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president

from t h e

j a s o n c h e n ‘08

A decade has passed since the publication of Richard Florida’s international bestseller The Rise of the Creative Class. This 10-year anniversary provides an opportunity to examine the impact of that seminal work and the accuracy of its predictions, some of them bold. The book’s subtitle—“...And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life”—speaks to the professor and urban-studies specialist’s vision of the impact this creative sector can exert on virtually all aspects of our lives. Since its 2002 release, many of the approaches to urban regeneration proposed in Rise have been adopted in communities across the globe, and its author has become one of the most prominent consultants and commentators on the economic and social revitalization of cities. Close to home in Philadelphia, the mayor expanded the City’s Office of Arts and Culture to add “the Creative Economy” to its title and its portfolio. And while Rise has unquestionably had a major impact on the way cities on several continents have sought to renew their economies, and changed the way municipal governments view the creative assets in their communities, the reviews of Florida’s theories and their results after a decade of implementation and experimentation are not unanimous.

In this issue of Edge, we examine the book’s theses and arguments a decade on, and speak with a range of experts both on and of the creative class, including Richard Florida himself. I think you will find their insights and perspectives quite interesting. Following on the theme of the power of creatives, we also look at the creative economy of the Philadelphia region and the farreaching impact that University of the Arts alumni and faculty have on it. You will also find features on UArts students, alumni and faculty who are forging innovative entrepreneurial paths of their own. So please enjoy this issue of Edge. We welcome your thoughts on our lead story, and on anything else in the magazine that interests you.

Warm regards,

Sean T. Buffington President, the University of the Arts

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Content s

06 ‘T h e R i se of t h e C re a t i ve C l a ss’ 10 Yea r s A f ter a

look

landmark

back

—and book

ahead and

impact

j a s o n c h e n ‘08

12 Mov i ng t he Reg ion F o r w a rd a l u m n i a n d faculty

lead

c r e at i v e

philadelphia

A Pa r t ner s h ip D es ig ned to L a st

Aut i sm E x pres sed

A New Pa r ad ig m for E mer g i ng A r t i st s

St itch i ng Tog et her a New Fut u re for D es ig n

T h rough t he L en s of Succes s

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S e a n T. B u f f i n g t o n L u c i ll e H u g h e s

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P a u l F. H e a l y

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J a r e d A n dr e w J a s o n C h e n B FA ’ 0 8 S h a n n o n C o ll i n s C hr i s D a w s o n H a rv e y F i n k l e Jaime Hogge C hr i st y P e ss a g n o S e th S m o o t Marcus Yam

P a u l F. H e a l y S a r a M a c D o n a ld Phoebe Resnick D a n a R o dr i g u e z J u l i a n a R o s at i Joanna Sung L a u r e n V i ll a n u e v a Mira Zergani

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edge, Volume 1, Number 9 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. Please send all comments, kudos and criticisms to

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chris dawson

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‘T h e R i se of t h e C reat i ve Cl a ss’ 10 Yea r s A f ter a at

look a

back—and

landmark

ahead

book

and

— its

i m pac t

In 2002, a book by a professor of regional economic development at Carnegie Mellon University proposed an innovative idea: cities that attract, support and encourage what it termed the “Creative Class” have a much better chance of turning their ailing economies around than those that don’t. Already the dominant economic group, the book argued, this class was likely to continue to grow in size and importance as what it produces—ideas, information, technology—becomes an ever larger part of the nation’s economy.

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A decade after The Rise of the Creative Class hit the bestseller lists it continues to have an impact. Its author, Richard Florida, now director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and professor of Business and Creativity at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, has become one of the world’s most sought-after experts on economic competitiveness, demographic trends, and cultural and technological innovation. The theories in The Rise of the Creative Class have been implemented in cities ranging from San Diego to Seoul, Denver to Dublin, and Brisbane to Barcelona. “The Creative Class, which comprised less than 10 percent of the workforce in the late 19th century and no more than 15 percent for much of the 20th, began to surge in the 1980s,” according to Florida. “Since that time, more than 20 million new Creative Class jobs were created in the United States. This epoch-defining class now numbers more than 40 million workers…and it generates more than $2 trillion in wages and salaries—more than two-thirds of the total U.S. payroll.” Florida estimates that the Creative Class accounts for nearly 30 percent of the workforce, comprising artists, musicians, technology workers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and what he calls “high bohemians.”

“ C re a t i v i t y h a s come to be v a lue d bec au se new tech nolog ies , new i ndu st r ies , new wea lt h a nd a l l ot her goo d econom ic t h i ng s f l ow f ro m i t .” In The Rise of the Creative Class, Florida’s argument was an ostensibly simple one: “Creativity has come to be valued because new technologies, new industries, new wealth and all other good economic things flow from it.’’ He maintained—with reams of data as backup—that the Creative Class fosters an open, dynamic, personal and professional urban environment, which, in turn, attracts more creative people, as well as businesses and capital. Edge asked Florida to analyze the changes, achievements and misses during the decade since Rise appeared, and his confidence in the “creative economy” hasn’t wavered. “I have long maintained that communities that invest massive sums of public money in megaprojects like sports arenas, convention centers and arts centers are making a big mistake if they expect them to translate seamlessly into economic growth. The same goes for cities that build amenities to attract high-human-capital young people without also fostering business-friendly infrastructure like incubator and coworking space, start-up technical support and the like.” And he says that, even in the face of the economic crisis that struck in 2007, cities have continued to boom, in large part due to the Creative Class living and working there. “Even tech, which in the 70s

and 80s thrived almost exclusively in vast suburban complexes— ‘nerdistans’—in places like Silicon Valley, Research Triangle and along Boston’s Route 128 corridor, has taken on a distinctly urban cast—in New York’s Silicon Alley, London’s Silicon Roundabout, LA’s Silicon Beach, Seattle’s South Lake Union District and in San Francisco,” he says. changing the game

Gary Steuer, head of the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, cites The Rise of the Creative Class for “legitimizing the idea of a creative economy. The institutional arts sector had become mired in the perception of the sector as simply one of nonprofit arts organizations,” he says. “But Florida was right that it’s a larger ecosystem—entrepreneurial creative businesses often share the same customer base and workforce with the traditional organizations. It’s a much larger economic sector than was previously perceived.” Christopher Sharrock, dean of UArts’ College of Art, Media & Design (CAMD) believes that Florida’s definition of “creative” jobs was too broad. “In the U.K., much was made of the economic contribution of the creative economy, but its definition included just about everyone,” he says. “It also failed to discriminate between the likes of Sir Terence Conran, the Saatchis and James Dyson—who make millions—and the vast majority of the workers in the creative economy, often freelance, who make very little. ‘Creative’ and ‘creativity’ are overused words and often used incorrectly, as ‘designer’ was in the 1980s. This is not helpful to us who are nurturing a generation of creative people.” lies, damned lies and statistics

A recent study by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance found the nonprofit arts sector to have a $3.3 billion dollar annual impact on the region, generating nearly $170 million in state and local taxes each year and supporting 44,000 jobs within the city and its four suburban Pennsylvania counties. Nationally, the organization Americans for the Arts (AFA) released “Arts & Economic Prosperity IV” in May 2012, a broad study of America’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. The research found that the industry generates $135.2 billion in economic activity every year—$61.1 billion in spending by organizations and $74.1 billion in event-related spending by audiences. The industry supports 4.1 million jobs and generates $22.3 billion in government revenue, according to AFA. But Steuer argues that the picture painted by such studies is incomplete (since it only measures nonprofit arts activity). “Those numbers aren’t a measure of the creative economy at all,” he says. “As a result, the employment numbers you see for the creative sector are actually deceptively low.” So he decided that Philadelphia needed to engage in some “creative vitality” research, based on the Creative Vitality Index, a national data set similar to a consumer confidence index, which measures nonprofit arts activity, nonprofit-related arts activity, for-profit creative activity and creative employment. “Philadelphia came out

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with a Creative Vitality Index of 1.7 on a scale in which the average score is 1, which is 70 percent higher than the national index,” says Steuer. “We also did a data scan on occupation codes and standard individual classification codes to try to get a more accurate picture of creative-economy employment in the city.” The study identified 50,000 creative sector jobs in Philadelphia, a growth of more than 6 percent over the past decade, even as the number of jobs in the city declined overall. Florida echoes Steuer’s picture of the resilience of the creative sector as a workforce in the face of the economic tsunami that hit globally in 2007. “The Creative Class weathered the crisis spectacularly well—unemployment in its ranks never surpassed 5 percent and it continued to add jobs,” he tells Edge. all of the ingredients but no soup

N e i l K l e i n m a n , senior fellow of the University of the Arts’ Corzo Center for the Creative Economy, agrees with Florida on the impact of the economic crisis on the sector. “There’s great energy and innovative thinking in the entrepreneurial and technology communities,” Kleinman says. “And that’s born in large part from necessity, from scarcity—creative solutions driven by the lack of sufficient resources. Creative people are driven to create, whether they’re compensated or not: without resources, they’ll still find a way.” But that doesn’t mean he believes that’s an ideal paradigm. “A lot of the nonprofit arts and culture institutions that are dependent on traditional government funding find themselves with far fewer of those dollars,” he says, “And unlike technology startups that attract investment with the hope of profits, they can be left to rot. Some of the large nonprofits are often considered ‘too big to fail,’ and they suck out creative venture money that could go to smaller, more nimble, exciting startups.” And Kleinman believes that too many cities have interpreted Florida’s approach to mean that by simply assembling the various pieces of a creative economy, one will appear almost magically. “These are only ingredients, and too many places think if they have the right mix of them they’ll have the soup. It doesn’t work that way. Too many cities pat themselves on the back because the elements are present, rather than creating an economic framework that can actually make things work. Meanwhile, their economies have gone south, with a heavy impact on creative businesses, especially emerging ones.” Florida rejects that criticism. “Creative placemaking is an important advance and should not be trivialized,” Florida says. “It’s easy to create straw men and poke fun at them,” he says. “What I have said is that places that are open to new ideas and new people get an additional economic advantage to those that come from technology and talent.” young creatives in a brave new world

Developing artists and designers who will create those new ideas is

critical to the success of the University of the Arts’ mission, according to K W i ll i a m s , dean of the College of Performing Arts (CPA). “The University recognizes that we must continue forward motion and progressive evolution in training our next generations of leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators,” says Williams. To do that, she says that administrators, faculty and staff need to be both like-minded and fully committed to helping develop students to thrive in the creative economy—a dramatically different economic and social environment than that facing previous generations of young artists. According to Williams, that means being open to— even enthusiastic about—exploring new approaches and methods for preparing those students for a creative life after UArts. “We all must be strong enough to ‘get with the program’ for the ultimate good of the student, which is our primary reason for existence.” In fact, the University began this past year to implement an innovative new approach to educating artists and designers that takes into account the changing landscape of the creative economy. In the plan’s vision statement, it foresees UArts graduates being highly trained and highly adaptable, “masters of their disciplines, and consummate professionals who can communicate and collaborate effectively with other kinds of creative people and professionals. In the future we imagine for them, our graduates will take on roles of leadership and innovation. They will be prepared to live and work in a world in which art, creativity and imagination are the engines for social and economic change.” And UArts’ CAMD D e a n S h a rr o c k believes that it’s imperative that the University—and all creatively-focused organizations—continue “to make a convincing case, and not simply a PR campaign, for the role that creativity does play in everyone’s lives, and therefore make people aware that they have the potential to be creative,” he says. bringing the artist into the center of things

Mark Campbell is envisioning how talented artists in the more traditional fine-arts disciplines can best position themselves to thrive in this brave new world. The interim director of the University’s School of Art says there are growing pressures to “expand what it means to monetize an arts education and what it means to be an artist in the world. And that’s a very new thing. Just bringing up the word ‘monetize’ can be uncomfortable for some artists. “Thinking in economic terms, the art world is developing a more complex ecology,” he says. “I think it is fair to say that the entrepreneurial model is relevant to the contemporary artist. And interesting things are happening, such as cloud funding that enables artists to pursue capital support through different channels and more informal sources, but it will take some time and more experimentation before we know what is viable and what is not. I suppose we could have anticipated this, but there are issues of accountability with things like cloud funding.

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“And while pop-up galleries and co-ops may be able to carry artists through this initial economic phase, many are operating with smoke and mirrors,” according to Campbell, “and eventually will need to transition to something more sustainable or they will disappear.” Campbell says some of the more traditional arts disciplines—such as crafts and photography—have a long history of both studio and applied models, and the School of Art is looking hard at new curricular paradigms that honor studio art practice while also “bringing the artist into the center of things socially and economically,” he says. “The artist as outsider, as social critic, still holds power, but younger artists are looking now for alternative ways to shape culture from a solutions-based approach. In that sense, we’re looking to the world of design. And this is coming from me, a 60-year-old trained in the old ways. This really is a transitional moment.” change with no limits

On that point, Florida is in strong agreement. He says that politicians, pundits and planners have yet to recognize the systemic nature of the changes in our economy and society. “The old Fordist economic order is gone—and as vibrant as the creative economy is, its rewards are very unevenly distributed. The majority of Americans now work in dead-end service jobs; for far too many of us, the American Dream is dead.

// Above: Professor M a r k C a m pb e ll and his Sculpture 1 class critiquing student work for project: The Body and Relational Form

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“It doesn’t have to be this way,” he continues, “but to change it, we desperately need a new social compact—one that will expand participation in the creative economy to industrial and service workers by leveraging new investment—both public and private—in human infrastructure.” CPA Dean Williams sees such change emerging slowly. “I’m not so certain that we’ll be looking back at the creative economy and the Creative Class 10 years hence, but rather still looking from the middle of the cultural shift,” she says. “Having only been 10 years since the concept had a ‘coining’ in Richard Florida’s book, I would suggest a comparison to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the timeline of conservation and global non-self-destruction that we still have not fully realized.” In the long run, Florida believes the Creative Class will be the driving force in economic and cultural life for a very long time to come. “Most people aren’t wealthy or powerful, but all human beings are creative,” he says. “The great challenge will be to unleash the creativity of every single human being. I don’t think this will happen in the next 10 years, but when it does, the sky will be the limit.”

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F lor id a on Ph i l adelph i a Dr. Richard Florida, the scholar and author of The Rise of the Creative Class, takes a look at the City of Brotherly Love. I’ve long been a fan of Philadelphia. I grew up in New Jersey and went to Rutgers. A lot of my friends came from the greater Philadelphia metro area, so I witnessed the city’s transformation firsthand from the late 1970s on. Philadelphia had an incredible music scene back then—not just Philadelphia Soul (the songwriters Gamble & Huff, the O’Jays, the Delphonics and Hall & Oates, among many others), but rock & roll’s Todd Rundgren. The Philadelphia area has nearly a million Creative Class workers today—904,360 of them—more than a third of its workforce. It ranks 50th out of 331 metros for our composite Creative Index, which is based on our 3Ts of economic development: Technology, Talent and Tolerance. Philadelphia has lost some 25,000 Creative Class workers since the first edition of Rise came out, but the region as a whole has lost population too. Philadelphia’s Creative Class share (34.6 percent) is actually higher today than it was back then (32.4 percent).

As for the distressed state of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and some of its other flagship cultural institutions, this is a phenomenon I wrote about in the first edition of Rise; the trend has been apparent for a while. The Creative Class has a highly developed aesthetic sense, but its members aren’t generally drawn to big institutional venues like the traditional symphony, opera and ballet, which I called the SOBs. The culture they gravitate toward is more street-level and organic—pop-up galleries, clubs, lofts and other scenes. Museums and orchestras are big, hierarchical organizations, much like the big corporations (or the charitable trusts that their founders created) that are their most important underwriters. The Creative Class, for better or for worse, is more individualistic. These high-culture institutions have to adapt if they want to thrive.

R i c h a rd F l o r i d a , P h . D . , is a professor at the University of Toronto and at New York University, and a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine.

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// Above: Scholar and author R i c h a rd F l o r i d a

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Mov i ng t he Reg ion For wa rd alumni

and

facult y

p h i l a d e l p h i a’ s

lead

creative

community

Today, 10 years after Richard Florida first identified creativity as a driving force of the economy, University of the Arts alumni and faculty continue to lead the Philadelphia region’s creative community. In dynamic roles that connect the arts and business, cross traditional boundaries and break new ground, these leaders are fueling the city’s vibrant arts scene, enhancing the local community and environment, developing citizens’ creative capabilities through education, fostering diversity and more. Through their pioneering work, they not only advance many of the priorities Florida identified in his best-selling book The Rise of the Creative Class, they also place the University at the heart and soul of the region’s creative community.

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// Above: Philadelphia’s innovative coworking space Independents Hall, co-founded by G e o f f D i M a s i ’ 9 7

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bridging

the

gap

A thriving creative economy depends on strong links between the arts and business worlds. Members of the UArts community are playing key roles in cultivating those connections in the Philadelphia region. As executive director of the Arts and Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, K a r i n C o p e l a n d B S ’ 8 3 ( I n d u s tr i a l D e s i g n ) brings together professionals in the arts, business, law and technology through events and volunteermatching, playing a unique role in the region.

An industrial designer for 16 years before taking on her current roles, Copeland credits her UArts training with preparing her for the business world. “I love collaboration and I love change and I always have, and I think that that’s part of my training as an industrial designer—that I had learned how to do that very early on, to be an observer of people and how they work together,” says Copeland, who in her previous career worked with teams to design everything from furniture to bicycles to cosmetics. artists

entrepreneurs

“We’re the only arts organization that is directly connected to the business community,” says Copeland, who is also vice president of strategic alliances for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, of which the Council is an affiliate. “We’re looking to strengthen the creative sector, including arts, culture and the for-profit creative businesses.”

While Copeland connects the arts and business communities throughout the region, UArts P r o f e s s o r N e i l K l e i n m a n is enhancing the University’s ties to those communities. As managing senior fellow of the University’s Corzo Center for the Creative Economy, Kleinman works to equip students, alumni and regional artists with economic savvy.

Operating throughout the 11-county Greater Philadelphia region, the Council places business and legal volunteers with arts and cultural organizations to serve as consultants and board members. “We feel that by volunteering with an arts and culture organization, professionals are exposed to creativity, innovation and collaboration,” Copeland says.

“The Corzo Center starts as a way to help students and alums in the University become more in control of their economic futures,” says Kleinman. He notes that increasingly, the Center’s mission has also reached beyond University members “to provide the same kind of resource to the larger creative community.”

“ We feel t h at by vol u nt e e r i n g w it h a n a r t s a nd c u lt u re or g a n i zat ion , profes s ion a l s a re ex posed to c r eat iv it y, i n n o va t i o n a nd col l abor at ion .” The Council also trains business professionals and arts managers in nonprofit board governance, partners with technology professionals to offer resources to arts and cultural organizations, and provides networking and enrichment events for arts and business professionals. A recent sold-out workshop at the Barnes Foundation featured bestselling author Dan Roam, who taught attendees how to combine their verbal and visual minds in order to think and learn more quickly. Council events have also featured UArts P r e s i d e n t S e a n T . B u f f i n g t o n , who serves on the organization’s advisory board. According to Copeland, the Council’s efforts to foster collaboration between the arts and business worlds are particularly welcome today as organizations strive to do more with less due to the global economic downturn. “There have been more and more collaborative work environments with organizations that historically had never done that,” she says. During the 2011 fiscal year, the Council served more than 600 arts and cultural organizations and individual artists.

