Embracing Visual Literature

Purchase College magazine | think wide open spring/summer 2014

the art of the book: Embracing Visual Literature

PLUS: THE FILM MAKERS: Alumni forge ahead with true grit and determination SETTING SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS: Purchase raises the bar for other SUNY campuses LINER NOTES: Success stories from studio composition and studio production programs Table [this moment] of Contents

Pursuits 1 The Film Makers 6 in Time Setting Sustainability Standards 12 By Thomas J. Schwarz

News Briefs 14 If this issue of PURCHASE magazine provides any insight into the culture of Purchase College and its effect on the The Art of the Book 18 communities it touches, it is by highlighting the level of creativity our talented students, alumni, faculty, and staff Liner Notes 24 bring to the table. In areas from art to environmental responsibility, they flex their creative muscle to tell stories, challenge convention, and solve problems. Alumni in Action 26 In the age of digital media, the ability to craft a compelling story is more important than ever. For filmmakers, authors, Save the Date: and songwriters, identifying and articulating the underly- School of the Arts Gala 32 ing story lies at the crux of success. In “The Film Makers,” we discover exactly why the film program at Purchase is Neuberger Museum of Art 33 unique. Despite the new challenges presented by technological change and industry upheaval, our film alumni forge ahead as writers, directors, editors, or in the many The Performing Arts Center 33 roles that make up the backbone of the filmmaking process—with 85 percent of all graduates at work in the industry—to introduce new ideas into the cultural dialogue. COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM FRANK “The Art of the Book” explores what happens to the book form in the hands of Vandercook Press in Letterpress artists. With works from sculptural objects to illuminated novels to down- Shop of Visual Arts Building loadable artists’ books, Purchase faculty and alumni not only amaze readers, but also push the boundaries of what’s traditionally considered a book.

The music studio composition and production students, faculty, and alumni featured in “Liner Notes” tackle the music business’s new landscape with Editor: Sandy Dylak, director, aplomb—taking advantage of every opportunity it presents. It is no longer Communications & Creative Services enough to write or record a great song; they must maneuver the system and market themselves, and they are thriving. Managing Editor: Kristi McKee, editorial services manager, Communications Nothing makes us as proud as our inclusion in the Princeton Review’s Guide to & Creative Services 332 Green Colleges. In the story on Purchase’s ongoing sustainability efforts, ”Setting Sustainability Standards,” you will learn about the commitments the Editorial Coordinator: Nancy Diaz, college has made to reduce its carbon footprint as well as the many projects Communications & Creative Services completed, under way, or planned that prove why Purchase is one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. Inside Photography: Kelly Campbell, Jim Frank, Zoe Markwalter, Kristi McKee Plans are in progress for the next School of the Arts gala, scheduled for November 24, 2014, in Manhattan. Please consider joining us with emcee Steven Weber ’83 as we honor the latest Rockefeller Awardees.

Design: Scott W. Santoro, Worksight.com Once again, thank you to all members of the Purchase College family. Through your toil and success, our collective boats are lifted.

Purchase magazine is published biannually by Yours very truly, the Office of Communications & Creative Services, in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Advancement at Purchase College.

Purchase College, State University of New York 735 Anderson Hill Road Thomas J. Schwarz Purchase, NY 10577-1400 President Phone: (914) 251-6054 Fax: (914) 251-6047 Email: [email protected] PURSUITS/Faculty news & notes

SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Graham Ashton, Music, was invited to perform as guest principal trumpet Donna Dennis and Sarah Walker with the Paris Opéra for the 2013–14 season. His first appearance, on Earn Awards Oct. 30, included the original 1911 version of Stravinsky’s Firebird. School of Art+Design faculty David Bassuk, Acting, participated in the Future of Storytelling confer- members Donna Dennis and Sarah ence on Oct. 3 in New York City. Conference topics included immersive Walker earned art prizes from the theatre, game dynamics, and transmedia storytelling, as well as innova- American Academy of Arts and tive design in filmmaking, publishing, and performance. Letters. Awarded annually, they Lawrence Berglas, Arts Management, com- honor both established and emerg- pleted a new book; Civil Law in America: A ing artists. Winners were chosen Minimalist Law Book, published in December. from a group of 37 artists who had Berglas says the book was written for artists, been invited to participate in the students, teachers, and anyone interested Invitational Exhibition of Visual in the role law plays in life and work. Arts, on view March 6 through April 12, 2014. Sue Bernhard, Dance, premiered a new work Donna Dennis, Cataract Cabin, 1993–94, on Nov. 8 as part of the American Dance 144 x 144 x 144 inches, mixed media Dennis, professor of Art+Design Guild Festival 2013 at the 92nd Street Y in in sculpture, won the Award of New York City. Merit Medal for Sculpture, a Matthew Bollinger, Art+Design, curated The $25,000 prize given to an outstand- First Ending: Resembling Noir, which ran from ing American sculptor. Walker, a Nov. 5 through Dec. 20 at the Zürcher lecturer in Art+Design, won the Studio in New York City. The group show Jacob Lawrence Award of $10,000, featured work by Corey Antis, Matt Bollinger, and Katharina Ziemke. which recognizes outstanding achievement in the visual arts. The Nancy Bowen and Sharon Horvath, Art+Design, participated in the Ten-Year academy also purchased Walker’s Anniversary Exhibition at Building 30, Brooklyn Navy Yards Open Studio. Sarah Walker, C.M.E., 2012, 26 x 28 2012 work C.M.E. as part of its Art inches, acrylic on panel Lenora Champagne, Theatre and Performance, performed in The Record Purchase Program. Since 1946, the by 600 Highwaymen at New York City’s Public Theater in January. She work of talented, living American artists has been also appeared in the documentary film Spectacle: A Portrait of Stuart purchased and placed in museums across the country. Sherman, which was screened in November at the Abrons Art Center in New York City as part of Performa 13. Rachel Dickstein, Theatre and Performance, directed Thumbprint, a new Christine Hiebert, Art+Design, had drawings included in the fall 2013 90-minute opera by Kamala Sankaram and Susan Yankowitz based on the exhibition Pushing the Line: Drawing in an Age of Anxiety, curated by Neil life of Muhktar Mai, at Prototype: Opera/Theater/Now, a chamber opera Watson at ArtsWestchester in White Plains, NY. festival held in New York City in January 2014. Ryan Homsey, Advising Center and Music, had the world premiere of Suzanne Farrin, Music, will be part of the Creative Development Recurrent Stages, his three-movement work for amplified string quartet, Residencies program at Mount Tremper Arts from June 8 through 20 with live electronics, and tape, performed by the Duluth Superior Symphony the International Contemporary Ensemble and Anthony Roth Costanzo. Orchestra’s “Music to You” String Quartet in October in Duluth, MN. Joseph Ferry, Music, completed a second novel, Connected: Songs My Sharon Horvath, Art+Design, had work in the three-person exhibition Hot Father Sang, now available in print, digital, and Kindle formats. Ferry also Mamas at the Associated Gallery in Brooklyn late last summer. recently played bass on three still-untitled tracks for Rolling Stones gui- Stuart Isacoff, Music, has signed his third book con- tarist Keith Richards and reggae artist Toots (of Toots and the Maytals). tract with Alfred A. Knopf. The subject of this book Kate Gilmore, Art+Design, had work included in multiple exhibitions and will be the 1958 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. group shows throughout the autumn of 2013, including Pataphysics at the Sean Kelly Gallery in New York City; Kate Gilmore: A Tisket, a Tasket (solo Chris Kaczmarek, Art+Design, had a solo exhibition, exhibition) at the University Art Museum, State University of New York at Stuart Isacoff trans/mission, which opened in September 2013 at Albany; and Kate Gilmore: Between a Hard Place (solo exhibition) at Fort Westchester Community College’s Center for the Worth Contemporary Arts in Texas. Digital Arts in Peekskill, NY. The work of Karen Guancione, Art+Design, was included in the ongoing Julian Kreimer, Art+Design, had a feature article, “Painting under exhibition Piccole Belle Cose 2014—Small Beautiful Things this winter at the Obama,” published in the fourth issue of Paper Monument. Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in Staten Island, NY. John Lehr, Art+Design, was featured in two group exhibitions; his work Maria Guralnik, Arts Management, presented research on do-it-yourself was seen at the Andrew Rafacz Gallery in Chicago from Nov. 16 through house concert trends at the 2013 Social Theory, Politics, and the Arts Jan. 11 and in the exhibition WHITE at Dickinson Roundell Inc. in New Conference held at Seattle University. She also procured an engagement York City from Nov. 4 through Dec. 10. He also received a review of his for pianist Frederic Chiu to perform with Grammy Award–winning violin- solo show Low Relief (Kate Werble Gallery, New York City) in the May ist Joshua Bell at the Montreal Highlights Festival in February 2014. edition of Artforum.

