University shape you as designers and creative professionals? Belk: I was working harder than I ever had, pulling the occasional all-nighter and loving it. The studio environment generated excitement and encouraged students to perform at such a high level. It was my first taste of really applying myself to an endeavor that I hoped would define me. The intensity of the experience, especially in my junior and senior years, set me up for the New York design world.

courtesy of siegal+gale

Q & A with branding and design leaders Howard Belk ’81 and Justin Peters ’91

Peters: I was into art as a kid, but it was something I did on my own. It became clear in college that, for me, creativity was going to be about collaboration. There was a real sense of that in the Graphic Design program – challenging each other, spirited critiques and problem-solving together.

Peters: One of the biggest challenges for creatives when we get to the university level is that we try to define our style too quickly; jockeying for position among everyone else, the other littler fish in a bigger pond. We need to pay attention, be open and try not to “discover” ourselves too quickly. Belk: Pay attention, especially to alternative opinions you may hear. Look beneath the surface of what you’re asked to do and what you’re learning. Examine the problem. Look for context. How does this project connect with the world around you? They’ll find they can go beyond what they thought they could.

courtesy of siegal+gale

Edge: So what advice would you give to current design students?

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shomaT yhitneW

CHOREOGRAPHER, MOMIX FOUNDER MOSES PENDLETON headlines 132nd commencement President Sean T. Buffington presided over the University’s 132nd commencement ceremony held May 20, 2010, that included nearly 600 graduates, the largest graduating class in the University’s history. Famed choreographer and MOMIX dance company founder Moses Pendleton received an honorary doctorate of fine arts (HDFA) and delivered the keynote address. One of America’s most innovative and widely performed choreographers and directors, Pendleton is a founding member of the groundbreaking Pilobolus Dance Theater and formed MOMIX in the early 1980s. Retired executive director of the Settlement Music School, Robert Capanna ’73 (Composition) was also honored with an HDFA. Peggy Amsterdam, the former president of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance who passed away on December 26, 2009, after battling cancer, received an HDFA posthumously. Clare Anne O’Malley (Musical Theater) gave the Valedictory Address and the President’s Award for academic and artistic excellence was given to Sebastian Brauer (Industrial Design), J.J. Sereday (Multimedia), Mark Allen (Instrumental Performance) and H. John Thompson (graduate program in Ceramics, Painting and Sculpture).

Silver Star Alumni Award honorees are selected because they are role models for graduating seniors and represent the tradition of educational and artistic excellence that the University’s faculty works hard to achieve. One of the nation’s leading furniture makers, Alphonse Mattia ’69 (Dimensional Design), received the College of Art and Design Silver Star Alumni Award; Pilobolus Dance Theater Rehearsal Director and Artistic Associate Renee Jaworski ’94 (Modern Dance) received the Silver Star Award from the College of Performing Arts. Justin Rubich (Art and Design), Jose Saca (Media and Communication) and Mark Allen (Performing Arts) were honored for maintaining the highest grade point averages in each of their colleges. Writing for Film and Television Professor Diane Walsh earned the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award. The Mary Louise Beitzel Award for Distinguished Teaching went to Museum Studies Professor Polly McKenna-Cress. Art Education Professor Randy Granger was awarded the Richard C. von Hess Faculty Prize. The President’s Award for Distinguished Faculty went to Mikhail Sergeev, a Liberal Arts adjunct associate professor.

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CHRISTY PASSAGNO

LANI LEE

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UArts Alumni Hit the Big Time on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Fox-TV’s hit show focuses the spotlight on talented singer, dancers Fox-TV’s hit show “So You Think You Can Dance” (SYTYCD) seems to have a love affair with University of the Arts students and recent alumni. Three of them have made memorable impressions on the show in the past year: singer Christina Perri and dancers Russell Ferguson and DJ Smart. ‘Jar of Hearts’ Climbs the Charts Known for helping to popularize singers such as Katy Perry, OneRepublic and Lady Gaga, SYTYCD wrote another chapter in that success story with Perri, a University of the Arts Communication alumna. After her ballad “Jar of Hearts” was featured on the show last summer as a backdrop to a dance piece, the song started climbing the Billboard and iTunes charts, catapulting the 24-year-old into the spotlight. SYTYCD’s producers were so impressed with viewer reaction that they invited Perri back to play the song live two weeks later. Her stripped-down piano performance pushed “Jar of Hearts” even higher up the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it hit No. 1 on Amazon’s digital singles chart. The breakup song also sold an astounding 200,000 downloads in just three weeks. Since then, Perri has signed a record deal with Atlantic Records, released her debut EP, “The Ocean Way Sessions,” and performed on “The Early Show” on CBS and both “The Tonight Show” and “Conan” late-night talk shows. She also hit the road for her first live tour, opening shows for artists including Jason Mraz. Perri grew up outside Philadelphia in a musical family (her brother Nick is a guitarist in the hard rock band Shinedown) and taught herself to play guitar by watching the late Blind Melon frontman Shannon Hoon. She attended the University of the Arts on a scholarship in 2006, but took a leave of absence a year later to do some soul searching. She spent

that summer in Italy with her father’s extended family, then packed up her guitar, headed to Los Angeles, married and divorced, and was waiting tables at the Melrose Place Café. But all that has changed now. “It doesn’t really feel real yet. It’s been a whirlwind,” the still-shocked songstress told OnTheRedCarpet.com. “But it is real, and ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ has just changed my whole life.” UArts Dancers Dazzle University of the Arts dancers have made quite a splash on the show as well. Russell Ferguson won the 2009 competition, taking home $250,000, then headlining a national dance tour, making the cover of Dance Spirit magazine and starring in a dance performance on the Academy Awards telecast. Ferguson was a sophomore in the University of the Arts Dance Certificate program when he left after the Spring 2009 semester to compete on the popular show. The Boston native’s specialty is “krumping,” an energetic type of street dance that features expressive and exaggerated moves. After his win, he praised the University of the Arts’ “open environment” and its dance faculty, citing in particular Kim Bears-Bailey, Zane Booker, Crystal Frazier and Curt Haworth. Ballet senior DJ Smart performed a stirring solo contemporary dance number with shackles on his wrists set to Kanye West’s “Say You Will” on a July 2010 episode. The Detroit native, who performed the piece at his Las Vegas SYTYCD audition but didn’t advance to the show’s competition episodes, blew away the audience and critics. LA Times blogger Claire Zulkey called the number “gorgeous,” Baltimore Sun blogger Sarah Kelber called Smart “amazing” and wondered “why isn’t he on the show as a contestant?” and a Houston Chronicle writer labeled the performance “eye-popping.” (top left to right) Christina Perri, DJ Smart (opposite) Russell Ferguson

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From the University of the Arts to the Red Carpet Hollywood Super-Producer Returned to his Alma Mater to Talk about FiLmmaking at ‘Homecoming and Family Days’

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COURTESY OF RIC KIDNEY

RIC KIDNEY

COURTESY OF RIC KIDNEY

FEATURES

To say that Ric Kidney ’75 (Photography/Film) is living the movie cliché of “local-boy-makes-good-in Hollywood” would be a blockbuster-sized understatement. The movie producer and director has worked on dozens of hit films and with some of the biggest names in the business: Al Pacino, Bruce Willis, Reese Witherspoon, Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Kevin Costner, Will Smith and Drew Barrymore, to name a few. He teamed up with Angelina Jolie as executive producer of last summer’s blockbuster “Salt,” which has grossed more than $290 million worldwide. Kidney returned to Philadelphia for the University of the Arts’ annual “Homecoming & Family Days” last October, speaking to a packed auditorium of alumni, students, faculty members and staff. Eager to talk about his artistic roots, he offered his perspective on the exciting and competitive entertainment industry. “If it wasn’t for the University of the Arts, I don’t know where I would be,” he says. “I would probably be a lawyer.” A wide smile appears. “And not an entertainment lawyer, most likely a divorce lawyer.” Now living in Malibu, Calif., with his wife and dogs, Kidney grew up in Bethlehem, Pa. In his teens, his family moved to Havertown and then Allentown, where his parents still live today. Kidney became interested in photography and after high school, began putting together a portfolio. “It was at that time I realized I needed to find a school with a real photography department,” he continues. “The University of the Arts had a good photography program and it was also the school where my parents went and where they met.” In between his junior and senior years, Kidney spent the summer in New York City doing freelance projects. This freelance work helped him land his first job for a Philadelphia company, Filmmakers, following his graduation. He spent his time there editing, directing and shooting industrial movies, commercials and documentaries. After five years and itching to

get more into the storytelling side of things, Kidney packed his bags and headed to Los Angeles. The rest, as they say in the movies, is history. As a producer, Kidney is the problem solver on set. He manages the personnel, money and crew, working as the liaison between all departments and collaborating with the director and studio on which actors and actresses to hire. Prior to “Salt,” he was executive producer on Eddie Murphy’s children’s comedy “Imagine That,” producer of the Golden Globe- and Oscar-nominated “Six Degrees of Separation” with Will Smith, and the Golden Globe-nominated “Legally Blonde” with Reese Witherspoon. His other producing credits include “Four Brothers,” “Flight of the Phoenix,” “The Rundown,” “The Recruit,” “Life or Something Like It,” “D-Tox,” “Fear,” “A Simple Twist of Fate,” “Other People’s Money,” “After Dark My Sweet” and “Dad.” “Two films I have worked on that stand out to me are ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ and ‘Legally Blonde,’” says Kidney. “ ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ was an important story that had great meaning behind it but was also highly entertaining. ‘Legally Blonde’ was a dream to do because of Reese Witherspoon. She is an extremely gifted actress who is able to make a character funny and over-the-top, yet also believable, allowing viewers to empathize with the character.” Kidney, whose upcoming projects include a remake of the 1990 movie “Total Recall” and prequels to the ’90s movies “The Hunt for Red October” and “Clear and Present Danger,” says his time spent in Philadelphia at the University of the Arts launched him on his road to Hollywood success. “The University of the Arts was the start of my career,” he concludes. “The core curriculum and the wonderful teachers really gave me an appreciation of the arts. When you start out in your career, whether it’s filmmaking, dance, music, whatever it might be, no matter how much you think you know, you don’t know everything. You have to work hard, learn how to get along with everyone, and believe in yourself.”

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RICHARD BOYD

MISA MARTIN

HARRIS FOGEL

Builder yields to a successor

(top to bottom) Susan Glazer Donna Faye Burchfield

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STEPPING IN TO KEEP UARTS dance

robust By Merilyn Jackson For The PHILADELPHIA Inquirer

The nation’s largest undergraduate dance program - now 15 staff musicians, 30 full- and part-time instructors, more than 300 students - has been steadily expanding at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts under the nurturing eye of Susan Glazer, who retires this month after 29 years. Succeeding her as the program’s director will be Donna Faye Burchfield, who is dean of the American Dance Festival (ADF) School in Durham, N.C., and has been responsible for building the dance department at Virginia’s Hollins University over almost three decades. Each of these steadfast women has been a fierce advocate for her vision, making incremental changes within glacial university timelines to build and reshape the way her community taught and perceived dance. The resulting programs now draw students from all over. Glazer arrived from California with her surgeon husband and three children in 1972. She taught at Drexel University’s dance program, established in 1974, until 1982, when she was asked “to teach a summer session at UArts and then to take over the department.” “I got a lot of support from faculty [who] were after building a seamless energy between the studio and the liberal arts program,” she recalls, “and my students always wanted to take their classes.”

At Drexel, she had had a budget to produce several musicals - quite a different story from what came next. “For Anything Goes [at Drexel] I bought tap shoes for all the male engineering students who never tapped before in their lives. At UArts there was no budget for costumes, dance shoes or sets,” she says, until she complained and was “very grudgingly provided a small budget. Luckily, we always had the Merriam Theater” for performances. And things got better: A small university black box theater, the Drake, became available in the ’90s, and the larger Arts Bank underwent a William Penn Foundationfunded renovation in the same decade and reverted to UArts ownership when it failed as a community operation. Now the program had three performance spaces. When Glazer took over, the three-year-old program had 53 students; ballet and modern dance were taught and piano lessons were still required, as was Labanotation, the standard method of analyzing and recording human motion. “It was very amorphous,” Glazer says. “I did almost everything. I did admissions, doled out financial aid, ran a publication [called Dance Dialogue], did everything but choreograph,” she said. “I had virtually full autonomy.” (And in her spare time, she also headed the Philadelphia Dance Alliance for six years and cowrote with Swarthmore dance department director Sharon Friedler Dancing Female: Lives and Issues of Women in Contemporary Dance, now in its third printing.)

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Levis as rehearsal pianist (he’s now the School of Dance’s music coordinator) and the late, legendary LaVaughn Robinson to teach tap - and new ideas: “I started a jazz dance department, one of the first in the nation where you could get a BFA.” Some things fell by the wayside, among them the school’s master of fine arts in dance degree. It was offered until 1985, when “we dropped it to concentrate on and strengthen the BFA degrees,” Glazer says, adding, “I’m guessing one of the first things Donna Faye will do is bring back the MFA program.” Of her accomplishments, Glazer is perhaps fondest of producing “2000 Feet: A Celebration of World Dance” in 1999, the largest international dance festival ever held in Philadelphia, and of helping to create the Pennsylvania Ballet Choreography Prize this year. The prize’s first recipient is graduating UArts senior Mark Caserta, who leaves Philadephia’s Eleone Dance Theatre for Complexions in New York and will be paid by the Pennsylvania Ballet to choreograph a piece for its second company next year. Glazer seems on point in predicting that her successor will revive the UArts dance MFA degree program: Burchfield’s most recent innovations at American Dance Festival School have included the MFA and combined BA/BFA programs in collaboration with Hollins University. “In many ways, Donna Faye Burchfield’s tenure at Hollins and ADF resembles Susan’s directorship of the School of Dance,” said UArts president Sean Buffington. “It was an enormous challenge to find a director who could build on Susan’s legacy. We turned to Donna Faye early in the search to seek her advice, not imagining that she would consider taking on the directorship of the school herself.” Copyright© 2010. All rights reserved.

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Burchfield still seems a bit surprised herself. “I’ve been at Hollins for 28 years, so uprooting and beginning again is causing me some anxiety,” she said. But her husband, an artist and woodworker, was born in Philadelphia, and hopes to retire from his studio on their North Carolina farm sometime soon to join her. Meanwhile, she said, “excitement is propelling me forward. I’m feeling momentum.” “I’m deeply driven by my intuition. I knew I wanted to make this happen the moment I stood and watched class in a UArts studio,” she says. “I knew I could be here. It was a felt experience. I met with the provost and said, ‘I’m on a mission - dance has to expand, move.’” Burchfield already knows many of the UArts teachers who have also spent time at American Dance Festival. She plans, initially, to live near campus because “I want to be able to get my feet wet and see as much Philly dance as I can. I’m interested in nurturing young choreographers and in dancers who are curious and disciplined.” Burchfield’s office at Hollins is famously filled with books, which she delights in lending to students, to get them thinking. “This is a conservatory,” she says of UArts’ program of instruction and performance, “and Sean asked, ‘What if we just take this word conservatory off the table?’” Fine with her. “I believe in research and the thinking dancer,” she says. “They will have to read and do creative investigation. It’s a very different world dancers face from 30 years ago. In these times, I want dance to speak on its own terms.”

CHRISTY PASSAGNO

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After 24 years, Stephen Tarantal moves out of the dean’s office and back into the classroom

victor rodriguez ’10

LEAVING AN INDELIBLE MARK

“My definition of a dean? Managing idiosyncrasies.” Stephen Tarantal smiles slyly as he offers that assessment, one born of experience. After 24 years of managing quirks – and just about everything else – in the University’s College of Art and Design, he brought his remarkable tenure as dean to an end at the end of June. With more than two decades in the dean’s seat and another 17 as a faculty member, Tarantal says this is the right time to make the move, as the University begins to implement its newly developed academic plan for the future. “It sounds corny, but it’s truly been a privilege to serve as dean here. It’s been a terrific growth experience. I’m always learning, and I’ve worked with great people. I’m very contented leaving the position.” He won’t be leaving the University, however. After a one-year sabbatical, Tarantal will return to teaching in the Illustration program. “I’m going to take some time off, in part to really get up to speed on the latest technological advances in the field, then I’ll return to the classroom. I’m really looking forward to that.”

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GROWING PAINS AND GREAT STRIDES Arriving as a faculty member in 1969, Tarantal took the reins as dean of the Philadelphia College of Art in 1986, just after its merger with the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts to form the University of the Arts. That meant managing some significant growing pains that ensued from that seminal moment in the life of the University. Twenty-four years later, he can look back at a long list of advances that came to be in large part thanks to his leadership. The first was the integration of digital technology into the teaching of art and design. “Many people can’t even remember a time when we didn’t rely on computers, but there was. Luckily, I had at least one faculty member in each department who was excited about technology, so it made the transition easier.” Another major advance was the creation of seven new College of Art and Design graduate programs, as well as a new undergraduate major and seven minors.

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Describing the College’s graduate programs as a “unique constellation,” he points particularly to Museum Exhibition and Planning and the low-residency Master of Fine Arts programs as among the first of their kind in the nation. “And whether it’s those programs or Book Arts/Printmaking, Art Education, Industrial Design or Museum Studies, the graduate students we attract come from diverse backgrounds, a very heterogeneous mix, and that really enriches the programs and the students’ experience here.” An expansion of programs meant the need for spaces in which to house them, and during his tenure, Tarantal helped manage the integration of Anderson Hall into the University’s facilities portfolio. And over the course of the last three years alone, extensive renovations of Terra and Anderson halls have created new or significantly upgraded spaces for programs such as Media Arts (Photo/ Film/Animation), Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Illustration, Printmaking and Art Education. “Early on I used to joke that we were held together by homasote and white paint. It’s really impressive how far we’ve come as a University.”