The Center’s programming, launched in 2010, includes a lecture and workshop series on entrepreneurial topics, a six-Saturday entrepreneur boot camp, and free one-on-one business advising from a slate of local professionals. Many of these opportunities are open to the public. Through pre-seed grants of up to $10,000, the Corzo Center Creative Incubator/ Wells Fargo Fellowship Program provides funding each year to UArts seniors, graduate students and alumni to develop new ideas, launch creative businesses and establish social enterprises. The Center also co-sponsors events by outside organizations relevant to its mission, waiving rental fees for the University’s facilities in exchange for free or discounted admission for students and faculty. Thanks to a $120,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in the spring of 2012, the Center is set to expand its offerings. The programs aim to help students and alumni explore ways of developing their talents into sustainable businesses, whether within their fields of study or beyond. Another aim is to position the University of the Arts as an important partner in the future development of the city and its economy. “I really believe that a university like ours has to be seen as an extraordinarily important resource to the larger community,” Kleinman says. His belief in the importance of empowering artists with business knowledge grows out of a teaching career that has spanned law, literature, writing, technology, graphic and industrial design, the digital economy and marketing, as well as a longtime commitment to bringing together people from different disciplines.

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“Many of us believe that being a creative is not necessarily to do what you were trained to do,” Kleinman says. “The purpose of educating our students should be to empower them and give them that sense of possibility.” fueling

culture

and

community

A strong creative economy arises not only from interconnected arts and business worlds, but also from a vibrant culture and community. Applying their talents to originate innovative new enterprises, UArts graduates are shaping Philadelphia’s identity, generating the kind of energy and activity that spurs economic growth. G e o f f D i M a s i MFA ’ 9 7 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , who taught for more than six years in the University’s Multimedia department, admits he initially had no intention of staying in Philadelphia beyond his time at UArts. But the love he soon felt for the city propelled him to put down roots and initiate a host of business and community efforts—founding web design agency P’unk Avenue and collaborating with its neighbors to form the Passyunk Square Civic Association (PSCA); co-founding Independents Hall, the city’s first co-working space; cofounding community lecture forum Ignite Philly; and more. “I started to understand what it meant to be a citizen and what it meant to be part of a community when I moved to Philadelphia,” says DiMasi, whose P’unk Avenue bio describes him as an “all-around community rabble-rouser.” He points to his experience revitalizing the Passyunk Square neighborhood through the PSCA and its success building community through large-scale volunteer tree plantings as an early inspiration that taught him the power of purposeful action. “I think in Philadelphia, you just realize at some point, if you want something to happen, if you care about something, then you just get involved,” he says. DiMasi has sought to bring that sense of purpose to his subsequent endeavors. “Where we are matters,” he says of P’unk Avenue, which derives its name from its East Passyunk Avenue location and tends to focus on web projects involving urbanism, wellness and knowledge creation. “People move to the neighborhood to be near it, to be part of it, to sort of experience that whole life of what it means to care about things in that way.”

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When DiMasi co-founded Independents Hall—better known as Indy Hall—with Alex Hillman, purpose again came to the forefront. “We didn’t focus on the desks and the logistics of the physical space,” says DiMasi. “We said, ‘We want to put Philadelphia on the map,’ so that meant we wanted people to realize that something was happening here in Philadelphia, something bigger was happening, and we’ve achieved that.” Made up of freelancers in a range of creative fields who pay for membership to work together in a 4,400-squarefoot loft, Indy Hall has become known for its emphasis on openness, collaboration, community, sustainability and accessibility. In 2012, the Arts and Business Council awarded Indy Hall the Creative Economy Award for Distinction in a For-Profit Creative Field, recognizing the venture as “the first company of its kind in Philadelphia and emergent as a national model for co-working.” DiMasi notes, “If you go to any co-working space anywhere in the world and you say you’re from Indy Hall, people know what you mean.” That phenomenon in turn has increased awareness of Philadelphia among people in creative fields. “There’s this great ripple effect,” DiMasi reports. “When we’re at conferences, Alex and I, people are excited to meet us, and they’re excited about what’s happening in Philadelphia.”

connecting

through

comedy

Another graduate whose work sets a national standard while building the region’s culture and community is former UArts faculty member J e n C h i lds B FA ’ 9 0 ( T h e a t e r ) . As founder and artistic director of 1812 Productions—the only professional theater in the country dedicated to comedy— Childs offers laughter as a powerful connective force, creating a sense of community where differences and divisions might otherwise prevail. The company’s most popular show, “This Is The Week That Is,” annually offers political humor in a format described as “a stylistic marriage between ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ and ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.’” “There is nothing else like it in the city,” says Childs. While election season may bring contentiousness and division, the show offers something else—an occasion, in Childs’s words, “where 200 people sit together and it doesn’t matter what political party you are, you’re laughing about the same thing.”

// Above: G e o f f D i M a s i ’ 9 7

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The company’s brochures often highlight this comedic mission through images of two audience members, who are very clearly from different walks of life, but who are nonetheless caught in very similar fits of laughter. It’s a sight Childs saw firsthand one night while sitting in 1812’s audience. “In the front row, there was a 20-year-old kid with a mohawk sitting next to this probably 90-year-old lady,” Childs recalls. “They were both laughing hysterically and I thought, ‘For me, that’s what comedy is about.’ In times of division, it’s something that unites us and it’s a place of common ground.” That belief in comedy prompted Childs to found the company in 1997 with longtime friend P e t e r P r y o r B FA ’ 9 0 ( T h e a t e r ) , who has since moved on to another company. At that time, according to Childs, Philadelphia was not an obvious place to stay after graduation. Due to the transformation of the city’s arts scene through companies like 1812, which in 2010 was one of only 10 theaters in the country to receive a National Theatre Company grant from the American Theatre Wing, Philadelphia today is a very different place. mark garvin

“The community has kind of exploded,” says Childs. “Companies can really pick holes and prosper. There’s an audience that’s interested not just in the traditional theater, but in trying things that are new.” Part of that shift, Childs explains, involved mentoring between theater companies. The Walnut Street Theatre fostered the Arden Theatre Company, which in turn fostered 1812. Today, 1812 offers similar support to newcomers in the theater community. picking

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Less than a decade ago, one of those novitiates to professional theater was M e g a n N i c o l e O ’ B r i e n B FA ’ 0 5 ( A p pl i e d T h e a t e r A rts ) . Today, the co-founder and resident director of the acclaimed 11th Hour Theatre Company is one of the “next wave” of leaders in the Philadelphia theater scene, with three Barrymore Award nominations (the top theater honor in the region), boatloads of rave reviews, and newcomers in turn seeking her out for advice and assistance. Since co-founding 11th Hour with her brother and a friend while she was still a senior at UArts, O’Brien has seen the company and its reputation grow by leaps and bounds. Since its inception, 11th Hour’s productions have taken home six Barrymore Awards and garnered 30 nominations.

Now one of the established and respected figures in the Philadelphia theater community, O’Brien gives credit to her advisor at UArts—none other than 1812 Production’s Jen Childs. “I transferred in to UArts and wanted to focus on directing,” says O’Brien. “Jen was very supportive and she helped me tailor my education to suit my needs after graduation. She helped me learn how to fight for what I want. “A lot of the teachers at UArts are well-known working professionals, and their recommendations held a lot more weight when I was going for jobs. UArts is really connected to the community and it’s a great thing.” O’Brien says that sometimes she’s taken aback by an award or by praise that cites 11th Hour as one of the city’s leading theater lights. “It takes someone else to bring home whatever level of status we may have attained in the theater community,” she says. “We still see ourselves as ‘the little company that could.’ The root of what 11th Hour is about never changes—it’s always about challenging ourselves and others, about where the next best thing we create is going to come from.” The economic downturn has created another kind of challenge for 11th Hour, as it has for all theater companies. “A lot of companies that were starting to flourish got hit by drops in funding,” O’Brien says. “It forces you to make certain decisions, such as choosing a more commercial show to give you enough ticket sales to ride through to the next season. You want to stick with your artistic integrity, and it forces you to be creative, to grow and push yourself. Limitations can also be a blessing.” And she does her best to pay those blessings forward. “I think we have certain obligations to young artists, to give back, to recognize and encourage up-and-coming talent,” she says. “I think we’ve had one or more UArts students or young alumni in every 11th Hour production. It’s great to see young artists making some sort of stamp. “The Philadelphia theater community is so special,” she adds. “Everybody really respects each other, and they respect and accept it when you think of new ways to do things. I don’t know if we could have done what we’ve done with 11th Hour anywhere else.”

“We had a baptism by fire in producing our first show,” O’Brien says. “None of us had done this before. I remember that a lot of friends and family came. But it was exciting. There wasn’t much small, intimate musical theater being done at that time.”

// Above: Tony Braithwaite and J e n C h i lds ’ 9 7 in ‘Let’s Pretend We’re Famous’

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Ch a nge & Ch a l lenge

t h e cre at ive e co n omy a decade l at er

Gary Steuer, the head of the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, talks to Edge about where we are and where we’re headed. on

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’s

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In the creative economy today, the lines between nonprofit and for-profit arts and cultural experiences are blurred to the point of near-invisibility. You don’t say ‘Let’s go out and have a nonprofit music experience.’ You might go to the Kimmel Center, a nonprofit venue, to see an artist, or that same artist might be playing at the Tin Angel, a for-profit venue. Or Live Nation could be producing an event at the Kimmel Center. growth creative

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sector

Here in Philadelphia, there is an incredibly near-seamless intersection of arts, science, technology and civic transformation, and these areas are eager to work

together. Examples include organizations such as TedX, NextFab and Code for America. It’s a bubbling cauldron that mixes things up, and it’s exciting for Philadelphia’s future.

the creative economy. It has challenged many businesses, and often larger organizations are impacted more than smaller ones that tend to be more nimble and responsive.

Unfortunately, one of the challenges created by The Rise of the Creative Class and the concept of a creative economy is that it can be—and has been—latched onto as a panacea by any town, city or county in the country. In some of these places it makes great sense, as when the creative sector is a core asset, as it is in Philadelphia. But in other communities that don’t have that kind of structure, the process can end up with disappointment.

The Millennial generation of creatives isn’t looking to their future with big, overblown ideas—they’re creative and entrepreneurial, establishing artisanal businesses. They don’t look to outsource work, they want to make things locally.

necessity mother

the

evolution

We’re in an important transitional moment right now with legacy institutions struggling and smaller businesses establishing themselves. As I said, it’s bubbling up, it’s entrepreneurial and exciting—it’s almost a new model.

Another major challenge faced by the creative sector is obviously the economy. But I see this economic downturn as part of a sea change in the structure of

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// Above: Chief Cultural Officer of the City of Philadelphia, G a r y S t e u e r , at Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Magic Gardens.

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butterfly

A ndy Rementer

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;04

BFA (Gr a ph ic De sign)

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A Pa r t ner sh ip Desig ned to L a st ken

c a r b o n e B FA ’ 7 3 l e s l i e

s m o l a n B FA ’ 7 5

How do two talented, creative, ambitious people partner together professionally day in and day out for 35 exceptionally successful years and live to tell the tale? “Trust and aligned ambition, shared values and life focus.” That’s the recipe, according to K e n C a rb o n e B FA ’ 7 3 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) , who with L e sl i e S m o l a n B FA ’ 7 5 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) , are partners in the leading international design and branding firm Carbone Smolan Agency. And it’s worked: their client list includes such international brands and cultural icons as the Louvre Museum, Christie’s, W Hotels, Sesame Workshop, Herman Miller, San Francisco International Airport and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They’ve won just about every major design and branding award there is to win. And how they’ve done all of that is the subject of their new book Dialog: What Makes a Great Design Partnership (Pointed Leaf Press). The book pays tribute to their partnership and provides a fascinating catalog of their huge branding portfolio—35 of the agency’s most celebrated design projects are highlighted, illustrating the power of their collaborative process. “Our partnership is based on our mutual love of art and design, combined with our trust in each other’s diverse perspectives,” says Smolan. Carbone describes Smolan as “all about nuance and detail; she’s deliberate and deep, while I’m about fast— I’m not patient, I like the momentum of moving ahead quickly. The combination minimizes redundancies.” “And again, trust is key,” adds Smolan. “The creative friction gives us the opportunity to argue out different ideas and perspectives; we egg each other on and play off each other. Eventually one of us takes the ball and runs with it, because if we both run with it, we’ll run into each other. We call our model ‘being in violent agreement.’” Dialog is divided into four sections—Fame, Fortune, Fun and Freedom—each with samples of their work and commentary about each project and how they collaborated to accomplish it. Fame and fortune they have certainly found, and fun as well, according to Smolan, pointing to graphic design work they did for the iconic glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre. “Standing where the pyramid would be with (architect) I.M. Pei’s staff, I thought, ‘There’s nothing here now, but eventually millions of people will be here.’ And I’ve been flown by helicopter onto exotic, deserted islands where new hotels would stand. We’ve gotten to work for the White House and for the Dalai Lama.” Smolan says when she was at UArts, she thought she’d be a fine artist or illustrator, but someone suggested graphic design would best fulfill the promise of her talent. In hindsight, that shift could be termed—with considerable understatement—a good decision. “After 35 years, we have the freedom to choose what we want to do,” says Carbone. “And if the day comes when it doesn’t work for us, we can shut it down, say we accomplished something and declare victory.”

// Top left: K e n C a rb o n e ’ 7 3 Bottom left: L e sl i e S m o l a n ’ 7 5

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Gl it ter i ng I mages

a q&a with university professor of humanities and media s t u d i e s c a m i l l e pag l i a a b o u t h e r provocat ive n e w book

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e d g e : Why did you decide to write Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art from Egypt to Star Wars, your first book to focus entirely on visual art? paglia

: About 15 years ago, I was thinking about creating

a seminar called “Style in Art,” where University of the Arts students from different majors could exchange information and experiences and hopefully foster future interdisciplinary collaborations. By the time the course was first offered in 1999, I had still not found an adequate textbook. I was looking for a concise, affordable introduction to the history of major styles in Western art. But amazingly, there was nothing—only big, heavy, unwieldy compendiums like Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, which was first published in 1926, or H.W. Janson’s History of Art, which became a campus classic after it was released in 1962. Janson’s book is wonderfully erudite, but it moves very fast over the centuries and goes into little depth about individual works. Plus it weighs seven and a half pounds! There was no way I was going to impose those expensive tomes on my student dancers or jazz musicians, who are often on limited budgets. So I decided to write my own book to fill that gap in the market. Glittering Images is intended as an inviting, accessible handbook to the great procession of styles in Western art. There are 29 short chapters (with full-page color illustrations) crossing 3,000 years from Egypt to digital art. Despite how slim it is, the book took five long years to write. Simplicity isn’t easy! e d g e : You’ve said that because it is bombarded by the minute by images, the public today needs to essentially relearn how to see. Can you explain, and how does viewing great art help?

: The professional class in Western society, tied to computers and cell phones, is swamped with images, which assault us from every direction—flashing, fragmented and chaotic. I’m very concerned about the effect of this random visual clutter on children’s developing brains. We are all stultified by it. The brain surely reacts by protectively shutting down whole areas of perception. You can’t get away from the intrusive madness—there are now pulsating video screens as you pump gas or shop in malls or eat in restaurants. They’re even embedded at eye level in airplane seats— with no turn-off switch. Social media and major news websites are in general poorly designed, and current cinematography as well as editing of commercials is restless, choppy and erratic. Young people have few opportunities to see and admire the kind of superb photography that was everywhere in my youth—in glossy, large-format magazines like Life and Look, in sophisticated fashion magazines of the Diana Vreeland period, or in slow-paced European art films. After a lifetime of studying art, I believe that contemplation of great art images focuses and stabilizes the eye and produces a magical sense of serenity. You don’t have to go to a museum for that—on the contrary, today’s museums have turned into noisy circuses where people with audio headphones are knocking into you like zombies.

paglia

// Left: University Professor C a m i ll e P a g l i a at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

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All you need is a book with a gorgeously printed image. It invites an intense relationship of personal discovery. e d g e : You’ve cited George Lucas as “the greatest artist of our time.” That description might not sit well with traditional art historians and aficionados. What do you mean by that?

My chapters following Andy Warhol and pop art are on conceptual art, land art and performance art. The illustrative artists I chose for those chapters are Eleanor Antin, Walter DeMaria and Renée Cox, ending in the 1990s. But when I tried to find strong examples of current or recent art with which to end the book, I hit a wall. I was horrified—it was as if the fine arts have flatlined. There is certainly good work being done, but everything I saw simply reminded me of 10 other things from the last 200 years. There is a systemic derivativeness, a lack of ambition and a coterie insularity within received political opinion that has too often led to a detachment from or snobbery toward mainstream Americans. The creatively strongest fields right now are, in my view, industrial design, architecture, animation and crafts. I felt very frustrated in my search, because the last chapter of the book had to hold up to the masterpieces from antiquity to modernism that precede it. While channel surfing to relax, I kept stumbling on the Star Wars movies being shown back to back on Spike TV, which presents itself as a man’s channel. I gradually became fixated on the long finale of Revenge of the Sith, which George Lucas directed and released in 2005. It’s like apocalyptic nature painting combined with dance theater and grand opera—a duel on a lava river on a volcano planet, with themes of collapsing industry and politics followed by the tortured robotic construction of Darth Vader and the tragic birth of the twins Luke and Leia, who lose their mother and are separated to distant planets. The episode is absolutely phenomenal in its emotional impact as well as its spectacular visualization—a combination of live action, computer animation and ingenious model making. Nothing in any genre of the fine arts of the past 30 years approaches what Lucas achieved in the finale of Sith. edge

: What’s next in your literary march to world domination?

: My next project is about Native American art and archaeology. Over the past several years, I slowly worked my way through the Native American collection at the University Museum Library at the University of Pennsylvania. There are splendid books by anthropologists about the many tribes of North America. But I feel that the work on Native American art is relatively weak because the field has rarely been approached from the direction of world art. I am particularly interested in the artifacts of our region here in the Northeast, where Native Americans were living and hunting by the end of the Ice Age over 10,000 years ago. It’s an epic story that needs to be more widely told!

paglia

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I s a B a r n e tt D I P L ’ 4 3 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) was a man of many talents—a superb artist and illustrator, a University of the Arts alumnus and faculty member, and a riveting storyteller. But the first thing those who knew him will tell you is that he was “larger than life.” A unique exhibition in tribute to the late Philadelphia/Santa Fe artist (1923-2001) was on display in the President’s suite in Hamilton Hall at UArts from October 17 to November 26, 2012. Titled “Generation to Generation,” the exhibit was presented by Isa’s artist son and fellow UArts alumnus I v a n B a r n e tt B FA ’ 6 9 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) . Examples of Ivan’s own work were also on display. “Generation to Generation” featured a wide range of works by Isa Barnett—including paintings, drawings, historical illustrations and photography—as well as contemporary mixed media by Ivan. Archival photos and writings gathered by Ivan helped to tell their intimate father-son story. All works in the exhibition were on loan from private collections. To tell Isa’s story, the exhibition was divided into discrete sections: A Passion for History, Making a Living, The West, Teaching Us to See and Family Life. Ivan’s work was presented in its own section: Ivan Barnett—Artist and Gallery Owner. At the same time, more than 75 artworks by Isa were offered for sale in partnership with Philadelphia’s Newman Galleries, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting UArts student scholarships. Ranging from large framed paintings to small drawings in a wide range of media, all were from the Barnett family collection. Many had never before been seen in public. An educator and mentor, for two decades Isa Barnett served as an esteemed, influential and inspirational faculty member at the University of the Arts. During the exhibition, many letters of tribute to Isa arrived from former colleagues and students who remembered him as “amazing.” Perhaps most indicative of the esteem and personal connections he engendered were the many former students of Isa’s who came to the exhibition’s opening reception, along with many of his friends and family members. Isa’s illustrations appeared on the covers and inside pages of the Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Life and American Heritage. He also produced illustrations for Random House and a series for Bantam Books.