PURCHASE | 1 PURSUITS/Faculty news & notes

Judy Lieff, Dance, is one of 20 filmmakers selected to participate in the composer at the University of North 2013–14 American Film Showcase. Lieff won the 2013 Japan Prize for best Carolina, Chapel Hill, on March 26 work in the “youth” category (the Minister of Foreign Affairs Prize) for and 27. her documentary Deaf Jam. In September, she traveled to South Korea as Edward Pomerantz, Screenwriting, a film envoy for the American Film Showcase. had his short film La Comida screened Cynthia Lin, Art+Design, presented a on Aug. 28 in the NewFilmmakers NY lecture on her work and participated in series at Anthology Film Archives in Ted Piltzecker an all-day symposium, “Drawing New York City. This was the film’s Connections,” on Nov. 2 at Brown New York premiere; it was an official University in Providence, RI. She also selection of the Google Plus Film Festival, and was simulcast in cities all gave an artist’s talk on Nov. 20 in con- over the world on Dec. 14. Pomerantz’s original feature screenplay Man Cynthia Lin junction with the exhibition Pushing the Running was chosen as one of three finalists (out of 300 submissions) in Line: Drawing in an Age of Anxiety at the 14th Los Angeles Comedy Festival Screenplay Competition. ArtsWestchester in White Plains, NY. Pamela Prather, Acting, served as vocal and dialect coach for two produc- Beth Livensperger, Art+Design, exhibited a new series of site-specific tions at the Alley Theatre in Houston: You Can’t Take It with You, directed paintings in a solo show, Inhabitant, at Tomato House in Brooklyn, NY, by Sanford Robbins, and Venus in Fur, directed by Brandon Hearnsberger from Sept. 13 through Oct. 13. The work was executed on location at and starring New York actors Nicole Rodenburg and Michael Bakkensen. Tomato House over a period of several months. Pablo Rieppi, Music, was recently tenured as a percussionist in the New Elizabeth McPherson, Dance, compiled and edited The Bennington School York City Ballet Orchestra at Lincoln Center and appointed to the artistic of Dance: A History in Writings and Interviews (with a foreword by Charles faculty of the Composers Conference at Wellesley College. Reinhart), which was published on May 31, 2013, by McFarland and Christopher Robbins, Art+Design, hosted “Engage!”—a full-day workshop Company. on the arts and direct action—at Purchase College on Oct. 5, in collabora- James Mulligan, Art+Design, the owner of Central Graphics Group in tion with Urban Bush Women. Ossining, NY, received a 2013 Hermes Creative Gold Award for the design Gina Ruggeri, Art+Design, had work in the exhibition Cast Party at the of the “Emergency FYI” mobile app for Entergy Nuclear Operations. Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York City from June 20 through July 26 Tara Helen O’Connor, James Austin-Smith, and Ransom Wilson, Music, and at Koi No Yokan at Exhibit 101 in West Hollywood, CA, from June 22 performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos with the Chamber Music Society through Aug. 3. of Lincoln Center in a rotation of 20 performers in December. The perfor- Jordan Schildcrout, Theatre and Performance, was an invited speaker on mance was reviewed in the New York Times on Dec. 18. the panel “The Censorship of Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour,” host- Sylvan Oswald, Playwriting, presented the Sun Ra ed by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the City University of New Visitation Series on Nov. 14 at Joe’s Pub in New York Graduate Center, on Dec. 12. Schildcrout also published a chapter, York City. The project incorporates excerpts from “Drama and the New Sexualities,” in the Oxford Handbook of American Oswald’s play about the avant-garde jazz com- Drama (Oxford University Press, 2014). poser with live music performed by the Burnt Rob Swainston, Art+Design, had a solo show, Rob Swainston: Woodcut Sugar Arkestra. The graphic design was created Map of Utopia from the September 2013 Edition, on view at Marginal by Nontsikelelo Mutiti, New Media. Utility in Philadelphia from Sept. 6 through Oct. 20. Rachel Owens, Art+Design, had an outdoor Larry Tamburri, Arts Management, co-authored two articles with econo- installation, Almost Antipodeans, on view in the mist Jeffrey Pompe: “Repertoire Conventionality in Major U.S. Symphony Sylvan Oswald 10th Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennial from Sept. 1 Orchestras: Factors Influencing Management’s Programming Choices,” in through Nov. 30 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, as part of the journal Managerial and Decision Economics, and “Symphony Concert TransCultural Express, a partnership between the Brooklyn Academy of Demand: Does Programming Matter?” in the Journal of Arts Management, Music and the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund. Law, and Society. Lenka Pichlíková, Theatre and Performance, Breanne Trammell, Art+Design, had her performative and experiential received a grant from the Puffin Foundation project Nails across America included in the Pulse Contemporary Art Fair in of New Jersey to perform, for underserved Miami, FL, from Dec. 5 through 8. Pulse Projects is a curated series that audiences, her solo classic pantomime. She encourages visitor interaction and showcases ambitious artwork. also performed her popular shows Time for Trammell was also awarded the 2013 Pulse Shipping Prize. Mime and Holiday Storyteller for young underprivileged audiences in Bridgeport, Manuel Vignoulle, Dance, presented Together We Stand, a 19-minute CT, on Nov. 12 and 26. On Nov. 26, dance piece he choreographed for five men, on Nov. 3 at the Raritan Pichlíková gave an original solo performance Valley Community College Theatre in Branchburg, NJ. at a special assembly held at the Julia Stark Carol Walker, Dance, performed in Buglisi Dance Theatre’s Table of Elementary School in Stamford. Silence Project 9/11 on the plaza at Lincoln Center. Walker also served as a Ted Piltzecker, Music, taught and performed Lenka Pichlíková judge at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for a dance competition between in the first Percussive Arts Society Australia the U.S. and China in October. The event, Super Dancer Born Tonight, Drum and Percussion Camp at the Elder was filmed for Chinese CCTV-1 for distribution in early 2014. The dancers Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, from Jan. 3 through 11, were all finalists and winners from So You Think You Can Dance! Russell 2014; conducted a seminar and performed in a concert at California State Ferguson, an American dancer, was judged to be the “Super Dancer” of University, Humboldt, from Feb. 6 through 8; and was a guest artist and the evening, and Walker was selected to present his award on stage.

PURCHASE | 2 PURSUITS/Faculty news & notes

Joshua Willis, Art+Design, had paintings in three group exhibitions: Fresh Paint at Manifest Creative Research and Drawing Gallery, Cincinnati, OH Professor Laura Kaminsky Receives (Nov. 8–Dec. 6); Small Wonders at the Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis (Nov. 30–Dec. 29); and City of Tiny Lights at the Salisbury Inaugural Grant from Opera America University Art Galleries in Salisbury, MD (Nov. 15–Dec. 14). Willis’ work Opera America, the national is included in the International Painting Annual, published by the Manifest service organization for opera, Creative Research and Drawing Gallery. announced the first round of Chuck Workman, Film, had a premiere of What Is Cinema? on Sept. 6 at recipients of its new program, the Toronto Film Festival. Workman’s new film, an essay on cinema as it Opera Grants for Female could be best used as an art form, includes interviews with well-known Composers. Professor of Music directors and more than 200 clips. It won the Director’s Prize at the Dallas Laura Kaminsky was one of VideoFest 26 in October and had its New York City premiere on Nov. 19 eight composers chosen to at the IFC Center, as part of the Doc NYC festival. receive an award from 112 eligi- ble applications. Kaminsky will receive $12,500 to support devel - Du Yun, Music, exhibited Pivot, a new collaboration with visual artist opment of her composition As One, a 75-minute-long, multi-cham- Shahzia Sikander, at the 13th Istanbul Biennial (Sept. 14–Oct. 25). A ber opera that explores the revelatory, redemptive journey of a three-channel HD animation with 5.1 surround sound, the project transgender individual wrestling with profound ontological issues. involves generations of Turkish poets, including a narration by the influ- The libretto is by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. In addition ential Lale Müldür. to her role as professor of music at Purchase College, she is also Murray Zimiles, Art+Design, had a solo artistic director of Symphony Space in New York City. exhibition of paintings and pastels, Movement and Light, at the Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown, MA, from Aug. 16 Society, for “The Characterization and Conformational Preferences through Sept. 8; it was reviewed by Andre of Long Alkyl Chains Using Advanced Broadband Microwave van der Wende in Artscope. A concurrent Spectroscopy.” The award will support biochemistry and chemistry solo exhibition, Murray Zimiles: Recent seniors and provide summer stipends for Purchase students to perform Paintings, was held at the Berta Walker research over the next three years. Gallery in Boston. In December, Zimiles Meagan Curtis, Psychology, wrote two papers presented in August at the gave a lecture, “Gilded Lions and Jeweled conference of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, including Horses,” at Bonhams Auction House in New “The Evolution of Music: Evidence for Sexual Selection.” She and co- York City. author Richard Warren ’12 presented “The Effects of Intonation Accuracy

Murray Zimiles on Perceived Vocal Performance Quality.” Curtis and Stephen Flusberg,

Psychology, are co-authors of the chapter “Cognition and Language” in Psychology in the Fast Lane. SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES Anthony Dosmestico, Literature, has been appointed the book columnist Shemeem Abbas, Political Science, was a guest on the Brian Lehrer Show for Commonweal. He had a number of reviews published in 2013, includ- on Nov. 21, discussing her book Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws: From Islamic ing of Aminatta Forna’s The Hired Man and Cathleen Schine’s Fin & Lady in Empires to the Taliban. the San Francisco Chronicle; Matt Bell’s In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods in the Boston Globe; Rebecca Solnit’s The Faraway Karen Baird, Political Science, contributed the chapter “HIV Prevention Nearby in the Christian Science Monitor; and W. H. Auden’s For the Time Policies and the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Class in the United Being in Commonweal. States” to Global HIV/AIDS Politics, Policy and Activism: Persistent Challenges and Emerging Issues. Lee Ehrman, Biology, had the article “Frequency-Dependent Selection as Expressed in the Rare Male Mating Advantages” published in Brenner’s Linda Bastone, Psychology, was presented with the Friend of EOP/MAP Encyclopedia of Genetics. In addition, Genetics, Environment, and Behavior: Award at the fall EOP/MAP (Educational Opportunity Program/Merit Implications for Educational Policy, a textbook co-authored by Ehrman in Access Program) town meeting. 1972, was selected as one of 100 books (out of 60,000 candidates) to be Michael Bell-Smith and Sara Magenheimer, New Media, received a Triple reprinted by Elsevier Publishers’ Legacy Series. Canopy commission for 2013 for their performance-based collaboration Geoffrey Field, History, commented on three papers about the British cul- (with Ben Vida) under the name Bloopers#0. The commission resulted in a tural memory of the Second World War at the annual meeting of the collaborative performance in November as part of the 2013 Performa North American Conference on British Studies, held in November in Performance Art Biennial. Portland, OR. The paperback edition of his book Blood, Sweat, and Toil: Laura Chmielewski contributed the essay “Pierre Biard: Jesuit and Pirate Remaking the British Working Class, 1939–45, winner of the 2012 Morris D. of Mount Desert Island” to Atlantic Biographies: Individuals and Peoples in Forkosch Prize, was released in December 2013. the Atlantic World. Tara George, Journalism, published the article “Freedom Fighter: A New Suzanne Clerkin, Psychology, had an article published in the Sept. 1 issue Jersey Lawyer’s Quest for Justice” in New Jersey Monthly magazine in of the American Journal of Psychiatry: “Thalamo-Cortical Activation and November 2013. Connectivity during Response Preparation in Adults with Persistent and Aubrey Glazer, Jewish Studies and Philosophy, has a new paperback edi- Remitted ADHD.” tion of his latest book in the New Perspectives in Post-Rabbinic Judaism Stephen Cooke, Chemistry, received a $65,000 award from the Series, Mystical Vertigo: Contemporary Kabbalistic Hebrew Poetry Dancing Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical over the Divide.