THe primacy of the faculty He cites the faculty as a primary reason for the success of that journey. “As an accreditation team member for NASAD (the National Association of Schools of Art and Design), I’ve visited a lot of institutions, and I’ve found that our faculty members have a unique sense of ownership of their programs,” he says. “They believe they can really put their stamp on them, make them theirs, and that creates a powerful drive to see those programs succeed and continue. I think that’s what gave the College its character.” Another differentiating feature of the College of Art and Design is its tradition of rotating the department chair positions. Tarantal says that over the years, 85 to 90 percent of CAD faculty members have served as chairs, allowing him to get to know them much better than might be the case in a more traditional model. And he says the wide variety of personalities with whom he has worked has made for an experience that’s never been dull (remember those idiosyncrasies?). “I have a ‘Hall of Fame Memos’ file,” he chuckles. “Let’s just say that a few of the faculty members are well-represented in the collection. One of them submitted a travel-request form asking to be authorized to cross South Broad Street to attend an event in Hamilton Hall. I’m still not sure if he was serious.” One thing about which Tarantal is serious is his appreciation for the academic environment in which he’s worked for the past 41 years. “The fantastic thing is that when September rolls around, you get a new chance to do things better, to add to and improve things. In a lot of professions, there’s no opportunity to reflect, to take time to figure out new ways to do what you do, and it can come to seem like a continuous grind. “Here, you have a new start every September. It’s a terrific experience.”

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courtesy of the norman rockwell museum

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MATthew lester photography

Alumnus Jerry Pinkney is on top of the illustration world

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FEATURES

Pictures That Are Truly Worth

A Thousand Words Jerry Pinkney ’60 (Illustration) chuckles as he thinks about the quirks of serendipity and the role they played in the birth of his stellar career. “When I was a young boy growing up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, I worked at a newsstand on a street corner,” he says. “I always loved to draw, and I used to sketch the store window displays. That corner happened to be where John Liney, a cartoonist who drew the comic strip ‘Henry,’ had his studio, and one day he noticed my drawings and invited me in. He encouraged me and was the first person to plant the seed of the possibilities of making a living as an artist. “If my newsstand had been on the opposite street corner, who knows how things might have turned out?” To say they’ve turned out well would be the height of understatement. In 2010, Pinkney was honored by the American Library Association with the Randolph Caldecott Medal for the best American picture book for children, for his wordless adaptation of the classic fable The Lion & the Mouse (Little, Brown). Rita Auerbach, chairwoman of the Caldecott committee, told The New York Times, “You turn the page, and you’re caught up in the drama of what’s happening in a really thoughtful, brilliant way,” describing Pinkney’s command of watercolors as “unparalleled.” Previously, the New York City-based artist had won five Caldecott Honors for second place, as well as five Coretta Scott King Medals, four Coretta Scott King Honor Awards, four New York Times Best Illustrated Book awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Illustrators. He has illustrated more than 100 books, has served on the Board of the National Endowment for the Arts and is a recipient of the University’s Silver Star Alumni Award.

Pinkney, who uses the focus required in creating art to help him overcome the challenges of dyslexia, has been “making pictures,” as he puts it, for 50 years. He often works on children’s books that celebrate multiculturalism and African-American heritage, the vivid watercolors reflecting the rich culture and experience he celebrates. In 1983, the U.S. Postal Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee asked Pinkney to become a member, giving him input into the stamps that would be issued by the Postal Service. In addition, he designed stamps for the “Black Heritage” series, featuring influential African-Americans Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson and Scott Joplin, among others. “Growing up in the 1940s and ’50s as an AfricanAmerican child, it was hard to find characters that reflected people of color and to find them cast in a bright light,” says Pinkney. “It’s important to me to have heroes who are people of color.” The past year was a busy one for Pinkney: the first major retrospective of his work opened at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.; he was a featured artist in the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design’s Mosaic Project promoting the vital role of art in the educational and social development of children; and he presented the talk “Who Doesn’t Love a Picture Book? A Conversation with Jerry Pinkney” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. So what’s on Pinkney’s calendar for 2011 after such a whirlwind 2010? More of what he’s loved doing since his boyhood days working at a newsstand on a Philadelphia street corner. “Getting back to getting up in the morning and making pictures.”

(images at left, top to bottom) Illustration from The Lion & the Mouse; Jerry Pinkney, 2009 Mosaic Project at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Lancaster, Pa. www.pcad.edu

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A ‘Kaleidoscopic Odyssey’

For Two Animation grads

Just as bands get their big break, 2010 Animation grads Scott Newcomb and Joseph Pollack received theirs when they were asked to create the animated sequences for the trippy music video “Brother Sport” by experimental psychedelic-pop group Animal Collective. And their work apparently hit the mark. The video is approaching 700,000 views on YouTube. Rolling Stone called it a “kaleidoscopic odyssey,” and Spin magazine proclaimed it “abundantly colorful, chock full of animation and a smidge psychedelic.” Animal Collective has released nine studio albums, the most recent of which, “Merriweather Post Pavilion” (Domino Records), climbed as high as No. 13 on the U.S. charts and was named Spin’s album of the year. The “Brother Sport” video combines live action and animation, featuring children straight out of Where the Wild Things Are gallivanting through meadows; farm animals, hillbillies and moonshine; and Newcomb and Pollack’s animated, undulating, smirking monsters. And that’s just the first 90 seconds.

and he arranged an introduction for Kubizne, who joined the band’s road crew as video DJ. Animal Collective “outsources” its videos to unknown artists to help bring them to the public’s attention, and when the group tapped Kubizne to direct “Brother Sport,” he approached Newcomb and Pollack about creating the animation. Kubizne came to Philadelphia weekly for six months to work with the student animators, whose job was to fill in the blank frames in the video’s live-action footage with “evolving monsters.” They had to animate to the beats of the song and match their drawings with the live action. Dividing the work equally, the duo hand-drew their otherworldly creations in watercolor pencils and put them together in Adobe After Effects, a digital motion graphics and compositing software, mainly used in film and video postproduction. “Animation is difficult,” said Newcomb, who spells his first name “Skaught” professionally so as to differentiate himself from an artistic namesake. “But it’s becoming more and more second nature. We just wanted to make a video as great as the song.”

So just how did two college students land a gig animating a music video for a major-label act? Jack Kubizne, a classmate of Newcomb and Pollack while the three were working on their associate’s degrees at Delaware College of Art and Design, was an avid Animal Collective fan and wanted to become involved with the band in some way. He transferred to the Pratt Institute in New York City and met Mike Enright, a senior lecturer in the University of the Arts’ Media Arts department who also teaches at Pratt. Enright knew someone at Domino Records

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(opposite, top) Scott Newcomb and Joseph Pollack, Animation ’10 (opposite, bottom) Still from Brother Sport music video

Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; animation featured in music video for psych-pop group Animal Collective

COURESTY OF MEDIA ARTS DEPARTMENT

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courtesy of forrest mcclendon

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Brind School Faculty Member

FORREST MCCLENDON Heads to Broadway

‘Charismatic’ Barrymore Award winner stars in Kander-and-Ebb musical ‘The Scottsboro Boys’ Barrymore Award winner Forrest McClendon (above), adjunct assistant professor in the University of the Arts’ Ira Brind School of Theater Arts, took some time off from the classroom recently, and for good reason: to star on Broadway in the acclaimed new musical “The Scottsboro Boys.”

‘THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS’ DARES YOU TO BE ENTERTAINED - and you will be - while it makes you squirm

McClendon played “Mr. Tambo,” a role he originated in the OffBroadway production. He also took on the difficult task of moving in and out of other characters during the production.

Directed by Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman, the musical, which recently ended its Broadway run at Lyceum Theater, was created by the legendary songwriting team of John Kander and the late Fred Ebb (“Cabaret,” “Chicago”) and is based on the notori-

ous “Scottsboro” case from the 1930s, in which nine African-American men were unjustly accused of raping two white women on a train in Alabama. The young men were convicted by an all-white jury and spent years in jail while the case was tried and retried. Variety described the show as “a musical about racial injustice sardonically presented with all the crude stereotypes and vaudevillian humor of a minstrel show,” and said that “‘The Scottsboro Boys’ dares you to be entertained – and you will be – while it makes you squirm.” The Variety reviewer described McClendon as slipping “with chameleonic prowess and leering complicity into the oily skins of a series of characters toying with the boys’ fates,” and the New York Daily News called him “charismatic.”

Forrest McClendon (opposite, right) as Mr. Tambo and Colman Domingo (opposite, left) as Mr. Bones in The Scottsboro Boys

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NEWS

UArts Students Help Relieve Parking Headaches Through Smarter Design Students from Adjunct Graphic Design Professor Joel Katz’s “Visualizing Information” class were featured in the August 2010 issue of Philadelphia magazine for redesigning the Philadelphia Parking Authority’s confusing and disliked new parking-kiosk signage. The resulting changes have normally frustrated Philly drivers feeling a little less hot under the collar.

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NEWS

‘Z’ BIG BAND

FEATURED PERFORMERS at 2010 midwest clinic in chicago

DAVE JACKSON

Prestigious event featured instrumental music directors from across the globe

The University of the Arts “Z” Big Band, under the direction of Assistant Professor of Music Matt Gallagher, was the featured college ensemble at the 63rd annual Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference, one of the nation’s premier events for music educators and performers, held in December in Chicago. Held annually since 1946, the event featured thousands of music directors, composers, music publishers and dealers from all 50 states and more than 30 countries.

“The Midwest Clinic is the conference with the best groups and clinicians there, K through 12 and college,” says Gallagher. “It’s a great opportunity to expand our program’s exposure nationally. A lot of these music educators may have heard the University’s name but have never seen our band play, and this was a chance to really raise our profile. “Plus, the kids were totally pumped to play for a really big audience.”

The “Z” Big Band was invited to give one of the two featured performances during the conference’s key “College Night” session, at which more than 70 colleges and universities, along with dozens of high schools, have representatives.

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Former faculty member, alumna honored with awards for excellence

The University of the Arts was one of the sponsoring institutions for “Mark/Remarque,” the 2010 Southern Graphics Council (SGC) conference held in Philadelphia. The conference examined traditional and digital print processes (“marks”), critical discourse important to the field (“remarks”), and considered the concepts associated with the historical print term “remarque”: rarity, testing, concept amplification and boundary extension.

SEAN DYROFF

university sponsors 2010 southern graphics council conference ‘mark/remarque’

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NEWS

Curated by Book Arts/Printmaking faculty member Mary Phelan and held in conjunction with the conference, the exhibition “Social Remarques” in the University’s Hamilton and Borowsky galleries focused on national and international book artists and printmakers tackling social issues. The new Printmaking Gallery in Anderson Hall showed faculty work and six of the SGC Exchange print portfolios were on view in Solmssen Court in Hamilton Hall. Graduate and undergraduate student work was displayed in galleries in the departments and the MFA Book Arts/Printmaking Works-inProgress exhibition was featured in Gallery 224 in Anderson Hall.

DIANE VICTOR

In a featured event, recently retired Printmaking faculty member Lois Johnson received the SGC Teaching Excellence in Printmaking Award and alumna Ruth Fine ’62, curator of Special Projects in Modern Art at the National Gallery of Art, was honored with the SGC Print Curatorial Excellence Award.

(top to bottom) John Risseeuw, USA, Strange Fruit Michael Reed, New Zealand, Business as Usual Diane Victor, South Africa, Funeral March

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FEATURED STUDENT WORK Stephen Haigh â&#x20AC;&#x2122;10 (Illustration) Untitled, digital

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Bobby fisher

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FILM CLIPS Highlights of recent events and activities from the University of the Arts Film Programs

Film Students Intern with Kevin Spacey’s L.A.-Based Production Company Emily Nye and Sean Spencer, both seniors in the Writing for Film and Television program, spent a month completing their professional internship requirement working in Los Angeles at Trigger Street Productions owned by Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey. The company recently co-produced the critically acclaimed film “The Social Network.” Among the many duties assigned to Nye and Spencer, the most rewarding was being asked to read and evaluate feature-length scripts under consideration for development. The month-long experience also provided both students with an inside look at Hollywood. Animation Grads Dominate Film Fest Winners’ List Five 2010 Animation graduates dominated the list of winners for the 10th annual Bucks Fever FilmFest, a juried festival of short films submitted by high school, college and emerging filmmakers. Victoria Cook’s “Devil Town” took the prize for top College Music Video; Adriel Garcia’s “The Tesla Experiment: Twain in Vain” was the College Animation winner; and College Animation Honorable Mentions went to Jessica Barnett for “The Kid and the Fish,” Justin Cassano for “One, Two, Three!” and Camille Simeone for “Tonight Is the Night.” Producer of ‘School of Rock,’ ‘The Last Airbender,’ spends a day with UArts students Film producer Scott Aversano (“The Last Airbender,” “School of Rock,” “Runaway Bride,” “South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut”), former president of MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies, met with UArts students to discuss “Transmedia,” which involves cutting-edge and future modes of film and video content distribution, and the emerging ways audiences interact with it. Afterward, he opened the floor to questions about film producing in general, as well as relating stories from his distinguished career. Aversano was previously director of development at Paramount Pictures.

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commentary

playing

LIKE A GIRL

On the Future of Instrumental Jazz

Michael Kaulkin

by Georgianna Krieger ’90 (Music)

“Jazz calls us to engage with our national identity. It gives expression to the beauty of democracy and of personal freedom and of choosing to embrace the humanity of all types of people. It really is what American democracy is supposed to be.” –Wynton Marsalis

So, why don’t more women and girls play instru-

mental jazz? It’s not an obvious kind of discrimination stopping them. After all we have laws against discrimination in school bands and institutions of higher learning. The pattern instead seems to be cultural discouragement – subtle or not-so-subtle bias, old-boy networks. It has everything to do with how girls see themselves and how their male peers and society generally see a girl who attempts to enter this very male domain. For most musicians, jazz, if discovered, is discovered during adolescence, somewhere between ages 9 and 16. This is when the average young person is ready developmentally to take on concepts and theories involved in the music. It is also when girls and boys are defining their gender-specific identities and thinking about their social lives 24/7. Most girls at this age are picking up social cues keenly from their female peers, teachers, parents and those allimportant boys. It can be almost impossible to hide an aversion, prejudice or negative judgment from a girl at this stage. “...as the founder of the Jazzschool Girls’ Jazz Camp, I can tell you there are many girls hungry for role models. The Jazzschool has historically only enrolled three to four girls out of 40-plus campers to its summer youth camp. I was advised that girls weren’t interested. But we enrolled over 30 girls in our first year of girls’ camp, and plan to expand the camp this summer. Hmm...I wonder what the problem was with the youth camp? No women faculty?” – Trumpeter, band leader Ellen Seeling So girls who somehow find jazz are made aware that this is an odd interest for a girl. Teachers can be unsupportive, friends unenthused and boys turned off (and I am not even addressing uglier kinds of harassment that occur). Just to dare to embark on the path to instrumental jazz, a girl must be the kind of young person who is willing to forego approval

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of others and press onward despite the odds. This is further complicated by the fact that jazz is a collaborative art form and cannot be practiced alone. Unless one is a solo pianist, it is not possible to become a jazz musician without the willingness of others to practice with you. A real jazz education begins when school is out and players get together to jam. This is where things get really tough for girls and they are likely to fall behind their male peers, regardless of their abilities. “It happens all the time that a young woman is at a certain level and she’ll go to four or five different places and see four or five guys on her instrument that are not as good as she is. They’re all workin’ and her phone isn’t ringing.” – Saxophonist Virginia Mayhew Jazz musicians are not the product of a course of study alone; they also require mentoring, camaraderie and support from older, more experienced musicians. In a culture where the masculine is revered and the feminine is dismissed, can a woman be authentic and still be supported in her endeavor to create? “I think certain musicians don’t get the experience or mentorship that they deserve because of the politics ...Because as a white woman there are many gigs I would never, ever even be called to audition for.” – Trumpeter Ingrid Jensen Here we are at the beginning of the 21st century and jazz, America’s original music, is not the healthy, robust art form it should be. In fact, it is being largely ignored and forgotten in the wider American culture. There is currently only one 24-hour over-theair jazz radio station left in the U.S. Does gender bias in jazz drive away not only potential musicians but also potential listeners of both genders? Has the music itself suffered? If 50 percent of the population feels excluded and unwelcome, can jazz survive?

COMMENTARY

“Hal Galper said something that was interesting... somebody said, ‘So, Hal, you know jazz has pretty much gone as far as it can go, right? I mean what’s left to change?’ ...he goes, ‘I guess the only thing left to change is women. More women.’...I kind of feel the same way.” – Ingrid Jensen When I imagine what it would be like to change patterns of gender stereotyping right down to the rituals of male bonding that dominate the jazz world, I can picture a richer music and vital community, which could be a force for progress musically, socially and spiritually. But how can we get there? Boys need their bonding and it shouldn’t be dismissed. Girls need a place for bonding too. But perhaps we can elevate the goals of jazz students to transcend these youthful rites of passage and find strength in the balance between male and female contributions. “Dizzy Gillespie told me, ‘Bebop was about integration.’ ” – Wynton Marsalis These are complex problems and I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a few humble suggestions: a) Educators must recognize that the competitive side of jazz, with its put-downs, play-offs and quests for dominance, is a turn-off to many girls who might otherwise love the music and make great contributions to it. Jazz education should stress the cooperative and collaborative nature of the form, thus making it more welcoming to girls and frankly everyone. Jazz is the music of inclusion, openness and enlightenment and should be taught that way.

b) Create more opportunities to take jazz out of the bars where young women traditionally are pursued and not always treated with respect. The National Education Association and local arts organizations in their funding mandates should encourage creation of more working opportunities in a variety of settings friendly to women and families. An arts group that receives a grant must be an equal-opportunity employer and funding may help jazz groups realize the necessity of having unbiased auditions, as symphony orchestras do. c) Create an International Jazz Ambassadors program, which employs the skills of men and women musicians of all ethnicities, to create cultural exchanges, open the eyes (and ears) of Americans to this great unused natural resource for inclusion and peace that we have been blessed with, and provide a broad range of role models for aspiring musicians. Such an organization, by inviting the world to jam with it, would ensure that we pass on an ever-evolving, living, breathing art form, rather than a static collection of old recordings. d) Individual musicians can lend a helping hand to young women instrumentalists by including them in jam sessions and networking opportunities. Only through a change in consciousness within the jazz community can real progress be made. Real innovation in jazz will require the yin and the yang to work together in balance. The potential for growth and change exists. What will that sound like? Where can it lead? No one knows – it hasn’t happened yet on a large scale – but I sure hope I’m around to hear it when it does. Who knows, this new collaboration between the genders might just save the music. Georgianna Krieger ’90 (Music) is a daughter, a wife, a mother and a saxophonist.