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He created works for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Valley Forge National Historical Park, the Gettysburg Museum and the Franklin Mint, as well as art stamps for the Museum Council of the United Nations. After a trip to the Southwest, Isa fell in love with the unique beauty of the region and with the pageantry of the Pueblo Indians of northern New Mexico; both greatly influenced his work, which often featured rich colors that reflected the grandeur of the landscape. Isa approached life with endless curiosity and appreciation for the world around him—from World War II to Vietnam to the Philadelphia suburbs, from commercial work in advertising to historical illustration, brilliant landscapes and beribboned Native American Matachines dancers. “My father saw beauty and stories in everything around him,” says Ivan. “He loved American history and especially the Native American peoples of the Southwest. He took me as a child to New Mexico and was fond of saying, ‘The dust never left my boots or the hood of my car.’ “He taught me and his many students to always strive to go beyond, to push for the ‘more,’” Ivan continues. “Several of his former students, now in their 60s and 70s, approached me at the opening and said that Isa simply changed their lives, forever. The artist C h a rl e s S a n t o r e B FA ’ 5 6 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) , for example, said to me that Isa Barnett taught him more in art school than any other teacher.” At age 16, Isa was granted the prestigious Thornton Oakley four-year scholarship to the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, now the University of the Arts. Throughout his more than 60 years as an artist, he produced works in all media, including oil, charcoal, pen and ink, acrylic, bronze, watercolor, marble, calligraphy, lithography and photography. In later years, he became fascinated with the medium of pastel, his “vehicle for spontaneity” in painting both landscape and still life, in the East and in New Mexico. Ivan Barnett works in many capacities, including artist, advisor, writer and gallery director. As director of Patina Gallery in Santa Fe, N.M., he partners with his wife, Allison Buchsbaum-Barnett, also an artist. The two have established Patina as an important venue for the exhibition of fine art jewelry and craft, and a destination for an international clientele of collectors.

// Above: I v a n B a r n e tt ’ 6 9 Right: I s a B a r n e tt ’ 4 3 and a young Ivan Barnett.

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G ener at ion to G ener at ion

a n a r t i s t ’s s o n h o n o r s h i s fat h e r’s e x t r ao r d i n a r y l i f e

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j a s o n c h e n ‘08

S c ho ol of Mu s ic St udent s Fi nd B u s i ne s s at T h e B el l e v u e

It’s noon, and hundreds of Center City business people are packed into the food court at the upscale Bellevue at Broad and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia, sitting at polished-wood tables and eating their lunches. Smiles of recognition spread across faces as the first notes of “Take the ‘A’ Train” drift over the room, and heads turn to look at two young musicians—a guitarist and a bass player—standing near the base of the main escalator from the building’s first floor. A deep-red banner with a white University of the Arts logo stands next to them. “We play every other Friday,” says A n th o n y D e C a rl o ’ 1 3 ( I n str u m e n t a l P e r f o r m a n c e ) , the guitarist and a School of Music senior who acts as the coordinator of the project. “We get different responses depending on the specific music we play, but the crowd always gives us nice compliments. There are a lot of regulars there and they like it when we play.” The Bellevue, a Philadelphia landmark built in 1904 in the French Renaissance style, is home to offices, restaurants, the Hyatt Hotel and its popular food court. The students’ regular gig there stems from a phone call from The Bellevue, according to School of Music Director and alumnus M a r c D i c c i a n i B M ’ 7 5 ( P e r c u ss i o n ) . “Joseph Coradino, CEO of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns the building, is on the UArts Board of Trustees, and he thought it would be a nice opportunity for the students and enjoyable for the lunch crowd,” he says. “It’s worked out really well.” DeCarlo says the musicians get more than just an hour’s worth of pay from the gigs; the young entrepreneurs get great exposure. “We make sure we bring business cards with us. Most days someone will pick up a card, and I’ve gotten a number of wedding and corporate-event bookings across the city from playing at The Bellevue. It’s a great opportunity to get outside work.”

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The food court engagements rotate between DeCarlo and five other musicians, each of whom is responsible for arranging for his or her own side player. “It’s been a great lesson in the music business for me—organizing, finding people I trust to be there on time and to act professionally, learning how to communicate and how to expect the unexpected,” he says. “And you have to find players who fit the location; you can’t just go down to the food court and rock out.” The Bellevue’s Mary Dougherty says the relationship has been great for all involved. “We love having the students fill the air with beautiful music,” she says. “Innovative collaborations like this are important on so many levels, not only for the students, but for the retail businesses. We look forward to building on our relationship with the University of the Arts, bringing as much music as we can to The Bellevue property.”

A nt h o ny P a d i ll a Na med New D ea n O f Ad m i s s ion s A n th o n y P a d i ll a has been named the new dean of Admissions at the University of the Arts. Padilla, who joined the staff in October 2012, came to UArts with a wealth of experience in arts college admissions, having served as the chief admissions officer at Laguna College of Art & Design, Parsons The New School for Design and Chester College of New England. Prior to that, he worked in admissions at Pacific Oaks College and Otis School of Art & Design. He holds a BFA in Illustration from Art Center College of Design in California and excelled as a freelance illustrator in New York City for 10 years, assembling an impressive portfolio of work for such clients as American Express, Nikon, Hilton International, Nike and Esquire magazine.

UA r t s Host s ‘C o n ve rsa t i o n s & C o n n e ct i o n s’ Wr it i ng C on ference

UA r t s Honor s I r v i n B o r ow s k y, L au r ie Wa g m a n for $500 ,000 G if t Dozens of their friends and family members gathered at the University of the Arts on September 19, 2012, to honor UArts Trustee Emeritus Irvin J. Borowsky and his wife, Laurie Wagman, whose $500,000 gift will enable the University to significantly expand and enhance its Glass Arts programs and the art form itself. The gift will be used to establish the Irvin Borowsky Center for Glass Arts and the Irvin Borowsky Prize in Glass Arts. An innovator and leader in the publishing industry and a generous patron of the arts, Borowsky has been a member of the University’s Board of Trustees since 1981.

// Above: UArts’ School of Music students T i m S c h i ll i n g ‘ 1 3 and C hr i s L i n d e n ‘ 1 5 perform at The Bellevue

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The University’s Terra Hall was the site for “Conversations and Connections: Practical Advice on Writing,” a one-day writing conference held September 22, 2012, sponsored by online fiction and poetry magazine Barrelhouse. Panelists included faculty member and author E l i s e J u s k a , director of the newly launched BFA in Creative Writing program at the University of the Arts, one of only a handful of colleges and universities in the country to offer such a degree. The conference’s keynote speech was delivered by noted author Stewart O’Nan, winner of the prestigious Drue Heinz Literature Prize and one of Granta magazine’s original Best Young American Novelists.

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Gr aph ic D es ig n Gr a d Vol u nt e e rs At Oly mpic s

UA r t s , Pa r t ner for 8t h A n n u al Fe st i va l

V u o n g T o n g B FA ’ 0 8 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) , a Philadelphia native who is currently studying for his master’s degree in Innovation Management at Central St. Martins College in London, responded to a call for volunteers at the 2012 Summer Olympics and ended up having the experience of a lifetime. In addition to being a catering staffer at rehearsals, he also served as a marshal for the opening and closing ceremonies, ushering in athletes from the U.S., North Korea and Micronesia. His role involved “corralling” the athletes and organizing them into parade formation after they arrived at the staging area ungrouped and out of order. While volunteering, Tong got to meet U.S. athletes Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, the multiple gold medal-winning beach volleyball stars, shot-putter Michelle Carter and others, and had a very close-up meeting with the U.S. men’s basketball team. “I can’t believe how blessed and lucky I am. I didn’t plan this, it just happened,” he said. “If we were paid and not volunteers, it wouldn’t feel as exciting, and this way everything feels like a bonus. It’s absolutely priceless.”

DesignPhiladelphia, the city-wide celebration of all things design presented in partnership with the University of the Arts, kicked off its eighth year with over 100 events and more than 400 participating designers. Held in October, DesignPhiladelphia is one of the largest events of its kind in the country. The festival showcases the role that design has played historically in the region and celebrates Philadelphia’s contemporary significance as a center for creative advancement. Organized by Programming Coordinator J a c k i e S t a r k e r B S ’ 1 0 ( I n d u str i a l D e s i g n ) , DesignPhiladelphia includes a dynamic mix of open studios, exhibitions, lectures, runway shows, tours and workshops that take place in boutiques, galleries, museums, universities, warehouses and city streets. A vast majority of events are free and open to the public.

S chool O f F i l m Gr ad s , Fa c u lt y A re F i l m Fe st Wi n ne r s Work by alumni and faculty in the School of Film topped the winners’ lists at two 2012 film festivals: the Bucks Fever FilmFest and the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). Winners at Bucks Fever included R e i d C a rr e s c i a B FA ’ 1 2 ( F i l m / V i d e o ) , whose short Harvest won both the Best College Narrative and Best of the Fest awards; “Earth Emergency” by S u Y e o n L i m B FA ’ 1 2 ( A n i m a t i o n ), which earned the top prize in the College Animation category; and Associate Professor/Animation Coordinator K a rl S t a v e n , whose “From Point A to Point Z” was named the Emerging Animation winner. R o b S h a w B FA ’ 9 7 ( A n i m a t i o n ) took home the award for Best Television Animation for Adults at OIAF for his “Zero Rats” segment from the comedy series “Portlandia.”

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Work by I l lu st r at ion Gr a d In cl u d e d i n N PR C a le nd a r

A lu m n i Tu r n Urba n Wa ste I nto Ar t i st S t u d i o According to alumni A n d y W a l k e r MFA ’ 1 0 ( P a i n t i n g ) and A n d y H e i s e y MFA ’ 1 0 ( C e r a m i c s ) , the urban environment is in desperate need of rejuvenation. Their answer to raising awareness of such issues as pollution and abandoned buildings was to construct Renewed Urban Studio Tent (RUST), a temporary artist studio built entirely out of found, reclaimed and recycled materials. RUST was built on the vacant lot at 313 South Broad Street, across from the University’s Hamilton Hall, and was used as a self-contained, stand-alone studio space for artists last summer. To continue the idea of recycling, Walker and Heisey created RUST2, separating the structure into the bones (the arches) and the skin (the collages) and displaying them on the two platforms in front of Hamilton Hall through the early fall. Their third version, RUST3, featured an exhibit of the work created inside the original RUST that ran through December 8 at the Mt. Airy Art Garage in suburban Philadelphia.

C D By Gr a d E n semble P r a i s e d i n ‘All Abo u t Ja z z’

“Connecting Cultures Through Public Radio,” an illustration created by University of the Arts alumnus D a n i e l F i sh e l B FA ’ 0 9 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) , is included in National Public Radio’s (NPR) 2013 wall calendar. Each year, NPR asks prominent artists who are also avid listeners to answer the question, “What does NPR look like to you?” The NPR calendar adds to Fishel’s already impressive portfolio that includes work for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Sundance Film Festival, The Los Angeles Times, Lands End, NBC Universal, Arizona Iced Tea, The Boston Globe and many others.

“Mars Apes,” the whimsically titled recording by the School of Music Graduate Ensemble, received a glowing review in the August 31, 2012, issue of All About Jazz. Produced by D o n G l a n d e n , head of the MM in Jazz Studies program at UArts, the CD features original music by M a r k A ll e n B M ’ 1 0 ( M u s i c ) , MM ’ 1 1 ( J a z z S t u d i e s ) on saxophone, D a v e B o z e n h a rd MM ’ 1 2 ( J a z z S t u d i e s ) on guitar, R i h a rds F e d o t o v s MM ’ 1 2 ( J a z z S t u d i e s ) on drums and S a n d y E ldr e d B M ’ 1 2 ( M u s i c ) , MM ’ 1 3 ( J a z z S t u d i e s ) on bass. Raves All About Jazz: “The inherent talent of these four young men, combined with the phenomenal education they have received, has resulted in a uniquely creative work.”

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news briefs

P hoto St udent Work o n D i spl ay at P h i l a de lph i a H i s t o r y Mu s eu m Work by Photography students from last year’s Professional Practices classes was featured in the “Face to Facebook” exhibition at the recently reopened Philadelphia History Museum. Included in the exhibit were photos of everyday Philadelphians illustrating the informal nature of today’s portraits taken by UArts senior L e o n S y f r i t ’ 1 3 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) and recent graduates N a th a n N o v a k B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , A m a n d a H a g e n b u c h B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , C a i tl i n L o rd B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , T a r a R o b e rts o n B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , N e ll S l a u g ht e r B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , E l i z a b e th K r e i ts c h m a n n B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , F e l i c i a P u f f B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , C h e ls e a A . D e J e s u s B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , C i e rr a B u tl e r B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) a n d M i c h a e l G a i l M a ll o y B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) . “Face to Facebook,” which also included work by such artists as Charles Willson Peale and Thomas Sully, ran through the end of 2012 in PHM’s second floor main gallery.

S ch ool of Mu s i c Fa c u lt y, St udent s Pa r t ic ipate i n Ja zz E d C on fe r e nce

MoM A Showc a ses Work of A lu m n i A n i m ator s T h e Q u ay B rot h e rs

Work by T i m o th y Q u a y B FA ’ 6 9 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) and S t e v e n Q u a y B FA ’ 6 9 ( F i l m ) , the identical twin experimental animators better known as the Quay Brothers, was on display from August 2012 through January 2013 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. “Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist’s Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets” featured more than 300 works—including handcrafted marionettes, sets, drawings, installations, animated and live-action films, commercials and music videos—spanning a half century. Praised in the August 10, 2012, issue of The New York Times, the exhibition unfolded in a maze that took you through the Quays’ evolution from student artists to commercial illustrators in the 1970s to filmmakers specializing in hand-manipulated animation.

School of Music faculty members Justin Binek and Trineice Robinson-Martin and the UArts “Z” Big Band participated in the 4th Annual Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference, held January 2–5, 2013, in Atlanta. Binek and Robinson-Martin presented individual clinics, while the “Z” Big Band—the University’s premier large jazz-ensemble, directed by faculty member M a tt G a ll a g h e r MM ’ 0 1 ( J a z z ) —performed in concert. The JEN Conference is the largest jazz education conference in the country.

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We i s s & M a nde l l S ch ol a rsh i p C h a l len g e The University of the Arts is raising the bar on fundraising for its scholarship programs. Nearly 90 percent of our students rely on financial aid and scholarship assistance, and the University is committed to making sure that qualified, talented students are not turned away because of their financial circumstances. The University is excited to announce that two longstanding trustees have issued a challenge to our community of donors, alumni and friends to shore up the University’s scholarship resources. Trustee H a rr i e t W e i ss and her husband L a rr y have pledged $200,000 to establish the Weiss Endowed Scholarship Challenge. The minimum requirement for the establishment of an endowed scholarship at UArts is $25,000. With a dollar-for-dollar match, the Weiss Challenge will ensure that any alumni pledging $12,500 or more in the next 24 months will be able to create a named scholarship benefitting students in any University discipline of their choosing. The Weisses have long been committed to the scholarship program at the University of the Arts, and this challenge is their most strategic effort yet to directly involve our alumni community in an endowed scholarship drive. In addition to its portfolio of endowed scholarship funds, the University also relies on annual support for its scholarship program. Last year, $1,000,000 raised through the Annual Fund provided direct tuition support to students in every department across the University. The University must continue to expand and strengthen its base of Annual Fund supporters in order to grow its ability to provide scholarship dollars to its most needy students. For this very purpose, UArts Trustee S e y m o u r “ S o n n y ” M a n d e ll has challenged our alumni and friends to make new or increased gifts to the Annual Fund; each of these gifts will be matched one to one up to a total of $50,000. We are thrilled to be able to offer these opportunities to our alumni and friends and are grateful to our trustees for their generosity and foresight. The combined value of these two trustee-issued challenges will help us to raise more than half a million dollars in support of scholarships. Double the value of your scholarship contributions by making a gift today! Please contact Anisa Haidary, director of Major Gifts and Special Projects, at 215-717-6147 for more information.

// Above left: H a rr i e t & L a rr y W e i ss // Above right: S e y m o u r “ S o n n y ” M a n d e ll

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Aut ism E x pressed michele

m c k e o n e BS ’05

In today’s world, Internet skills are often taken for granted, learned through everyday interactions or selfteaching. For students with autism, however, that’s not always the case, as M i c h e l e M c K e o n e B S ’ 0 5 ( C o m m u n i c a t i o n s ) found while teaching in learning-support classes in the School District of Philadelphia as part of the Philadelphia Teaching Fellowship program. “Despite what these students were capable of, they were being pigeonholed into janitorial or maintenance jobs that didn’t require computer skills,” says McKeone, who holds a master’s degree in Special Education from Chestnut Hill College. “No one was teaching them how to use the Internet or sign up for an e-mail account, today’s life skills. I realized there was a widespread need for this type of education.” In response, McKeone developed Autism Expressed, an online platform that allows students with autism to learn basic Internet-literacy skills, as well as online safety and etiquette, in an independent or classroom setting. “With Autism Expressed, students engage in a fun, interactive learning environment,” she says. “They watch a video teaching a lesson about a basic Internet skill, and then do an activity applying the concepts they’ve learned to earn a badge. It’s set up in such a way to engage the students in the learning process.” Such skills are crucial in the 21st century, McKeone says. “What’s needed in education has shifted because of the way technology has changed. Information can be garnered anywhere. It’s how you synthesize and work with it that has the impact, and that’s what these students need to learn.” McKeone started using the Autism Expressed program in her learning support classroom at South Philadelphia High School, but soon wanted to make it available for use by other schools and organizations. “I had this idea, but I didn’t necessarily have the tools and understanding needed to grow it,” she says. Encouraged by her former professor, Neil Kleinman, senior fellow at the University’s Corzo Center for the Creative Economy, McKeone applied for the Corzo Center Creative Incubator/ Wells Fargo Fellowship. Her time in the Creative Incubator program helped her refine the idea and gain business insight, and she received a $10,000 grant to put her new knowledge to use.

harvey finkle

“The Corzo Center was, for me personally, the catalyst and the bridge,” McKeone says. “I learned how to translate design experience into a viable business. Without that, I would not have gotten to this place. The grant allowed me to transfer what I was doing in my classroom to a larger scale.” The public platform of Autism Expressed launched in October 2012, and has been signing up schools and individual subscribers since then. Despite the growing success, McKeone isn’t quite ready to leave the classroom behind. “My job is where this came from,” she says. “I get my inspiration in the classroom because I’m right there, seeing how things take effect and what is needed. So for me, even though it can be challenging, it’s also a benefit.”