PURCHASE | 3 PURSUITS/Faculty news & notes

Yanine Hess, Psychology, and Alison Ledgerwood (University of California, Kathleen McCormick, Literature and Pedagogy, had two pieces of nonfic- Davis) co-authored the paper “Bolstering System-Justifying Beliefs in tion accepted for publication: “In the Backseat of a Mustang Convertible Response to Social Exclusion,” which was published in the December on Memorial Day in the Rain,” by Superstition Review, and “Virginity: The 2013 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Group Processes & Intergroup Bible, the Beatles, and Bubblegum,” by A River and Sound Review. She Relations. also published a short story, “Mrs. Daley’s Diamond,” in Crack in the Spine. Matthew Immergut, Sociology, had an article, “Death at Diamond Joe McKay, New Media, had two Mountain: Research Dilemmas when a New Religious Movement Becomes interactive installations, Light Wave a Cult,” published in the journal Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and and Tweetagraph, in the exhibition Emergent Religions. He also published “A Sociology of No-Self: Applying MoMA Studio: Sound in Space from Buddhist Social Theory to Symbolic Interaction” in the journal Symbolic Oct. 3 through Nov. 24, in conjunction Interaction. with the Museum of Modern Art exhibition Soundings: A Contemporary Chrys Ingraham, Sociology, joined the editorial board of the Italian series Score. Liminalia, producing scholarly works in “marginal, intersectional, and Joe McKay interstitial” social theory. Jeanine Meyer, Mathematics/ Computer Science and New Media, is a featured reviewer for Computing Reviews, which recently published her reviews of two papers. Jared Kirby, Physical Education, achieved the rank of provost through the Martinez Academy of Arms in November 2013. Kirby’s third book, A Lisa Jean Moore, Sociology and Gentleman’s Guide to Duelling: Of Honour and Honourable Quarrels, was Gender Studies, and Mary Kosut, released internationally in November 2013. Media, Society, and the Arts, released a new book, Buzz: Urban Beekeeping and the Power of the Bee, in September 2013. Moore co-authored a paper with Mari Kate Mycek ’12, “Body Image, Lisa Jean Moore Gender and Food,” for the Jared Kirby Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. She also co-wrote, with Marianna Grady ’12, a chapter, “Putting ‘Daddy’ in the Cart: Ordering Sperm Online,” in Reframing Reproduction: Conceiving Mary Kosut, Media, Society, and the Arts, and artist Mike Schreiber Gendered Experiences. curated a two-person exhibition, The Decomposers, featuring work by Joel Morrison and Michael Welsh, which ran from Nov. 15 through Dec. 7 at Nontsikelelo Mutiti, New Media, co-produced an installation exhibition, the Group Club Association in Brooklyn. Kumusha (which is the Shona word for “home”), at the Zimbabwe Cultural Centre of Detroit from Sept. 14 through Oct. 19. It was produced in Susan G. Letcher, Environmental Studies, presented an invited paper, collaboration with Chido Johnson (Detroit) and Kumbulani Zamuchiya “Seed Dispersal Syndromes of Liana Communities in Tropical Secondary (Zimbabwe). Forest,” as part of the symposium “Endure or Perish! Functrional Ecology in Changing Tropical Landscapes,” organized by Julieta Benitez-Malvido, at the 50th anniversary meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in San José, Costa Rica, in June. Professors Break Into National Media

Martin Lewinter, Mathematics/Computer Science, organized “Graph Assistant Professor of Arts Management Jeff Taylor appeared on Theory Day 66,” a regional mathematics conference hosted this year by the CBS News program 60 Minutes on Sunday, February 23, 2014, Purchase College, on Nov. 9. One of the featured speakers, Anthony to talk about master forger Wolfgang Beltracchi. Arts management Delgado ’10, is a current lecturer at Purchase. senior Laura Germaine helped 60 Minutes fact-check the piece. Catherine Lewis, Creative Writing, had her new Assistant Professor of Art+Design Christopher Robbins was recent- book, Thrice-Told Tales: Three Mice Full of ly featured on the first episode of a new PBS digital documentary Writing Advice, released in August 2013. Lewis series called The Art Assignment. The show takes viewers around also had a short story published in the journal the U.S. to meet working artists and solicit assignments from them Bellevue Literary Review and an essay in Creative that anyone can complete. View the episodes on The Art Nonfiction + Art. Assignment’s YouTube channel. Sara Magenheimer, New Media, recently per- Warren Lehrer, professor formed in Prague at Meet Factory as part of the of graphic design in the exhibition After the Future. She participated School of Art+Design, was with Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade in featured on NPR’s Studio their “Recess Residency”; performed in the Catherine Lewis 360 with Kurt Andersen Performa 13 Biennial; and was selected by last November to discuss Blouin Art Info and Modern Painters his book, A Life in Books: magazine as one of the top 25 artists to watch in 2014. The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley. (See more about Mary Ellen Marks, Humanities, published two reviews in the magazine Lehrer and A Life in Books The Hook: “Pier 701: A Treat for the Senses” (September/October 2013), on page 18.) and “Two Spear Street: An Unhurried Place to Dine” (November/ December 2013).

PURCHASE | 4 PURSUITS/Faculty news & notes

also selected to be a member of the Association of American Colleges and Work by New Media Professor Steve Universities’ first cohort of STIRS Scholars. Lambert on View in Times Square Liza G. Steele, Sociology, and Scott M. Lynch (Princeton University) published “The Pursuit of Happiness in China: Individualism, Collectivism, An interactive work, Capitalism Works for Me, by Assistant and Subjective Well-Being during China’s Economic and Social Professor of New Media Steve Lambert was on view in Times Transformation” in Social Indicators Research in 2013. Square in New York City, Sept. 20–Oct. 9, 2013. Lambert has Hakan Topal, New Media and Art+Design, was one of the conference been dubbed everything from “provocateur” to “cultural critic” organizers for the “Talk Turkey Conference: Re-thinking Life since Gezi” to “loose cannon,” but most agree his work is original, radical, at the New School for Social Research in October. Topal also participated and successful in in the Radio Materiality project for the Athens Biennial. spurring ideas and action. He couples a wry sense of humor with SCHOOL OF LIBERAL STUDIES & pointed commentary to create works of art that CONTINUING EDUCATION address economics, Colleen Duffy was appointed this past January by Governor Andrew M. politics, activism, and Cuomo to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Second Judicial culture. Department, of New York State. The Second Department encompasses a ten-county area that includes three New York City boroughs, Long Island, and the southern Hudson Valley. Justice Duffy began her judicial career in 1998 in the Mount Vernon City Court. Judith Dupré, Liberal Studies, published a revised and updated version of her 1996 book Skyscrapers: A History of the World’s Most Extraordinary Gaura Narayan, Literature, wrote “Imperiled Women and Chivalrous Men Buildings; it was released by Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers in in Colonial India, 1757–1857,” which was accepted for South Asian November. This edition of her best-seller has 15 new essays. Review’s special issue “Gender and Sexuality in South Asian Literature and Culture.” Narayan also presented “Ayah Un-homed: Sexual Subjugation and Silence in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Cracking India” at the Modern Language Association of America’s annual conference. Jason Pine, Anthropology and Media, Society, and the Arts, delivered a lecture at the literary festival Salerno Letteratura, drawing from his book The Art of Making Do in Naples. He served as a panelist in the discussion “Low Is the New High, or, Trash! Goes the Establishment” at the Salon Suisse at the Venice Biennale in September. Pine’s research on meth cooking was the subject of an article published in the New Republic in December 2013. Lorraine Plourde, Media, Society, and the Arts, published “Distraction, Noise, and Ambient Sounds in Tokyo” in the edited volume Sound, Space, and Sociality in Modern Japan (August 2013). She also presented a paper, “The Optron: Light, Noise, and Design Noir in Tokyo,” in October 2013 at the annual conference of the Association for Japanese Literary Studies in Chicago. Jared Russell, Philosophy, published “L’effet c’est toi: Projective In Memoriam: Peter Ohring Identification from Nietzsche to Klein,” in the Winter 2013 issue of On Wednesday, January 29, 2014, the American Imago. Purchase College community gathered Alexis Silver, Sociology, presented a paper, “Navigating Membership at with friends and family of Peter Ohring to the State and Federal Levels: A Comparative Two-State Study of 1.5 celebrate his life and career. Ohring passed Generation Young Adults” (co-written with Kara Cebulko of Providence away unexpectedly on November 9, 2013. College), at the “Illegality, Youth, and Belonging” conference in October He had been associate professor of 2013 at Harvard University. mathematics/computer science and new media at the time of his passing. A beloved Karen Singer-Freeman and Linda Bastone, Psychology, are the project colleague and professor, he was directors for the Association of American Colleges’ Bringing Theory remembered for his dedication to the to Practice Category II Grant of $20,000 to fund “Social Action Learning students, for his fidelity to Purchase Communities for Transfer Students.” The professors also co-presented College, and for the homemade cookies he brought to meetings. “Collect, Select, and Reflect: E-Portfolios Enhance Summer Research Ohring leaves a wife, Mary, two children, his parents, and two Program for Community College Students” in a workshop on Oct. 11 at brothers. Plans are under way to establish a scholarship in his name the State University of New York STEM Conference in Albany. Singer- for students who reflect Ohring’s commitment to Purchase College Freeman is a co-investigator on Lisa Dierker’s National Science and match his integrity and ethics. Foundation Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics grant ($599,993). She was

PURCHASE | 5 With the craft expanding by leaps and bounds with multimedia—digital, instant, social, free-channel, interactive, and automated—filmmaking at Purchase remains an expression of choice, and a choice of expression. From its start in the early 1970s (then a section of the college’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film) to its incarnation as a major program in the School of Film and Media Studies, the study of film and filmmaking at Purchase is as strongly tied to its core as the bricks and mortar of the campus itself.