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FACULTY/staffnotes

BEAUDRY

Multimedia Assistant Professor Jeremy Beaudry recently attended the opening of Manifesta 8, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, as an associate curator. Working collectively as Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum (ACAF), Beaudry and collaborator Bassam El Baroni co-curated a multi-part project and exhibition in several venues across two cities in Spain. Running for a period of 100 days from October 9, 2010, through January 9, 2011, Manifesta 8 took place in the cities of Murcia and Cartagena in historical buildings, museums, unconventional spaces and several media channels.

The work of Associate Professor of Fine Arts Mara Adamitz Scrupe was featured in the exhibition “How to Make a Place in the World” at Indiana State University Art Gallery. This exhibit explored the process of knowing and documenting place in a series of multidisciplinary art installations grounded in research about specific lands, landscapes and human communities, including the Appalachian Piedmont region of central Virginia where Scrupe lived and worked for more than 20 years.

The work of Professor of Electronic Media Thomas Porett was featured in an exhibition titled “Observations & Anomalies” at the University’s Sol Mednick Gallery. Porett’s “Anomaly” series brings common objects such as garlic stalks and ocean waves into lyrical combinations that refer to the original objects yet diverge into a dynamic interplay of lines and shapes. The series “Electronic Poems,” derived from still images and composited into video with original electronic music, was also on display.

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Justin Pekera ’02 (Photography), director of Print Services at the University, put the first 30 years of his life on display in the exhibition “All That’s Left” at the Proximity Gallery in Philadelphia. Pekera turned 30 on January 31, 2010, and included artifacts and Polaroid photos from the past three decades in the exhibition. These items represent what is left after time has passed; they emphasize that even with the memory of each other, we inevitably fade into infinity. Pekera is the central point in the presentation of these items and the stories that they tell will live only in the memories of those that can identify them. Although “All That’s Left” is a conceptual show about a specific individual’s love for the people he has known, Pekera believes that the ideas presented are universal.

PEPE

PORETTT

FACULTY/staff NOTES

Diane Pepe, associate professor in the Foundation department, received the Jacques MacCuiston Dowling Sculpture Prize for her work “Transition” from the Woodmere Museum at its 70th annual juried exhibition “Contemporary Voices.” “Transition,” constructed of cherry wood, brass rods and green palmetto stones, was partially funded by the University’s 2008 Provost Faculty Enrichment Grant. The work is part of a series of sculptures that explore the juxtaposition of two groups of elements: order and strength (the wood/brass structure) and powerful force and constant movement (the river stones). These forces represent humankind’s emotional/passionate nature and the ordered/structured elements that we engage to control or order these emotions. The Arden Theatre’s 2010 opening production of “Blue Door” starred Johnnie Hobbs Jr., legendary Philadelphia actor and head of the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts’ Acting program, and Kes Khemnu, who studied at the University of the Arts. The production was directed by Walter Dallas, Brind School founder and former artistic director of Philadelphia’s Freedom Theater. Hobbs played Lewis, a successful mathematics professor whose wife has just left him. Lewis meanders through a sleepless night where a series of ancestors, all played by Khemnu, appear to him to reveal the hardships and victories that have shaped Lewis’s existence.

Jeremy Beaudry (opposite, top) Mara Adamitz Scrupe, Tempus Fugit 2 (opposite, bottom)

Tom Porett, Wave Anomaly Diane Pepe, Transition (above)

will “present this local cultural icon and role model to Philadelphia at large, and to the African-American, poetry and women’s rights communities in specific,” according to Solot. In addition, Solot was featured in a New York Times story about his work with the Philadelphia Complaints Choir, for which he composed and conducted. The choir was also featured in the inaugural issue of Edge magazine. Monique Haley ’01 (Dance) made her choreographic debut at the kickoff of the Dance Celebration series at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts with the River North Chicago Dance Company. Her number, “Uhuru” (2009), is a full-company work whose name means “freedom” in Swahili. “Uhuru” is set to the music of Akoya Afrobeat. Music Professor Evan Solot ’67 (Trumpet), MM ’75 set the music for the company’s performance of “Forbidden Boundaries” (2009), another full-company work. Known for its jazzy, sizzling, theatrical style, River North Chicago Dance Company brings to the stage “energetic, marvelously trained performers and a gutsy, entertaining repertoire,” according to the Chicago Sun Times. “God’s Country, Off Route 9,” an independent film by Writing for Film and Television Assistant Professor Steven Saylor, was accepted into several film festivals, including the Global Cinema Festival and the Stepping Stone Film Festival (both in India); the Bare Bones International Film and Music Festival in Oklahoma; and the Riverside International Film Festival in California. The “dramedy” co-stars Theater Arts professor Johnnie Hobbs Jr. and alumna Alisa Howard ’08 (Theater Arts).

Music Professor Evan Solot ’67 (Trumpet), MM ’75 has been awarded the American Composers Forum Community Partners’ Film Composers grant to create the music for a documentary about Philadelphia poet Sonia Sanchez. Solot will team with filmmaker Janet Goldwater on the project that will focus on Sanchez’s life and work. Despite being a major figure as a poet, writer, playwright and activist, Sanchez has yet to be the sole subject of a documentary. This new film

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FACULTY/staff NOTES

Illustration Assistant Professor Matt Curtius and his wife, illustrator Gina Triplett, were featured in a Q&A feature in a recent edition of Communication Arts. MFA Associate Professor Carol Moore gave a presentation about the women poets, painters and patrons who shaped the Italian Renaissance in Italy at the Siena School for Liberal Arts. She spoke at an interdisciplinary conference with the theme “Presence, Unheard Signs, Voices and Worlds.” She talked about how her interest and research has resulted in her artist books and installations bringing their stories to contemporary audiences. The presentation was an expansion of a similar one she gave at the San Francisco Italian-American Museum on the projects she conducted in 2005 and 2006 at the National Marcian Library in Venice, Italy, and Bryn Mawr College. Brooklyn’s Amos Eno Gallery presented “Close Views (From a Distance),” a group show by Philadelphia-based photographers, including Media Arts faculty member Susan ArthurWhitson. Whitson works literally in close-up range; the miniature objects she sets in ambiguous locales gain strength from her careful staging and technique.

Fine Arts Lecturer Jonathan Berger curated the retrospective exhibition “Stuart Sherman: Nothing Up My Sleeve” at PARTICIPANT INC. in New York City. The exhibition encompasses relevant concerns that permeate Sherman’s work including transubstantiation, perception, trompe l’oeil, illusion and magic, fiction, and alias and persona – exploring these themes as they manifest in the work of other artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Industrial Design Adjunct Professor Beth Van Why, MID ’06 served as a guest columnist for the Philly Creative Guide and wrote about Philadelphia as a classroom for the creative community. Multimedia faculty member Katherine Bennett discussed and presented her work, “Then Ether,” at the 2009 Electrofringe festival held in Newcastle, Australia. “Then Ether” v2.0 is a responsive multi-channel sound and light environment about memory, the loss of it and the inconsistent ability to access it. Electrofringe, now in its 14th year, is the largest festival of electronic arts and culture in Australia and is a partner festival of This Is Not Art. Electrofringe aims to unearth emergent forms, highlight nascent digital

Media Arts Lecturer Anna Norton and former photo adjunct professor Johanna Inman collaborated on “Living Space,” a video exhibition of time-lapse photography at the historic Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. This series of five videos showed the subtle changes in light and weather that occur at the penitentiary. The locations chosen for the videos represented areas and architectural features common to the site, each with distinctive characteristics created by the structure itself as well as the effects of time. Captured between Fall 2007 and Spring 2008, the videos reveal aspects of the space that are often neglected or hidden from the naked eye. Videos were shown inside the cells to create an intimate and contemplative viewing.

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and electronic media, and encourage young and emerging artists to further explore technology, partnering this with creative possibilities. Animation faculty members Andy London, Chris Magee, John Serpentelli ’91 (Animation), MAT ’93 and Karl Staven presented work in the show “Still Moving: Independent Animation” at the Delaware College of Art and Design’s Toni & Stuart B. Young Gallery. The show featured stills, preparatory drawings, conceptual artwork and finished animation from London, Magee, Serpentelli and Staven, and seven other independent animators. The gallery was transformed into a collection of movie theaters to view the finished animations.

Industrial Design Master Lecturer Brett Snyder and his business partner, Irene Cheng, were awarded Van Alen Institute New York Prize Fellowships to develop the mobile media project “Museum of the Phantom City.” Co-founders of the multi-disciplinary design studio Cheng+Snyder, Snyder and Cheng used personal telecommunications technologies to transform New York City into an interactive museum of architecture and urbanism and engaged the public by encouraging users to act as both tourists and curators. The project focused on helping tourists rethink the current system of guidebooks and maps and their one-way flow of information by redeploying multimedia cell phones and PDAs as instruments for revealing the hidden stories behind New York’s buildings and streets. Longtime CAD Professor Lois Johnson, who retired from the University in August 2009 after 42 years of teaching, was honored for her service to the American Color Print Society at the opening of its 70th Members Awards Exhibition at Philadelphia’s Plastic Club. A lifetime member and former vice president of the society, Johnson is the former chair of the University’s Fine Arts department.

Gina Triplett and Matt Curtius (opposite, top of page) John Serpentelli, Andy London, Karl Staven, Chris Magee Prop display from Still Moving: Independent Animation (opposite, top) Anna Norton Living Space (opposite, bottom)

Former Crafts faculty member Thomas Stearns, who passed away in 2006, and his work were featured in an article in the fall edition of Modern magazine. Known as a dynamic and personable teacher and mentor to his students, Stearns retired in 2001. Writer Brent Lewis, a furniture and design specialist at Christie’s New York, referred to Stearns as “one of the most influential and important glass artists-designers of the mid-20th century.” Andrea Poulsen ’05 (Photography), program assistant in Continuing Education and an instructor in the Continuing Studies Pre-College Saturday School, published a book of photography and writing based on nine months spent living in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Work from Self-Portrait: Galapagos can be viewed on her website at andreapoulsen.com.

Andrea Poulson Window, Net (above)

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alumniNEWS

FROM THE Front steps

CASSIE GARDNER

In my travels this year, I have met with hundreds of alumni, all of whom have established successful careers in various professions both within the arts and in other fields. The stories describing how their respective paths have evolved are truly varied and fascinating – and surprisingly, always seem to have one common thread: creativity. Creativity requires self-assurance and the ability to take risks. It involves the ability to synthesize. While the average person makes the most out of what is given him or her and calls it success, our alumni conceive possibilities that do not exist and have the power to fashion those ideas into reality, to invent something radically new. Creative work is downright subversive, as it disrupts existing patterns of thought and life. It is an act of rebellion. And in some cases, it can even be unsettling to the creator. This is what makes us different. This is what makes us extraordinary. Whether we apply this capacity to painting, journalism, ceramics, teaching, law, design, music or medicine, we are all visionaries. We are required to THINK. We have the compulsion to CREATE. We have the responsibility to TRANSFORM. Three years ago, I came to the University of the Arts exactly so I could immerse myself in that artistic, entrepreneurial

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spirit. Though far from my performance days, I cherish my classical music education. It defines who I am. It informs every decision that I make – be it where I live, how I choose to raise my children, how I approach my work and what inspires me to succeed. I am motivated by an undeniable creative passion that allows me to achieve against seemingly impossible odds. I believe this is something all of our alumni share, regardless of employment or field of study. Tomorrow’s world is one where creativity will drive business, culture and economic growth in ways we cannot imagine. And in many ways, it already is. The University of the Arts is contributing to this future in a fundamental and critical way, and I am very proud to be a part of it. I hope each of you is, too.

Warm regards,

Laura J. Armstrong Director, Alumni and Parent Relations

ALUMNi NEWS

Alumni Homecoming & Family Weekend 2010

(below, l to r) Alumnus Ric Kidney ’75 (Photography/Film) delivers the 2010 keynote address in Levitt Auditorium. Senior Vocal major Julie Cutter ’11 performs with the School of Music a cappella group “Vox,” directed by Professor Justin Binek.

Dave Jackson

Anah Klate ’01 (Musical Theater) and five other recent graduates share stories of success with parents and students.

Dave Jackson

(above, top to bottom) Alumni, parents and friends enjoy the opening reception of “Making It,” the university’s first annual juried alumni show for recent graduates featuring over 40 works across a variety of disciplines.

The keynote presentation, our signature event of the weekend, was given by University of the Arts alumnus Ric Kidney ’75 (Photography/Film). If there’s a “big name” actor in Hollywood, chances are Kidney has worked with them on a major motion picture. Pacino, Willis, Hackman, Stallone, DeNiro, Costner, Smith, Barrymore and Jolie are but a few of the Hollywood “A-Listers” who have acted in films on which Kidney has worked behind the camera in a director’s capacity or behind the scenes as a producer or production manager. As executive producer, Kidney most recently enlisted Hollywood icon Angelia Jolie in the title role of last summer’s blockbuster “Salt.” Since its release, the spy thriller about a CIA agent who goes on the run after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy has grossed nearly $300 million worldwide. The University hosted a screening of “Salt” on Friday evening for event attendees and students. During his Saturday talk, Kidney shared stories of his time at the school, lessons learned early in his career, Hollywood insider news and his perspective on the future of the entertainment industry. Following his presentation, he generously answered questions from any interested alumni, parents and students.

Dave Jackson

Last October, we welcomed over 150 alumni and parents back to campus for our first joint Alumni Homecoming and Family Weekend. Alumni, parents and guests enjoyed a weekend full of engaging presentations, receptions, tours, exhibits, performances and social gatherings designed to showcase the best the University has to offer. Some of the highlights included our first-ever recent alumni juried show “Making It,” a student homecoming rave, a theater presentation of “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov, a music performance by the Rick Kerber Tribute Big Band and our annual Social in the City alumni gathering.

A Special Request from the University Libraries Sara MacDonald, our Public Services Librarian, has diligently been updating our University archives and is now in the process of scanning many historical pieces in order to both preserve the information and make it digitally available via the web. We are currently digitizing all of our past commencement programs, but unfortunately, as it happens over time, we have found that we are missing several years. Richard J. Forrest ’56 (Illustration) has already graciously donated his copy of the commencement program from 1956 and Ms. MacDonald has recently found a copy from 1965, but would like to enlist your help in finding the remaining copies from 1953 to 1967. If you happen to have saved your commencement program from one of these graduation years and would be willing to lend it to us, we would be very grateful. Once scanned, the originals will be returned to the lender. Thank you in advance for your help! Please send programs to: Sara MacDonald University of the Arts Libraries 320 S. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19102

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ALUMNi

FROM THE CHAIR

It has been six years since the University officially recognized the need for an Alumni Relations office. And it was five years ago that a group of talented and supportive graduates came together to forge the Alumni Council to serve as the voice of the Alumni Association at the University. I am pleased to say that we have accomplished a great deal in the last five years! But like any growing organization, there is always much more to do to ensure our voice remains a valuable part of the University dialogue. We are thrilled to have the support of President Buffington. He met with alumni in 12 roundtables across the country, soliciting our advice on the academic future of the University, including alumni in the decision-making process that resulted in an actionable strategic plan. I cannot underline enough how significant this opportunity was to engage with University leadership. And I would personally like to offer a special thank you to each of you who participated in a roundtable and hope you will stay engaged as we move forward. In conjunction with this larger University planning, the Alumni Council is also working on a plan to articulate our vision for the next five years. It will align with University objectives while continuing to highlight the specific needs of the alumni community. It is my goal to show how truly valuable a University of the Arts degree is through our continued successes in all professional arenas. The power of our alumni community lies in each of you. We will continue to work hard to keep you abreast of all the changes in motion. Not only is the University undergoing a major academic transformation, but we will be unveiling several new alumni benefits – the most exciting of which is UArtsConnect, an online alumni directory. The council has heard repeated requests for an easier way for alumni to connect to each other, and the University has responded by building this amazing new platform to share news, find classmates, network by field/industry or find jobs. Watch your mailboxes, in-boxes and social media walls for more information. We hope to reunite and reconnect as many alumni as possible! We are also always open to new ideas and would love to hear more from you. Please feel free to contact me or my fellow council members at any time. We would be glad to bring your suggestions or concerns into the conversation at our next meeting. Thank you,

Lisa (Potter) Oster ’99 Chair, Alumni Council lisa.p.oster@gmail.com

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andy oster ’00 (Photography)

Dear Alumni,

Current Council Members Doshanna Bell ’08 (Theater) Sophia Bilynsky ’79, Past Chair (Graphic Design) Andrew Cantor ’81 (Illustration) Mark S. Cooperstein ’79, Staff Member (Graphic Design) Ashley Collinson ’11, Student Council President (Illustration) Mary Norris Dembo ’85 (Graphic Design) Marc Dicciani ’75, Faculty Member (Percussion) Mark Donnolo ’85, Trustee (Graphic Design) Adam Dotson, MFA ’07 (Museum Exhibition Planning & Design) Harriet Feinstein ’62 (Fibers) Chris Gee ’89 (Graphic Design) Robin Gerchman ’86 (Dance) Apryl Grasty ’00 (Dance) Bill Krebs ’66 (Interior Design) Vincent Matyi ’01 (Multimedia) Justin Mitchell ’01 (Sculpture) Lisa Oster ’99, Chair (Dance Education) Winnie Owens-Hart ’71 (Ceramics) Susan Nicodemus Quinn ’91 (Theater Arts) Yuri Rozman ’94 (Industrial Design) Jaime Salm ’01 (Industrial Design) Nicole Tranquillo ’08 (Voice) Robert Wescott ’53 (Advertising Design) Jeffrey Zarnoch ’84 (Architectural Design)

FEATURED Faculty WORK Karl Staven, Media Arts Cow Skull from Upstate NY on Backyard Philly BBQ Grill (2010)

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ALUMNIPROFILES

COURTESY of CHRIS ROSE

Chris Rose ’91 (Graphic Design) has helped to bring an important part of our nation’s history back to prominence.