// Left: M i c h e l e M c K e o n e ’ 0 5

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alumni work

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art a

edition

naked

collaboration

cabinet

for

mio

culture

Ja i me Sa l m

’01

BFA ( I n dus t r i a l De sign)

& Jonat ha n Ba r t let t

’08

BFA ( I l lus t r at ion)

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A New Pa r ad ig m for E merg i ng A r t ist s jason

c h e n B FA ’ 0 8

J a s o n C h e n B FA ’ 0 8 ( A n i m a t i o n ) claims to have plenty of free time; his resume says otherwise. Chen is co-owner of Paradigm Gallery + Studio, one-third of the film/animation team Juggling Wolf, and a commercial and fine art photographer, all while holding a full-time job in the Office of Technology and Information Services at UArts. He sees this non-stop, jack-of-all-artistic-trades lifestyle as essential to his mission of making art an accessible and vital part of people’s everyday lives. “Art should not be on a pedestal in a museum,” says Chen. “Art should be shared for everyone to be involved with.” That notion is one of the guiding principles of Paradigm Gallery + Studio, which he co-founded in 2010 with S a r a M c C o rr i st o n B FA ’ 0 9 ( T h e a t e r D e s i g n & T e c h n o l o g y ) . “Our goal with Paradigm is to change the definition of what people think is art,” Chen says. “We want them to see that art is everywhere, that art is an investment. We want to create a platform for emerging artists to showcase their work. We want Paradigm to be a landmark in the community, so that when people talk about the Philly arts scene, they mention Paradigm.” That mission helped Paradigm secure a place in the Creative Incubator/ Wells Fargo Fellowship Program’s class of 2012 offered by the University’s Corzo Center for the Creative Economy. Since moving to a new location in Queen Village last year, Paradigm has regularly featured exhibitions by local artists and hosted interactive workshops for the public. Last summer, Paradigm collaborated with online arts and culture magazine HAHA MAG on “Before I Die,” part of a nationwide project that gave people the chance to write their bucket-list wishes on a giant chalkboard poster, creating public artwork on Broad Street in Center City. “Within 15 minutes of us putting it up, it was full,” says Chen. “Everyone has creativity in them, everyone wants to be an artist. This project gave people a chance to do that in a way that wasn’t intimidating.” Beyond giving the general public a chance to appreciate and create art, Chen wants to establish opportunities for fellow artists. Juggling Wolf, which also includes fellow Animation alumni I a n F o st e r B FA ’ 0 8 ( A n i m a t i o n ) and M a r i n a G v o z d e v a B FA ’ 0 8 ( A n i m a t i o n ) , could be the key to such opportunities. “Our focus is stop-motion animation incorporating video and experimental filmmaking,” says Chen. “Right now we’re one of the few studios on the East Coast focusing on stop-motion animation. Our hope is that eventually we can help open up the job market for Philadelphia-based animators.”

j a s o n c h e n ‘08

That helping-hand attitude is one of the reasons Chen chose to build his career in Philadelphia. “Philadelphia is much more about collaboration and helping each other than other cities are,” he says. “I love working with other people because collaboration is all about learning. I’m so lucky to have these friends who are so talented, who can teach me so much and also hopefully learn something from me.” When it’s time to unwind, Philadelphia’s accessible-art champion turns to his other passion. “Photography is what keeps me sane,” he says. “Photoshop is like my Zen garden. I start a project and before I know it, hours have passed.”

// Left: J a s o n C h e n ’ 0 8 in his Philadelphia gallery, Paradigm

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facu lt y notes

Fa c u lt y G r a nt Ta kes A r t E d P rofes sor to We st Af r i ca D r . T e r e s a U n s e ld , Associate Professor of Art & Design Education at the University of the Arts, spent four weeks in Ghana, West Africa, working on a project funded by a Faculty Development grant. The project included developing and implementing a summer visual arts program for children at local orphanage In My Father’s House. A final “quilt” featured each student’s work on seven poster boards that were displayed in the library.

justyna badach

Fa c u lt y Member & A lu m n a i s ‘ Fr id ay A r t s’ Fe a t u re d Ar t i st Liberal Arts Senior Lecturer and alumna J u st y n a B a d a c h B FA ’ 9 4 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) was the featured artist for the September 2012 episode of WHYY-TV’s “Friday Arts” program. The show, which focused on Badach’s award-winning “Bachelor Portraits” series, was also screened as part of WHYY’s second annual Connections Festival, held September 6 – 9, 2012, on the Delaware riverfront.

jared castaldi

C r a f t s P r ofe s s o r Feat u red i n A m e r i ca n C raf t M a g

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Crafts Professor and renowned jewelry artist S h a r o n C h u r c h was featured in the October/November 2012 issue of American Craft magazine for being named a Fellow of the American Craft Council. The Council’s prestigious College of Fellows honors those who have demonstrated outstanding artistic achievement and leadership in the craft field.

// Top left: Professor J u st y n a B a d a c h // Bottom left: Professor S h a r o n C h u r c h

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facult y notes

Vox P o p ul i Host s Fa c u lt y Member/A lu m n a’s S olo E x h ibit

University of the Arts Professor S l a v k o M i l e k i c presented a paper titled “Using Eye- and Gaze-Tracking to Interact with a Visual Display” at the Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA 2012) conference held in London. The paper is an overview of his research on potential uses of eye-tracking technologies and features student work by UArts alumni. Dr. Milekic holds a U.S. patent for an original way of using eye-tracking to interact with visual displays, with UArts as a patent license holder, making it the University’s first research patent.

I n st a l l at ion s by S c ul pt u re P rofe sso r  Fe a t u re d at Two E x h ibit s Sculpture Professor J e a n n e J a f f e had two exhibitions open in September 2012. “Four Quartets,” an exhibition of new work informed by T.S. Eliot’s book of poetry of the same name, ran through October 21 at Marginal Utility in Philadelphia. The interactive installation was based on a sense of the rhythm, time and musicality found within Eliot’s poems. Using the story of Snow White and themes of vanity, envy and competition, Jaffe’s “Fairy Tales Revisited: Mirror, Mirror” examines the darker side of fairy tales and explores the ways that they are relevant to contemporary life. The installation is on display in the Abington (Pa.) Art Center’s Sculpture Park through November 30, 2013.

P h i l a d el ph i a In qu i re r S pot l ight s Mu s ic L ec t u rer ’s O ne - M a n B a nd Faculty member M i c h a e l J o h n s o n , a lecturer and music technology supervisor in the School of Music, was featured in the August 17, 2012, issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The article highlights how Johnson’s one-man band Ape School records with the University’s Moog synthesizer, one of the first four analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog in 1965.

julianna foster

P rofe sso r P re se nt s Paper on Eye -Tr a c k i ng at L ondon C on fe r e nce

“Swell,” the fourth solo exhibition by faculty member and alumna J u l i a n n a F o st e r MFA ’ 0 6 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , was on display in September 2012 at artist collective Vox Populi in Philadelphia, where Foster has been a member since 2006. The exhibit was based on a fantastic event that allegedly occurred in a small coastal town. As the story goes, a nor’easter was forming in the Atlantic Ocean from the remnants of a hurricane when several residents reported seeing something they had never witnessed before— and have never seen since. Foster teaches in the University’s Photography and MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking programs.

Br i nd S chool Fa c u lt y W i n 2012 B a r r y m o re Aw a rd s Lecturers J a c q u e l i n e G o ld f i n g e r and F o rr e st M c C l e n d o n from the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts were among the winners of the 2012 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre, announced September 25, 2012, by the Theatre Alliance of Philadelphia. Goldfinger’s Flashpoint Theatre Company production “Slip/Shot” was named Outstanding New Play, while McClendon took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical for his Tonynominated role in “The Scottsboro Boys.”

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facult y notes

He a d O f Mu s i c E d u ca t i o n P ubl i s he s F i r st B ook E l i z a b e th S o k o l o w s k i , head of Music Education at the University of the Arts, has published her first book titled Making Musical Meaning: Unlocking the Value of Music Education in the Age of Innovation (GIA Publications). Sokolowski defines the strong connection between rigorous educational teaching and the relevance of music in education. Other topics covered include a professional framework for teaching, leadership and advocacy, creativity and self-expression, lesson plan design, and inspiration.

I l lu st r at ion P rofes sor/A lu m nu s S pe a k s at O ral C a n ce r Aw a re n e ss Wal k

E x h ibit By Pa i nt i ng P rofes sor/A lu m n a at B r i d ge t t e Maye r G a ll e r y “Three or Four Clouds,” a solo exhibition of photographs by UArts Adjunct Professor and alumna E i l e e n N e f f B FA ’ 7 2 ( P a i n t i n g ) , was on display through October 27, 2012, at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery in Philadelphia. As an expression of her interest in both the landscape and interiors as sites for her deeper investigations of presence and perception, Neff’s “Three or Four Clouds” brought focus to the conflating of her experiences in the studio with those conditions at work in the gallery.

V ideo by F i l m P rofes sor Fe a t u re d at M ic he ne r A r t Mu s eu m Film Professor P e t e r R o s e had a two-channel video installation at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa., as part of the “Creative Hand, Discerning Heart: Story, Symbol, Self” exhibit, a show of regional art that ran through December 30, 2012. The installation, “The Indeserian Tablets,” presented a fictive portrait of an imaginary civilization using transfaluminal lighting strategies. Rose also presented a talk on his work in October.

Illustration Senior Lecturer C hr i st i a n “ P a t c h ” P a t c h e ll B FA ’ 9 5 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) , an oral cancer survivor, spoke at the David Nasto Memorial Walk for Oral Cancer Awareness in Andover, N.J. The fifth annual event took place September 22, 2012, to benefit the Oral Cancer Foundation. Diagnosed in 2007 with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the lateral tongue and now cancer-free, Patchell shared his personal battle with oral cancer and how the deadly disease inspired his book I Put the Can in Cancer: A Journey Through Pictures, which features 25 sketches created during his radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

B ook By Fa c u lt y Member/A lu m nu s E a r n s K i rk u s St a r r e d Rev iew Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, written and illustrated by UArts faculty member and alumnus R o b e rt B y rd B FA ’ 6 6 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) , received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews, which called it “a beautifully realized labor of love and affection...” and “a work of breadth and energy, just like its subject; engaging and brimming with appeal for a wide audience.”

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facult y notes

P rofes sor ’s V ideo S c re e n e d at I nt ’ l Fi l m Fe s t Players, an eight-minute video by Professor T h o m a s P o r e tt , was shown at the Lucca Film Festival 2012 in Lucca, Italy. “Players” is an impressionistic work derived from video footage that was purposefully captured out of focus. The imagery is accompanied by an original soundtrack composed by Porett. The 8th edition of the Lucca Film Festival took place October 1 – 6, 2012, at the Cinema Centrale in the center of Lucca.

I n s t a l l at ion by Fa c u lt y Member/A lu m n a i n G ro u p E x h i bi t

P hotos by Fa c u lt y Member Feat u r e d i n G Q Photos by faculty member and alumnus D a v i d G r a h a m B FA ’ 7 6 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) were featured in the September 2012 issue of GQ magazine in an article about the gun culture in Arizona titled “Guns ‘R Us: Buying Guns in America.” Graham also narrated a slideshow video included with the story called “Where America Gun Shops.”

F i l m by A s s o c i at e P r ofe s s o r St eve n S aylo r S c re e n e d at UA r t s

Liberal Arts Adjunct Assistant Professor and alumna M i c h e l e K i sh i t a B FA ’ 9 7 ( P a i n t i n g ) , MFA ’ 1 0 ( P a i n t i n g ) exhibited her installation “Jacquard Falls” as well as six paintings in the group exhibition “Water, Water Everywhere,” on view through October 17, 2012, at Flinn Gallery in Greenwich, Conn. The inspiration for Kishita’s installation was derived from weavers’ looms and Hokusai’s paintings and prints of waterfalls.

Bodies, a film by Writing for Film & Television Associate Professor S t e v e n S a y l o r featuring Media Resources Manager/alum A d a m C a rr i g a n B S ’ 0 9 ( C o m m u n i c a t i o n s ) and Theater Associate Professor J o h n n i e H o bbs , J r . , was screened at the University of the Arts on October 28, 2012. Bodies is the story of a young writer who becomes curious, then intrigued, and finally obsessed with the strange behavior of the woman in an adjacent apartment.

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St itch i ng Toget her a New Fut u re for Desig n andrew

d a h l g r e n MI D ’ 0 7

It all started with a broken knitting machine. “My friend had this old, broken, industrial knitting machine. I started tinkering around with it and was instantly fascinated,” says A n dr e w D a hl g r e n MI D ’ 0 7 ( I n d u str i a l D e s i g n ) . He spent the next two years researching knitting machines and the textile industry, connecting with designers and supporters, and going through the Corzo Center’s Creative Incubator/ Wells Fargo Fellowship program. That process culminated in the birth of ADMK (Andrew Dahlgren Machine Knitting), a project dedicated to exploring new uses for knitting techniques using industrial equipment and to educating the public about the benefits of knitting. “I want to show people that knitting is not just about a scarf or a sweater,” says Dahlgren, who also has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from North Carolina State University and is a senior lecturer in the Master of Industrial Design program at UArts. “Using knitting techniques in a design makes it more sustainable. You can use those techniques in architecture to build structures. My goal is to get knitting techniques widely used, because of their sustainability and flexibility.” Dahlgren started spreading his gospel of knitting last summer with the Knit Lab, a weeklong installation at the Philadelphia Art Alliance. “It was like an open house studio,” Dahlgren says of the Knit Lab, which featured three automated knitting machines. “People could come in off the street and see a demonstration, try out the machines. There were actually two people who came in over the course of the week and created a whole project. Another woman, who has an interest in the history of Philadelphia and its textile industry, came in, and now we’re talking about putting together a mobile knit lab to be taken around to different parts of the city.” The continued existence of the Knit Lab is key to the future of ADMK. In early 2013, Dahlgren plans to open a permanent home for ADMK, possibly near Philadelphia’s Fabric Row, featuring classrooms with knitting machines and a design house where he and local designers can develop ideas and products using knitting techniques. “Eventually I want to have a product line hosting several different designers under one label,” Dahlgren says. “The idea behind the classroom is that people can come in and take classes, start off by learning the basics, and then go on to the second level to learn more advanced techniques. Also, there are a lot of people out there who can operate this equipment, but can’t invest in their own machine, so I’d like to offer a sort-of membership structure where people can come in to use the studio.” Education and accessibility are important to Dahlgren. “Anyone can be creative,” he says. “You just need the underlying infrastructure. When it comes to the principles of design, they’re applicable in so many different ways. I want to show people that they can use design to improve their surroundings—their street, neighborhood, city. Really, it’s about empowering people to design their own world.”

// Left: Knit Lab, the studio of A n dr e w D a hl g r e n ’ 0 7

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alumni events

I ndu s t r i a l D e s ig n C l a s s of 1992 R e u n i o n Industrial Design alumni from the class of 1992 gathered in October for a 20th Reunion celebration to reconnect with each other and their former faculty members. Organized by R o b e rt Z e i g l e r B S ’ 9 2 ( I n d u str i a l D e s i g n ) , the event included a tour of the ID studios, discussions with current students about their projects, alumni presentations on career paths after graduation and a reception and dinner to cap off the evening.

‘ M a k i n g I T ’: Recent A lu m n i Work s 2002 t o 2012 // Above: Rusted Amusement, J o a n n a J i n s e ll i B FA ’ 0 9 ( ph o t o g r a ph y )

“Making IT: Alumni Works ’02–’12,” a juried exhibition featuring recent alumni, was on display October 2–29, 2012, in Hamilton Hall and Solmssen Court. More than 150 works were submitted by UArts alumni from the classes of 2002 through 2012, including undergraduate and graduate alumni. Fifty-seven were selected for the show, creating a coherent and innovative exhibit that showcased the excellence and artistic diversity of our recent alumni. The “Making IT” jury included B a rb a r a H a rb e r g e r B FA ’ 7 6 ( P a i n t i n g ) , director of arts and collections/artistic director at Marguerite Rodgers Ltd.; alumni C hr i st y B l a n c a G o n z a l e z B FA ’ 0 1 ( P a i n t i n g ) , MA ’ 0 9 ( M u s e u m C o m m u n i c a t i o n s ) and J o rd a n R o c k f o rd B FA ’ 0 0 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) , who is also an academic advisor and Photography lecturer at UArts; Rick and Ruth Snyderman of Snyderman Gallery; DesignPhiladelphia’s Hilary Jay; and Christopher Sharrock, dean of the College of Art, Media & Design at the University of the Arts.

// Above: 2: Above and Below, T a n i a O ’ D o n n e ll MA T ’ 0 3 ( V i s u a l A rts )

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alumni events

Fa m i ly & A lu m n i Weekend

UA r t s P a re nt ’s C o u n c il The newly created UArts Parent’s Council met for the first time on October 19, 2012, in conjunction with Family and Alumni Weekend. In partnership with the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, the Council will provide University leaders with insight into the student experience, host events for current and new parents, and promote the University to others. Parent’s Council members will also support UArts financially through gifts to the University’s Annual Fund or other designation, and will encourage others to do the same. The University, for its part, will offer Council members opportunities to spend time with faculty and our outstanding alumni, to look behind the scenes at UArts, and to learn about the contemporary arts fields that our students and alumni are helping to shape. Seats are still available on the Council. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Lauren Villanueva in the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at 215-717-6139 or lvillanueva@uarts.edu.

// Above: Parents and families participate in the Movement Exploration workshop with School of Dance students and faculty.

Family and Alumni Weekend was held in late October and provided an opportunity for alumni, parents and families to connect—or reconnect—with the UArts community. The weekend was filled with special events, including the President’s Reception, Young Alumni and Golden Arts reunions, student performances, faculty workshops, and the opening receptions for the “Making IT” and “Isa Barnett ’43 and Ivan Barnett ’69: Generation to Generation” exhibitions.

// Above: Parent’s Council members, back row (left to right): Seth Rosen, father of D a n i e l R o s e n ’ 1 6 ( A c t i n g ) ; John Woodrum, father of H a n n a h W o o dr u m ’ 1 5 ( M u s i c a l T h e a t e r ) ; Maria Marfuggi, mother of R o s a l i e M a r f u g g i ’ 1 3 ( V o c a l P e r f o r m a n c e ) ; Lizann Leusner, mother of C a r o l i n e L e u s n e r ’ 1 4 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) ; Front row (left to right): Dr. Melinda Wagner, mother of D a n i e l R o s e n ’ 1 6 ( A c t i n g ) ; Karen Fisco, mother of W i ll i a m F i s c o ’ 1 5 ( J a z z P e r f o r m a n c e ) ; E. Carolan Berkley, mother of M a rt e l B i rd ’ 1 3 ( W r i t i n g f o r F i l m & T e l e v i s i o n ) ; Catherine Marich, mother of A i m e e M a r i c h ’ 1 5 ( D a n c e ) ; and Leanne Probst, mother of M a d i s o n P r o bst ’ 1 5 (M u s i c a l Th e at e r).

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spotlight

T h rough t he L ens of Success c at h e r i n e

e d e l m a n B FA ’ 8 5

In 1987, 25-year-old C a th e r i n e E d e l m a n B FA ’ 8 5 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) took the plunge and opened a gallery exclusively devoted to the art of photography on West Superior Street in Chicago’s gallery district. “I always say, ‘Only you know what you don’t know,’ and back then, I knew I didn’t know anything,” she says. A quarter-century later, she’s learned plenty: Catherine Edelman Gallery (CEG) is celebrating its 25th anniversary as one of the Midwest’s leading photography galleries, she serves as president of the Chicago Art Dealers Association, and she was recently elected president of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers. From its inception, the goal of the gallery was to exhibit prominent contemporary photographers alongside new and young talent, showcasing a broad range of subject matter and photographic techniques. Debuting with “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” by Nan Goldin, CEG has shown work ranging from street photography to fashion photography, traditional landscape images to socially conscious work and images created as a springboard for storytelling. Artists have included such luminaries as Annie Leibovitz, Susan Meiselas, Herb Ritts, Michael Kenna, Richard Misrach, Joel-Peter Witkin and others. But it wasn’t always so. “The first five years were very, very difficult,” she says. “I had just signed the lease when the stock market crashed—at that time, we thought that was as bad as it could get—and right after that, the first Gulf War started.” Edelman went around Chicago introducing herself to other gallery owners, asking their advice on packing, shipping and all kinds of other practical issues a new gallery operator needed to know. “I ended up with a key mentor who taught me about the business,” Edelman says. “I learned from people I admired—I sought them out. I still do that today, but the questions are more philosophical. There’s no weakness in saying you don’t know; the weakness is in not asking for help.” And young photographers and others now seek her guidance. “We used to call it mentoring, now I guess it’s ‘paying it forward,’” she laughs. “I think it’s my duty to teach and help others. That’s what I try to do.” Engaged as she is in the daily job of running a business, she says it took her a long time to stop and celebrate her gallery reaching the 25-year mark. “I realized, hey, it’s really pretty cool,” she says. “I have a great job to come to every day. I own a business with a product I completely love. It’s a gift to be able to help young artists get their careers started and to work with established artists. “The gallery’s very busy, which is great these days,” she adds. “I even forgot to take the extended vacation I was planning.” Then she chuckles. “But after 25 years, I no longer feel the need to get to work at 8 a.m.”