THE FILM MAKERS By Kristi McKee

know why I’m on this planet. Do not get in my way,” warns Charlotte Glynn ’02, with a laugh—only she’s not kidding as she recalls the attitude that got her through the film program at Purchase, and beyond. “Beyond” includes a trip to Park City, UT, in January 2013, where her short film, The Immaculate Reception, was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. One of 66 selected from 8,161 submitted, Glynn’s short had a 0.8 percent chance of inclusion. Filmmaking remains a popular choice of expression despite its inherent challenges. Amid fierce competition in an industry where financial success is far from guaranteed, Purchase College alumni routinely forge ahead with sheer grit and determination while remaining true to their passion and voice. First introduced in the early 1970s under the Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film umbrella, the film program shifted in 2009 to its current incarnation as a major program in the newly created School of Film and Media Studies to reflect the growing conver- gence of all forms of media that shape contemporary life. Still, the study of film and filmmaking at Purchase—its mission and culture—has remained largely unchanged since the program’s inception. The members of the impressive roster of professionally successful faculty over the years have roundly endorsed the program’s model: build a solid foundation in the historical and theo- retical, put a camera in students’ hands in the first semester of freshman year, and totally immerse them in a rigorous exploration of all aspects of filmmaking akin to boot camp—all the while offer- Charlotte Glynn ‘02 ing total artistic freedom. Through seismic industry shifts and technological advances unimaginable forty years ago, the program’s basic premise remains intact: transform aspiring filmmakers into artists who make films. Much has been written about a cadre of breakout filmmakers who graduated from the Purchase film program in the 1980s: Hal Hartley ’84, Nick Gomez ’88, and Bob Gosse ’86. They collaborated at the illustrious production company the Shooting Gallery, which rose from Purchase roots in the late 1990s; its subsequent demise in the early 2000s is well documented in a film by Whitney Ransick ’87, Misfire: The Rise and Fall of the Shooting Gallery.

PURCHASE | 6 Paul Kmiec ’14 stands below the marquee at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, where his junior film The Magi won Best Narrative Short; Kmiec on location.

THE FILM MAKERS

There’s also Chris Wedge ’81, who co-founded Blue Sky Studios— documentary Are We Not Men? about the band DEVO, directed by the maker of many animated megahits such as the Ice Age series, Tony Pemberton ’90. Rio, and Horton Hears a Who—and gained global notice for develop- Like most of the students entering the film program today, Glynn ing innovative CGI animation techniques. was convinced at an early age—12—that she wanted to be a film- Purchase filmmakers continue to garner critical acclaim, break maker. Her mother was writing a screenplay on civil rights worker boundaries, and expand the cultural dialogue. The film story Fanny Lou Hamer and enlisted her tween daughter, bored to tears includes many names, some familiar and some not—yet. For a pro- during a summer trip to Maine, to do research. “I knew then that I gram that has graduated only around 600 people in its 40-year his- wanted to be a director. I really didn’t know what it meant to be a tory—a figure comparable to the number an esteemed private film director; I just knew they’re the ones who tell everybody what to school might churn out in just a few years—Purchase has unleashed do and tell these stories.” an impressive cohort of filmmakers who fight to make their mark Although she was accepted into several programs, Glynn says she and have their voices heard. knew immediately that Purchase was for her. “Iris ‘got’ my films and talked to me like a filmmaker; there was a lot of respect. I think there’s this sort of scrappiness to the program that really MAKING THE CUT speaks to me and the way I want to make movies.” The genesis of the film program at Purchase can be traced back to With an MFA in screenwriting/directing from Columbia, Glynn is the late Willard Van Dyke, formerly the director of the department now back at Purchase teaching a film workshop for freshmen. of film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Tapped as the first chair of the department in 1974, he articulated the model According to director, editor, producer, and Oscar winner Chuck and objectives still followed today. All students graduate not only Workman, an associate professor and the head of the film as originators—writers and directors—but with proficiency in all program, “The ones we like—the ones we invite into the program— areas of production. are all deadly serious about it.” Structured as a true conservatory, until the mid-1990s the program During his admissions interview four admitted only 15 of the roughly 400 students who applied to the years ago, Paul Kmiec ’14 says, he program each year. Since then, the classes have grown to see realized instantly that the film pro- about 20 graduates annually. gram is for people like him who are “severe about their love for their Each year, faculty put about 80 prospective students through a art.” An aspiring writer/director sieve of personal, onsite interviews, where only the most serious with an urge to explore the univer- make it through. Professor Iris Cahn ’76 explains, “I do think sal human spiritual impulse in his there’s some kind of unifying force in the kids we select. We’re not films, he explains, “I used to give interested in the ones who can’t remember the last book they read, tours, and I would say to prospec- or don’t have an issue, or don’t have a film they want to make burn- tive students, ‘Do not come here if ing inside them. We’re trying to change messages; we’re trying to you’re looking for a hobby. produce filmmakers who introduce the unheard into the dialogue.” Filmmaking has to be your necessi- Cahn, a member of the first graduating class in film, was chair of ty.’ This program is exhausting; it’s the program from the late 1990s through 2009, and is an award- depleting. That’s not being nega- Chuck Workman winning editor herself. She recently edited the highly anticipated tive, that’s singing its praises.”

PURCHASE | 7 ALUMNI NAMES TO KNOW

According to the most recent chologically riveting films figures available, nearly 85 such as Desolation Angels, percent of film program grad- Revolution #9, and Another uates hold positions related Zero in the System. He’s cur- in some way to the film or rently on sabbatical from television industries. Many teaching at Purchase. alumni become craftspeople, Larry O’Neil ’90, a visiting Pete Beaudreau ’97 or “the backbone of the assistant professor of film, industry,” as Iris Cahn refers directed the HBO original film to them, while others wind up Breast Men and was producer in film organizations. on Tim McCann’s films Zero in Pete Beaudreau ’97 edited the System and Nowhere Man. the recent film All Is Lost, star- David Rogow ’78 remembers ring Robert Redford. Cahn hearing about Purchase from calls it an editing tour de someone who picked him up force: “You’re making a movie hitchhiking. “At my interview, with one boat, one actor, and I argued with the department one ocean.” chair, Willard Van Dyke. I Ron Fortunato ’77, a cinema- remember telling him that I tographer for both television had probably watched more and movies, has worked with cinema than he had. For some Tim McCann ’87 such legendary directors as reason, they let me in,” he Lasse Hallström and the late recalls. He’s held numerous Sidney Lumet. In 1997, he editing roles on studio fea- Ron Fortunato ’77 won a European Film Award tures such as Saving Mr. and a Plus Camerimage Silver Banks, The Blind Side, and Frog Award for his work on Chicago. the acclaimed film Nil by William (Billy) Sarokin ’75–’76 Mouth, Gary Oldman’s debut is a bit of a legend in sound as writer and director. mixing. He’s worked on a long

Sam Jaffe ’09 was assistant list of documentary films, TV David Rogow ’78 editor on the critically series, and features such as acclaimed feature The Place The Dictator, Sex and the City, beyond the Pines by writer/ Munich, and Big Night. He director Derek Cianfrance, credits the lessons learned and additional editor on I here as his “link between dab- Origins, director Mike Cahill’s bling in film and being a professional.” In 2011, he feature, which won the Alfred Sam Jaffe ’09 P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at received an Oscar nomination William (Billy) Sarokin ’75–’76 Sundance this year. for his work on Salt, starring Angelina Jolie and Liev Lesli Klainburg ’85, a docu- Schreiber. mentary filmmaker, was just named the fifth executive David Schwartz ’84 is chief director of the Film Society curator of the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. of Lincoln Center. Jackeline Tejada ’06 is assis- Lesli Klainburg ’85 Gregory David Lawson ’10 is a tant editor on the television critic for Film Comment maga- series Blue Bloods and also zine. served in that role on feature Tim McCann ’87 has earned a films such as Cadillac Records reputation as an uncompro- and Capitalism: A Love Story. mising, maverick filmmaker “Because of Purchase, I was who’s highly critical of already used to working long Hollywood’s film output. He’s hours, meeting insane dead- Abel Ferrara ’74 won numerous awards for his lines, and laboring over a dark, provocative, and psy- project meticulously.” Jackeline Tejada ‘06