CHRIS ROSE RESTORING A TREASURE

Chris is CEO of Rookwood Pottery Company of Cincinnati, the first femaleowned manufacturing company in the United States, founded by Maria Longworth Nichols Storer in 1880 as a way to market the painting of blank tableware. Storer, who came from a wealthy family, used her money to hire chemists and artists who were able to create glazes of colors never before seen on massproduced pottery. “Before the turn of the 20th century, the world laughed at what America was producing,” said Rose. Storer set out to solve the problem of the United States not being able to compete. As a result of her efforts, Rookwood was responsible for bringing the decorative arts in America to its pinnacle.

COURTESY OF CHRIS ROSE

The connection between Rookwood and Philadelphia dates back to 1876, the year the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art was founded. In 1876, at the Centennial Exhibition, Storer met the curator and President of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, William Watts Taylor. The two developed a relationship and began working with each other through the American Crafts Movement.

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Fast forward to 1987. While Rookwood was busy turning 100 years old, Chris Rose was studying Graphic Design at the University of the Arts, known then as Philadelphia College of Art. After graduating, Rose worked for various architectural firms, building the Korean Memorial and New York’s MTA Transit Stations. He even had a short run in the music industry as manager of the group 98 Degrees. “It was a lot of fun. In that period, I was doing the whole self-discovery thing…as an artist, I guess I always am.” And then the paths of Rookwood and Rose met. One day Rose’s brother told him about a pottery company in their hometown of Cincinnati. The brothers met with the Rookwood owner at the time, Dr. Arthur Townley, who had of-

fered to sell the company 40 or 50 times over 30 years. But Rose’s enthusiasm for artistic merit and his commitment to stay true to original Rookwood traditions impressed Townley. Rose explained, “After we met with Townley, my brother wrote him a sincere thank you note. When he was ready to sell the company a few years later, Townley called us and said after all that time, we were the only potential buyers who ever wrote him a thank you note. Our mom was so proud.” Soon after purchasing Rookwood from Townley, Rose began to dive into the history of his new company. Rookwood won many awards in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Artist Kataro Shiriyamadani of Japan created superior work that commands very high prices today. Other artists with great skill were Carl Schmidt, Matt Daly, A.R. Valentien and William McDonald. All of the awards and medals that Rookwood has won are in cases and have traveled to museums in 86 countries all over the world. When Rose finally got a chance to see the medals when the exhibit came to the Cincinnati Art Museum, he was thrilled. While looking through the cases, he discovered that one of the medals read, “The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art.” Rose thought, “That’s my school!” Rose believes his education at the University of the Arts has helped him to inspire the artists at Rookwood. “I learned how to draw in school, but I also learned how to critique things and give good criticism. I’m very hands-on. We critique a lot of the work. We push them.” Today, Rookwood is working on the trophies for the Men and Women’s Association of Tennis Professionals. The company holds the world record for the most money spent on a piece of art pottery at auction, about $370,000. Rookwood has also been offered a reality TV show. But what’s most important to Chris Rose is the connection of where the past meets the present, and how it inspires the future.

MATT salacuse

ALUMNI PROFILES

Many of our alumni thrive in the global community as a result of the unique education they receive at the University of the Arts. Daniel Edmundson ’06 (Communication) is one such success, embodying a combination of dedication, innovative spirit and the desire to have a profound impact on the world in which we live. After graduation, Edmundson got a job as a copywriter and was able to quickly gain experience writing for major clients at a very young age – McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Brazil’s tourism board. Within just a few years, he had a thick portfolio and also the opportunity to strengthen support for causes he believed in, crafting campaigns for public health awareness, voter outreach and urban education. Edmundson wrote his first on-air commercial at age 21, worked with then-Senator Barack Obama in support of a mayoral campaign and chaired a young professionals’ council for the United Nations. In every respect, he was living a recent grad’s dream. But after three years in the ad agency and marketing game, Edmundson was tired. Not of the work, or even the prospect of where it could go, but of how and why he was pushing himself. He needed a change. He was offered a position as an aide and speechwriter for the dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the top business schools in the country. Edmundson also received the promise of full tuition reimbursement and the chance to expand his understanding of emerging economies and the broader business community. It was an opportunity he just couldn’t pass up. After just a few semesters of work, classes and networking with some of the wealthiest people and corporations in the world, Edmundson again knew he wanted more. He was keen to apply what he had learned in the hope of finding deeper meaning in the principles he’d been taught. “I left with the intention of brightening my ability to understand brands, businesses and products from a new perspective – one that might not be commonly promoted with traditional advertising, marketing or communications,” he says. “I needed to immerse myself in a foreign culture,

DANIEL EDMUNDSON MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

to start from scratch in acquiring market knowledge and conditions of choice and preference; I needed new insight to inform the old and influence a new outlook of an increasingly global market and diversity of thought.” Edmundson found all of this in India, as the Insights and Research Director for the Organisation for Development Action and Maintenance (ODAM). ODAM specializes in improving the lives of the socially oppressed in Tamil Nadu, especially women, children and the local farming community through socioeconomic development access and sustainable solutions. Based in the small village of Tiruchuli in the mostly rural state of Tamil Nadu in southern India, Edmundson has dedicated his time to helping Indian-led entrepreneurial ventures, green-fueling initiatives and programs get off the ground for the benefit of the local community. Working on this level, immersed in a new culture, he has gained a fresh perspective. “I think that brands – even in rural and developing regions where the concept of ‘a brand’ might not be easily recognized – need to try even harder to make sense of themselves in the world right now, fitting into new languages and ways of life, and that means global innovation will need to be rooted less in business insights and more in human truths,” he says. “It is not so much profit as it is people.” Though far from Broad and Pine, Edmundson still feels connected to the creative community at the University and the faculty members who supported him. Like many, it was a formative time for him. But perhaps more importantly, he believes his education taught him that among all art and creative narrative, there is a poetic structure that can be applied to any challenge, something he remembers daily in India. “I am proud to have received such an interdisciplinary education at UArts – one that I owe a great deal of my success and insight to today.”

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By her sophomore year, Rodgers was designing and crafting commissioned furniture for clients. By the end of her junior year, she had launched a long-term independent study program, using 18th century construction techniques and the help of friends to build a barn on her parents’ property in Maine. Rodgers’ talent for design and her growing aptitude for construction led to a series of gallery, boutique and residential commissions following her graduation from the University of the Arts. Frequently collaborating with other artists, Rodgers built the furnishings in her own woodworking shop while working toward a certificate in interior design. In 1993, Rodgers took on the design of Striped Bass, a nationally recognized establishment about which Esquire magazine restaurant critic John Mariani would later say, “showed Philadelphia what was possible at the high end.” Striped Bass was designated “Restaurant of the Year” by Esquire, an honor that 10 years later would be associated with Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, another Rodgers commission.

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Open the door to the offices of Marguerite Rodgers Ltd. and chances are you’ll be greeted by a cat; you’ll also likely hear laughter. You’ll see the concept boards that trace the history of projects and ideas. You’ll see artifacts and objects that reflect the firm’s work on private clubs, hotels, condominiums, residential spaces within schools and universities, high-end restaurants, and private residences. Located in a former warehouse building in Philadelphia, Marguerite Rodgers Ltd.’s office is a warm, inspired place. The 20 people who work with Rodgers share her commitment to craft, her ability to listen and her pleasure in responding to and satisfying client sensibilities. They are interior designers and architects, people with a flair for color, texture and materials. They are original thinkers who pay close attention to the kind of details that set custom furniture, cabinetry and accessories apart. As Rodgers sees it, every interior design commission represents a chance to create something that never existed before – an opportunity to step inside a client’s dreams and fashion a new world. “What continues to push me creatively are relationships, be it with clients or artisans; I find opportunity through people. It’s really fun. I love to play with new materials, work with talented people and inspire bold ideas,” Rodgers says. And since 1980, Marguerite Rodgers Ltd. has been doing just that – listening well, imagining out loud and forging unforgettable spaces.

Marguerite V. rodgers A WELL-DESIGNED LIFE

COURTESY of MARGUERITE V. RODGERS

Fascinated by composition and color, materials and craft, Rodgers arrived in Philadelphia as a college freshman in 1972 and soon began to explore media ranging from fibers to wood. “The faculty was incredibly diverse, with experience including commercial prototype design to those specializing in commissioned work to individuals who crafted art furniture for gallery exhibitions,” Rodgers recalls. “The environment was inherently collaborative and my classmates, extraordinary. I still keep in touch with many of them.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers’ work for residential clients was winning accolades of its own. Designing the interiors of private homes, apartments and condominiums in Boston, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Manhattan and the Bahamas, Rodgers earned the respect and the loyalty of clients who appreciated the firm’s steadfast commitment to listening well, designing artfully and seeing all stages of each installation through.

COURTESY of MARGUERITE V. RODGERS

The daughter of a naval officer and the youngest of five siblings, Marguerite V. Rodgers was born in Bethesda, Md., in 1953. Her family moved from home to home during Rodgers’ formative years until finally settling in Maine, where Rodgers was influenced as much by her father’s ingenuity as by her mother’s appreciation for beautiful things.

COURTESY of MARGUERITE V. RODGERS

ALUMNI Profiles

“A sculptor has an idea and makes it; with stone, you start with an image and through each hit of the chisel the image is refined,” reflects Justin Mitchell ’01 (Sculpture). When Mitchell started at UArts, he thought he wanted to be a graphic designer. But that changed during his Foundation year. “We were told to create one marble sculpture…I got so into it, I made four and took them to each of my teachers for their critiques. It really changed my perspective.” Mitchell recalls a conversation with Barry Parker, head of Sculpture, who told him, “You don’t choose to be a sculptor, it chooses you.” Mitchell became a Sculpture major. After graduating, Mitchell had a definite image in mind. “Toward the end of my days at UArts, my sculptures examined the spatial qualities of architecture and human emotions.” Knowing that he wanted to go to grad school immediately, Mitchell applied to eight of the best design schools and was accepted to seven. He decided to attend the Rhode Island School of Design for a master’s degree in Interior Architecture. “The transition to architecture was a natural path,” Mitchell says. Mitchell graduated as the youngest person in his class and began working as an architect at Moeckel Carbonell Associates in Delaware. Despite early success, he felt something was lacking. “The process of designing and detailing a building can take years. My creative ambitions needed a faster turnover.” On a whim, Mitchell dropped off a resume at the Delaware College of Design, hoping to assist with critiques. The next day the school offered him a position teaching Lighting Design. “It was surreal. They told me to teach a lighting design course with no syllabus, just the ability to develop all the projects and subjects I wanted. I focused on teaching the students how to see light. If you can help a student to see from an analytical perspective with an aesthetic vision for detail, then that is a gift that hopefully they never forget.”

MATT salacuse

getty

JUSTIN MITCHELL ‘Greening’ an industry

Teaching gave Mitchell a new focus and he began working in architectural lighting design with One Lux Studio in New York. “I had the dream job of my career, the lead designer for all international projects working with some of the industry’s most prestigious architectural firms.” But the process of carving a stone, or a career, is complicated. “First you look at the stone and imagine what it wants to become. You have an idea, but then you find the stone has a fracture line that you didn’t see before you started: thus the image evolves.” New image: Karina Restrepo, now Mitchell’s fiancée, wanted to open a spa in Philadelphia, so Mitchell pitched in. Soon he was immersed. “The nail industry is the beauty industry’s most toxic sector, with severe health concerns affecting millions of women every day. I was amazed that there is a nail salon on every city corner, in every strip mall, yet a designer has never innovated what it could become.” Mitchell and Restrepo now co-own and operate Tierra Mia, the nation’s first organic nail spa, and developed an innovative application process that extends the life of water-based nail polishes. “This is part of our success in using non-toxic alternatives that other spas have trouble using,” he says. Tierra Mia has been featured in Allure, Body & Soul and Philadelphia Style magazines, received “Best of Philly 2009” honors from Philadelphia magazine after being open only two months, and is written about in blogs across the country. The duo is now creating their own organic product line, working with water-based nail polish companies to create a color line to be sold internationally. “We hope to distribute organic and natural products to the typical nail salon to help change the industry,” Mitchell says. “I really believe the critical thinking and questioning skills I was taught at UArts are what allow me to find innovative solutions to design challenges, no matter the medium or form. This kind of problem-solving is inherently entrepreneurial, so I am always looking forward to where it will lead me next.”

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alumninotes

1940s

Virginia Harty ’42 (Advertising Design) mainly works with oil portraits. She recently completed her 15th portrait. Charles Ober ’49 (Illustration) works as the art director for Mariner Media, a full-service advertising agency in Buena Vista, Va.

1950s

Nancy Kirstein ’53 (Illustration) continues to teach and create. She makes pottery at her “Signature Door Studio,” where everyone who crosses the threshold must sign their name on the door. Henri Meillier ’53 (Painting) has had a successful and prolific career. For 20 years, he was the art and creative director at Lit Brothers and Gimbel Brothers in Philadelphia. After that, he taught different courses at Drexel University and Moore College of Art. From 1977 to 2003, he owned the state-of-the-art Henri Meillier Photography Studio Inc., which served Philadelphia and New York City. He is currently working in Florida on a commission basis. Patricia Pealer ’54 (Graphic Design) was part of a two-person show at Exton Square Mall at the Chester County (Pa.) Art Association’s store. In the past year, many of her watercolors were presented at juried shows in West Chester, Pa., as well as at the West Goshen Township’s annual residents’ show. Eileen Taber Goodman ’58 (Illustration) had a solo exhibition of new watercolors at the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia. Bob Gillis ’59 (Industrial Design) has had a long and successful career. He started out at RCA, where he worked for 21 years as a senior staff industrial design engineer, followed by three years at the Nuclear

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Regulatory Commission redesigning nuclear power control rooms. He has spent the past 15 years at IBM as a designer in its computer mass memory division. Dr. Suzanne Reese Horvitz ’59 (Art Education) and her husband were selected for a Fulbright Specialists project in Baku, Azerbaijan, at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts. They were two of over 400 United States faculty and professionals who traveled abroad through the program. The Fulbright Specialists program, created in 2000 to complement the traditional Fulbright Scholar program, provides short-term academic opportunities to prominent U.S. faculty and professionals to support curricular and faculty development and institutional planning at post-secondary academic institutions around the world.

1960s

Illustrator and children’s book author Jerry Pinkney ’60 (Illustration) won the 2010 Randolph Caldecott Medal for distinguished American picture book for children from the American Library Association for his wordless rendition of Aesop’s The Lion & the Mouse. Nancy Plye McGee ’61 (Fashion Design) credits much of her successes (and meeting her future husband) to her education at the University of the Arts. For the past 48 years, she has been an educator, artist and designer. Marcia Oakes ’61 (Fabric Design) staged “Winter’s Light,” an exhibition of 18 watercolor paintings at the Harrington Park (N.J.) Library. Oakes has taught at art schools, private schools and enrichment programs in the Harrington Park area for the past 35 years. She teaches children and adult painting at the Art School at Old Church in Demarest, N.J., and is the art teacher at the Montessori House in Tenafly,

N.J. She takes part in enrichment programs for elementary and middle school children as well. Alan S. Goldstein ’62 (Painting) is a retired art professor from Bucks County (Pa.) Community College. He has mounted extensive exhibitions in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York. He was also a winner of the Fulbright Foundation Fellowship in Barcelona, Spain. Mitch Lyons ’62 (Ceramics) was hired by the Oklahoma Art Guild to provide instruction about his pioneered monoprinting from clay slabs in April 2010. His clay monoprints can be found in numerous private and public collections throughout the U.S., including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Woodmere (Pa.) Museum, American University (Washington, D.C.) and the University of Delaware. George Kenton ’63 (Illustration) is a prolific art director and graphic designer. He recently finished compiling the book Paintings & Drawings, a collection of works from an extended period of time. Kenton describes the collected images as “a sort of extended doodle” that came to him fully realized from an external source, leading him to places he had never seen. Sara Daniels Cucinotta ’66 (Graphic Design), owner and graphic designer for Cucinotta & Associates, has been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for demonstrating dedication,

ALUMNI NOTES

leadership and excellence in graphic design. She attributes her success to her love for her profession, an honest approach to clients’ needs and preferences, and to feeling reinvented whenever she meets new clients. Daniel Jocz ’66 (Sculpture) has created a collection of collars that he calls “An American’s Riff on the Mill Stone Ruff.” This collection and other works by Jocz, as well as his process, are chronicled in Elwood Beach’s mini-book Fragments from a Peculiar Mind, published by Scion Press. In addition, Jocz has published his own mini-book as a testament to his recent works. Evan Solot ’67 (Trumpet) was recently awarded the American Composers Forum Community Partners’ Film Composers grant to provide the music for a documentary about Philadelphia poet Sonia Sanchez.