// Left: C a th e r i n e E d e l m a n ’ 8 5 in her Chicago gallery.

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d u str i a l

than 100 children’s books, including the 2010 Caldecott Medal winner The Lion & the Mouse, had a solo retrospective show at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, N.Y. “Witness: The Art of Jerry Pinkney” was on view from September 29, 2012, to January 13, 2013. The show, which included 150 of Pinkney’s images from the 1960s, featured not just children’s book illustrations, but also projects from the 1980s that included watercolor and pencil-on-paper pictures, with subjects like the Underground Railroad and the Booker T. Washington National Monument. In addition to wildlife, African-American history is a recurring theme in Pinkney’s work. Pinkney and his wife, Gloria Jean, have four grown children and have lived in Croton-onHudson in New York since 1970; they met in high school in Philadelphia. Pinkney has five Caldecott Honors, five Coretta Scott King Awards and 30 oneman exhibitions to his name. He recently finished a new adaptation of Puss in Boots, which was released in November 2012 by Dial. In addition to receiving the Caldecott Medal, Pinkney was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, where he joined Hillary Clinton, Clint Eastwood and others at a gala ceremony held in October. Founded in 1780, the American Academy is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious learned societies.

J e rr y P i n k n e y D I P L ’ 6 0 ( A d v e r t i s i n g D e s i g n ) , illustrator of more

F r a n k S t e ph e n s CE R T ’ 6 1 ( A d v e rt i s i n g D e s i g n ) has had an illustrious career. He has retired from his position of library arts and graphics administrator at the Free Library of Philadelphia. He wrote that “black history in graphic arts is a story yet to be told to the public.” During his 34-year career at the Free Library, he designed and supervised the production of thousands of publications including brochures, booklets, annual reports, posters and logos, and was the principle creator of over 300 exhibitions. He is the recipient of over 45 graphic, community and civic awards, including five gold medals and four graphic arts and illustration awards by the Graphic Arts Association of Delaware Valley. In 1970, he was named Employee of the Year by the City of Philadelphia and received a National Civil Service League Award. He is also the recipient of the 1992 Jerry Pinkney

194 0 s M a r i o n F e tt e r o l f D I P L ’ 4 2 a n d J a m e s M c F a rl a n e B FA ’ 6 1 ( I l l u str a t i o n ) had their work featured in “Watermedia: Two Artists – Two Views” at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania from September to October 2012.

195 0 s W i ll i a m R e ssl e r CE R T ’ 5 1 ( I l l u str a t i o n ) was a featured artist in the 2012 Holiday Card Program of the Women’s Board of the American Cancer Society, East Central Division (acsholidaycards.org). His work— “Winter Skyline,” “Liberty Trot,” “Boathouse Glow” and “Betsy’s House”— depicts Philadelphia sites in winter. A professional artist for more than 60 years, Ressler has had a love of art since childhood. After graduation, he worked for 40 years from a Philadelphia studio as a freelance illustrator. Since 1990, he’s worked from the Merion Avenue home where he’s lived for 57 years with his wife, Signe, whom he met in art school. Married since 1953, they have three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A member of the American Watercolor Society and life member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Society, Ressler’s paintings and drawings are in several private, corporate and university collections. More info at williamressler.com.

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C h a ll e n g e r B S ’ 5 8 ( I n D e s i g n ) was profiled in Coastal Style magazine. He is an awardwinning artist and a recipient of the Rottler Award for Excellence from the York Art Association and the Award of Excellence at the National Juried Exhibition at the Art Institute and Gallery at Salisbury University. He lives in Bishopville, Md., with his wife, Emmy. They moved from Pennsylvania over 10 years ago to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Challenger celebrated his 80th birthday last summer and traveled to Tuscany last fall. His career has been varied, working for ad agencies and art institutions while continuing to be selfemployed as a sculptor and artist. His work and mediums are varied from egg tempera painting to plein air work to monotype prints.

196 0 s

// Above: J e rr y P i n k n e y ’ 6 0

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Award of Artistic Excellence. Early in his career, he served as an illustrator and a noncommissioned officer in charge of the Graphic Arts Unit at Harlingen Air Force Base in Texas. Afterward, he attended PCA and was employed at the Naval Supply Depot in Philadelphia before beginning his career at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Stephens recently donated a collection of his graphic works to the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University. He donated 437 items of program flyers, folders, invitations, bookmarks, booksides, book sets and booklists by and about AfricanAmericans, designed and produced with his art direction. In 1964, Stephens was the first African-American to hold the position of chief exhibitor and designer for a major culture institution in America. He has mentored and trained many students since. Ji m m y A m a di e BM ’66 (Music E d u c a t i o n ) , famed jazz pianist, was featured on Philadelphia public television’s “On Canvas” program. The episode chronicled Amadie’s journey as a North Philadelphia native who discovered jazz piano in his early 20s, touring with the Woody Herman Band and accompanying Mel Torme. His performing career was brought to an abrupt halt by severe tendonitis in both hands. Playing the piano suddenly became sheer agony, and Amadie was reduced to improvising only in his head for the next 35 years. A music educator and author of two international textbooks, Amadie performed an incredible comeback concert in 2011 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, delighting many. V i c t o r i a P e n dr a g o n B FA ’ 6 8 ( F a br i c D e s i g n ) was delighted to have two solo exhibitions of her work in 2012, the first at Phoenix and Dragon Gallery in Atlanta, Ga., through September 2012. The second was in York, Pa., at the Lotus Root Yoga Gallery from December 2012 to January 2013. The exhibits featured her mixed-media series “The Lovers, Goddesses, and Yogis and Yoginis.” D a n D a i l e y B FA ’ 6 9 ( C r a f ts ) was recently named professor emeritus at Massachusetts College of Art after 39 years as a professor at the college. He was also recently asked to design a glass piece

for the talented chef representing the U.S. at the 2013 Bocuse d’Or, the world chef championship. Four of his illuminated sculptures are at the World Trade Center in New York as part of a rotating exhibition space of works by contemporary artists. L y d i a H u n n B FA ’ 6 9 ( P r i n t m a k i n g ) did a sound piece for the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, installed in July 2012 in North American Hall. Her work was a featured story on Philadelphia public radio. Hunn, a professor at Drexel University’s College of Media Arts & Design, wanted to give voice to the beautiful “dead things” in the North American Hall. The sound piece she created includes the noises of a ruffled grouse’s wings and the chirps of baby minks. At the request of academy experts, Hunn took no artistic license with the animal sounds. Hunn says, “The piece moves from very small sounds—like little rustlings and scrufflings, little hoots and hollers, the calling of birds—and then a layering in the middle of the piece.”

197 0 s S a l P a n a s c i B FA ’ 7 1 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) had his work on display at the Newtown Public Library in Pennsylvania. His watercolors, oils, acrylics and photographs were displayed and for sale during October 2012. After graduation, Panasci’s work earned many national design awards over a 25-year advertising career. Unfortunately, his occupation came to an end in 1995 when Panasci suffered an accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury. During rehabilitation, he was encouraged to paint. He

// Top right: Magic Words (Pegasus books/ W.W. Norton) by G e r a ld K o pl a n ’ 7 4 // Bottom right: Sound editing for Boardwalk Empire by J e f f r e y S t e r n ’ 7 5

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was among only six artists nationwide to be selected by Easter Seals for its 1999 stamps. His work has also been included on note cards for the Christopher Reeve Foundation and on Northwest Airlines’ World Class Travel Club menu cover. B a rb a r a S o ss o n B FA ’ 7 1 ( P a i n t i n g ) is the designer of Painted Poetry: The Art of Mary Page Evans, an exhibition booklet for the Delaware Art Museum that was the winner of 2012 American Graphic Design Award. Sosson Design celebrated its seventh Graphic Design USA Award for Exhibition Catalogue Designs. G e r a ld K o pl a n B FA ’ 7 4 ( I ll u str a t ion) is celebrating the publication of his second book, Magic Words (Pegasus Books/ W.W. Norton). The historical novel tells the story of two real-life figures: a Jewish immigrant, who came to the U.S. after the Civil War and became a Native American interpreter, and his cousin, who was a famous magician in the world before Houdini. The book, which is a followup to his critically acclaimed Etta, has received rave reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Booklist, among others. More info at geraldkolpan.com. J e f f r e y S t e r n B FA ’ 75 ( F i l m) works as a professor for the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. Stern was the supervising sound editor and an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Sound Editing for “Boardwalk Empire.” More info at Jeffrey-Stern.com.

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A n n i e G r e e n b e r g L o n g B FA ’ 7 7 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) , writing as Anna Brentwood, has published a novel about the 1920s titled The Songbird with Sapphire Eyes. The e-book was released in September 2012. The novel begins when a young woman flees rural farm life to go to Kansas City. Brentwood’s tale is laced with real people and historical events as her doomed heroine basks in the glamorous shadow world of gangsters and their gals—a world of freedom with its own rules and seemingly endless good times. Brentwood is a PRO member of RWA, Rose City Romance Writers and Willamette Writers, and won second place for Women’s Fiction in the 2006 Tara Awards. More info at annabrentwood. com. S a u l F i n e m a n B FA ’ 7 8 ( I ll u s tr a t i o n ) writes, “I recently designed and executed the graphics, signage, posters and program for the GREENGOV 2012 Symposium for the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Association of Climate Control Officers.” M i t c h e ll G e rsh e n f e ld B M ’ 7 8 ( T u b a ) became president and CEO of the McCallum Theatre after serving for 12 years as director of Presentations and Theater Operations. Gershenfeld served as president and CEO of the East County Performing Arts Center in the San Diego area, executive director of the Paramount Theater in Denver and was director of pops concerts for the Atlanta Symphony. He also served as the music producer for the Cultural Olympiad at the 1996 Olympic Games. Gershenfeld received a Master of Music degree from the University of Wiscon si n- M ad i son , where he later served on the faculty. He has also taught music and music business at the University of Denver, the University of Colorado at Denver and Goucher College.

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J e a n P e tt e n g i ll B FA ’ 7 8 ( P a i n t i n g ) writes, “I am a decorative painter who for the last 25 years has been working with interior designers and individual clients creating custom-painted finishes for a variety of applications, mostly furniture. I specialize in glazing, gilding and antiquing in the tradition of European antiques. I am married to fellow PCA alumnus J o h n F i sh m a n B FA ’ 7 6 ( P a i n t i n g ) and we have a son, a senior at NYU. We live on Cape Cod with six chickens and 60,000 honeybees.” More info at jeanpettengill.com. D e br a R o s e n bl u m B FA ’78 ( P a i n t i n g ) had her work in the Centennial Juried Exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Del., from October 2012 to January 2013. Rosenblum’s work was also featured at B Square Gallery in Philadelphia November 3 through December 8, 2012. Her work is described as unusual combinations of antique materials and found objects that create gestures both innocent and threatening. The past meets the present through juxtaposition. More info at bsquaregallery.com.

M i c h a e l T r i n s e y B FA ’ 8 0 ( I l l u str a t i o n ) writes, “I am an art director for Wolters Kluwer. I design magazines for print and then create them as apps to download on iTunes. I also still do many illustrations for the magazines in Wolters Kluwer. I’ve been married for 32 years to my wonderful Donna. I have three grown children (Lisa, Diane and Jason) and currently live in Red Hill, Pa. I also hope to show the paintings that I’ve created for the past few years in art shows and/or a gallery.” J a c k F o rr e st e l B FA ’ 8 1 ( P r i n t m a k i n g ) was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design for a Drama Series at the 39th Creative Arts Emmy Awards held June 17, 2012, in Los Angeles. This is Forrestel’s sixth win in this category for “The Bold and the Beautiful” and his first win as production designer. On five previous wins in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994, Forrestel was credited as art director.

19 8 0 s Anna Fine Foer B FA ’ 8 0 ( F i b e rs ) had her work included in “Re: purpose” at the Community College of Baltimore County. The work of the artists reused seemingly obsolete paper-based products such as maps, books and newspapers and breathed new life into them, highlighting their beauty in the shape and texture. Her work was also in “Strange Glue: Traditional & AvantGarde Collage” at the Thompson Gallery of the Cambridge School of Weston, Mass.

// Above: Emmy Award Winning Art Direction/Set Direction/Scenic Design for “The Bold and the Beautiful” by J a c k F o rr e st e l ’ 8 1

C h e r y l H i n e s B S ’ 8 1 ( I n d u str i a l D e s i g n ) is on her fourth career. She moved to California after graduation, earned her architecture license there and practiced architecture for several years. She became interested in real estate development as an architect representing clients and went back to school at USC and earned a master’s degree in Real Estate Development (MRED) in 1990. During the recession in 1990, she took a job in Michigan for the Taubman Company, a regional shopping center developer. She stayed in the real estate development field until a couple of years ago. Hines has worked for General Motors Real Estate in Detroit, Westfield and Mac-

// Above Left: A n n a F i n e F o e r ’ 8 0 , Tower of Babble, 2011, collage, watercolor on Arches, 24 x 20 in.

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Save the Date Art Unleashed 2013 4.10—4.13 – This extraordinary event helps raise money to support the University of the Arts’ Sam S. McKeel Promising Young Artists Scholarship Fund, with an exhibition and sale of artwork from talented students, faculty and alumni. From cutting-edge contemporary jewelry to ceramics, photography to crafts, furniture, painting, sculpture and illustration, Art Unleashed showcases the finest work from established and emerging artists. – Preview the work online uarts.edu/artunleashed

Generously Printed by Great Atlantic Graphics

Preview Party Wednesday April 10 5 —8pm Valet Parking Admission Charge – Public Sale Thursday April 11— Saturday April 13 12—5pm Free Admission – Dorrance Hamilton Hall 320 South Broad Street Philadelphia PA

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erich, Michigan and then moved back to California eight years ago. After being downsized in the current recession, Hines decided to re-tool. She now owns a language services company called Keylingo Translations, which provides professional translation, interpretation and other language services to businesses worldwide. She currently lives in Manhattan Beach, Calif., with her two sons and two cats. She loves having her own business. M a r i a M a rt i n e z - C a ñ a s B FA ’ 8 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) had a solo exhibition at the Julie Saul Gallery in New York City from September 6 to October 20, 2012.

// Above: M a r i a M a rt i n e z C a ñ a s ‘ 8 4 , Untitled 009 [GM], 2012

M a r a S z a l a jd a B FA ’ 8 2 ( P a i n t i n g ) exhibited her works on paper at the Graphic Eye Gallery in Port Washington, N.Y., October 4–28, 2012. S t e v i e B l a c k B FA ’84 (Photograph y ) is an artist of digital photographic collages, and his solo exhibition “Articulations” was on display at the Rocky Neck Gallery Summer Artist Series show from August 30 to September 11. “Articulations” is a collection of works on paper that confronts our fractured sense of things, of world events, of political and social concepts, of science and art, our own humanness. Built from many photos, from many places and times of day, the works serve as a metaphor for our state of inundation. Black worked commercially as a

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Cibachrome color printer for galleries, museums, ad agencies and New England artists throughout much of the 1980s. In the 1990s, he transitioned his art practice to mainly drawing, painting and installation using letterforms and visual language as his subject matter. He was a member of Vox Populi Gallery in Philadelphia and had solo and group shows there before returning to New England. W i ll i a m T h o m a s C a i n B FA ’ 8 7 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) was a judge in the 2012 Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers’ Association Newspaper of the Year Awards in the Photography Category held in Australia. Cain is an awardwinning photojournalist and specializes in editorial photography in the Philadelphia region. T i m o th y W o rr e ll B FA ’ 8 7 ( I l l u str a t i o n ) recently celebrated the opening of a third location of Timothy Paul in the Mosaic District of Fairfax, Va. The new showroom focuses on handmade rugs and textiles, bedding, furniture, and antique and vintage pieces. Worrell and his wife, Mia, also own Timothy Paul Carpet + Textiles and Timothy Paul Home in Washington, D.C. P e t e r K a l i v a s B FA ’ 8 8 ( D a n c e ) is the artistic and executive director of the PGK Dance Project, a contemporary dance company in California. Kalivas was named a finalist in the “Business Unusual” Contest presented by EmcArts/NYC. Judged by a panel of dance innovators, the contest accepted proposals from executive and artistic directors throughout the U.S. for transformative programs in the arts and cultural field. PGK Dance Project put on “San Diego Dances” using the Grand Lobby of the Spreckels Theater as the stage for seven dances by four award-winning choreographers on October 26 and 27, 2012. The dance was sponsored by the Spreckels Theater, Fall for the Arts and the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bu-

reau, funded in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture. Since 2009, the PGK Dance Project has partnered with businesses that provide their space for professional performances as a way to innovate, contemporize and relate to audiences in ways that support, represent and promote our community. More info at ThePGKDanceProject.org. V a l e r i e G a y B M ’ 8 9 ( V o i c e ) is the executive director of Art Sanctuary,

Philadelphia’s leading African-American arts and letters organization. Gay is the former assistant dean for Institutional Advancement for the College of Education at Temple University and an accomplished singer. She has performed in operas, musical theater and solo concert recitals, and has conducted ensembles in special events across the region and nationally. Art Sanctuary was founded in 1998 with the purpose of bringing African-American artists to speak, lecture and perform in a venue within the African-American community. Art Sanctuary has continued to use the power of black art to transform individuals, unite groups of people, and enrich and draw inspiration from the inner city with innovative programming, creative partnerships, and the support of the local and national arts communities.

19 9 0 s P e t e r P r y o r B FA ’ 9 0 ( T h e a t e r ) was nominated for a Barrymore Award in the category of Outstanding Direction of a Musical for his work on “Treasure Is-

// Above left: Isabella Court by S t e v i e B l a c k ‘ 8 4 , digital inkjet // Above right: V a l e r i e G a y ‘ 8 9

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alumni notes

land” at People’s Light Theatre Company. The Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre have been the Greater Philadelphia region’s only comprehensive theater awards program, recognizing artists for excellence and innovation while serving to increase awareness of the richness of the local theater community.

the surface of the Red Planet. He also successfully drove the previous Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity for eight years. Hartman has been featured in The Los Angeles Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. See the next issue of Edge for a feature story on Hartman.