PURCHASE | 8 style and series of concerns,’ and this was long before I knew he went to Purchase in the ’90s.” (Ferrara, a quintessential gritty New York independent filmmaker, has made many cult classics, such as Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel.) Harris is a filmmaker as well as a prolific writer and critic. He’s a contributing editor for Filmmaker magazine and has had stories published in Variety, Hammer to Nail, and N+1. “Greg Taylor [professor of cinema studies and now director of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts] taught me so much about writing, and film history, and literature, and about art beyond film. I Mattson Tomlin ‘12 think he’s the sole reason I have so many of the skills that I do,” says Harris. “I don’t Already a Purchase success story, Kmiec submitted his short narra- think I would be an editor at Filmmaker magazine without that tive The Magi—his junior film—to two festivals, and it won Best grounding.” Narrative Short at the Santa Cruz Film Festival last fall. He adds, “Our program has the reputation for producing filmmak- Mattson Tomlin ’12, a sharply focused filmmaker whose interest in ers who may not be the most polished from a technical standpoint, psychological perspective makes for haunting films, came to but who all come to making a movie with a strong sense of the Purchase for one thing. “I wanted total immersion. I wanted a place idiom that undergirds the film.” that was going to give me a really stimulating environment—chal- Ilya Chaiken ’95 remembers cinema studies well. “Tom Gunning lenge me—and not get in the way of what I wanted to do,” he says. taught the most captivating film history classes ever. We all still Tomlin is currently enrolled in the writer/director program at the wish we were sitting in the Choral Hall watching movies with him,” prestigious American Film Institute (AFI), with plans to graduate in she recalls. May 2014. Margarita Happy Hour, the first feature Chaiken wrote and directed, premiered at Sundance in 2001. She returned to Sundance in 2004 with a comedic short called The 100 Lovers of Jesus Reynolds, and THE SET-UP her second feature, Liberty Kid, won Best Feature at the New York A unique feature of the film program at Purchase is the amount of International Latino Film Festival in 2007. She’s currently trans- cinema studies work required. This emphasis on history and aes- forming her keenly funny Web series The Unlovables into a feature thetics has been a hallmark since the program’s inception. “We film, as well as developing a couple of feature scripts and an ani- take it very seriously. We want people making films who have been mated Web series. informed by the formal work of theoreticians and historians,” Cahn explains. Film historian Tom Gunning was one of the first professors to teach film history in the program. He believes the immersion in history and aesthetics is Purchase’s greatest strength—revealing its commitment to having theory inform practice. Gunning now teaches at the University of Chicago. “We are striving here to create an atmo- sphere that Purchase can take for granted,” he says. In the summer of 1998, Brandon Harris ’06 watched The Funeral, made by Abel Ilya Chaiken ‘95 Ferrara ’74, and first considered what it means to be a direc- “Greg Taylor taught me so much about writing, and tor. “It jumped out in film history, and literature, and about art beyond my mind, ‘Wow, someone directed this, film. I think he’s the sole reason I have so many of Brandon Harris ‘06 and this director has the skills that I do.” his own particular —Brandon Harris ‘06

PURCHASE | 9 she asked for checks. She tells her students what it was like to raise capital before the emergence of online crowd-funding sites: “It was embarrassing and scary. It was really hard and lonely and it felt bad. It sucked.” Now she’s using the tools available online. “Kickstarter is the best thing ever,” she says. Rachel Is was screened internationally and won best documentary at the Thin Line Documentary Film Festival and the Athens International Film Festival. Tomlin was an early adopter of the crowd-funding sites. “My time outside the arts at Purchase was studying marketing and history. Through the viral marketing and, later, social media marketing classes that began, I learned how to raise what has accumulated into $50,000 for film projects,” he says. He credits his early Kickstarter campaign, as well as the assistance of his graduating Iris Cahn ’76 class, as critical components in the completion of his feature film Solomon Grundy. At AFI, he’s working on Persuasion, a film about a father facing dif- ROUGHING IT ficulty parenting his young son, whose burgeoning power of per- Harris wrote and directed his first feature, Redlegs, in 2012, a film suasion is growing out of control. made on a micro-budget that he compares to “the cost of a new, but not terribly classy, sedan. A FILM MUST HAVE AN AUDIENCE “We have fights, we have cars, we have guns. It doesn’t feel like a lot of $30,000 movies, but that came at a cost—real subterfuge, The New York Times reviewed nearly 900 movies that were released and deceit, and planning. Begging forgiveness instead of asking in 2013, which represents a small fraction of the films actually permission. Those are things you have to actually learn—how to made. Sundance received 325 feature film submissions in 1994. In make something effectively on a low budget. It’s always been part 2014, it received 4,057 and screened only 118, or about 3 percent. of the ethos of what you get from this program,” Harris believes. That ethos is sure to continue now that he’s returned to Purchase Harris often writes about the intersection of film and economics to teach Senior Production: Filmmaking. and offers his perspective on the industry. “So it’s supply and demand. Clearly, there’s so much supply that the value of all these Of the best film programs in the U.S., only a scant few are found at movies just completely flattens out and dissipates, except for the public institutions. Purchase College offers undeniable advantages: big hits—the Supermans and Star Wars…the recycled, regurgitated conservatory training at the cost of a state school, with access and narratives,” he says. exposure to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Once the values drop, distributors spend less, leaving a smaller- Cahn says she loves the egalitarian nature of Purchase. “There’s than-ever slice of the financial pie for those people in “above-the- something wonderful about the fact that state schools are accessi- line” positions such as writers, producers, and directors, who aren’t ble—affordable—to a far larger group of kids than private institu- paid a day rate to make the films. tions,” she says. Like other faculty members, Cahn notes that Purchase tends to draw the resourceful and crafty students— “So what that really means is that independent film for the people “students with an intense work ethic who don’t mind staying up all who do above-the-line work is no longer a middle-class job,” Harris night in the freezing cold to help one another on a shoot.” explains. According to Workman, “We get a tremendously rich mix of stu- Even when films do find audiences, the financial rewards some- dents. These are very different kids, in terms of their backgrounds, times fall below expectations. Glynn was thrilled to hear that her but we find that they want to help each other. I don’t think we have documentary Rachel Is will air nationally on PBS. The amount she as many dilettantes, those passing through a film program until they was paid for it, though—$4,000—left her a bit disheartened. “When do something else, because they’re not necessarily the rich kids.” my distributor told me that, I thought I misunderstood him. It’s great that we’re finally getting the film shown to a U.S. audience, The need to secure financing is a reality in filmmaking and proves but the film represents the work of my twenties. So that’s the to be a daunting task for many artists. Glynn raised money for her world that we live in. I don’t really understand….” She trails off. first feature, a critically acclaimed documentary about her develop- mentally disabled sister called Rachel Is, the old-fashioned way: Chaiken agrees there’s an industry-wide problem. “Since I made my first feature on Super 16 mm, which we shot in 1999, the advent of new digital technology has made it so much cheaper and more accessible to so many more people, which is great. But the down- side is that the glut of smaller films has made it hard for many filmmakers to get attention, and if they do, they are not expected to make their money back or gain any income from their product.” The goal shared by all filmmakers—admittedly an obvious one—is that they want their movies to be seen. Glynn is buoyed by the validation she gets from an increased audience. “I want people to see my movies. It just makes it easier to live when it’s not all uphill.” Her next film, Inside Out, explores the rela-

PURCHASE | 10 tionship between a father and daughter when the daughter, an aspiring gymnast, suffers a career-ending injury. “I would love to go back to Sundance and have my movie shown in theaters. And I would love to be able to shoot it on film” (instead of videotape), Glynn says. A PURCHASE TRAILER: AZAZEL JACOBS ’94 Chaiken hopes her own goal is an attainable one. “I would like to Writer/director Azazel Jacobs’s film education began long before be making a decent living making good film or television without he attended Purchase. His father is Ken Jacobs, a renowned having to hustle as if I’m still in college!” experimental filmmaker. The younger Jacobs is routinely lauded as an extraordinary and unique voice in independent film— making lists such as Filmmaker A SEQUEL magazine’s “25 Faces of The urge to tell stories is a basic human instinct, and artists will Independent Film” in 2007, seek to use film to tell those stories, regardless of the pitfalls com- MovieMaker magazine’s “Ten merce presents. “Unless humans change very much, creative aspira- Directors to Watch” in 2008, and tion is going to be the same,” says Cahn. But she warns, “You have Cinemascope’s “50 Best Filmmakers Under 50” in 2012. to really want to do it. It’s hard enough to be an artist. Maybe the He recently ventured into world could use a doctor or a subway worker. Maybe it doesn’t television with a faux reality need another person to make Spiderman 7.” Azazel Jacobs with actress series that he co-wrote and Emily Mortimer and cinematographer The film program’s message for Purchase students has been simple, directed called Doll & Em, which Tobias Datum on set of Doll & Em. straightforward, and continuous since the 1970s: make movies. premiered in the U.S. on HBO Photo: MISCHA RICHTER According to Glynn, “You make the movies that you want to make. last March. That’s the entire premise of the class that I teach. What is the story His first ambition, to become a cartoonist, was derailed when you want to tell and how do you articulate that story?” Cooper Union rejected him. He came to Purchase thinking he would just stay for a year and reapply to Cooper, but a couple of Workman’s advice: “I tell them to make the movie with no expecta- months into the program, he was here to stay. Cooper Union’s loss tions, but make the movie. And I want to tell them that cream rises is clearly Purchase’s gain. He answered some questions via email. to the top, but I’m not always sure that’s true. It’s very hard.” He PC: Is it possible to characterize the type of filmmaker that Purchase adds, “Just follow your own ideas and make the film that you want seems to generate? Are there any hallmarks of Purchase film grads, in to make. David Lynch made a very strange film [Eraserhead], but your opinion? Mel Brooks saw it, and hired him to direct The Elephant Man. You never know. That’s how that stuff works.” AJ: At our base, even when it seems impossible, or that no one is interested, we figure out ways to cobble together what we want, Tomlin has nothing but confidence about his future after AFI. “I what we feel we must. At least with the people I am still in touch moved to Los Angeles to make movies that people will actually with, they all hold art above rent. see—so in ten years, I hope to see you watching this body of films PC: What did you take away from the foundation in filmmaking and television that will start to grow in earnest this summer.” received here that’s had the most lasting impact on you professionally? He finds satisfaction in his oeuvre so far. “At the very least, I can AJ: “What did I have to say?” I felt this question was asked of me say that each film has explored very different territory while still over and over again until I could not evade it. Through staying true to my perspective. If you remove the ‘Directed by’ title assignments, conversations, screenings, and really living film, we card, you can always tell which film is mine.” were asked what was driving us and then given the skills to express it. Now, having that answer, not so much in words but in intentions Therein lies the key. From Abel Ferrara to Hal Hartley to Azazel and aims, it continues to guide my way. Jacobs, Purchase has a track record of grooming clever artists PC: You said in an interview, “What I want is for people to see that my unique in their approaches and idiosyncratic in their voices. movies were made by the same person, but never that they’re saying Purchase filmmakers might just be perfectly poised to rise above the same thing.” So how would you define or describe what Azazel the din. You never know. Jacobs films have in common? Editor’s note: This article serves to paint a picture of the film program from multiple AJ: The same thing I would say about everyone: that we are perspectives, but given the constraints of space and time, we could not possibly include individuals, and that even if our left eye and right are close to each all those who have met with success. Send in your news to [email protected] so we can consider you for future features. other, even in ourselves we are seeing different things, putting it together as best we can. I want to respect that. I’m hoping to speak the way I want to be spoken to. PC: Are there any aspects of making films that you still find Hal Hartley ’84 returned to challenging? Purchase in April to shoot Ned AJ: Yes, of course. If I ever feel otherwise, it’s a sure bet my films Rifle, the third film in his trilogy will suck. that began with Henry Fool— PC: What’s your next project? winner of Best Screenplay and nominated for Palme d’Or at AJ: It’s a film about some people that I don’t know, living in a place Cannes in 1998—and continued I don’t. It’s got me worried in a good way; I’m driven to find my with Fay Grim in 2006. All three way in. films star Parker Posey, who also attended Purchase in the 1980s.