1970s

Susan Welchman ’70 (Photography) has been a photo editor at National Geographic magazine for many years. After graduation from the Philadelphia College of Art, she worked at the Philadelphia Daily News for five years as a staff photographer, followed by another five years as a photo editor at the New York Post. She returned to her alma mater last year to speak to students about her career. (opposite, left) Sara Daniels Cucinotta (above) Susan Welchman (top right) Joseph A. Nicholson (bottom right) Michael Biello and Dan Martin

Alice Whittelsey ’70 (Painting) is a collage artist who was inspired by taking a mosaics class in college. Her work has evolved from abstract landscapes into fantasy scenes characterized by ambiguity, incongruity and environmental commentary. Her work was exhibited at the Haworth (N.J.) Municipal Library.

Joseph A. Nicholson ’71 (Industrial Design) AIA, IDSA, recently completed the design of an energy and environmental resources center for Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) in Salem, N.J. As a registered architect and exhibit designer, he designed a building addition and site renovation project for the Hagley Museum in Delaware and gallery interiors and exhibits at the Eagles Mere Museum in Pennsylvania, Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park, and Louisville Slugger Museum and Visitor Center in Kentucky. His current projects include a master plan and conceptual building design for the new National Civil Rights Museum in Mississippi and a master plan for renovation of the existing museum at the University of Mississippi, including a design for the new William Faulkner wing. He is a principal with the firm of UJMN Architects + Designers in Philadelphia and continues to serve as a trustee of the Woodmere Art Museum in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.

Projects selected Biello, Martin and Ishmael Houston Jones to recreate their 1980 performance/theater piece, “What We’re Made Of.” The new generation of dancers includes Juan Luna ’06 (Modern Dance) and William Robinson ’08 (Modern Dance). Performances were held at the Performance Garage in Philadelphia.

Bassist John Lee ’72 (Music Performance) was featured in “Jazz Notes: Interviews Across the Generations,” a collection of interviews of jazz musicians by Sanford Josephson. Lee got his start with drummer Max Roach while studying at the Philadelphia Musical Academy and went on to play with legend Dizzy Gillespie for eight years, from 1984 to 1992. A resident of South Orange, N.J., Lee produces the annual Giants of Jazz concert at South Orange Middle School.

Debra Cooperstein ’73 (Art Education) recently retired from the School District of Philadelphia after 36 years. In 2009, she was a recipient of the Rose Lindenbaum Improvement of Education Award and won the first Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Art Teacher of Excellence Award. Cooperstein continues to educate young artists as an adjunct professor at Temple’s Tyler School of Art.

Michael Biello ’73 (Crafts) and his life partner Dan Martin received the Visionary Award at the 2009 OUTMUSIC Awards at Webster Hall in New York City. Comedienne Kate Clinton and Rodney Chester of Noah’s Arc hosted the event, which is known as the LGBT Grammys and celebrates excellence in music, songwriting and cultural activism. Philadelphia Dance

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Maureen Drdak ’73 (Fine Arts) had work exhibited twice since the start of 2010. “Drdak: From Mosul to Mustang” opened on February 4 at the Lawrence Gallery of Rosemont (Pa.) College and ran through March 4. Her work “The Killing Lions — An Iraqi War Meditation” was presented at the University of Nevada’s Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery as part of this winter’s Iraqimemorial.org exhibition and symposium. Drdak also participated in an artists’ panel discussion at the symposium on March 4. The Iraqimemorial.org exhibition will be documented in a forthcoming book. More information about the online exhibition can be found at Iraqimemorial.org.

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based upon what I imagine and what I perceive. I intend for my work to function on many levels, both visually and contextually. My intention is to tell the viewer about particular things that I hope they can imagine in a new way. I try to offer a perception of the world in which we live that embodies the complexity of life experiences.” Marinaro joined the University of Michigan’s School of Art and Design in 1981 as a visiting artist and was granted a full-time teaching position in 1982. Prior to his appointment at the University of Michigan, he was an assistant professor of art at the University of Pittsburgh.

Thomas Tomcho ’73 (Violin/Sax) played in a “Bandstand” from 1972 to 1990. He now works as the director of player development at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., where he is responsible for bringing in the high rollers. Tomcho has been married for 35 years and has two children. He has fond memories of his time at the University, especially his teachers Vince Trombetta and Yani Santo, and encourages former classmates to get in touch with him.

Jane Martin ’74 (Crafts/Jewelry/ Metals) is a studio jeweler who has been producing work since the late 1970s. Her work has been published in The Metalsmith’s Book of Boxes & Lockets by Tim McCreight and Contemporary American Jewelry Design by Ettagale Blauer, and in magazines including Ornament, Lapidary Journal, Crafts Report and American Crafts. In 1988, Martin was a founding board member of the Seattle Metals Guild and its program director for four years. She has also been involved in founding galleries and organizing symposiums and has participated in several large crafts shows, including the Smithsonian Craft Show. In 2002, Martin was awarded a grant by the Bainbridge Island (Wash.) Arts and Humanities Fund to start a jewelry/ metalsmithing class on the island through the parks department. Her most recent exhibit was at the Facere Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle.

Louis Marinaro ’74 (Sculpture) maintains an active national and regional exhibition schedule. His work can be found in numerous private collections. He is the author of two permanently installed public works at the University of Michigan. Marinaro describes his sculpture as content-driven and notes, “My art is

Cliff Lentz ’75 (Illustration) was one of 19 Philadelphia artists to create replica sculptures of the Phillie Phanatic, which were placed around the city then auctioned off to raise funds for different Philadelphia charities. Lentz’s piece, placed in front of the Philadelphia Library, was themed around spaceflight and a tribute to the American Space Program.

Joseph Sweeney ’76 (Painting) took second place for his pastel work “Above the Susquehanna” at the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s juried Works on Paper show. Sheila Linz ’77 (Painting) opened a gallery space in her town of Roosevelt, N.J., called Assifa Space. Linz and her husband Steven Bowen bought their home, a Louis Kahndesigned flat-roofed structure, about five years ago and have lovingly put on an addition that is respectful to the original architecture. The gallery

space, named after the Hebrew word meaning “assembly,” is part of the Roosevelt Art Project community and Linz hopes it will become a place for people to talk and gather in appreciation of art and craft. Ilene Matthews ’78 (Interior Design) is working as an interior designer for Ethan Allen in Maple Shade, N.J.

ALUMNI NOTES

1980s

Works by Amy Orr ’81 (Art Education and Fibers) were shown in the E. Avery Draper Showcase at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts. Her exhibit “Plastic Culture” consisted of pieces made mostly from plastic cards, such as credit cards, gift cards and membership cards she collected from different people.

Carlos Rios ’80 (Percussion), who lives and works in Puerto Rico, just released his music production “Drum-In,” which includes original compositions with aggressive rhythmic grooves highlighting the drum set sound. “Drum-In” features an array of local musicians, drum solos and carefully crafted music programming. Available for download at cdbaby.com/cd/CarlosIRios. Jeanne Williamson ’78 (Crafts) has participated in numerous group shows in museums and galleries throughout the United States. She recently received her master of science degree in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art. Williamson had two pieces exhibited at the 7th International Fiber Biennial at the Snyderman-Works Gallery in Philadelphia, Pa. She also held the gallery show “Walls and Webs: Mixed Media Works Inspired by Abstract Lines and Grids” with fellow artist Catherine Carter at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Mass. Solo shows have been held at the Hunt Cavanagh Gallery at Providence (R.I.) College, the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham, Mass., and the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Mass. Visit her website jeannewilliamson.com.

(opposite, left, top to bottom) Maureen Drdak Louis Marinaro (opposite, right, top to bottom) Cliff Lentz Joseph Sweeney (above) Jeanne Williamson (right top to bottom) Pat Setzer Merriam Sushman

Gary Schwartz ’79 (Animation) created the intro video and animation for “Shadowbox Cinema,” a special short film program co-created by the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Film Festival and Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. Schwartz also participated in “Intermission,” a group show at the Ann Arbor Art Center, in conjunction with the 48th Ann Arbor Film Festival. He is a lecturer at the University of Michigan School of Art & Design.

Pat Setzer ’80 (Guitar) started teaching as a part-time music professor at Drexel University and Bucks County Community College in 1980. Setzer moved to California in 1996 to become Cuyamaca Community College’s only full-time music professor. At the time, the music department consisted of a small lecture room, tiny studio and a single piano. Now, the program is flourishing – with a performance hall, digital theater, and multiple studios for rehearsal and recording. Setzer was recently awarded the Hayward Award for Excellence in Education, California’s highest honor for a community college teacher. He will receive a generous cash prize and have his name forwarded to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education for its Professor of the Year Award.

The photograph “Before the Slaughter” by Merriam Sushman ’82 (Graphic Design) was shown in the Coalition of Photographic Arts’ Midwest Juried Exhibition at Walkers’ Point Center for the Arts in Milwaukee, Wis. The photograph was from her seven-year project focusing on small Wisconsin dairy farms.

Howard Belk ’81 (Graphic Design) was recently promoted to co-chief executive officer of Siegel+Gale by chairman and founder Alan Siegel. During Belk’s time at the firm, he played a vital role in building the company’s global reach by opening offices in London, Dubai, Shanghai and Beijing; recruiting and training outstanding talent across a wide range of disciplines; building numerous world-class branding programs; reinvigorating the company’s simplification practice; and ensuring that the firm is an inspiring and rewarding place to work. Under Belk, the firm remains true to its mantra “Simple Is Smart” – leveraging the power of simplicity to help clients realize their true potential.

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Hot Apple Spider Productions released new recordings showcasing the talents of Dr. Neil Wetzel ’82 (Saxophone), MAT ’97 (Music Education) in his debut outing as a solo jazz artist. Produced by Bob Shuster ’83 (Trumpet), the CD also features Tony DeSantis ’85 (Trumpet), Tom Lawton, Tony Marino, Gary Rissmiller and many others. The CD is available for sale at neilwetzel.com and elsewhere. Hratch Babikian ’83 (Jewelry) had work featured in the 15th annual international juried show “CraftForms 2010” at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pa. An artist book created by Katherine Lobo ’83 (Jewelry) with Ann Forbush ’81 (Photography) was accepted into the collection of the American Museum of Women Artists in Washington, D.C. Brenda Joy Smith ’83 (Illustration) is a middleaged “non-traditional” student, studying Communication at Saint Louis University. She hopes to enter the university’s American Studies doctorate program next year. Smith plans to focus on visual culture and thus, come full circle as a “messenger of culture” as she transfers from a producer of visual culture to one who studies its purposes and effects on society. Stevie Black ’84 (Photography) won the 2009 Internet Advertising Competition for Best Information Services Online Ad.

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Jodi Forlizzi ’84 (Illustration) is happily employed as an associate professor of Design and Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University. He was recently part of a team that designed “Snackbot,” a snack delivery robot. Myra Mimlitsch-Gray ’84 (Jewelry) exhibited work in “Form Follows Function or Does It?” at Gallery 1 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The exhibit included ceramics, furniture design, metals and fibers. Connie Saems ’84 (Ceramics) participated in a juried members show at the Fuller Craft Museum in Boston that included three pieces of her works. Saems is also a registered artist with the Massachusetts Arts Council. She works at the Harvard University Ceramics program. Edward Dormer ’86 (Industrial Design) is a conceptual artist who has exhibited in the U.S. and Europe and has received numerous grant awards, fellowships, invitations and commissions to realize his vision. Some of his more notable honors include a residency funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts at Château de La Napoule in southern France, a public art grant from Gniew Castle in northern Poland, and several highprofile opportunities during a year of making works in Berlin and Potsdam, Germany. He recently launched edwarddormer.com. Nan Wollman ’86 (Ceramics) had the exhibit “Exotic Mélange” at the Future Studio Gallery in Los Angeles. Chris Gee ’89 (Graphic Design) has been named managing director of the digital practice at Proof Integrated Communications (a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller), where he will focus on the seamless integration of bleeding-edge digital creativity and strategy with integrated communication channels.

Christine Kerrick ’89 (Illustration) has moved back to the Philadelphia area after living in South Florida for 14 years. She will continue to work as an illustrator, fine artist, graphic designer and Federal Bureau of Investigation-trained forensic artist.

1990s Neilson Carlin ’92 (Illustration) was one of four artists commissioned in 2008 for a set of paintings in the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wis. He is in the process of another commission of 11 paintings for a seminary in St. Paul, Minn. Neilson also teaches at Studio Rilievo School of Classical Painting, a school he opened 10 years ago in Kennett Square, Pa. Gary Cohen ’92 (Photography) continues working on his series of in-situ street portraits taken in China, Tibet and the U.S. Photographs from the series were published last spring in two different journals, The Pinch Journal and The Blue Earth Review.

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Adam Furgang ’92 (Illustration) recently exhibited his 1990s Polaroid photographs at “BiPolaroid” through the Upstate Artists Guild in Albany, N.Y. He has also co-written several children’s books with his wife.

first modern recording of Poulenc’s “Trois Pastorales.” “Platero and I,” “Voyage” and other Erdely-Sayo music can be found on Arabesque Records, Amazon, Verizon VCast and iTunes.

Jeffrey Kaller ’92 (Crafts), a ceramic sculptor with Flanders Gallery in Raleigh, N.C., has taken over as director of Steneby Foundation and deputy university college director of HDK Steneby in Sweden. He had been teaching ceramic art at Columbus (Ga.) State In December 2009, Erin P. Bennett ’92 University (Industrial Design) launched the websites since 2001 for Jeff Garlin (jeffgarlin.com), best known and served for his role on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthuas head of siasm,” and Tom Papa (tompapa.com), the Departthe host of NBC’s “The Marriage Ref,” ment of Art through her web service firm Gigglechick for a considInteractive. Bennett is also the webmaster erable pefor comedians Steven Wright, Dave Attell, riod. After Maria Bamford and Norm MacDonald. graduating Over the past five years, Gigglechick has from the designed websites for Lisa Lampanelli, Jim U n i v e r s i ty Gaffigan, Matt Iseman and Ian Bagg. of the Arts, Kaller studied at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and received a Master of Fine Arts degree. He also spent a post-graduate year on a Fulbright scholarship at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, (opposite, left, Finland. top to bottom)

Brian Dowrick ’93 (Animation) won several awards for his senior animated film “Foodchain.” He received a silver award at the Student Academy Awards, first prize at the College Film Awards, second prize at the University Film and Video Association Film Festival, and first prize at the College Television Awards sponsored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Dowrick has worked as a senior animator for Rhythm & Hues, a character animation and visual effects studio for feature films, commercials and theme parks based in Marina del Rey, Calif. He has worked on over 20 feature films, including “Scooby Doo,” “Night at the Museum” and the “Narnia” films. He has also worked on the Coca-Cola polar bears commercials. He is co-founder of Eclipse Studios in China and owner of the BaiAn 3D Animation School in Beijing, Dowrick Games and BaiAn Education Software.

WILD OVER WEBSITES

Dr. Neil Wetzel Jodi Forlizzi (opposite, right) Connie Saems (above) Erin P. Bennett (right) Wilber “Chip” Shilling

Sandrine Erdely-Sayo, MM ’92 (Piano) released her latest album, “Platero and I.” Inspired by the pictorial tales of early 20th century life by Nobel Prize Laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez, the album features Erdely-Sayo as both pianist and composer. She also released the recording “Voyage,” the

communal gallery and studio that was launched as a 10-year experiment in 1997. Since then, the collective at 1026 Arch Street has become known for its innovative and sometimes bizarre works in photography, video, animation, painting, drawing, collage, zines, performance, sculpture, T-shirts and screen printing – all of which Wright does handily, with zeal and humor. Wilber “Chip” Shilling, MFA ’94 (Book Arts/Printmaking) was named the 2010 Minnesota Book Artist of the Year. His work is internationally known and in the collections of the Getty Center, Library of Congress, Harvard University, Yale University and Minnesota Historical Society. His solo exhibition for the award was held at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

Amanda Jaron ’93 (Jewelry/Metals) has had a fabulous career since her graduation. She launched her A. Jaron fine jewelry line in 2004 after working with fashion world “names” Tommy Hilfiger, Givenchy, Nine West and Jones New York. Her most recent venture was selling her line on the Home Shopping Network. Jaron and her husband and twins live in Florida. Check out her line at ajaron.com.

Marie Sivak ’94 (Sculpture) was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission. She also received a Professional Development Grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council in Oregon to visit the Digital Stone Project in Mercerville, N.J., where she worked on a new sculpture in video and stone. Her work “Memoir” was featured in an exhibition curated by Barbara O’Brien, Kemper (Mo.) Museum of Contemporary Art Curator, at A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Jeffrey Wright ’93 (Animation) has started a new project that will make his prints more accessible to those who can’t spend large amounts of money on art. He launched a subscription series that guarantees more than 12 prints for the 2010 calendar year, shipped to the fan’s home. Wright is also one of the co-creators of Philadelphia’s Space 1026, the

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Susan White, MFA ’94 (Book Arts/ Printmaking) exhibited in Philadelphia at the Nexus in the Crane Arts Building as an independent project of Philagrafika 2010. The gallery featured work by artists from six different states and many from the Philadelphia area. Daniel Singer ’95 (Industrial Design) and friend Bruce Kothmann put a new spin on the traditional game of dreidel with the introduction of Staccabees, a game consisting of three sets of colored blocks and a wooden spinning top. Players take turns spinning the top and, based on the results, place cubes on the “stac.” Be the first to balance all your cubes on the “stac” and you win! Staccabees is sold in independent toy stores across the United States and online at staccabees.com. Since graduation, Stephanie Carr ’96 (Theater) has had an eclectic career that includes stints as an actor, fish, face-painter, monkey, museum manager, puppeteer, secretary, baker, pre-K director and now lighthouse keeper at Atlantic City’s Absecon Lighthouse. As director of education programs since August 2007, Carr has enjoyed educating the public about maritime and local history. She uses her unique skills to enrich the programs that take place there. She was recently named one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Atlantic City for her work and leadership. Hannah Tsapatoris Macleod ’96 (Musical Theater) produced a workshop/staged reading of the play “The Orphan Tree” through her theater company Naked Feet Theatrical Productions at the Rotunda in West Philadelphia. Visit the company’s website at nakedfeetproductions.com.