// Above: P e t e r P r y o r ‘ 9 0

// Above: F r a n k H a rt m a n ’ 9 2 helps program the movements of the rover, seen here at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in

E l i z a b e th H o a k - D o e r i n g MA T ’ 9 1 ( A rt E d u c a t i o n ) is living and working in Cyprus and was invited to exhibit work in the Venice Biennale last year. M i c h e ll e L . D e a n B FA ’ 9 2 ( I l l u str a t i o n and A rt T h e r a p y ) was recently bestowed the Delaware Valley Art Therapy Association’s most prestigious honor: the Honorary Life Member Award. Additionally, she was invited to speak as a keynote plenary panelist at the 2012 American Art Therapy Association Conference in Savannah, Ga. Her contribution was titled “Eating Disorder Symptoms and Symbolic Expression.” She and her husband, art therapist Mark Dean, MFA, MA, ATRBC, LPC, have expanded their Center for Psyche & the Arts practice to two locations in Lansdowne and Berwyn, Pa., in order to provide retreats and contin -uing education workshops incorporating the arts and healing opportunities. The Center for Psyche & the Arts, LLC provides art therapy and counseling for individuals, families and groups. Dean’s expertise includes working with individuals and their families who are affected by eating disorders, traumatic experiences and relationship issues. More info at psychearts.org. F r a n k H a rt m a n B FA ’ 9 2 ( S c u lp t u r e ) is a driver for NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, which is currently exploring

Pasadena, California (from Philly Metro).

P a sq u a l e ( P a t ) M o n t e n e g r o B M ’ 9 4 ( P i a n o ) is the new music director of A Cappella Pops, an a cappella ensemble in the Delaware Valley, Pa. Montenegro is a busy conductor, music director and pianist in the Delaware Valley, as well as a lecturer, conductor, vocal coach and accompanist for the School of Music and the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts at UArts. In addition to his new role at A Cappella Pops, Montenegro conducts both the Roxborough Male Chorus and the Kelly Street Chorus in Philadelphia. He is currently music director at Masterworks Chorale, a mixed chorus based in Springfield, Pa. He also makes guest conducting appearances with the Wilmington Community Orchestra (Del.) and the Gloria Dei Youth Orchestra of Cherry Hill, N.J. Montenegro is an accomplished piano accompanist and organist, and has performed with the Philly Pops Festival Chorus, the Philadelphia Boys Choir, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony in Lansdale, Pa., and the Jump City Jazz Band in Trooper, Pa. As an organist, he has been featured alongside the Philadelphia Chorus, the Temple University Concert Choir and the Choristers of Upper Dublin. Montenegro and his wife, Lauren, currently reside in Marlton, N.J., and are the proud parents of three girls, Mia Nicoletta, Sofia Anna and Olivia Rose.

M a r i e S i v a k B FA ’ 9 4 ( S c u lp t u r e) had a solo show at A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y., September 6–30, 2012, as part of the D.U.M.B.O Arts Festival. The show titled “Smokescreen” was an exhibition exploring the use of language as psychological warfare. This body of work continued the artist’s interest in combining traditional stone carving and video projections. Video imagery projected from inside the sculptures through the atmospheric quality of the stone. As the imagery played on the surface of the sculptures, the objects became specters of human dramas. Further exploring ideas of language and deception, the exhibition also included a collection of thickly layered, slate-like graphite drawings. Language became visual and visceral in these vignettes suggesting fragments of a complex betrayal and the void between language and experience. The exhibition was accompanied by a full-color catalog with an essay by Charlotta Kotik, curator emerita of Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum. “Smokescreen” was made possible by grants from the Ford Family Foundation and the Oregon Arts Commission. Sivak’s work was also included in “Selections from Portland 2012: A Biennial of Contemporary Art” at the Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, Ore., September 27–December 15, 2012. S h e ll e y S p e c t o r B FA ’ 9 4 ( S c u l pt u r e ) had a solo exhibition titled “Dreck Groove” at the Esther Klein Gallery in Philadelphia as part of her artist residency at NextFab Studio. Although Spector is mostly known for her wood-based sculptures, this exhibition featured textile work she created using the studio’s computer-guided embroidery machine. The Huffington Post describes Spector’s work as “repurposed from old garments and scraps salvaged in NextFab’s woodshop, these intimately scaled works referencing disaster have a tactile, even homespun quality, defying the sophisticated technology that made them possible. The technology is more apparent in the large work that rounded out her residency project, an intricate ‘wallpaper’ of laser-cut cardboard taken from commercial packages, with logo remnants and graphics laid out in a vibrant, almost dizzying array.”

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alumni notes

M a r i a P i s a n o MFA ’ 9 5 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) curated “Book as Witness: The Artist’s Response” at the Center for Book Arts in NYC. The exhibition presents artists who are continuing the tradition of creating book works to express their interpretive and/ or personal memory stories dealing with difficult aspects of life. In a workshop led by Pisano, participants were asked to collect memories, personal 2-D and 3-D items, photos, writings, prints, drawings, and items from travels to incorporate into a unique bound book. M a r y S m u ll B FA ’ 9 5 ( F i b e rs ) is the founder of SPUN (Society for Unfinished Needlepoint) and was featured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a summer workshop. Two rule-based needlepoint projects by the former UArts lecturer were recently on display in the exhibit “Manual Autonomy,” curated by S a r a h H u ls e y ’ 1 3 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) and E r i n P a u ls o n ’ 1 3 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) . The show ran October 29–November 16, 2012, in the University’s 6th Floor Gallery at Anderson Hall. More info at unfinishedneedlepoint.org. N i c o l a D i x o n B FA ’ 9 7 ( T h e a t e r ) recently won Best Comedy Screenplay at the 2012 West Field Screenwriting Awards, placed as a quarter finalist in the 2012 Page International Screenwriting Awards, and as a quarter finalist in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting awards. Michele K i sh i t a B FA ’ 9 7 ( P a i n t i ng), MFA ’10 ( Pa i n t i n g) and Rya n Cobourn B FA ’ 9 9 ( P a i n t i n g ) had their work in “RSVP 3—An Invitational” at the LG Tripp Gallery in Philadelphia from July through August 2012. In September 2012, Kishita showed her work in “Maps” at

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Pagus Gallery Norristown, Pa. She then had her work featured in “Water, Water Everywhere” at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich, Conn., September 6—October 16, 2012. Her studio was then part of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours held October 20 —21, 2012. R e b e c c a M i n o r B FA ’ 9 7 ( A n i m a t i o n ) successfully used Kickstarter to fund marketing events related to the launch of her newest fantasy novel, Curse Bearer. There was a release party on October 14, 2012, at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. Another UArts alumna, C hr i st i n a H e ss B FA ’ 9 8 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) , provided the cover illustration. “Zero Rats” by R o b S h a w B FA ’ 9 7 ( A n i m a t i o n ) won the prize for Best Television Animation for Adults at the 2012 Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). The animated segment, from the Peabody Award-winning comedy series “Portlandia,” featured J e n P r o k o p o w i c z B FA ’ 0 7 ( A n i m a t ion) as the lead animator. Shaw’s “Koodo (Skydiving)” commercial was also screened at OAIF in the Sponsored Film category. R o b e rt R e i n h a rdt MA T ’ 9 8 ( V i s u a l A rts ) had a solo photography show open overseas in the Edinburgh Central Library titled “Sleep: Historic Cemeteries of Scotland.” A collection of Scottish cemetery photographs, these images put a face to these sites and a more personal meaning to the markers erected in their honor. This multimedia exhibit included original photographic prints, large-scale vinyl images, continuous plasma slideshows, a collection of seven books, a display case filled with posters and photos, and a lecture series. S t a c i e W o l f e B FA ’ 9 8 ( G r a ph i c D e sig n) writes, “I currently work in New York for a company called OXO. I have been with OXO for

13 years. As OXO’s creative director, I manage their in-house art department as well as a team in China.” M i c a h Z e n d e r B FA ’ 9 9 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) is the senior creative director of Kaleidoscope, an innovation and design consultancy with global headquarters in Cincinnati. Zender has served as IxD/UX/graphics manager at Kaleidoscope and was previously chief creative officer at both Triplefin and Baker Street Labs. After he attended UArts, he became a professor of digital design at the University of Cincinnati.

2000s T i f f a n y G o rd o n B FA ’ 0 0 ( B a l l e t ) writes, “I got married on June 16, 2012, and returned to work after a wonderful honeymoon. I am currently the vice president of Print/Interactive at an entertainment advertising agency. Every Tuesday, I have dinner with my college roommate and best friend, fellow alumna C a rr i e K o st B FA ’ 0 0 ( A n i m a t i o n ) . This dinner date has been going on for 12 years now!” J o sh L e v i t a s B FA ’ 0 0 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) is the illustrator of Ulysses Seen, an illustrated reader’s guide for James Joyce’s Ulysses novel. It was featured in the June 16, 2012, (Bloomsday) Irish Times as part of the 23rd International James Joyce Symposium in Dublin. M o r g a n M i ll e r B FA ’ 0 0 ( F i l m ) was the interviewer for a one-on-one session during the Ottawa International Animation Festival with legendary animation director Ralph Bakshi. B r u c e G a rr i t y MFA ’ 0 1 ( P a i n t i n g ) had work exhibited in an invitational exhibition September 7–October 7, 2012, at the Medford Arts Center in N.J. The artists had served as jurors at earlier arts center shows and were honored for their devotion to promoting art and artists in their careers at major New Jersey art museums and centers. Garrity

// Above: M i c h e l e K i sh i t a ‘ 9 7, “Jacquard Falls” an installation included in the group exhibition “Water, Water Everywhere”

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alumni notes

is a painter and draftsman, has taught as an adjunct professor at Rutgers University since 1997, and was the 2010 recipient of the Sybil S. Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has also taught at the University of Delaware, Stockton State College and Rowan University. He is the independent curator at Hopkins House Gallery of Contemporary Art in Cooper River Park in Haddon Township, N.J. C e l e st e G u i l i a n o B FA ’ 0 1 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) was featured in the July 2012 issue of Rangefinder magazine in an article on pinup photography. More info at lunarlightstudios.com.

A u t u m n K i e tp o n g l e rt B FA ’ 0 1 ( C r a f ts ) is an award-winning Philadelphia-based independent fashion designer whose work has been shown across the world. She was a designer-in-residence for the 2012 Philadelphia Fashion Incubator. Kietponglert has shown her work at major fashion events around the world, including Philadelphia Fashion Week, Couture Fashion Week (NYC), MercedesBenz Fashion Week (NYC) and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has also shown in Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago, and has had art exhibitions in Florence and Philadelphia. Editorials featuring her designs, styling and writing have been published internationally in France, Germany and the U.K. She has studied in Florence, New York and Paris. Kietponglert currently runs two design houses, Autumnlin Atelier and Heartless Revival. Autumnlin Atelier creates oneof-a-kind and limited-edition haute couture using hand-pleated silk, sculpted exotic leather and undulating zipper-tooth

panels. The gowns are hand-pleated and draped making each individual garment much like a fingerprint. Dreams serve as the primary inspiration, creating a story that becomes the visual prose for all collections. The Heartless Revival design house is also inspired by dreams, the inherent dark nature of the label: pale, beautiful, cold and quiet, with shades of darkness and light while incorporating a historic silhouette and a desire to connect with the Victorian era. W i - M o t o N y o k a B FA ’ 0 1 ( M u s i c a l T h e a t e r ) is currently performing abroad and working on a project with another UArts alum called “The Last Days of Kartika.” They have shot a pilot season for the web series in Budapest, Hungary, and finished the script for the staged motion comic. It has received support from the Puffin Foundation and some serious consideration for the next season at Flashpoint Theater in Philadelphia. There are tentative dates for a staged reading in Budapest this coming spring. All animation and web work is handled by Noir World Wide, a Philadelphia-based and UArts alumni-run company, and illustration is also done by a local artist, Nick Suders. Their Indiegogo campaign is to help with post production costs for webisode four. More info at indiegogo.com/lastdaysofkartika. Rhea P a tt e rs o n B FA ’01 ( D a n c e ) , currently performing in “Wicked” on Broadway, was a featured dancer of Broadway.com’s Gotta Dance! Watch the self-proclaimed “late bloomer” talk about realizing that she wanted to be a professional dancer when she won a performance award as a kid in Virginia at bcove.me/8s7expha. S i o bh a n V i v i a n B FA ’01 (Writing for F i l m & Te l e v i s i o n) launched a new book series in September 2012. She co-wrote it with Jenny Han, author of the New York Times best-selling Summer I Turned Pretty series. The first book is called Burn for Burn, and there are three books in the series. It is about

// Above left: C e l e st e G u i l i a n o ‘ 0 1 // Above right: R h e a P a tt e rs o n ‘ 0 1

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three very different girls who form a secret alliance to get revenge on the people who’ve hurt them. Han and Vivian went on a national book tour September through November 2012 to support the book. M a tth e w W a t i e r B FA ’ 0 1 ( I l l u str a t i o n ) was featured in the Bangor Daily News for his illustrated children’s book The Secret Magicks of Maine. According to the article, “His detailed scenes, awash with color and light, have incredible depth and texture variation,” and he “has created a set of entirely new stories out of the magical elements of his home state, and he penned these modern myths with seemingly effortless imagination and wit.” Watier, a native of Union, Maine, now resides in D.C., where he designs web pages for Razoo.com and works on his multiple book projects. J e ss e B r o d y MI D ’ 0 2 ( I n d u str i a l D e s i g n ) is the owner of Circle Art at Home in Miami Beach. Brody studied jewelry and metalsmithing at the University of South Carolina and taught at Art Studio Fuji in the renaissance city of Florence, Italy, before attending UArts. Brody used this worldly inspiration to create drawings, sculptures, jewelry, furniture and lighting. He also began purchasing Deco and MidCentury Modern lamps and furniture, restoring them and selling them to admiring friends and colleagues. Seeing opportunity among the inspiration, Jesse opened Circle Art at Home in 2002 to bring contemporary and modern furnishings and home accessories to an international clientele seeking unusual and innovative design. A decade and a new location later, Circle Art at Home offers upscale contemporary furniture, home accessories and lighting to a clientele that is both local and international. Circle Art’s lines include Herman Miller, Vitra, Kartell,

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alumni notes

Emeco, Louis Poulsen, Artemide, Flos, Blu Dot, Magis and many more. Brody continues to travel the world attending shows and exhibitions from New York to Milan in order to provide the best designs and quality the world has to offer.

// Above: Jesse Brody, right, with his brother and parents at a 10th anniversary party at Circle Art at Home.

M i c a h C h a m b e rs - G o ldb e r g B FA ’ 0 2 ( A n i m a t i o n ) created an 18-minute film titled Who Stole the Mona Lisa that was commissioned by Astral Artists. The film was shown at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center at the Astral Artists’ Gala. R e b e c c a G i lb e rt MFA ’ 0 2 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally.

Her newest works are in “Clip, Cut; Paper Thin” at the Noyes Museum in Hammonton, N.J. Her works are symbols of history, science and literature. In addition, she recently had work in an exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, as part of an international book conference. Gilbert also had two solo exhibitions and participated in several group shows, a print exchange and Philadelphia Open Studio Tours around the same time. Her first exhibition, “Printivale,” was on display at the Sharon Arts Center in N.H., from September 7 to October 27, 2012. Her second exhibition, “Visions &

Vignettes,” ran in Trenton, N.J., from September 7 through October 13, 2012. Another two exhibits are “Treasure: Dirt and Stars,” a solo exhibition and gallery talk at the Birke Art Gallery at Marshall University in Huntington, W.V., and “Shine,” a solo exhibition located at 110 Church Gallery in Philadelphia. More info at rebeccaprint.com. J a m e s S i n g e w a ld B FA ’ 0 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) had work in “House Show” at the Urbanite @ Case[werks] Gallery in Maryland from September 21 to October 24, 2012. On October 20, he participated in the School 33 Open Studio Tour 2012. He recently moved out to the Franklin Square/Sowebo section of West Baltimore and to a studio space large enough to host visits and possibly small shows. His studio opening displayed work for sale and showcased current projects. A n th o n y S m y rs k i B FA ’02 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) was featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer as a winner of the Pew Fellowship in the Arts. He is the co-founder of Megawords, a longrunning experimental media project established in 2005 that focuses on art installations, projects and events. Megawords co-founder Dan Murphy told the Inquirer, “It’s meant to blur boundaries and experiment with the tensions between fine art and everyday life.” Smyrski says Megawords, “…wants to tell the stories about life in cities around the world… art is not just in a museum.” A recent Megawords program took place at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they transformed a room into a living space to invite visitors to sit on couches, write on a chalkboard and flip through the latest edition of their magazine. “Arts institutions are always fun for us because then we get to push against the space, see what we can or can’t do,” Smyrski said. “A museum or institution has different ideas, so there’s some friction—in a positive way.” At an exhibition at the Maine College of Art (MECA) Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Portland, Megawords will distribute copies of a new issue, play experimental film recorded in the early days of the project and invite visitors to write and draw on a wall that bears the legend MEGAWORDS in chalkboard paint. As part of the ICA exhibit, Murphy and Smyrski will participate in workshops with MECA students and faculty, as well as

in separate activities for K-12 students. Smyrski says it’s seeking impact, not fame, “challenging the way people live and their relationships to their environments and the people around them.” S a r a h B o lt B FA ’ 0 3 ( M u s i c a l T h e a t e r ) and David John Crowell were married on October 22, 2012, at St. John Nepomuk Church in St. Louis. Bolt is an actress who starred on Broadway as Sister Mary Patrick in “Sister Act” at the Broadway Theater. She also performed in the ensemble and was an understudy for Madame Morrible in “Wicked” at the Gershwin Theater from 2008 to 2010. She is the voice behind Jemima PuddleDuck in the “Peter Rabbit” cartoon series that is to begin on Nick Jr. in Spring 2013. Crowell works in New York as a lawyer focusing on technology and outsourcing transactions at a management consulting and outsourcing firm. He graduated from American University and received a law degree from the University of Texas. Their wedding was announced in The New York Times. M i r i a m H y m a n B FA ’ 0 3 ( T h e a t e r ) graduated from Yale’s School of Drama, receiving her MFA in Theater in May 2012. She was featured on the front cover of the Yale School of Drama’s Fall 2012 recruitment brochure. J o sh L a m o n ’ 0 3 ( M u s i c a l T h e a t e r ) a n d R o r y D o n o v a n B FA ’ 1 1 ( M u s i c a l T h e a t e r ) appeared in the ensemble of the Broadway holiday musical “Elf.” Donovan was also a swing (understudy) covering the lead role of Buddy the Elf.

// Above: J o sh L a m o n ‘ 0 3 and R o r y D o n o v a n ‘ 1 1 performed in the Broadway Holiday Musical “Elf”

// Above: R e b e c c a G i lb e rt ‘ 0 2 , “Jacquard Falls” an installation included

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alumni notes

E r i k M i ll e r B FA ’ 0 3 ( W r i t i n g f o r F i l m & T e l e v i s i o n ) writes, “I graduated from Jeff Ryder’s Writing for Film & TV program in 2003. I’ve used my writing skills in the field of security. Since 2009, I’ve written and produced regular intelligence briefings and threat assessments for Fortune 500 companies and governmental agencies. However, I still hope one day to break into Hollywood!” Te r e s a B o n a dd i o B FA ’04 ( P r i n t m a k i n g ) was a featured artist in a Philadelphia Inquirer article on duct tape art. Bonaddio is the author of Stick It: 99 DIY Duct Tape Projects, which will come out in paperback this fall from Philly-based publisher Running Press. The first edition was released in 2009. She was interviewed about how the hobby is turning mainstream. M a rt i n B r o w n BM ’ 0 4 ( Tru m p e t ) , MA T ’ 0 5 (Music Educat ion) is a cofounder of Little Baby’s Ice Cream. The business was founded in May 2011 and added a flagship location on Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia. Little Baby’s Ice Cream began as a freezer box on a tricycle with unique ice cream flavors. After success at various outdoor fairs and events, Little Baby’s increased its fleet to four tricycles that appear regularly at weekend markets, block parties, street festivals, outdoor concerts, private corporate luncheons and semi-permanent spots at bars and concert venues. Maryland Barbecue is a recent flavor that Brown came up with for the shop’s debut, combining Old Bay and barbecue sauce. More info at littlebabysicecream.com. M a n u e l D o m i n g u e z , J r . B FA ’ 0 4 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) writes, “I recently left a full-time photographer gig at Anthropologie.com, where I was their head e-commerce photographer for about two and a half years. Now I am just a freelance photographer for Urban Outfitters and other local companies.” More info at mdominguezjr.com.