PURCHASE | 11 SETTING SUSTAINABILITY

STANDARDS A giant network of pipes, part of $11 million upgrade to the campus’s cooling and ventilation system, located in the Student Services Building basement. The structures carry coolant for the air that circulates through the Purchase air-conditioning system By David McKay Wilson during the warm days of spring and summer.

Sustainability Projects The campus is in the midst of several other sustainability projects. While The Rocket reduces food waste, the college’s electronic- o glimpse the future of sustainability at waste program with ARC of Rockland makes sure that parts of T Purchase College, wander behind Campus obsolete computer equipment are recycled, and an arrangement with Staples allows recycling of inkjet toners and cartridges. Paper Center North (CCN), where a high-tech device called waste has been reduced too. In 2013, the amount of waste per The Rocket is turning food scraps and coffee grounds employee dropped 14 percent to 912 pounds, says Thomas Kelly, into nutrient-rich soil for college gardens. the college’s senior energy manager, who arrived on campus in May 2013. The composting machine, installed this winter, is part of the Construction is proceeding on the extensive renovation of the campus-wide dedication to environmental awareness, specifically Durst Humanities Building, which, when it reopens in 2015, will waste reduction. In its start-up phase, the composting operation receive silver-level certification under the U.S. Green Building will receive food waste from the Hub’s cafeteria and coffee Council’s LEED program. LEED buildings incorporate several grounds from the campus Starbucks. sustainability principles, including energy efficiency and The project is funded through the college’s “Green Fee,” with a environmentally conscious design. sustainability committee composed of students, faculty, and staff “Fifty percent of the LEED credits focus on the indoor environ- deciding how the funds are allocated. This spring, the soil pro- mental quality of the Durst Humanities Building. The building duced by The Rocket will be used in the gardens behind the Dance will be constructed using recycled materials and will use products Building, where students grow vegetables in raised beds. In the that give off few or no emissions,” says Kelly. future, the composted material could be packaged and sold. Kelly is also looking at the feasibility of installing renewable energy “The Rocket is part of a bigger vision of sustainability on campus,” according to Matthew Immergut, assistant professor of sociology systems on campus, including solar carports in the W-1 and W-2 and co-chair of the Purchase Sustainability Committee. “In any parking lots, which can handle up to 1,700 cars. The parking-lot sustainability program, you need to close the loop. And now, system would produce up to 4.2 megawatts of power. Another instead of throwing the food away, we’re composting it, and option for a solar project would be located at the Humanities and closing the loop.” Physical Education Buildings; it could generate up to 600 kilowatts of power. Environmental studies major Anna Palmer ’15 serves as the project’s “compost master,” collecting food waste from the Hub food “We’d use the energy that we’d be generating,” Kelly says. “And it court in CCN and Starbucks and transporting it to the facility on would help us reduce the campus’s carbon footprint.” a cargo bike. The compost operation will provide fodder for the curriculum in classes from environmental science and chemistry to Environmental Policy sociology and new media. Brooke Singer, associate professor of Purchase’s sustainability effort has been touted as a model for new media, will have students in her Information Aesthetics class other State University of New York (SUNY) campuses. In January, design ways to clarify visually how the process works. the president of Purchase College, Thomas J. Schwarz, was joined “By building a graphic interface, students can visualize the live data by top executives from the New York Power Authority (NYPA) at stream from the composter to show how much food is being pro- the Student Services Building to announce the college’s participa- cessed,” she says. tion in a statewide effort within the SUNY system, in partnership

PURCHASE | 12

Anna Palmer ‘15 and “The Rocket,” a high-tech device that turns food scraps and coffee grounds into nutrient-rich soil for college gardens.

NYPA event at Purchase (L to R): Tim Killeen, president of the Research Foundation; Thomas J. Schwarz, president, Located in the basement of the Student Services Purchase College; and Gil Quiniones, NYPA Building, 12 enormous containers store ice that is president and CEO. (Photo: NYPA) produced at night when energy is less expensive.

The system will produce 30 percent more cooling while reducing with NYPA, to cut energy-use intensity by 20 percent. The energy consumption by more than 30 percent. “We’re doing more projects aim to reduce SUNY’s 1,997 metric tons of carbon with less, and in a more sophisticated way,” said Quiniones. dioxide emissions.

Schwarz, who was among the 152 original signers of the American Energy Projects College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2007, says that Purchase’s continuing efforts are making the campus Heading up Purchase College’s sustainability effort is Kelly, more sustainable while also saving money. To date, 679 college who joined the college’s facilities management team last year presidents have signed the pledge, which has put higher education to identify and develop efficiencies across the 505-acre campus, in the forefront of sustainability efforts across the nation. This with 48 buildings that house 2.3 million square feet of interior investment—by both public and private institutions—has helped space to be heated and cooled. Using the 2010–11 school year as create a stronger market for the energy-conservation industry. a baseline, facilities personnel drew up an energy master plan in association with NYPA, which details where the university will get “We’re getting to the point where we now have a world-class the most bang for its sustainability buck to help it reach the state system,” says Schwarz. goal of a 20 percent reduction in energy-use intensity. Combined, the 64 SUNY campuses consume about 40 percent of New heating and air-conditioning systems in the academic build- the state government’s energy total, according to NYPA president ings will save an estimated $500,000 a year in energy costs, while a and CEO Gil Quiniones. The state government has set a goal to cut green roof atop the Visual Arts Building will save 10 percent in such energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020, as part of Governor costs during the hot summer months. Several other “cool roofs” Andrew Cuomo’s Build Smart initiative. NYPA’s investment in around campus will cut costs as well. energy efficiency at Purchase was part of the nearly $80 million in energy projects undertaken by NYPA on SUNY campuses last year. Electric-demand meters were installed in 38 academic and residen- tial buildings, providing college officials more tools in their conser- The Purchase projects in 2013 cost about $22 million. vation campaign on a building-by-building basis, giving them the Speaking to an audience of students, faculty, administrators, ability to manage energy consumption better during peak and off- executives, and media representatives at the January event, peak hours. Quiniones said, “Based on what’s happening at Purchase, I’m Other projects in the master plan include a building management confident we will succeed.” system that will allow remote control of air-conditioning, heating, Quiniones was particularly excited about the $11 million project and lighting systems around the campus and a new cooling tower, that upgraded the campus’s 40-year-old cooling and ventilation which, it is estimated, will save close to $400,000 annually in ener- system with a state-of-the-art “chiller,” located in the Student gy and maintenance costs. Services Building basement, where 12 tanks store ice that is pro- Lighting systems can provide significant reductions in energy duced in the cavernous underground space. The ice will serve as a use and costs. In 2008, Kelly says, the college replaced more than coolant for the air that circulates through the Purchase air- 100 streetlights, which at the time featured a high-pressure sodium conditioning system during the warm days of spring and summer. system that used about 400 watts of power per lamp. They were replaced with metal halide lights, which use 150 or 250 watts of The system will make the ice at night—when energy rates are power. lower—and it will be used during the day, when the demand is high. Quiniones predicted that the new chiller system would produce Now Kelly is considering light-emitting-diode fixtures, called LEDs, annual savings of about $380,000. to replace indoor fluorescent bulbs. The LEDs would reduce energy use up to 60 percent, and they last longer. Fluorescents are good A $10-million system for heating and air conditioning at the for up to 20,000 hours, while LEDs can last 80,000 hours or more. college’s Neuberger Museum of Art was a key factor in the Another possibility: “induction” lighting, which lasts as long as museum’s reaccreditation by the American Association of LEDs and doesn’t cost as much. The induction systems, however, Museums. The system meets the strict humidity and temperature use mercury, which could present environmental concerns. standards designed to preserve the Neuberger’s world-renowned collection. The endeavor is also providing an estimated $90,000 a “There’s a fine line between what you can do and what you should year in energy savings. do,” Kelly says.