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Marie Nguyen ’96 (Illustration) is the associate creative director of the CooperGroup, a New York Citybased direct-response, marketing/ communications agency. She oversees the agency’s creative output. Nguyen was previously art director at Wilson RMS and joined the CooperGroup in 2008. Jenifer Rutherford ’98 (Photography) staged the solo show “Shapes and Shades of Organic” featuring older and more recent still life and color photos at Philadelphia’s Proximity Gallery. Marita Fitzpatrick ’99 (Art Education) is surviving quite happily as an art teacher in North Philadelphia. Jackson Gay ’99 (Theater) was invited to direct Jennifer Maisel’s “Out of Orbit” for the 2010 Sundance Theater Lab in late March and directed the world premiere of Kenneth Lin’s “Intelligent-Slave” for Houston’s Alley Theater last spring. Gay returned to the Philadelphia area to direct “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at People’s Light & Theater Company in August 2010. Most importantly, Gay’s daughter Lola will turn 6 years old in April. Garret Lee Hendricks ’99 (Acting) won the January 2010 Manhattan Monologue Slam. Each month, there is a competition in front of industry professionals where actors are given three minutes to deliver a monologue and are judged on presentation, emotional content and writing. Hendricks is now in heavy auditions for pilot season. Allen Radway ’99 (Theater) has worked as an actor, theatrical designer and educator in the Philadelphia theater community for more than a decade. He has appeared in more than 30 productions in that time, most notably as Jamie in “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” Charlie in the American premiere of “Breathing Corpses,” Carter in the Philadelphia

premiere of “Fat Pig” and Berowne in “Love’s Labour’s Lost.” He most recently played Bernie in New City Stage’s production of “Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love” and will next appear in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Macbeth” in repertory at the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre.

2000s

Since graduation, Kenny Delio ’00 (Crafts) started his own production pottery business and taught classes at numerous art centers including the Clay Studio in Philadelphia. He has also taught multiple ceramic workshops in the Delaware Valley. He completed his MFA at the University of the Arts last spring. Delio married Tiffany Staley ’00 (Jazz Dance) in 2003 and they live in New Jersey. Staley works and teaches dance in Philadelphia at Anna Marie’s Dance Academy. In 2009, she started her own dance company and produced her first performance for the 2009 Fringe Festival. The couple plans to open their own art center and studio in the near future.

ALUMNI NOTES

(opposite, left) Daniel Singer (opposite, right) Allen Radway (right) Venissa Santi

Andrew Lipke ’00 (Composition) released his debut album “The Way Home” in 2007 through Drexel University’s student-run record label MAD Dragon Records (Ryko/Warner Distribution). Produced by Emmy Award-winning composer and Drexel Professor Jim Klein, “The Way Home” features Lipke’s melodically focused compositions and powerfully emotional lyrics that bridge the gap between singer-songwriter and alternative rocker. Written and arranged by Lipke, “The Way Home” tastefully balances the love and pain inherent in all human relationships, delving into intimate acoustic ballads, all out rockers and sweeping string arrangements. The album’s first track and forthcoming single, “Untitled Song #1,” features an intense, basic primal voice throughout the wordless chorus that builds to a heightened crescendo. Cara Leigh Yarhling ’00 (Illustration) married Tyler Studds on October 10, 2009, in Aquinnah, Mass. Monique Haley ’01 (Jazz Dance) has been with River North Chicago for eight seasons after training and performing with the company as an apprentice. Her 22 years of training in competitive and professional dance experiences include Chris Collins Dance Studio (Alexandria, Va.); Gary Pates Superstars Show Troupe (Waldorf, Md.); workshops sponsored by Dance Theatre of Harlem and Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago; training with Philadanco, the Philadelphia Dance Company; and working as an instructor of competitive dance with the Universal Dance Association. Haley is a former member of the Bermuda Dance Company and Eleone Dance Theatre of Philadelphia. In Chicago, she keeps busy teaching and performing in various commercial and industrial events. She also made her choreographic debut in Philadelphia at the Annenberg Center. Cornelius Jones ’01 (Musical Theater) returned to “The Lion King” on Broadway for a limited engage-

visit communityedhiphop.blogspot.com or duskydiana.com.

ment and was featured on “Law & Order: SVU” in the episode “Savior” alongside actresses Mariska Hargitay and Elizabeth Marvel. As part of his master’s thesis defense at New York University, he premiered and produced his new solo work “HomoAffection: Memories of a Nature Boy.” For more information, log on to corneliusjonesjr.com.

Eve Okupniak ’01 (Film/Animation) accepted the position of chair of the Video Production program at the Art Institute of New York City in October 2010. Previously, she worked as assistant director at the Art Institute of Philadelphia.

Anah Klate ’01 (Musical Theater) received her MFA last spring from Columbia University’s Theatre Management and Producing program. She joined Broadway’s Jujamcyn Theaters as an associate theater manager. Vincent Matyi ’01 (Multimedia) is a user experience researcher, designer and strategist in the greater New York City area. He works at McKinsey and Company, a global management consulting firm, and is an advisor to the world’s leading businesses, governments and institutions on issues of strategy, organization, technology and operations. He provides his insights on this field at entyi.com. Katherine McNamee ’01 (Musical Theater) can now be found behind the scenes of the Broadway show “The Phantom of the Opera” as assistant company manager. She has also been the manager of Broadway’s “Legally Blonde,” the Chicago Company production of “Wicked,” and has worked as a general management associate on the Broadway and touring productions of “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Cats,” “Gypsy,” “The Color Purple,” “9 to 5,” “Billy Elliot,” “Mamma Mia!” and “The Pillowman.”

Latin jazz vocalist Venissa Santi ’01 (Voice) performed in Los Angeles at Catalina Bar & Grill in November 2009. Listen to Santi embrace her Cuban roots on her album “Bienvendia” or watch videos of her performing at myspace.com/venissasanti. Lucas Steele ’01 (Musical Theater) originated the role of Terry in the world premiere of the musical “The Kid,” produced by the acclaimed offBroadway company the New Group at New York City’s Acorn. “The Kid” is the New Group’s first musical since the Tony Award-winning smash hit “Avenue Q.” Steele stars opposite Christopher Sieber and a cast that includes Susan Blackwell, Jill Eikenberry and Ann Harada.

Wi-Moto Nyoka ’01 (Musical Theater), a.k.a. Dusky Diana, is performing with her band in Germany. The group released a few new videos and a new CD last spring. She started teaching dance and musical theater singing classes at Tanzhaus NRW in Dusseldorf, Germany. Dusky’s CD and digital download sales will help the families of Haiti. For more info,

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Andreas Tagger ’01 (Multimedia) started his advertising career in 2000 while he was completing his studies at the University of the Arts, working as an interactive designer for Marc Ecko and the Ecko Unlimited clothing line. After he graduated, Tagger relocated to San Francisco and joined Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners (BSSP) for five great years in Sausalito, Calif. He helped BSSP create websites and online campaigns for clients like Ubisoft, Pottery Barn, Progressive Auto Insurance and Discreet. In 2003, when BSSP acquired SF Interactive, Tagger was promoted to senior art director, working for brands like MINI, Converse, Lucas Arts, Sun Microsystems, Sprite and Coca-Cola. At BSSP, Tagger met his business partner Nei Caetano. After three years there, the duo decided to go to Evolution Bureau, where they were hired to work on the Adidas account. In 2007, Tagger and Caetano opened Brothers by Choice to create their own vision of a multi-disciplinary advertising agency that creates holistic, premium creative solutions for its clients. Craig Holden Feinberg ’02 (Graphic Design) was intent on furthering his design experience after graduation from the University of the Arts and was accepted at Fabrica, the United Colors of Benetton Communications Research and Development Center in Treviso, Italy. He has been published in Colors, Vorn and Fab magazines,

and Fabrica Files/Fabrica 10, a book published by Electa. His awards include the 2004 Reporters Without Borders campaign out of Paris, France, and the silver prize at the 2004 Design Do! competition sponsored by the International Design Center Nagoya (IDCN) in Nagoya, Japan. Before moving back to Denver, Colo., Feinberg worked closely with the World Health Organization, International Council of Nurses, Fabrica Features, Fab magazine, United Colors of Benetton, Krvkurva Laga Bag, Arte Fiera, La Ghirada Health Center, Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund and Warsaw Children’s Hospital at Fabrica. Hope Greene ’02 (Photography) staged the solo exhibition “Dissolution” at the Crystal Cork Art Quarterly in Dixon, Ill. Some of her other exhibition venues have included Haven Gallery (Boston), the Museum of Natural History (Philadelphia), Iron Studios (Chicago) and Colourworks Gallery (Wilmington, Del.) Mindy Juntti ’02 (Crafts) opened the online store RoryRoo22 on Etsy. com. She works at Jubilation Creations, which serves the community by giving disabled adults lessons in crafting. Jeffrey Page ’02 (Jazz Dance) was selected as the February 2010 Gypsy of the Month by BroadwayWorld. com. Page is living in New York and performing on Broadway in the dance musical “Fela!” Jennifer Schick ’02 (Painting & Drawing) is a degree candidate in Drexel University’s Arts Administration graduate program. She is also president of Drexel’s Arts Administration Graduate Association (AAGA). View some of her work at jenniferschick.com. Kacie Sheik ’02 (Musical Theater) appeared at Joe’s Pub in New York City with her “Hair” co-star Cassie Levy and performed songs they love

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from Gnarls Barkley to Indigo Girls for the benefit of Women In Need, Inc. The performance marked Sheik’s last performance in New York City for a while as she is heading to London with the cast of “Hair” to open the West End revival. James Singewald ’02 (Photography) participated in the Maryland Institute College of Art’s third annual Art Market. Singewald was joined by 250 fellow artists – all students, faculty and alumni of MICA – in a four-day event. Jonathan Vaughan, MAT ’02 (Visual Arts) graduated from the University of South Florida with an MFA focusing in drawing and lithography. Since then, Vaughan has taken on representation by Climate Gallery in New York. Most recently, a number of his drawings were selected for the South Region volume of New American Paintings. Vaughan teaches figure drawing at the Art Institute of Tampa and drawing at the University of South Florida. Check out his latest work at fineartvaughan.net. Lauren Cozza ’03 (Musical Theater) most recently shot an under five for “All My Children” and did a fitness shoot for Bergen Health & Life magazine. Cozza was selected to go to Philadelphia for an alumni halftime performance with the NBA 76ers dance team. She works as a personal consultant at Actor’s Connection in New York City and is on the faculty at the Dancer’s Edge in Allendale, N.J. Sienna Freeman ’03 (Photography) had photo-based collage works featured in the exhibition “Playmate,” held at the James Oliver Gallery in Philadelphia. Mike L. Mayfield ’03 (Animation) directed “Cleveland Jr.’s Cherry Bomb,” the fifth episode of Fox Televison’s popular animated series “The Cleveland Show.” Mayfield drew a cartoon version of himself and his assistant director as security guards in the

ALUMNI NOTES

same episode. Mayfield has worked on other Fox shows, including “King of the Hill” and “Family Guy.” Find out more at his website Citizens AgainstSafetyGoggles.com. Bill Bustamante ’04 (Musical Theater) directed a sold-out concert in New York City called “BALIKBAYN,” a benefit for the victims of the deadly typhoons in the Philippines. The cast, which included Paolo Montalban, raised nearly $5,000 and will be remounting the concert early next year. Bustamante assisted choreographer Darren Lee on the new off-Broadway musical “The Hidden Sky,” which had its first workshop at the University of the Arts. He also assisted choreographer Michelle Gaudette and performed in “Miss Saigon” at Houston Theatre Under the Stars (T.U.T.S.). Bustamante is hard at work with Chip Klose ’02 (Musical Theater) on the next season of the Bright Lights concert series for Dreamlight Theatre Company. Damien Correll ’04 (Multimedia) is a designer and illustrator living and working in Brooklyn, N.Y. Formerly a member of the Rad Mountain Collective, Correll is a creative partner at the small design studio Part & Parcel. His work has been featured in a variety of publications, including in the pages of New York magazine, XLR8R, Juxtapoz, IdN, STEP, NOVUM, The New York Times magazine and Faesthetic. (opposite) Jeffrey Page (above) Mike L. Mayfield (right) Jay Hardman Gas Pump, 2009

Erin DeLucia ’04 (Photography) earned her Master of Science degree in Library Science from Clarion University.

Jay Hardman ’04 (Sculpture) showcased four sculptures at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery’s “I Don’t Watch the Internet” show. Videos by Cari Freno ’94 (Crafts) were also included as part of this annual group exhibition of emerging artists. Check out more of Hardman’s work at jayhardman.com.

cell phone, text messages and the Internet. On this and other public diplomacy programs, Krape uses the skills he developed in the University’s Multimedia program to develop innovative, cutting-edge programs for audiences around the world. Ben O’Neill ’04 (Music Performance) played a show at the Moon Arts Center with his duo the Lucky Old Souls, which Philadelphia Weekly called “promising.” Rob Tucker ’04 (Musical Theater) is pursuing a master’s degree in Classical Acting at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama. Stephanie Yuhas ’04 (Animation), executive producer of Project Twenty1, successfully organized its fourth annual 21-Day Film Festival last fall. Yuhas’s inspiration for the project came from the lack of job opportunities for artists after graduation. In response to this dilemma, she decided to create an organization where filmmakers could come together to showcase their work, network and inspire one another. “Not Just a Film Festival” since its 2006 inception, Project Twenty1 has grown to attract worldwide participation and assists thousands of artists every year. Find out more at projecttwenty1.com.

Jessica Jennings ’04 (Modern Dance) played Kate in the American Theater of Actors production of “Taming of the Shrew.” Jennings has performed in many Shakespeare productions, receiving the Jean Dalrymple Award for Best Shakespearean Actress in 2005 for her turn as “Ophelia” in “Hamlet.” Her film credits include featured dancer and off-camera dance coach in M. Night Shymalan’s “The Village,” which Jennings earned soon after graduation. In addition to her acting and film credits, Jennings has appeared with Nuebert Ballet Co., Cumberland Ballet, Brian Sanders JUNK, Mare Nostrum, Coyote Dancers, Elojes Dance Theatre and LeAnne Schmidt & Co.

Richard Dieter III ’05 (Jazz Dance) has traveled the world as a singer and dancer for Holland Cruise Line and Stiletto Entertainment. He is entering his fourth long-term contract. To date, his travels have included multiple ventures and ports of call in Alaska, the Pacific coast of Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, the U.S. and multiple circumnavigations of South America, including the Amazon basin, Antarctica, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and the South Pacific.

When the White House was looking for ways to increase U.S. engagement with Africans during one of President Obama’s trips to Ghana, the staff came to the State Department’s Office of Innovative Engagement (Bureau of International Information Programs). There, Darren Krape ’04 (Multimedia) and his colleagues developed a cross-media engagement program using newspapers, radio,

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Rebecca (O’Connell) Franco ’05 (Theater) married Scott Franco on April 3. They met after being cast as a couple in a play in Philadelphia. She is the company manager for the offBroadway show “Stomp.” Jamie Korkos ’05 (Voice) is in her first year at the New England Conservatory working toward a graduate diploma in Opera. Roles she has performed include Konstanze from “Seraglio” by Mozart, Amelia from the “Masked Ball” by Verdi and Micaela in Bizet’s “Carmen.” Her future roles include Fiordiligi in “Cosi fan Tutte” by Mozart and most excitedly, Donna Elvira from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Kristen Maxfield ’05 (Voice) has been living in New York City for the past four years and singing for the band Troyka. She is also working on a fulllength album. Daniel Robaire ’05 (Acting) played a process server on two episodes of the NBC soap opera “Days of Our Lives” and had an uncredited role in last summer’s “Get Him to the Greek,” starring Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. He played Agent James Callahan in the Bollywood release “Nischay Kar Apni Jeet Karoon” or “Seeking Victory.” Robaire joined SAG and signed with Osbrink Talent Agency in Los Angeles. Check him out on IMDB. Illustrations by Michele Burke ’05 (Illustration) were showcased this past fall as a part of the Salsita Studio Series in Philadelphia. Salsita Studio is not only an art gallery, but also a dance studio. Burke’s work focuses on character-driven portraits and her interpretation of each subject’s “story.” She also creates custom-designed greeting cards, which were sold during her exhibit. Faith Brody ’06 (Writing for Film & Television) finished shooting for “Calendar Girl,” a feature-length film that revolves around a diner

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waitress who is trying to avoid becoming the next target of a serial killer who poses his victims as pinup girls and shoots them for a calendar. The indie film was shot in Philadelphia and featured “Clerks” star Brian O’Halloran, along with TV and motion picture veteran Corbin Bernsen from “LA Law” and “Major League.” Ben Kramer ’06 (Musical Theater) graduated from Chicago’s Second City Conservatory in March and performed in a showcase called “You From the Future” with his ensemble. Kathryn Lyles ’06 (Musical Theater) finished her master’s degree at Villanova last spring after passing her oral defense as Celia in “As You Like It.” She is rehearsing the title role in “Annie Get Your Gun.” She presented her paper “I See What I Wanna See: How Michael John LaChiusa’s Musical Deconstructs Perception in the Postmodern World” at the Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium. She also served as dramaturge for Brind School Assistant Director Rick Stoppleworth’s production of “9 Parts of Desire,” is waiting to hear from a million post-graduate programs and is planning a wedding. Jessica Osborne ’06 (Jazz Dance) is one of 36 Radio City Rockettes. She worked on cruise ships briefly and joined the Rockettes’ “Christmas Across America” cast last year before settling in the Big Apple. During their season, the Rockettes perform four 90-minute shows each day. Walter Plotnick, MFA ’06 (Book Arts/Printmaking) produced and directed the four-minute video “Think Art” to promote the Fine Arts program at Montgomery County (Pa.) Community College. Plotnick is a lecturer and the program’s director. Walt Ribeiro ’06 (Music) was featured in the November 2009 issue of Mix magazine for his online music lessons available via podcast. Check

out a variety of his music education videos at waltribeiro.net or find his latest orchestral version of anything from Lady Gaga to Madonna at fororchestra.com. Shortly after graduation, Ribeiro released his first album of original music, “1.1,” an allMIDI effort recorded in his West New Jersey home studio. Elyse Ault ’07 (Musical Theater) is living in Arizona and plans to move to Los Angeles to look into auditions for the Groundlings, an improvisational comedy troupe. Kelli Barrett ’07 (Musical Theater) starred in a limited Broadway run of “The Royal Family.” She also finished teaching her “Audition Technique” workshop and participated in a second reading of “Project Shaw” at the Player’s Club to kick off its fifth season as Louka in “Arms and the Man.” Barrett was offered a second reading of “The Last Goodbye” for the Public Theater last March, reprising her role as Juliet. Barrett headlined “Broadway Scares: A Killer Cabaret” at Sweet Caroline’s, which promoted the DVD release of “Red Hook,” a movie that she appeared in as Ellen. Look for Barrett in the films “Remember Me” with Chris Cooper, Robert Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan, and “The Switch” with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. Jonathan Bartlett ’07 (Illustration), a New York City-based illustrator, donated his time to SmallCanBeBig.org to create “A Joyful Gathering,” an illustrated 18x24-inch, high-quality print poster depicting his version of just how “small can be big.” Proceeds from the sale of the illustration are received with the belief that a small contribution goes toward creating something big: helping a family overcome the threat of homelessness. Bartlett attends the School of Visual Arts in New York and works as an illustrator for a variety of clients. For more, visit seeJBdraw.com.