// Above: Little Baby’s Ice Cream co-founders (left to right) P e t e A n g e v i n e , J e f f Z i g a and M a rt i n B r o w n ‘ 0 2

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J u st i n J a i n B FA ’ 0 4 ( A c t i n g ) was nominated for an F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theater Artist from the Philadelphia Theatre Alliance. M i a M o f f e tt B FA ’ 0 4 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) is living in Brooklyn, N.Y., and currently works as the digital imaging archivist for the Museum of the City of New York. She is working with high-end photography equipment in a specially designed studio on a long-term project to digitize the collection and make it available online to the general public at collections.mcny.org. Lauren P e d e rs e n B FA ’04 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) is currently working as a marketing associate at Medical Modeling Inc., a unique company taking medical images such as CAT scans and creating 3D images of them followed by physical 3D models used by surgeons to plan difficult surgeries. She is currently organizing trade shows that she attends, working on new designs for brochures and researching web design companies in order to get a new website underway. She feels it is a great place to work and feels great that she touches the lives of so many people each and every day! Michael R i c h a rds B FA ’04 ( M u lt i m e d i a ) is currently managing the U.S. western region for a technology company based out of Plano, Texas. His office is located in Los Angeles. The company specializes in technology deployments for large nationwide retail and administrative organizations. He wrote, “I’m excited to take a more active role in the alumni association. My experience at UArts has deeply influenced my professional career.” J i r i S e g e r B FA ’ 0 4 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) writes, “I’ve been working as a senior designer at Rodale Inc. for Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines since September 2010. In June 2012, I was promoted to art director of Women’s Health Integrated Marketing, where

I lead the design team in developing a wide variety of promotional materials, from event branding to rich media units to in-book advertorials.” S t e v e T i rp a k B M ’ 0 4 ( C o m p o s i t i o n ) had the privilege of writing for an orchestra that featured George Michael on his Symphonica Tour. He writes, “It was a thrill to enhance George’s music with the richness of the strings and power of the brass.” Shortly after that, he wrote arrangements for full orchestra featuring Jay-Z for two sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall, where tickets for the event were $2,500 each. M i r a n d a C l a r k - B i n d e r MA ’ 0 5 ( M u s e u m E d u c a t i o n ) writes, “I am an alum of the MA in Museum Education program and am currently the curator of education at the La Salle University Art Museum. I have been here for about five years and am in charge of designing and implementing the museum’s first education program for K-12 audiences. I am also in charge of the museum’s outreach activities and community partnerships.” J e ss i c a H a rd e n MFA ’ 0 5 ( M u seum Exhibition Planning and D e s i g n ) was promoted to the position of director of Exhibition Design at the Dallas Museum of Art. She oversees the design of all exhibitions and installations within the museum. Harden has been with the museum since 2008 and since that time, has overseen the design of nearly 50 exhibitions and installations. Her most recent design extravaganza was the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition. J o n a th a n H a u pt m a n B FA ’ 0 5 ( P a i n t i n g / D r a w i n g ) started a business making holsters called PHLster. His work was featured in a Philadelphia paper because of his unconventional business approach of uploading videos of his creation process on YouTube and asking people to make their own as well. This approach built support for his brand and his product. More info at PHLster.com. S a lva d o r Orara B FA ’05 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) received an MFA in Media Design from the Media Design Practices (MDP) program at Art Center College of Design in California in April

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alumni notes

2012. Immediately upon graduation, Orara partnered with two fellow MDP graduates and officially created the Rare Studio, LLC, a studio for design and research within graphic design, interaction and architecture. Rare Studio works in a broad range of media, including printed matter, web applications, spatial media, physical interaction and design research. Rare is currently based in downtown Los Angeles. More info at therarestudio.com. D a n i e l R o b a i r e B FA ’ 0 5 ( A c t i n g ) signed with New Wave Entertainment at the beginning of 2012. From there, he booked co-starring roles on the new CBS drama “Vegas” opposite Michael Chicklis, as well as on NBC’s “Parenthood” opposite Ray Romano and Lauren Graham. More info at danielrobaire.com. J e a n e tt e B e rr y B M ’ 0 6 ( V o i c e ) wrote, “I am a senior lecturer at the University of the Arts. I am working on my first full-length album with my band Jeanette Berry and the Soul Nerds. We already have an EP out called ‘Peace, Love and Music.’ The band is made up of five UArts alumni and one Temple alum. I am also building independent music history workshops for schools and communities.” More info at JeanetteBerry.bandcamp.com. Jen n i f er Devor BS ’06 (Com mun i c a t i o n s ) began her new position as manager of Corporate Sponsorships and College Programs at Campus Philly in July 2012. Julianna F o st e r MFA ’06 ( P r i n t m a k i n g / B o o k A rts ) works in Philadelphia and teaches in the University’s Photography and MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking programs. She has a variety of works that include book arts and photography. In July 2012, she was listed by CBS Philly as an up-andcoming artist. Her fourth solo exhibit, “Swell,” ran September 7–30, 2012, at artist collective Vox Populi, where she’s been a member since 2006. More info at juliannafoster.com. L o z a M a l é o m bh o B FA ’ 0 6 ( A n i m a t i o n ) is the owner/creative director at Loza Maléombho, a label that officially launched in 2009. It is a brand exclusive to private clients with custom-made

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pieces. In 2012, they began retail debuts and started production and sales to small boutiques and luxury department stores. Maléombho was a specialist for Michael Kors for two years before focusing on her own label. She was a featured young artist in Vogue (Italy) in May 2012. More info at lozamaleombho.com. F a i th B r o d y P a t a n e B FA ’ 0 6 ( Wr i t i n g f o r F i l m & Te l e v i s i o n) wrote a script, Scarlett Sunshine, that recently placed in the top 25 of the New Hampshire Film Festival’s Screenwriting Competition. The same screenplay won 1st Prize at the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference in the Writing for New Media category in June. Calendar Girl, another film written by Patane, just earned distribution through Kevin Smith’s distribution company SModcast Pictures and Phase 4 Films, and will be available to purchase or rent starting in November under the new title Miss December. W a lt e r Plotnick MFA ’06 ( P a i n t i n g ) had his photo-based artwork video featured on Lenscratch, a blogzine that explores contemporary photography. Plotnick’s artwork titled “Form & Function” was included in the F1st Choice Art Exhibition in Breda, Netherlands. As a senior lecturer in the Fine Art department at Montgomery County Community College (MCCC), Plotnick developed and launched a crossdisciplinary team-teaching project titled the MCCC Photosynthesis Project. Plotnick, who is also a minority male mentor, invited his mentee to compose an academic paper on photosynthesis, which was then distributed to his digital photography students and a creative writing class where the science was interpreted visually and through photography and creative writing. The finished book featuring the student’s work is available on Blurb.com. Plotnick was also nominated for the Montgomery County Community College Innovation Award 2012.

J i ll V a l e n t i n e B FA ’ 0 6 ( A c t i n g ) works at “Annie the Musical” as a child actor guardian. She has become a child actor guardian on Broadway, with three Broadway, one national tour and several Off-Broadway and regional credits to her name. She recently participated in negotiations with the Broadway League of Theaters and Producers and helped secure the first contract ever for Broadway Guardians. A m a n da D ’A m i c o MFA ’07 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) wrote, “Myself and many other alumni of the MFA Book Arts program have been featured in a recent publication entitled 1,000 Artists’ Books: Exploring the Book as Art. The book is available now on Amazon.com and features the work of alums R a c h e ll e W . C h u a n g MFA ’ 0 6 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , Donna Globus MFA ’10 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , L i s a H a s e g a w a MFA ’ 0 3 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , T u r n e r H i ll i k e r MFA ’ 1 1 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i ng), A n dr e w H u o t MFA ’ 0 9 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , S u n Y o u n g K a n g MFA ’ 0 7 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , M a r i a G . P i s a n o MFA ’ 9 5 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , A m e e J . P o ll a c k MFA ’ 9 4 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i ng), E r i n S w e e n e y MFA ’ 0 9 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , E r i k o T a k a h a sh i MFA ’ 9 7 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , M a r y T a s i ll o MFA ’ 0 6 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , M i c h e ll e W i ls o n MFA ’ 0 7 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) a n d R u th e r f o rd W i tth u s MFA ’ 0 6 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , and the work of faculty member H e d i Ky l e .” S t e ph a n i e F a g e n U rb i n a B FA ’ 0 7 ( D a n c e ) recently opened a new studio called the Dance Gallery in Tuckahoe, N.Y. Urbina started her first ballet school at the age of 10, where she instructed all

// Above: L o z a M a l é o m bh o ‘ 0 6

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alumni notes

of the neighborhood girls in her parent’s house. In high school and college, she organized a company to perform at various retirement homes and raised thousands of dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims. Later on, she went on to study with the Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Gelsey Kirkland and Elisa Monte. Urbina has performed throughout New York City (Carnegie Hall, Teatro La Tea, Steps NYC), abroad in Prague, and in Philadelphia (Merriam Theater, Drake Theater). T J W a lsh B FA ’ 0 7 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) was recently featured on FlyingKite, a weekly online magazine focused on ideas and developments that are currently defining the future of Philadelphia. He describes his work as depicting “the hidden conversations that course through the undercurrent of our minds, unconsciously giving form to who we are as human beings.” He is a designer working in marketing/communications and brand development for a major not-for-profit organization with headquarters in Manhattan. N a th a n i e l B u tl e r B FA ’08 ( S c u lpt u r e ) and J e n n y W e lsh B FA ’ 0 8 ( S c u lpt u r e ) were in a group show at the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym in November 2012. Welsh was recently hired as the programs manager of the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym. More info at philadelphiasculpturegym.com. J a s o n C h e n B FA ’ 0 8 ( A n i m a t i o n ) , I a n F o st e r B FA ’ 0 8 ( A n i m a t i o n ) , M a r i n a G v o z d e v a B FA ’08 (A n i m at ion), Da n A l fa ro B FA ’ 1 0 ( A n i m a t i o n ) and C hr i s t i n e K o e b e r n i k B FA ’ 1 1 ( A n i m a t i o n ) participated in front of and behind the camera in the Bucks Fever FilmFest-winning short “From Point A to Point Z.” Created by UArts Animation Coordinator Karl Staven, “From Point A to Point B” was also submitted

in the Short Films for Children category at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. D a n i e l D e l a n e y B FA ’ 0 8 ( M u l t i m e d i a ) is a food entrepreneur who began his journey with VendrTV, a combination blog and video channel that he founded after graduation. His latest venture, BrisketLab, was recently featured in The Washington Post and The New York Times. His love of barbeque began in 2010 at the Roadfood Festival in New Orleans where he tried beef brisket from the legendary Louie Mueller Barbecue. Delaney sampled the brisket and was hooked. “I realized I didn’t want to talk about food, I wanted to make it,” he told The Washington Post. He has won accolades by slow smoking briskets in an all-wood pit. Before long, he expanded his experiments from dinner parties in Brooklyn to live-music feasts for the general public at bars and abandoned factories. He sold tickets online at $25 per pound of brisket and called the events BrisketLab. The first Lab sold out in 48 hours and he sold 2,500 pounds in advance orders to his events. His popularity and success has grown so much that he has expanded into BrisketTown, a pop-up eatery that opened in Fall 2012 in Brooklyn that included seasonal side dishes and pie. More info at delaneybbq. com. M i c h e ll e D u v a ll B FA ’08 ( M o d e r n D a n c e ) writes, “I currently dance and perform in NYC. I am a Pilates instructor and co-creator of the nationally recognized barre fitness program called BeyondBarre.” More info at beyondbarre.com. K a y H e a l y MFA ’ 0 8 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) had a solo show titled “Starter Home” at the Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia from June 22 to July 20, 2012.

// Above left: D a n i e l D e l a n e y ‘ 0 8 // Above right: P h i l J a c k s o n ‘ 0 8

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P h i l J a c k s o n B FA ’ 0 8 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) is the author of FDR Skatepark: A Visual History. The subject of a Philadelphia Inquirer article, FDR Skatepark is compiled by three longtime skateboarders and includes over 100 photos that capture life at the skatepark. All profits from the book go toward maintaining and upgrading the skatepark. Interviews of park regulars are included, but the focus of the book is the images. “It’s such a visually striking place that that just seemed the way to go about it,” said Jackson. “We wanted to just let the photos tell the story and keep it clean and simple.” The book includes photos from dozens of people, including professionals like Jackson and amateurs who used throwaway cameras and Polaroids. Landscape shots illustrate the sheer size of the park and its odd placement. There are also pictures that capture the moment a skateboarder hits a trick. For park regulars, it’s filled with memories, and for anyone else, it’s a peek into a place that remains untouched by the concerns for safety and security that have changed playgrounds and nearly every aspect of recreational life.

James

L i n c k e B FA ’ 0 8 ( I ll u s has created a new comic strip called “Guards” with his partner Russell Cera. “Guards” is about the experiences and encounters of a troop of teenaged lifeguards, who all work at a dilapidated tr a t i o n )

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private swim club named Rupadega Park Swim Club. He has based his work on his real-life experiences as a lifeguard at Ridley Park Swim Club. Lincke and his partner Cera plan on presenting “Guards” to publishers and studios. Nicole T r a n q u i ll o BM ’08 ( V o i c e ) writes, “I recently signed a publishing deal with SONGS Publishing and had a hit song in Japan released in April 2012 called ‘Beat Generation,’ sung by the Fairies and produced by Chad Royce and Scott Mann. Also just had a song released in May 2012 for an animé film that I wrote called ‘If I Jump Now.’ Also have been doing demo work for the hit NBC show ‘Smash,’ as well as for Disney. I am currently living in New York working with producers and songwriting and pitching songs for Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera and Shakira.” S a ll y E c k h o f f MFA ’ 0 9 ( P a i n t i n g ) writes, “I am a writer who’s published extensively in newspapers and online (from the Village Voice to Salon. com). I was almost, but not quite, the commencement speaker for our graduation exercises. After painting in the East Village for 17 years and then living in the woods in the Hudson Valley, I came back to school. My appearance in Philadelphia was actually a triumphant return of sorts: I was at PCA in 1975, but couldn’t stay. I love UArts as a great institution and also as the instrument of my regeneration. My memoir of painting in the East Village is coming out in 2013.” More info at sallyeckhoff.com. N o r a S c h a e f e r B FA ’ 0 9 ( I ll u s tr a t i o n ) writes, “After graduating from UArts, I received my MAT in Art Education from Tufts University and am now teaching high school photography and drawing within Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland.” E r i n S w e e n e y MFA ’ 0 9 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) organized an exhibition of traditional, contemporary and “installation” printmaking titled “Printivale!” at the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, N.H., featuring works by several alumni, including A m a n d a

B e n t o n MFA ’ 0 9 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , A m a n d a D ’A m i c o MFA ’ 0 7 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , R e b e c c a G i lb e rt MFA ’ 0 2 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) , B o b b y R o s e n st o c k MFA ’ 0 9 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) and C a r o l i n e G a r c i a Z i e g l e r MFA ’ 0 8 ( B o o k A rts / P r i n t m a k i n g ) . The exhibit ran through October 27 and featured a panel discussion and demonstration by Benton, D’Amico, Sweeney and Ziegler. More info at sharonarts.org. D u o n g T r a n B FA ’ 0 9 ( A n i m a t i o n ) is currently working on visual development and an iPad app/advertisement for Mercedes-Benz USA. N e r i ss a

T u t i v e n B FA ’ 0 9 ( I l is currently a product designer in the New York area. She designs toys, apparel, activity kits and stationery for the gifting industry. Her clients include Toys“R”Us, Target, WalMart and Michael’s craft stores nationwide. She is also the co-founder of Girlometry, an artist collective that creates and curates shows in the Northern New Jersey area. Her work is currently represented by Deborah Wolfe. More info at Printandpattern.blogspot.com. l u str a t i o n )

S a m a n th a G u rr y B FA ’ 1 1 ( A n i m a t i o n ) writes, “I’m finally finishing up my film festival run for my thesis film Reddish Brown and Bluish Green. It has played at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival 2011, Sydney Underground Film Festival 2011, Florida Film Festival 2012, SXSW Film Festival 2012, Melbourne International Animation Festival 2012 and Extremely Short Film Festival 2012.” V i n c e n t H a rd y B FA ’ 1 1 ( B a l l e t ) is currently an MFA student at UC Irvine and was featured in the university’s paper, where he shared his story about his dance journey. Hardy started dancing in eighth grade because he didn’t want to do P.E. and got permission to do dance instead. He weighed 315 pounds and started to grow a passion for dance. He described his teachers as supportive, who didn’t judge or treat him differently because of his weight. By senior year, Hardy had lost 100 pounds, but he still didn’t think of dance as a career. However, at a teacher’s urging, he auditioned for UArts and won a full scholarship. That is when his dance journey began and was no longer a hobby, but a goal. Hardy auditioned for Complexions Contemporary Ballet, an internationally renowned company based in New York, his senior year. Hardy says, “Two days after Christmas, I got the contract. I had a conference call

2010s K e v i n D o ss a n t o s B FA ’ 1 1 ( A n i m a t i o n ) has been doing freelance work at a public relations company in North Jersey as well as working on whiteboard animation videos available on YouTube. He continues his search for his dream job of becoming a 2D animator at an animation studio. In the meantime, he has been doing his own freelance work of creating portraits and caricatures for his clients. He hopes to get a studio job sooner than later. In his spare time, he picked up foosball as a hobby. More info at kevindossantos.com.

// Above: V i n c e n t H a rd y ‘ 1 1

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with Desmond Richardson; it was surreal. I was the only one they chose from that audition. I was with them for one season. I got to tour Israel, Italy and 12 cities in the U.S. I had to learn their entire repertoire in less than two weeks. It was life-changing. I went from a student to a professional in less than two weeks.” After budget cuts forced Hardy to leave, he went on to teach and dance in Los Angeles. A UArts faculty member encouraged Hardy to look at UC Irvine’s graduate program, and he began his studies in January 2012 on a full scholarship. Hardy says, “I’m interested in getting dancers to dance without insecurities. The mirror is so destructive. I want them to find themselves and express themselves with freedom and joy that can inspire people. It’s more than being a perfect technician. Our generation is full of perfect technique and tricks, fancy jumps, a dozen pirouettes. It’s plastic; it’s soulless dancing. How do we get the soul back in?” See the full article at newuniversity.org. W a d e J o h n st o n B FA ’ 1 1 ( M u s i c a l T h e a t e r ) moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to teach guitar. S o ph i e X u B FA ’ 1 1 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) writes, “I am launching Philadelphia’s first fashion magazine with my partner, Justin-Julius Santos. Stardust magazine’s premiere issue launch party was held on October 5 at Curated Goods in Philadelphia. Designed to inspire a younger generation while encouraging a more mature audience to tap into its essence, Stardust will feature undiscovered local and international talent from the worlds of fashion, art, music, photography, home, design and culture.” More info at stardust-mag.com. A n dr e w C a m e r o n Z a h n B FA ’ 1 1 ( M u lt i m e d i a ) performed live on July 19, 2012, at the Fluid Night Club in Philadelphia with electronic music made with built-from-scratch instruments. L or e nzo Bu f fa BS ’12 (I n dus tr i a l D e s i g n ) was featured in design magazine Core77 for his “Analog” wooden watches. Buffa says, “For my senior thesis, I wanted to design a wooden watch brand featuring a unique flexible soft strap. My goal was to create a gender-neutral form that accentuates the material. I prototyped

various watch forms, faces and straps. This project involved material explorations, form studies, product development and brand identity building.” The collection of watches is “made from various wood veneers, Italian leather, mechanical watch movements, watch crystals and gold and silver hardware.” More info at lorenzobuffa.com.