PURCHASE | 13 NewsBriefs

Michael Powell ‘78 Wins Prestigious George In her insightful article, “Pussy Riot: An Polk Award Under-the-Radar New York Times columnist Michael Powell ’78 (history) won a presti- Visit to Purchase,” gious George Polk Award for 2013. His winning story (“Jailed published Feb. 10, Unjustly in the Death of a Rabbi, Man Nears Freedom”) appeared in Manning says that a March 2013 edition of his Gotham column, which covers New York the Pussy Riot activ- politics and government. He shared the award for justice reporting ists have refocused with Frances Robles, Sharon Otterman, and N. R. Kleinfield for their attention on uncovering evidence that a Brooklyn homicide detective used false Russian prison confessions, tainted testimony, and coercive tactics to convict doz- reform since their ens of defendants. 21-month jail sen- Powell, a distinguished journalist for more than 25 years, shared a tences ended on Dec. 23, 2013. Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his New York Times coverage of Eliot Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Spitzer. Purchase College honored him in 2010 with the President’s The Purchase visit Award for Distinguished Alumni. occurred during a week in which the two young artists also appeared on The Colbert Report, made a speech at the annual Amnesty International concert Hettie Jones: Distinguished Chair in after being introduced by Madonna, and visited with New York Literature and the Arts City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio. The Royal and Shirley Durst Distinguished Lecture Series funded a spring 2014 Distinguished Chair in Literature and the Arts: Hettie Film Editor Tom Cross ’93 Wins Sundance Jones, poet, critic, and author of the acclaimed memoir How I Festival Awards Became Hettie Jones. Tom Cross ’93, BFA (visual Jones gave three public lectures; her audi- arts), is the editor of a ences encompassed students, faculty, staff, film that earned big wins and members of the surrounding communi- at the 2014 Sundance Film ty. In February, Jones presented “The New Festival. Whiplash won American Poetry—Bold, Belligerent, both the U.S. Grand Jury Beguiling: How the Beats Reclaimed the Prize: Dramatic and the American Voice and Gave Birth to the Audience Award: U.S. Spoken Word.” Her March lecture was Dramatic. Cross also edit- “Women Writing Change: Women Who ed the short film of the same name that preceded the full-length Hettie Jones Witnessed, Worked for, and Wrote about feature chosen for last year’s Sundance festival. the Changes That Defined the Last Half Century.” And in April, Jones presented “Memory Palace: All the The Boston Globe refers to Cross’ editing as “fantastic,” while Rooms Are All Your Own, or How I Wrote the Memoir How I Became IndieWire reports, “editor Tom Cross uses rapid cuts that make Hettie Jones.” watching a band practice as exciting as a high-speed car chase.” Each lecture was followed by a question-and-answer session with Student Designs Affordable 3D Printer with audience members. The Durst chair is supported by an endowment from the Durst family in memory of the late Shirley Durst, a long- Creative Business Strategy time supporter of Purchase College. Graphic design major/arts management minor Shai Schechter ’15, School of Art+Design, took the Purchase motto Think Wide Open to Pussy Riot Visits Purchase College a whole new level last fall. He found an innovative way to simplify and minimalize emerging 3-D printing technology to render it more Russian political activists Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria affordable. With a successful Kickstarter campaign, Schechter Alyokhina, who garnered fame as members of the Russian arts col- raised capital (more than $220,000) for the “Deltaprintr.” lective known as Pussy Riot, visited Purchase on Feb. 7, 2014, to meet with Suzanne Kessler, dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Enrolled in an introductory sculpture course two years ago, Sciences, who also serves as chair of the board for Rehabilitation Schechter was frustrated that Art+Design’s 3-D laser printer was through the Arts (RTA), an organization that brings innovative arts unavailable for budgetary reasons; a programs to five prisons in New York State. The Purchase College $500 bucket of powder could pro- meeting was arranged for the two world-famous Russian perfor- duce no more than two prints. mance artists and political activists to discuss prison conditions in Always a tinkerer, he already had a Russia and the United States with Dean Kessler and members of RTA. prototype in mind for a more afford- Although the meeting was not publicized or open to the press, able version. He proposed to instruc- Allee Manning ’14 (journalism and gender studies) was invited by tor Eric Wildrick that his version the journalism program to cover the event exclusively for the would allow all students access to the Purchase Beat, the college’s acclaimed music and arts magazine, as printer. It would not only cost less to well as the Purchase Phoenix, a separate digital publication. use, but be more efficient as well.

PURCHASE | 14 NewsBriefs

Wildrick, an assistant professor of Art+Design, encouraged him to The profile notes that Purchase has academically competitive and submit a proposal, for which Ravi Rajan, dean of the School of the nationally ranked programs in the liberal arts and sciences. Arts, granted him $1,000. Schecter built the printer during an inde- “Students also benefit from Purchase’s close proximity to America’s pendent study, with Wildrick as his sponsor. For Schechter, the largest and greatest city: New York. And, the school also offers a experience demonstrated the potential for 3-D printing in the edu- wide variety of study abroad programs for students who want to cational environment, prompting him to launch the Kickstarter enhance their education with the experience of another country.” campaign to bring his Deltaprintr to market. “One of the great benefits of being an artist is you get to look at the Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Names Purchase world from a different angle,” Schechter says. “It’s that angle that a Best Value has helped us launch this business with a creative spin on it—from Purchase College has once again been named one of Kiplinger’s designing the product to marketing it.” Personal Finance’s “100 Best Values in Public Colleges.” The 2014 list recognizes four-year schools that deliver a quality education at Purchase is Named Best Value by an affordable price. Princeton Review According to Kiplinger’s, Purchase made the list thanks to its high Purchase College is one of the nation’s “Best Value” colleges and four-year graduation rate, low average student debt at graduation, universities, according to the Princeton Review. The education ser- abundant financial aid, low sticker price, and overall great value. vices company profiles Purchase in its new book, The Best Value Colleges: 2014 Edition. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance also named Purchase to its list of “Top 30 Best Values in Small Colleges.” Purchase earned the number 9 The renowned college guide profiles 75 public and 75 private col- spot on the selection of the top ten public colleges in the category. leges designated by the Princeton Review as “Best Value” schools, based on the company’s surveys of 2,000 colleges and universities Purchase Opera in 2012–13. Receives Two In its profile of Purchase, the review’s editors say that the school’s NOA Awards for artistic and academic inclinations are both reflected in its motto: Think Wide Open. “Purchase College’s eccentric and artistic atmo- 2012–13 sphere is a big draw for students and faculty. Although the school In addition to public per- is not situated in a large city, the number of performing and cre- formances of opera ative artists on campus means ‘there’s always something going on,’ scenes, art-song eve- including nonstop concerts, plays, recitals, and art exhibits.” nings, solo recitals, and choral works, the Conservatory of Music’s A New More Card for 2014 voice and opera studies Purchase students, faculty, and staff will receive new campus program presents two ID numbers and new MoreCards beginning in the fall of 2014. operas a year—cast with Each card will include a proxy chip—a computer chip that will talented young opera students. These productions have been allow the cardholder to scan in different locations as scanners acclaimed for their inventiveness and high level of professional are installed around campus. Managed by the Purchase College quality, winning eight prestigious Best Opera of the Year Awards Association, the new MoreCard features a photo of the mall at from the National Opera Association (NOA), including a dual win sunset in the background. for 2012–13. The spring 2012 production of Die Fledermaus won first place in Division II, while the fall 2012 production of Hansel and Gretel won second place in Division III. According to Jacques Trussel, head of the department, “Our unique and groundbreaking program is virtually the only one on the eastern seaboard that offers opera productions performed predomi- nantly by undergraduates.” Each Purchase Opera production is a close collaboration with the college’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts—with designs and production executed by the theatre design/ technology program—as well as with the Conservatory of Music’s Purchase Symphony Orchestra. In November 2013, the Purchase Opera presented the German classic Hansel and Gretel. “Our approach to this opera was unique—with a dash of absurdity in the witches’ role—designed to appeal to the Cinema studies major Thomas DiCostanzo ‘15 (above) child in all of us,” says Trussel. “It’s an ideal introduction to opera captured a fall sunset on the for young people and a perennial favorite of seasoned opera fans.” mall. His photograph (right) One of the world’s most entertaining English-language operas—A will be used as the background on the new MoreCard. Midsummer Night’s Dream—was the featured production in March, with music composed by the acclaimed master Benjamin Britten and a libretto adapted from the Shakespeare play.