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Chaim Burstein, MM ’07 (Jazz Studies) is working with Billy Cobham, one of the world’s most innovative and influential jazz drummers. They were featured in and graced the cover of the March 2010 issue of JazzEd magazine. Acting graduates Brian Cowden ’07, Ed Renninger ’07 and Paul Felder ’08, and Musical Theater alumni Jamie Branagh ’08 and Carl Clemons-Hopkins ’09 were featured in the Walnut Street Theater’s world premiere production of Eric Conger’s “The Eclectic Society.” Chaneè Davis ’07 (Musical Theater) has been featured in Big Dreams magazine and DY magazine, appeared on Starline Radio’s J Lounge Radio show, and released her new album in March 2010. She played the lead role of Cleo in a new tour of “Twice Loved” – a riveting play about a couple struggling to achieve their dreams – which opened on Valentine’s Day.

(above, top to bottom) Jonathan Bartlett, A Joyful Gathering Mara Jill Herman

Alex Eckman-Lawn ’07 (Illustration) takes the city of Philadelphia into his own hands, reshaping and rediscovering it. Known in the comic world for his unique and haunting style, he is most recognized for soley illustrating the graphic novel Awakenings, written by Nick Typansky and published by Archaia Studio Press in 2009. The duo is currently working on Part 2. Eckman-Lawn has also designed album covers and promotional material for Psyopus, Architect, Starkweather,

Yakuza, Hacride and Circle of Dead Children. Other high profile jobs include Willowtip Records, Black Market Activities, Tribunal Records, Debello Records, Listenable Records and Scholastic Books.

faces. She participated in a reading of “The Flea and the Professor,” the Arden Theatre’s first children’s show commission, and also performed for the fourth year in a row in 11th Hour’s “Philly Rocks” at World Café Live.

Mara Jill Herman ’07 (Musical Theater) is making her North American tour debut with “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Herman plays Disciple Girl and is the understudy for Soul Sister. Visit thejcstour.com and let her know if the tour is playing a city near you. Prior to the tour, Herman appeared in “Ladies Rock,” a benefit organized by Tara Bruno ’03 (Musical Theater) and Pete Mills’s “Taxi Cabaret.” She is also pursuing other areas of the industry. As a freelance writer, she sold her first story to BroadwaySpace.com. The article features actors and writers sharing their “survival jobs” prior to achieving success. She became artistic associate for Philadelphia Music Theatre Works and helped develop the Vintage Gala with Jeremiah Downes ’04 (Musical Theater).

Jeremy Lardieri ’07 (Musical Theater) performed in the Ocean City (N.J.) Christmas Wonderland Holiday Spectacular and is currently working on multiple community theater projects, ranging from cabarets and revues to plays and musicals. His hip-hop album “What I Have Learned” was released in March 2010 with a DVD from the live performance. He is teaching in Queens, N.Y., at Moves & Motions, for which he choreographs for competitions and boys classes, as well as an adult hip-hop class. He also teaches in the junior division of Roy Aria’s Dance NYC in Manhattan. Lardieri has secured a permanent teaching job with St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) College as its resident hip-hop teacher that began last fall.

The work of Sun Young Kang, MFA ’07 (Book Arts/Printmaking) was on display at the Ganser Gallery in Millersville (Pa.) University’s Ganser Library last winter in the exhibition “Filtered Memories.” She presented a gallery talk and has presented her works in exhibitions around the world and in museums throughout the United States, Italy, Germany, Scotland and Australia. Kang has also been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Korean Embassy’s Korean Honor Scholarship in 2006 and the Elizabeth C. Roberts Prize for Graduate Study in MFA Book Arts and Printmaking.

Matthew Mastronardi ’07 (Musical Theater) appeared in Curtis Opera Theatre/Opera Company of Philadelphia’s “Antony and Cleopatra” by Samuel Barber at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater. Fellow alumnus Aaron Pillette ’07 (Musical Theater) also appeared in the production. Mastronardi is musically directing “Oz!” with the Walnut Street Theatre’s Adopt-A-School program. Andre Myers ’07 (Musical Theater) is living in and loving Los Angeles! He appeared in “Peter Pan” as a piratenoodler/Indian at the new OC Pavillion in Santa Ana, Calif., and can be seen in the opening dance scenes of Nickelodeon’s show “Victorious.” Myers finished another Disney video – this one for Anna Maraget – which will be featured in a Disney feature film. He did a print ad for Microsoft’s new mobile phones and will be flown to New York City for an investors

Alex Keiper ’07 (Musical Theater) finished “Little Shop of Horrors” with 11th Hour & Theater Horizon before the new year. She co-hosted Philadelphia Music Theater Works’ cabaret “Vintage,” which featured a number of University of the Arts

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reading of “The House of Mayhem,” a show he worked on in 2007 that is being turned into a film. Myers is also working with a Motown songwriter/musician, writing and creating songs for a new album and other future projects. Damian Shembel ’07 (Musical Theater) performed in “Christmas Rappings” in New York City and went on to perform with the Syzokryli Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. Alex Bechtel ’08 (Musical Theater) musically directed and acted in “This Is the Week That Is: The New Administration” with Philadelphia’s 1812 Productions. He finished writing songs for Tony Braithwaite’s “First Impressions” at Act II Playhouse in Ambler, Pa., and musically directed “The Drowsy Chaperone” at St. Joseph’s Prep. He played the narrator/pianist in “Musical of Musicals: The Musical” at the Walnut Street Theatre in May and June 2010 (for which he will join Actor’s Equity). Mat Burrow ’08 (Musical Theater) performed as part of the final “RATED RSO: The Music and Lyrics of Ryan Scott Oliver” at Joe’s Pub, one of New York City’s most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance. Burrow recently signed with Craig Holzberg at Avalon Artists and Christopher Silveri at Prestige Management. Richard Cerato ’08 (Musical Theater) made his off-Broadway debut as Scott/Bobby/Billy in “Dear Edwina” at the Daryl Roth 2 Theater. He took part in the workshop production of “James and the Giant Peach” at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, alongside legendary director/choreographer Graciela Daniele and dance company Pilobolus. Other credits since graduation include “Crazy for You,” “Peter Pan,” “All Shook Up” and the international touring cast of “Cinderella.”

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Alexander Diaz ’08 (Theater Management & Production) is working at the New Milford (N.J.) High School as drama director. After the success of the spring 2009 production “Working the Musical,” the students performed “Rent: School Edition.” The cast and crew included over 50 students. Diaz is also a co-founder of the audio/visual services firm Blue Light Digital Sound with Matthew Bogacki. Sean Elias ’08 (Musical Theater) graduated with an M.A. in Theater Education from Emerson College in Boston. At Emerson, he performed as Agamemnon in a new adaptation of Charles Mee’s “Iphigenia 2.0,” based on Euripides’ “Iphigenia at Aulis.” Elias was most recently cast as Cinderella’s father in “Into the Woods” at the Majestic Theatre in Boston and performed the role of Tommy Keeler in “Annie Get Your Gun” at Boston’s Riverside Theatre Works. Elias is the facilitator and creator of Apple Inc.’s quarterly offsite development program that uses theater practicum to encourage employee self-discovery and growth. In addition, he was hired as the theater instructor at the IBA/Cacique Youth Learning Center in Boston, working to facilitate a 12-week socio-political theater program with identified urban at-risk youth. Katoya Johnson ’08 (Modern Dance) performed in the Sesame Street Live show “Elmo’s Green Thumb” at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J. She played the characters Baby Bear, Grundgetta and an unnamed grouchy beetle. Lauren Palmeri ’08 (Musical Theater) completed a U.S. tour of “The Spirit of Christmas” with Dublin Worldwide Productions and appeared in Bound for Broadway, a singer showcase at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre in New York City.

Katherine Richardson ’08 (Modern Dance) is living and working in New York City. By day, she is a yoga instructor; by night, she runs her own company, kerPlunk dance, which was formed during her senior year at the University of the Arts. Since its first performance, kerPlunk has had the opportunity to present work in the D.U.M.B.O Dance Festival in Brooklyn, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Mt. Vernon (Va.) Performance Spaces, Maryland Council for Dance State Festival, and the Center for Remembering and Sharing in Manhattan. Check them out at www.kerplunkdance.com. Lee Colston II ’09 (Acting) finished a successful run in 11th Hour Theatre Company’s Barrymore Awardnominated production of “Avenue X.” Colston was also cast in the national tour of the Broadway hit “The Color Purple,” which began in March 2010 and included performances in 93 cities across the U.S. and parts of Canada. Joey Contreras ’09 (Musical Theater) presented a concert of new material from his upcoming musical “Wallflower” at the Duplex in New York City. The concert featured a handful of Broadway talent, including Kate Schwarz ’08 (Musical Theater) and Brad Greer ’09 (Musical Theater). Since graduation, Contreras has created music that has been circulating among various universities and cabaret theaters across the U.S., U.K. and Australia.

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Mark Fionda ’09 (Illustration) has completed his first indie comic book with ZudaComics and is working on a new graphic novel. He is exhibiting watercolor children’s book illustrations and also teamed up with his former high school for an alumni art show. Jenna Paige Gagliardo ’09 (Musical Theater) appeared in Delaware’s New Candlelight Theatre production of “High School Musical” as Martha Cox. Alumna Nikki Curmaci ’05 (Musical Theater) was an ensemble member. Gagliardo is an Equity membership candidate. Lindsay Gilbert ’09 (Sculpture) is a member of AmeriCorps’ EducationWorks, a not-for-profit organization that provides comprehensive support for economically disadvantaged communities in Philadelphia, Chester, Pa., and Trenton, N.J. Brad Greer ’09 (Musical Theater) landed a role in the off-Broadway national tour of “Altar Boyz.” He finds it ironic that he was an understudy for the show in a Media, Pa., production of the show in January 2009 and now he is playing Mark in the touring company. Cindy Helmstetter, MA ’09 (Museum Communication) was promoted to exhibition coordinator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her first undertaking was working on the Pablo Picasso exhibition “Celebrating Picasso,” which ran March through June 2010.

(opposite) Alex Bechtel, far left

Andrew Huot, MFA ’09 (Book Arts/ Printmaking) was appointed the conservator for the Milner Library at Illinois State University. He oversees the repair of the circulating collection and performs conservation treatments on the special collection materials. He recently started teaching a series of book arts and bookbinding workshops for the students, faculty and community at ISU.

Ambe Williams ’09 (Musical Theater) made her national tour debut as Annie in the 75th anniversary presentation of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, the production launched a 26-city tour that included stops in Ohio, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Michael Lassiter ’09 (Graphic Design) joined French/West/Vaughn, one of the nation’s largest independent public relations, public affairs and brand communications agencies. Vera Lui ’09 (Animation) competed in the 2009 New York City Animation Block Party, where she screened her piece “Lui Lui in Amelica,” which follows a panda named Lui Lui who is exploring “Amelica,” where polar, brown and black bears reside. Christine McMonagle, MA ’09 (Museum Communication) is a marketing assistant at the Jewish Museum in New York City. Nicholas Park ’09 (Musical Theater) made his off-Broadway debut last winter as Scott Kunkle in “Dear Edwina” at the Daryl Roth 2 Theater. He took part in the workshop/reading of “Trouble: The Musical” and was featured in the cabaret “Brandon Cutrell & Cohorts” at the Laurie Beechman Theater. Janet Rowley ’09 (Musical Theater) played Ellie in the Media (Pa.) Theatre’s “Show Boat.” She also assisted music director Eric Ebbenga in the Philadelphia Theatre Company’s production of “The Light in the Piazza.” Rowley performed the part of Dottie Delancey in the Theatre Horizon (Norristown, Pa.) production “Holiday Show with the Swing Club Band,” which also featured Musical Theater alumni Mike Doherty ’09, Ryan Touhey ’09 and Deidre Finnegan ’96. Chris Slone, MM ’09 (Jazz Studies) performed with acclaimed jazz pianist/composer Fred Hersh at Camden (N.J.) Community College. The concert featured Hersch’s “Leaves of Grass,” a suite of selected Walt Whitman poems set to music.

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FEATURED alumni WORK David Graham â&#x20AC;&#x2122;61 (Photography), Professor of Photography Point Pleasant, NJ 1995

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in memoriam Lucy Suzanne (Knoblauch) Zeidman ’36 (Painting), of Wyomissing, Pa., passed away on January 26, 2010, at the age of 96. After graduating with honors from Reading High School in 1932, Mrs. Zeidman attended the Philadelphia School of Design and graduated from Philadelphia College of Art in 1936. She was a member of Congregation Shomrei Habrith. Throughout her life, Mrs. Zeidman served countless organizations and committees, often as a leader. She served as president of the St. Joseph Hospital Women’s Auxiliary, Berks County Medical Society of Doctors’ Wives Auxiliary, Berks County Association for the Blind Women’s Auxiliary, Temple Oheb Shalom Sisterhood and Reading Chapter of Hadassah. She was active in the 1961 campaign of the United Way of Berks County, was a liaison to Hadassah National Board in New York City, and served on the Citizens Advisory Committee for Reading, Pa., Mayors Shirk and Yarnell. Mrs. Zeidman was also a lifelong volunteer for the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Red Cross and United Way Fund. Mrs. Zeidman is survived by her children Bruce and Irene, brother and sister, and several nieces and nephews.

producing many Public Commissions works, as well as lending his talents to local organizations. His works are included in numerous public and private collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, African American Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, British Museum and Nigerian National Museum. For his incredible lifetime achievement, the University granted Mr. Keene the Silver Star Alumni Award in 1976. His profound creative presence, a blessing to the Philadelphia art scene for seven decades, will be deeply missed.

Paul F. Keene, Jr. ’41 (Illustration) passed away on November 26, 2009, at his home in Warrington, Pa. Mr. Keene was born in 1920 in Philadelphia, where he spent most of his life. As a teen, he became involved with the Wharton Settlement, a North Philadelphia community center where he studied and taught children’s art classes. With support from Wharton, he began exhibiting his work around the city and went on to study at the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts). He served with the Tuskegee Air Men in the 332nd Fighter Group during World War II and achieved the rank of lieutenant. Upon returning home, however, he faced post-war discrimination and decided to use the G.I. Bill to go to Paris with his wife Laura to study at the Academie Julian. There, he and Robert Rosenwald developed Gallerie 8, a space for American artists to exhibit their work in Paris. Returning to the United States for a second time, Mr. Keene again began teaching – first at his alma mater, and later at Bucks County (Pa.) Community College. Throughout his life, Mr. Keene was a committed community member,

William L. Goldberg ’51 (Illustration), a graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, passed away on May 23, 2009, at the age of 82. He was the husband of Rose Mangano Goldberg, also a graduate of the Museum School of Art, 1961. He was a designer and illustrator. He and his wife had a graphic design studio, Goldberg & Mangano. Mr. Goldberg studied mural painting in Mexico, and also studied painting at the Art Museum and the Barnes Foundation. He served in the Army in World War II. (Reprinted with sincerest apologies to Mrs. Goldberg.)

Marjorie Strider, White Linear (Lillies),1964. Featured in Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists 1958-1968, a 2010 exhibition at the University of the Arts

Joan Carrell Wallace ’43 (Painting), who passed away October 3, 2009, graduated from the Philadelphia Museum School of Art and made a living working on commercial art, including animated films and working at the Franklin Institute for several years, until she married her husband of over 50 years in 1952. They then moved to Florida and, after having children, she returned to her love of watercolors. She became a member of the Florida Watercolor Society and several other watercolor-based groups. Another great love of hers was volunteering and teaching Sunday school at her church.