C hr i st i n a C e l e n z a B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) wrote, “I have just started my own photography business focusing on weddings, engagements and portraits. But I am also doing some aerial and architectural photography as well.” More info at christinacelenza.com.

// Above: C hr i st i n a C e l e n z a ‘ 1 2 , Aerial Photography // Above: L o r e n z o B u f f a ‘ 1 2 , “Analog Wooden Watches”

R e i d C a rr e s c i a B FA ’ 1 2 ( F i l m ) has won prizes and screened his senior thesis film Harvest in a number of festivals across the country. The film tells the story of a world-weary farmhand who encounters a supernatural event that causes him to question his outlook and his destiny. It was one of the “Best Film” award winners in the University’s 2012 Senior Film and Animation Show, and won both the “Best College Narrative” and “Best of the Fest” awards at the 2012 Bucks Fever FilmFest in Pennsylvania. Harvest also won “Best Student Film” at the New York Los Angeles International Film Festival and was screened at the Cape May Film Festival, Pan Pacific Film Festival in Arcadia, Calif., JP2 International Film Festival in Miami, the San Diego Christian Film Festival, Beverly (Mass.) Film Festival and Black Bear Film Festival in Milford, Pa. Carrescia also received an “Award of Merit” in the Best Shorts Competition (La Jolla, Calif.). Since graduating, Carrescia has been freelancing with a small video/photo production company in the Lehigh Valley, where he has had the opportunity to travel extensively, shooting and editing for companies such as Olympus, Johnson & Johnson and Mack Trucks. Carrescia reports that, “It was a blast hanging out of the back of a car going 70mph filming a huge truck barreling towards you. Got a lot of great footage.” Carrescia is scheduled to do another Mack Truck shoot in Vegas, and perhaps Peru, in the near future.

E l y s e L e n o r e L e y e n b e r g e r B FA ’ 1 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) is currently working as an assistant and retoucher at Rick Davis Photographic and the partner company Springhouse Films. C hr i st i n e O l i v e r B FA ’ 1 2 ( A n i m a t i o n ) became a social media intern for How to Be A Redhead, a fashion and beauty community that empowers every redhead to feel confident, look amazing and rock their natural beauty. They are currently organizing the world’s first-ever fashion and beauty event for redheads on March 16, 2013, in New York City. More info at howtobearedhead.com. N i c k P o r c a r o B FA ’ 1 2 ( G r a ph i c D e s i g n ) writes, “I’m currently working as a designer/developer at Sawyer Studios in New York, where I design posters, advertising, websites and digital banners for film and television campaigns. In my spare time, I freelance for a growing base of clientele and, if I get a chance, play guitar. Recently, I worked on the websites for Robot & Frank and the Oranges, as well as the poster for Barbara and advertising for 2 Days in New York! I also designed next season’s brochure for the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia.”

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N a th a n S c hl e g e l B FA ’ 1 2 ( T h e at er D e s i g n & Te c h n o l o g y) writes, “Since graduating college in May, I have continued to work for my own business, Dynamic Video Lighting and Sound LLC, which I started four years ago while still at UArts.” J o h n P a tr i c k T h o m a s B FA ’ 1 2 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) was featured in CMYK, an art and design magazine. The article calls Thomas a “talented young illustrator and designer who first came to attention of CMYK this year when his design was chosen for the promotional material of the Words and Pictures event at UArts. Thomas’s work blurs the line between illustration and topography, while layering details and using scale to compose imaginative worlds that seem to come to life. The Society of Illustrators recently recognized his work and before long, this exceptional ‘kid’ will make his mark on the industry.”

y o u r n e w s w i th u s

Edge! Send a short note about your recent projects, upcoming exhibitions and performances and accomplishments to alumni@uarts.edu. High-res images can also be included and will be printed as space allows.

f o r th e n e x t i ss u e o f

// Above: J o h n P a tr i c k T h o m a s ‘ 1 2 , Call for Entries for CMYK Magazine 53 AD: Ron Cala II

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In Me mor i a m H o w a rd A lb e r ’ 3 3 ( A d v e rt i s i n g D e s i g n ) of Haverford, Pa., passed away on October 17, 2012. He was an artist, educator, graphic designer and arts advocate who died at the age of 101. Born Howard Albert Rosenstein, he was a graduate of Northeast High School in 1929. He won a scholarship to the Philadelphia School of lndustrial Art, now the University of the Arts, and was one of the only graduates to obtain a job in the middle of the Great Depression. He served in World War II in the Marine Corps as an artist for the Eastern Headquarters. A graphic designer for more than 45 years with different firms, he was also the founding art director of Weightman Advertising, one of the first large advertising firms in Philadelphia. An activist and community organizer at heart, he was a founding member of the Artists Guild of Delaware Valley, served as an art advisor for the Graphic Arts Association and taught graphic design at three local commercial art schools. In the 1960s, he opened Alber Galleries in downtown Philadelphia, which he ran for over 30 years. His last three wives preceded him in death, as did his two brothers. He is survived by his four grandsons, two step-daughters, many nieces and nephews, great nieces, a great nephew, great-great nephews, and a great-great niece. W i ll i a m H . C a m pb e ll ’ 3 7 ( A d v e rt i s i n g D e s i g n ) passed away on October 31, 2012. He was an illustrator, painter and cofounder of the Main Point, a former cabaret in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Campbell had 47 solo exhibits and shared space at numerous shows with other artists over a career spanning more than 70 years. After graduation, he worked as an illustrator, teacher and art director for years to earn a living. In the mid-1950s, Campbell was art director for the Pennsylvania Railroad, producing a magazine for the company’s employees and shareholders. He then worked as a freelance commercial artist and taught at University of the Arts, Moore College of Art and Design, and the Philadelphia Sketch Club. In 1964, Campbell and his wife decided the area needed a place for folk music and with pooled money, they opened the Main Point in Bryn Mawr. The club welcomed then-obscure performers such as Joni Mitchell and Arlo Guthrie and hosted a Bruce Springsteen show in 1975. He moved to Spring Garden in 1970 after his divorce to a home with studio space for his large canvases. For several years, he served on the board of the Spring Garden Civic Association. By the late 1980s, he stopped doing commercial work to concentrate on painting and that same year, his work was displayed at Provident National Bank in Philadelphia. Campbell received art awards from several orga-

nizations, including the Plastic Club, the Philadelphia Sketch Club and the Acrylic Society of New York. He was past president of the Artist Guild of Philadelphia. He continued to paint and drive his car into his 90s. In 2009, Campbell donated the use of his winter scene of Mount Pleasant, a mansion in Fairmount Park, to the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness for a fund-raising greeting card. Campbell is survived by a granddaughter. I r m a D o m k e L e b i n g ’ 4 0 ( A rt E d u c a t i o n ) was a public school art teacher in Elkins Park, Pa. She passed away on August 15, 2012, in Roslyn, Pa. Lebing graduated from Frankford High School in 1935 and went on to attend the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts (PMSIA), now the University of the Arts, with an art scholarship. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education at Temple University in 1941. Lebing began as an art teacher, teaching at Camden High School from 1955 to 1958. In 1961, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. From 1964 to 1980, she taught art and developed costumes and scenery for student plays at what was then Elkins Park Junior High School. Lebing taught evening classes for adult art students at the Fleisher Art Memorial, the Cheltenham Center for the Arts and what is now the Markeim Art Center in Haddonfield, N.J. She produced clay sculptures and paintings in oils, watercolor and tempera, her daughter said. In 1976, she organized the Woodmere Art Gallery exhibition of the Tyler School of Art Alumni Association. Besides being exhibited at galleries in the Philadelphia region, her work was displayed in shows at the University of Delaware and the Trenton Art Museum, both in 1966. She was also in a show at the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York City in 1968 and at the annual exhibit of the American Watercolor Society at the National Academy Museum and School in New York City in 1969. Lebing won best in show at the 1958 Camden Art Fair, first prize for an oil portrait at the 1960 Camden Art Fair and first prize for sculpture at the 1967 Cheltenham Art Show. She retired to Florida in 1980, moved to Virginia in 1996 and returned to the Philadelphia region in 2007. Lebing is survived by four children and four grandchildren. R o b e rt D . D a rr a c h B FA ’ 4 7 ( P a i n t i n g ) , an art director in the 1960s for national magazines published in Philadelphia, passed away on September 13, 2012, in Lebanon, N.H. Born in Philadelphia, Darrach attended La Salle College High School and served in the Army Air Force from 1944 to

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1946, photographing, among other work, the sites of plane crashes and bombings in Japan in the year after World War II. After earning his degree, Darrach taught and lectured on drawing at his alma mater. In the early 1960s, he was assistant art director for Farm Journal on the south side of Washington Square and then the art director of promotions at the Saturday Evening Post on the north side of the square. He then led the creative division for Goodway, a printing firm in Philadelphia. In 1970, Darrach founded Mandala, a graphics design firm in Philadelphia, and served as its president until he retired in 1977. Darrach received several awards for his work at meetings of the Art Directors’ Club of Philadelphia, including a 1961 event at which he won five gold medals. Before and after retirement, he produced large paintings and sculptures in bronze and in wood, as well as many commissioned oil portraits. Darrach is survived by his wife, six children, 12 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and his former wife. P a u l S o n st e i n CE R T ’ 4 7 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) passed away on August 19, 2012. He was described by his family as an individualist, a creative man, an artist, a connoisseur of beauty, a storyteller, a survivor, a businessman, a hustler, a veteran, a teacher, a giver, an adventurer, a risk-taker and a comedian. He is survived by his wife, Miriam, of 64 years, three children and four grandchildren. C a ll i o p e G e o r g e V a rl a n B FA ’ 4 7 ( I n t e r i o r D e s i g n ) of Chester, Pa., passed away on October 8, 2012. Varlan was a graduate of Chester High School and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. A professional interior designer at Miller Brothers Furniture for over 50 years, she was a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), which was very proud of her designs for the Methodist Country House and other businesses, as well as her many private clients. Varlan was active for many years in the Daughters of Penelope; she was a founding member of its local chapter and served as District Governor of Pennsylvania. She always enjoyed spending time with family and friends and loved playing games, reading and travelling. She is survived by her sister, sister-in-law, nieces, caregivers, great-nephews, great-greatnieces and cousins. E d w a rd V a g n o n i ’ 5 2 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) passed away on July 28, 2012, in Norristown, Pa. He lived in Wilmington, Del., since 1954 until his recent return to Norristown to be with his family. After serving in the Army in Japan during the Korean War and receiving a commendation medal, he attended the Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts, and took classes at the Fleisher Art Memorial, where he studied Drawing and Sculpture. In 2007, he showed his drawings at the Dupree Gallery in Philadelphia. Vagnoni worked at Reese & Thomas, Terry Casey and Associates and finally

DeMartin, Marona, Cranston & Downes Associates in Wilmington. He was a member of the Toastmasters chapter in Valley Forge, Pa., for 50 years. He volunteered at the Wilmington Library and Winterthur Museum. He was famous among his family and friends for his intricate hand-made Christmas cards. He was a longtime subscriber to the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet and attended the theater regularly. In his work, he was a great draftsman and technician. He is survived by his sister-in-law, uncle, great-niece and extended family of great nieces, nephews and cousins. R i c h a rd C . L a y t o n ’ 5 4 ( I ll u str a t i o n ) of Wilmington, Del., passed away on October 14, 2012. Layton served in the U.S. Army in Japan during the Korean War and, using the G.I. bill, attended the Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts. Layton was the first curator of the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pa., and co founder of the Brandywine Arts Festival and the Greenville Arts Festival. His works are widely owned by individuals and corporations. He designed the 1973 American Bicentennial coin issued by the U.S. Mint. He was an emeritus board member of the Christian C. Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford and was honored by the City of Wilmington in 2008 with the Jefferson Award for Public Service to the Arts. He is survived by his wife, two children, five grandchildren, two sisters and one brother. M i c h a e l F . M o r e k e n AA ’ 5 6 ( I n t e r i o r D e s i g n ) of Drexel Hill, Pa., passed away on May 25, 2012. He was a longtime resident of Drexel Hill. Moreken attended the University of the Arts on a scholarship, where he majored in Design. He then worked as a designer for Cuneen Co. and later for ARAMARK, where he was manager of the Design department. He retired in 1991 and later did consulting work for ARAMARK Moreken was an avid gardener, who enjoyed playing the organ and piano and listening to classical music. He was a member of St. Andrew the Apostle Church. He is survived by his niece, nephew and grand-niece. H a rr y L . M a d o l e MA ’ 6 5 ( M u s i c ) of Tafton, Pa., passed away on September 1, 2012, in Honesdale, Pa. Madole attended Trenton public schools and then the Philadelphia Musical Academy, now the University of the Arts. Graduating from Trenton State College in 1957, he then attained a Master of Arts degree in Conducting and Composition. Madole taught first in Tinton Falls schools in New Jersey for nine years, developing an 80-voice choir, an 85-piece band and a string program. In addition, he taught as an adjunct professor at Trenton State and founded the Shore Intermediate Band and Orchestra Association. He directed numerous musical groups and dramatic productions while active as a professional

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musician himself. The highlight of his career came when he became director of Music at Point Pleasant Beach High School in New Jersey, where he remained until his retirement in 1991. He started a jazz program there, which from 1969 to 1990 placed among the top in New Jersey each year and won state and regional recognition. Performances at many concerts, footballs games, parades and community functions won acclaim from area leaders, every principal under whom he served, community members and music teachers in other areas. He was selected to conduct the All South Jersey Region Band, the All State Jazz Ensemble and at the Garden State Arts Center. He founded the Greater Point Pleasant Area Community Symphonic Band, which combined the talents of high school students, adults and alumni. At the First Presbyterian Church of Manasquan and locally, he and his wife combined talents for many vocal, instrumental and dramatic productions. Madole has been recognized by many of his previous students, who credit him for contributions as a teacher, friend and mentor in their lives. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, two sons, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. D u n c a n G . S t e a r n s B M ’ 7 3 ( M u s i c ) passed away on May 29, 2012. His connection and love of music began when he was 4 years old and remained the core of his interest throughout his life. In addition to the University of the Arts, Stearns’ education included the Aspen Music Festival and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. He was an excellent musician and a Steinway Artist. Stearns recorded for the Musical Heritage Society and performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad. His works have been published by Willis Music Company and the Lyon and Healy Company. He was a longtime church musician, serving as music director and organist at Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia; Bethany Collegiate Presbyterian Church in Havertown, Pa.; St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Springfield, Pa.; and Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church in Media, Pa. From 1995 on, Stearns also served on the faculty at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa., in piano and harp.

covers and limited-edition lithographs to accompany issues of UN postage stamps. He exhibited in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Milan and Tokyo, and regularly in New York City. Wiener published and was editor-in-chief of the online magazine Resolve40, which seeks to integrate artists in the New York art community with frequent gallery news and reviews and by encouraging artists to participate in writing. “Street Markings,” an exhibition of selections from Wiener’s eponymous unfinished series and related works, was on view at Dorian Grey Gallery November 3–25, 2012. L a u r a R o ss J a f f e B FA ’ 8 2 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) passed away September 16, 2012. Jaffe was first employed in the retail area of photography. However, her love of dance as a vocation soon became the main focus of her many talents. The result of that switch in emphasis was the development of a long and very successful career as a dance instructor, but photography remained an avid interest. Jaffe was an expert skier and she captured on film many beautiful scenes as she and her beloved husband, Steve, skied in New England and the far West. Jaffe’s indomitable spirit and her captivating sense of humor will be remembered by all.

M a r k W i e n e r B FA ’ 7 3 ( P h o t o g r a ph y ) passed away on September 29, 2012. Wiener was an abstract painter who focused on painting and photography, working as a professional photographer, illustrator and web designer before turning to full-time painting. His commercial work appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, New York Magazine, and others. In 2006, he exhibited his gestural paintings at the Montblanc Manhattan flagship store and participated in the Felissimo Design House “Tribute 21” program, which featured work reproduced on ceramic plates and sold for the benefit of UNESCO. He received commissions from the World Federation of United Nations Associations to create first-day

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Jacquard looms. Chemistry labs. Dye vats. Do you know that what is now Philadelphia University began as part of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, and that it was in Hamilton Hall until 1949?

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// Above: Students of the Philadelphia Textile School Student Army Training Corps (SATC) are on their way to an Army training camp. (Courtesy of Philadelphia University.)

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from the archives

The school of the Pennsylvania Museum, and School of Industrial Art is now the University of the Arts College of Art, Media & Design, and the museum is the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia University has had its own set of name changes: Philadelphia Textile School, Philadelphia Textile Institute, Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and finally, Philadelphia University. At the end of the 19th century, Philadelphia was one of the world’s largest manufacturers of textiles. The neighborhoods of Manayunk, Frankford and Kensington were centered around textile mills, dye works and chemical companies. The Philadelphia Association of Textile Manufacturers, formed in 1882, had the support and promotion of technical education in textiles among its goals. Unable to raise enough funds to start their own school, they approached the already-extant Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (PMSIA, founded in 1876), who freely allowed them the use of several rooms in their building at 1709 Chestnut Street (PMSIA did not move to Broad and Pine until 1893). As the textile school grew, it became part of PMSIA. Upon PMSIA’s move to the Broad and Pine streets location in 1893, the textile school occupied the south side of the Frank Furness-designed east-to-west addition, and the art school occupied the north side. Although one of the intentions had been for the art school students to create textile designs that the textile students would then weave, this never seemed to happen to the degree that was hoped for. The textile school students, who appear to have been almost exclusively men from the photographs we see in the catalogs, were very congenial and clubby: they had a baseball team, produced a yearbook every year starting in 1917 (there are no known yearbooks for the art school until 1965), and had pool tournaments in their club room in the basement of Hamilton Hall. During World War I, a Student Army Training Corps was formed in the textile school so that students could train as soldiers while also remaining in their studies at the school. The textile school students were considered to be invaluable textile inspectors for the armed services’ huge need of fabric for uniforms at the time. Following the boom in the number of students after World War II had ended, Hamilton Hall was overcrowded. The textile school separated amicably from the art school, moving to its current location on Henry Avenue in Philadelphia for the Fall 1949 semester. With them went the Jacquard looms, chemistry labs, dye vats and a piece of UArts history.

// Top right: The caption for this photo of a textile design class states that “the great value of drawing becomes apparent to the student, as the commercial value of his production is increased by artistic method.” (Courtesy of Philadelphia University.) // Bottom right: “Tie-Up for Silk Brocade” on a Jacquard machine shows the complexity of planning and designing for such items, not to mention the need for all students to learn technical drawing skills. The drawing is signed by A. S. Howard and appears in the 1895-96 catalog.

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The U ni v er sit y

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