John B. Huff ’51 (Industrial Design), beloved husband of Nancy K. Huff, to whom he was married for 62 years, passed away on July 5, 2009, at the age of 86. Mr. Huff was a member of the Agape Baptist Church of Mebane, N.C., a World War II Army veteran and a graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. Mr. Huff is survived by his daughter Barbara Huff McSparin and husband Rich, son Peter H. Huff and wife Sandee, sister Mary Craig Evans, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

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IN MEMORIAM

Anthony Folcarelli ’52 (Advertising Design) passed away on October 23, 2009, at the age of 82. After attending the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, he established Anthony J. Folcarelli Plumbing & Heating Company, which he owned and operated with his wife, to whom he was married for more than 55 years. He was an outdoorsman who loved fishing, hunting and raising animals on his farm. He also had a gift in the garden, always having a bountiful crop. Mr. Folcarelli also loved cooking and baking, even building a bakery in his barn. Mary T. Miller ’52 (Illustration) passed away July 23, 2009, at Kennedy Memorial Hospitals-University Medical Center in Cherry Hill, N.J., at the age of 79. Born in Huntingdon, W.Va., she was a resident of Moorestown, N.J., for most of her life. Miss Miller graduated from Philadelphia College of Art with degrees in Illustration and Fine Arts Education, and a master’s degree in Education from Temple University. She taught art in Haddon Township (N.J.) High School for more than 25 years, retiring in 1979. She was a member of the Philadelphia Water Color Society, a winner of the Harrison Morris Memorial prize for watercolor at the Woodmere Art Galleries an illustrator for RCA Record Albums, Jack and Jill magazine and other children’s books. Miss Miller is in Who’s Who in Art in America and is survived by her dear friends. Robert “Bobby” Louis Layton ’56 (Illustration) of Milford, Del., passed away on February 12, 2010, at his home with his loving family by his side. He was 77. After graduation, Mr. Layton moved to New York City and was employed by Cushing and Neville as an illustrator. In 1959, he returned to Milford to raise his family and started Robert Layton Advertising. For many years, he designed the cover page for the Milford Lions Club Telephone Directory. He designed the original logo for the Greater Milford Chamber of Commerce, as well as the cover page and illustrations for its booklet. Raymond Porter ’58 (Advertising Design) passed away March 18, 2010, at Norwalk (Conn.) Hospital after a brief illness. He was 74. Born in Hazleton, Pa., and raised in Philadelphia, he earned a scholarship to attend the Philadelphia College of Art and earned a BFA in Photography. Upon graduation, he was employed as a staff photographer for Seventeen magazine in New York, where he met Carol, to whom he was married for 46 years. Mr. Porter was also a veteran of the United States Army. He taught photography for many years at Famous Schools in Westport, Conn., where he was a resident for 40 years. Prior to his retirement, he worked for Nikon, first as a Nikon School instructor and later as a sales representative. Following his retirement, he enjoyed working at the Westport Public Library. Arnold D. Roberts ’58 (Illustration) passed away on November 15, 2009, at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md. He was 76 years old. At the age of 10, Mr. Roberts had

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an enthusiasm and desire to become a professional artist. Upon graduation from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army and served his country during the Korean conflict. It was during this time that Mr. Roberts painted commissioned works for officers and adorned military vehicles and walls of service clubs and lounges with decorative murals. After returning from the service, Mr. Roberts moved to Philadelphia and attended the Hussian School of Art, Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) and Community College of Philadelphia. He then earned a position as a commercial artist. His passion for painting did not keep him from practicing other mediums; he also practiced photography and interior decorating. He traveled to Asia, Africa, Canada and Mexico to draw and photograph people, then returned home to paint. His ardent love for music inspired him to occasionally write poetry to accompany his paintings. Mr. Roberts served as a consultant under the direction of the late Professor Jimmie Mosely, director of the art department and instructor at the former Maryland State College, now the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, in Princess Anne, Md. Many of the murals on the walls of Lower Shore churches were painted cooperatively by him and Professor Mosely. Mr. Roberts is survived by his sister Evelyn; brother Dick; devoted friend and companion Rosalee; and many nieces, nephews and devoted friends. Joyce Anna Thiele ’58 (Advertising Design) of Downingtown, Pa., passed away October 10, 2009, at the Neighborhood Hospice in West Chester, Pa. Born June 13, 1936, she graduated from Cheltenham (Pa.) High School and the Philadelphia College of Art. She was employed as a graphic artist at Sir Speedy in Exton, Pa. She was also a professional dog show handler and co-bred Great Danes and Siberian Huskies. Douglas James McHenry ’59 (Illustration) passed away November 12, 2009, at the age of 77. He was born on March 1, 1932, in Philadelphia to Douglas James McHenry Sr. and Caroline Picken McHenry. He was preceded in death by his parents and his only daughter Karen McHenry Fischer (1991). He graduated from Philadelphia Museum College of Art and was an avid artist all his life. He also was an excellent cabinet maker and had cabinet businesses for a good part of his life. One of the things he enjoyed the most was being the Scout Master for the Boy Scouts of the Valley Forge (Pa.) Council, which included taking the Boy Scouts to Camp Philmont in New Mexico. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Mr. McHenry is survived by his wife of 25 years, JoAnn McHenry, sister Caroline Lovejoy, brother Machin McHenry, sons Todd and Randy McHenry, grandson Michael Fischer, granddaughter Aaliah McHenry and two great-granddaughters. He is also survived by stepsons Kevin and Kenneth Fox and their families. Steven Jaffe ’65 a painter and professor at the University of the Arts, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease

IN MEMORIAM

December 14, 2009, at the Quadrangle in Haverford, Pa. He was 67 years old. Mr. Jaffe grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from Germantown High School. He met his future wife on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. They married in 1965, and in the early 1970s moved to a 19th century carriage house in Villanova, where he had his studio. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) and a master’s degree in fine art from Temple University. He returned to the University in 1971 and taught drawing and painting for 35 years. Mr. Jaffe’s work included oils, charcoals and pastels. He exhibited at several area galleries and his work is in museum collections. In 1991, a painting by Mr. Jaffe was included in “Philadelphia Art Now: Artists Choose Artists,” the inaugural exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute of Contemporary Art. He was an animal lover and an avid gardener, and enjoyed collecting American primitive antiques. In addition to his wife, Mr. Jaffe is survived by daughters Megan (Scott) Edelstein and Melissa Jaffe, and two grandsons. Channa Skopp ’67 (Sculpture) lost her 25-year long battle with melanoma on January 16, 2010. She was a great artist and educator. After graduation from the Philadelphia College of Art, she moved to Israel and started learning Hebrew, which she went on to study at Gratz (Pa.) College and teach at Schechter/ Perelman Jewish Day School in Montgomery County, Pa. She retired from teaching Hebrew in 2006.

University of the Arts), where he met his wife Shin-Yin ’83 (Piano). His passions were his motorcycle, woodworking, tennis, warm weather and always music. In February 2010, Mr. Estes lost his eight-month battle with aggressive stage-four cancer; he was 51. Mr. Estes leaves behind his mother Gretchen, sister Christine, wife Shin-Yin and daughter Roxanne. He will be dearly missed by his friends, his colleagues and his family. Brian Scott Carl Kaas ’86 (Jazz Dance) passed away suddenly March 3, 2010, at the age of 45. He was a graduate of Owen J. Roberts High School in Pottstown, Pa., a licensed cosmetologist and graduate of the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts (now the University of the Arts). He is survived by his mother Betty Dawson, father Theodore Kaas and grandmother Mary Kaas. Ellen Dippel ’90 (Industrial Design) passed away on September 6, 2009, of pancreatic cancer. Though she did not pursue a career in industrial design, she married her partner of 24 years and raised a son, Zephyr Dippel, an Industrial Design major at Philadelphia University. She served her community and her family exceedingly well until her untimely passing at 52 years old. Alice Veronica Wood ’96 (Painting) passed away at the age of 37 of cancer on January 6, 2010. She worked as a production manager for the Los Angeles clothing manufacturer U.O.T.C/ Barrage Ltd.

Jim Kugler ’69 (Painting) passed away suddenly on March 13, 2010, after a battle with throat cancer. The artist and carpenter graduated from Philadelphia College of Art in 1969. He lived and worked in the shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge for the past 30 years as the sole proprietor of Jim Kugler Custom Carpentry. He is survived by his brother George, sisters Kathleen Kugler and Mary Smith, and sons Noah, Jeremy and Jess. Anthony R. Carraccio ’71 (Advertising Design) passed away unexpectedly on December 6, 2009, at the age of 67. Mr. Carraccio was born in Philadelphia and attended Roman Catholic High School and the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts). He proudly served his country in the United States Air Force. Mr. Carraccio was formerly employed as an artist at Philadelphia’s Hoover Calendar Co. He was most recently employed as a dealer at the Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Mr. Carraccio will be greatly missed by his beloved wife Terry and his children April Mancuso and Amber Anthony. He was the proud grandfather of Francesca, Giavanna, Rocco, Alexa, Adrian, Ariana and Angelica. Born April 9, 1958, in St. Paul, Minn., Mark Estes ’84 (Music Performance) was a devoted father and husband. He was a jazz bassist, performing for many years with the City Rhythm Orchestra. He was also a real estate agent. In the 1980s, Mr. Estes attended the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts (now the

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DEVELOPMENTNOTES

DEVELOPMENT

THE RICHARD C. VON HESS FOUNDATION: THREE-YEAR RENEWAL OF SUPPORT For more than a decade, the Richard C. von Hess Foundation has generously supported the Richard C. von Hess Scholarship and Travel Fellowship, Richard C. von Hess faculty prize, Museum Study internships, Borowsky Center visiting artist residencies, and the Ted Carey prize at the University of the Arts. Last year, the Foundation renewed its support for these important and prestigious awards, scholarships and prizes for an additional three years. A 1957 graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art – a predecessor institution of the University of the Arts – Richard von Hess was a talented and well-known art director and designer. Stephen Tarantal, dean of the College of Art and Design, who worked with von Hess when he headed up the design department at Armstrong Cork, recalls that “Dick had a terrific eye and an ability to conceptually connect fine art within a design context to communicate ideas and messages.” Prior to his death in 1997, von Hess became very interested in preservation philanthropy and museum work, and also became a generous supporter of his alma mater. Through its philanthropy, his eponymous foundation continues to support causes that were important to him during his lifetime, including the education of young artists and creative thinkers. Indeed, the Foundation’s strong and ongoing support for undergraduate and graduate scholarships and awards, as well as for some of the University’s special projects – such as a graduate resource center, a design education conference, exhibitions and a number of academic publications – are a deeply meaningful manifestation of Richard C. von Hess’s philanthropic spirit and a testament to his artistic and creative legacy. The University of the Arts is forever grateful to Thomas Hills Cook, chairman of the Richard C. von Hess Foundation, for his support and for ensuring that the vital connection between a dedicated alumnus and his alma mater endures.

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DEVELOPMENT NOTES

donor applause ELIZABETH ANN PULASKI MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

(above left) Elizabeth Pulaski (above right) Daniela Galdi (Modern Dance, ’08), Susan Glazer, William Pulaski and Mrs. A. Galdi pose for a photo at the 2008 Scholarship Reception.

The Elizabeth Ann Pulaski Memorial Scholarship was established in 1981 by Anna Marie Pulaski and her husband, William, following the death of their daughter Liz of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 20. At the time, Liz was a junior at the University’s predecessor institution, the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, working towards her BFA in Jazz Dance. For almost 30 years, the Elizabeth Ann Pulaski Memorial Scholarship has been awarded annually to a student in the Jazz Dance degree program to assist with the cost of tuition.

Many of the Academy’s teachers and choreographers are dance alumni from the University of the Arts, including Paula DeSandes Minacci ’83 (Dance), who oversees the production of these performances while serving as the Academy’s artistic director. With all proceeds raised through the yearly concerts benefiting the scholarship, the fund grew to endowable proportions. In addition to the spring performances, Anna Marie’s Dance Academy generates scholarship contributions through Avon, candle and candy sales throughout the year.

In the beginning, this scholarship was funded primarily through the generosity of friends and family. However, through the Pulaskis’ creative vision and dedication to supporting the University’s dance students, the fund grew. At Anna Marie’s Dance Academy, a local dance school started in 1976 by Bill, Anna Marie and Liz, the Elysian Fields Dance Company was founded. The company’s name was chosen for its Greek mythological reference to the final resting place of blessed and virtuous souls. The troupe – consisting mostly of young performers and teachers from Anna Marie’s Dance Academy – stage a concert every spring to raise funds for the scholarship.

The Pulaskis have developed friendships with many of the Elizabeth Ann Pulaski Memorial Scholarship recipients. Through personal meetings and attendance at events, they have befriended countless students and find great solace in the recipients’ sincere gratitude for the scholarship. To the Pulaskis, this award is a meaningful way to see Liz’s love for dancing, performing and teaching endure through the years.

(opposite, left) Richard C. von Hess Museum Studies Internship recipient Brianna Gilmartin, MA ’10 with Thomas Hills Cook.

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PR E VI E W PART Y Wednesday, April 13, 2011 5:00 – 9:00 P.M. PUBLIC SALE Thursday, April 14 – Saturday, April 16, 2011 12:00 – 6:00 P.M.

Save the dates! Dorrance Hamilton Hall • 320 South Broad Street, Philadelphia my.uarts.edu/artsale

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The University of the Arts

ART EXHIBITION AND SALE WINTER 2011

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This April, the University will present the third annual ArtUnleashed exhibition and sale to benefit student scholarships, featuring jewelry, glass, furniture, original paintings, drawings and prints, ceramics and sculptures, photography and more. With hundreds of student, faculty and recent alumni work, ArtUnleashed offers something for every level of art enthusiast – from the beginning collector to the most avid aficionado. Last year’s event raised $300,000 for the University’s Sam S. McKeel Promising Young Artists Scholarship Fund.

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THIRD ANNUAL ‘Art unleashed’ exhibition and sale to benefit scholarship fund

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DEVELOPMENT NOTES

Philanthropists Pamela Berkman, Anne F. Hamilton, Laurie Marshall and Pia Roychowdhury co-chair the event committee for the second consecutive year. Sponsorship opportunities are available. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or have any sponsorship questions, please contact Mira Zergani, assistant vice president of Development, at 215.717.6505. For preview party information and reservations go to my.uarts.edu/artsale. You can follow ArtUnleashed on Facebook by going to facebook.com/UArtsArtUnleashed and clicking the “Like” button.

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A preview party is scheduled for April 13, from 5 to 9 p.m. The public sale will follow on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 14 through 16, from noon to 6 p.m. each day. All events will be held in the University’s Hamilton Hall (320 S. Broad St., Philadelphia).

Stacey Spector with Board members Ira Brind and Eleanor Davis 2010 ArtUnleashed co-chairs (l-r) Pia Roychowdhury, Anne F. Hamilton, Pamela Berkman and Laurie Marshall

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(right, top to bottom) Sam Hamilton (far left), co-chair of the Young Friends Committee, with guests

Dorrance H. Hamilton, Life Trustee, Chairman Emerita, with son S. Matthews V. Hamilton, Jr.

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FEATURED STUDENT WORK Jessica Singer â&#x20AC;&#x2122;10 (Fine Art) Shower Scene (after Eric Fisch!)

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DEVELOPMENT

Dear Alumni and Friends, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Lindsey Stevens, the quintessential small-town girl from Maine with big-city dreams. I remember the moment I opened my acceptance letter from the University of the Arts. At first, I was completely overwhelmed with excitement and happiness; then the reality set in. How was I going to pay for my education? I started going through the other letters in the admissions package and there I found my saving grace: The Sam S. McKeel Promising Young Artist Scholarship. My mind was made up. I would be Philadelphia-bound in the fall. Without that scholarship, there was no way I would have been able to attend UArts and pursue my studies in dance. Now that I am here, I know that I am not alone. Hundreds of students share my story of financial need. I thank you for your support of the University and its scholarship programs. Words cannot express the gratitude my fellow students and I feel. Please continue to share in our passion for the arts and make a donation to the Annual Fund so that future students can live their dreams! Sincerely,

Lindsey Stevens, Dance â&#x20AC;&#x2122;12

following dreams The fund for Uarts: AN INVESTMENT IN EMERGING ARTISTS

MAKE AN INVESTMENT IN ASPIRING ARTISTS PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TODAY ONLINE: WWW.UARTS.EDU/GIVING

PHONE: 215.717.6140

Your gifts to the University of the Arts directly impact the education and artistic growth of students like Lindsey. She and the 83 percent of our other students who receive financial aid are grateful for the generosity of donors to the Annual Fund.

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from the archives

FROM THE ARCHIVES the sketchbook

In 2007, the University Archives welcomed a donation of materials from alumnus William H. (Bill) Campbell, Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (PMSIA) Class of 1937, which included four issues of The Sketchbook, a student-produced magazine. While the first issue acknowledges the school and the PMSIA Alumni Association for their support and financial contribution, The Sketchbook was done entirely on the students’ own initiative. According to Campbell, Donald E. Cooke (1915-1985; Class of 1938) was “the power behind it.” School sketches by Jacob Landau ’38, The Sketchbook, Winter 1936 (above) (opposite, clockwise) First issue of The Sketchbook, Spring cover, 1935 Cover design not credited The Sketchbook, Spring cover, 1936 The Sketchbook, Winter 1936 issue: A thrilling account of the PMSIA students trouncing Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) students in football, with a note from Bill Campbell that PMSIA also beat PAFA at ping-pong. We particularly like the cheers.

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Most of the articles and drawings produced for the magazine will sound familiar to today’s students (crowded classrooms, students hard at work, people coming in and out of Hamilton Hall), but there’s a maturity and seriousness in the contents as well. Various faculty members including Henry C. Pitz, Oscar Mertz, Gertrude Schell and Earl Horter submitted content, not to mention future faculty members such as Morris Berd and Albert Gold. “Teachers like Earl Horter, Thornton Oakley, Alexey Brodovitch, Blackie [Morris Blackburn]… the quality of the teachers was really outstanding in the 1930s,” says Campbell. “Students like Don Cooke, Jacob Landau and Joseph Hirsch all went out and really had an impact.” (Editorial note: The title on the cover and what was inside were not always the same. The cover often has the title as two words, Sketch Book, while the inside often has it as one word.)

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from the archives

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS ARCHIVES

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The University of the Arts 320 South Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 www.uarts.edu

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