PURCHASE | 15 NewsBriefs

Student Work Makes Broadway Debut Chris Krasnow ’14 Wins Inaugural Experience Purchase College Conservatory Hendrix Guitar Competition of Music student Edward W. When Experience Hendrix LLC announced a guitar competition in Hardy ’14 composed the music 2013, thousands of musicians around the world responded. The for a new Off-Broadway show, stakes were high: a chance to win a performing slot on the 2014 The Woodsman, produced by Experience Hendrix tribute tour, along with cash and a slew of Strangemen & Co. and created by other prizes. The rules were simple. Entrants were asked to submit James Ortiz ’14. The show ran from videos that show themselves performing Hendrix tracks. Jan. 30 through Feb. 16, 2014. A team of esteemed Based on some forgotten writings judges, including Jimi’s by the author of The Wonderful sister Janie Hendrix, Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, The were looking for the Woodsman focuses on the story video that showed “the of the Tin Man. Nick Chopper is most Hendrix-like guitar a mortal, a woodsman who falls playing.” deeply in love with a beautiful The overall winner: young woman. Unbeknownst to Purchase College him, she is under the guardianship Conservatory of Music of a horrible sorceress—the Wicked Chris Krasnow ‘14 student Chris Krasnow Witch of the East. Will their love be ’14, who started playing enough to protect them from the witch’s wrath? classical piano at age five. He later shifted to trombone, but by Using Bunraku puppetry, movement, and live accompaniment by high school was also playing guitar and experimenting with studio Hardy, The Woodsman delves deeper into the beloved character’s production gear. His studies at Purchase focus on jazz trombone history and offers a unique, heartbreaking, and adult perspective performance, but Krasnow remains active as a guitarist for a band on this classic story. he started in high school, as well as a band called Citris, made up of Purchase students. The Woodsman is the recipient of a 2014 Project Grant from the Jim Henson Foundation. On March 30, 2014, Krasnow was in Washington, DC, to perform with the Experience Hendrix tour at Lincoln Theatre. “I was on stage with Buddy Guy, Billy Cox, Chris Layton, and Mato Nanji. Abraham ’00 Named MacArther Fellow Having been a part of the Experience Hendrix 2014 tour for that Renowned dancer and choreographer Kyle Abraham ’00 was among one night was monumental for me as a person and musician. I got 24 creative individuals to be named a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. to play with the best of the best and I’m eager to grow and suc- Often called the ceed now more than ever,” says Krasnow. Genius Award, the prestigious honor jandon business of the arts comes with a stipend distinguished lecture series of $625,000 paid over five years. The The School of the Arts proudly welcomed Ben Cameron, program award has no strings director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation attached—no stipula- (DDCF), as the speaker for the 2014 Jandon Business of the Arts tions or reporting Distinguished Lecture on March 3, at the Performing Arts Center. requirements—pro- Established in 2012 through a generous gift from the Cecil family viding maximum free- to mark the occasion of Donald Cecil’s 85th birthday, the Jandon dom for recipients to Business of the Arts Distinguished Lecture helps support the Kyle Abraham ‘00 follow their own cre- arts management program at Purchase College. This endowed ative vision. lecture reflects Don’s lifelong commitment to excellence in educa- The Pittsburgh native is the founder of his own company, Abraham. tion, leadership in business, and passion for the arts. It is present- in.Motion. Several Purchase College alumni have performed with the group, including Rena Butler ’11, Chalvar Monteiro ’10, Amber Parker ’07, Addison Reese ’11, Connie Shiau ’12, and Hsiao Jou Tang ’08. In 2012 Abraham received a Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award and was a USA Ford Fellow. He’s also a 2012–14 Resident Commissioned Artist at New York Live Arts. An active contributor to the Conservatory of Dance since his graduation, Abraham has been a frequent guest at the college, teaching modern technique classes and setting solos on seniors. One of these solos was on the program at the Conservatory of Dance’s Ben Cameron New York Live Arts season in May 2013.

PURCHASE | 16 NewsBriefs

ed annually along with the Jandon Business of the Arts Student Achievement Award. The arts management faculty selected Sabrina Cedeño ‘14 as this year’s student award recipient. The theme of this year’s lecture—entrepreneurship in the arts—was perfectly suited to the talents and experience of guest lecturer Ben Cameron, who assumed his current position as program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) in New York, NY, in 2006. Cameron currently supervises an annual $13 million grants program focusing on organizations and artists in the theatre, contemporary dance, jazz, and presenting fields, as well as the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s Building Bridges Program, a grant portfolio increasing the public’s understanding of Muslim cultures through the arts. Purchase men’s basketball wins 2014 Skyline Conference crown.

Purchase soul voices “stand” host of other accolades before the season was up, including an appearance in the Division III all-star game in Virginia, where he In an inspiring celebration of Black History Month, Purchase Soul scored a game-high 20 points, an All-America nod, All-District Voices, a 60-student vocal ensemble, presented a free concert— honors, and the Regional Player of the Year Award. “Stand!”—in February 2014. The show featured a mix of musical genres, including spirituals, gospel, soul, rhythm and blues, funk, Neri, the team’s seven-foot-two center, was also decorated with and jazz. postseason awards as the Panthers advanced to the NCAA tourna- ment for the fourth time in five years. Created by Pete Malinverni, head of the jazz studies program at Purchase, Soul Voices is open to all students and draws participants Purchase hosted the first and second round of the NCAA games from all majors. Malinverni conceived the idea when he realized and won the opening-round matchup against Hartwick before fall- that, in his work with his jazz students, he was seeing only a part of ing to Albertus Magnus. the talent pool on campus. Seven years ago, he founded Soul Meanwhile, women’s basketball, fresh off an appearance in the Voices and a great campus tradition was born. conference final a year before, reached the league semifinals this “This is a special year for Soul Voices,” says Malinverni, “commemo- winter. Like Nixon on the men’s side, senior Jess Lindsay scored her rating the 50th anniversary of such a watershed event in the civil 1,000th career-point. In addition to Lindsay, the team was led by rights movement”—the passage of the civil rights act. “Music was a All-Skyline performers Jazmin Garcia and Elizabeth Osowiecki. major force in the civil rights movement, and we are thrilled to be The women’s and men’s swim teams finished second and third, tapping into that spirit.” respectively, at their championships. Purchase junior Amanda Gibson garnered Rookie of the Year honors as she placed first in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events; she was the runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley. The Rookie of the Year honor on the men’s side was shared by Panther teammates Sam Jaffe and Andrew Latona. Jaffe established a championship record in the 200-yard breaststroke, while Latona placed first in the 20-yard backstroke in a meet-record time. Men’s volleyball, a developing program, rebounded to win seven matches this winter and spring, while baseball, softball, and tennis also returned and performed well as the season came to a close. The highlight of the spring belonged to women’s lacrosse—a second-year program—which not only won its first game, but also won its first conference game, rolling to a 5-2 record early in the spring campaign. Lindsay, a three-sport athlete, shone on the Pete Malinverni and the Purchase Soul Voices lacrosse field. She ranked among the top 10 in several categories, including saves percentage, and was honored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference as Defensive Player of the Week— another first for the program, with Lindsay garnering some regional GO PANTHERS! recognition for her prowess. The 2013–14 sports year has been a special one for Purchase Among the spring’s successes was another first: the opening of College athletics. The fall season featured an unprecedented Purchase’s brand-new, multipurpose turf field complex, the new accomplishment: all seven programs advanced to the playoffs. home of the Panther baseball team. The former athletic director The program’s excellent start paved the way for another banner and current vice president of student affairs, Ernie Palmieri, and winter campaign, with men’s basketball winning its fourth Skyline Provost Barry Pearson presided over a grand-opening ceremony to Conference crown in five years behind Skyline Player of the Year welcome the new turf field—the program’s second multipurpose Andre Nixon and fellow first-teamer Joel Neri. Nixon would add a platform—to the Panther community.

PURCHASE | 17 THE ART OF THE OF ART THE THE ART OF THE BOOK BOOK

Professor Warren Lehrer pictured with his “illuminated novel.”

PURCHASE | 18 THE ART OF THE OF ART THE THE ART OF THE BOOK BOOK

By Kristi McKee

humbing through A Life in Books: The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley, one soon realizes that it’s a book unlike any other. Warren Lehrer, professor of Art+Design T in graphic design at Purchase College, didn’t just write this book, or illustrate it, or design it—nor does it seem to fit comfortably into the typical categories to which most commercially published books are routinely assigned. The word novel applies not only to its literary genre but also to the book’s originality as a concept. Repeatedly referred to as a “tour de force” in graphic design, typography, writing, and illustration, it has been hailed by critics as “ingenious,” “extraordinary,” “idiosyncratic,” “astonishing,” and “important.” A Life in Books is what Lehrer refers to as an “illuminated novel.” Professor Leonard Seastone ‘88 MFA looks on while Art+Design students Holly Williams ‘15 It’s the fictional memoir of Bleu Mobley, an author, journalist, col- (left) and Kelly Woodworth ‘14 work the letterpress. lege professor, experimental novelist, and pop-culture pundit, who is whispering his entire life story into a recording device inside the page size, and structure, book designers attempt to control the jail cell he occupies for failing to reveal the name of a confidential pace at which the reader experiences the work. The act of turning source. The autobiography/apologia is “illuminated” by the book the page itself is a physical interaction between object and reader, jackets, catalog copy, and reviews of the 101 books he has writ- which suggests intimacy. No other visual art form requires human ten. Excerpts from 34 of those volumes serve to flesh out his story touch from its audience; most forms of art forbid such physical further. interaction. Finally, for some artists, the lure of accessibility inher- For Lehrer, who is widely recognized as a pioneer in the fields of ent in multiples—the book’s ability to reach a broad audience—is an visual literature and design authorship, the book was nine years added draw. in the making. He describes visual literature as “works of writing NOT JUST FOR KIDS where the shape and composition of the words are as important as the words themselves.” In essence, he has been exploring the Laura Vaccaro Seeger ’80 studied fine art and graphic design at “shape of thought” throughout his 30-year oeuvre. In A Life in Purchase. Although she filled her journals from the time she was Books, the images do far more than merely illustrate the text; they in fifth grade with ideas for picture books, she never considered advance the story. “In the best visual literature, the text and image don’t just illustrate each other, they add up,” he explains. Lehrer’s work is an extraordinary example of what can happen to the book form in the hands of an artist. Whether created as single, precious objects, limited-edition volumes, or works for commercial publication, books by Purchase alumni and faculty continue to push boundaries, amaze readers, and amass critical acclaim.

WHAT THE BOOK OFFERS For many artists, the book form provides avenues for creative expression not found in other visual media. Books are sequential, which allows in-depth exploration of ideas and longer narratives. They’re time-based; the stories and ideas unfold with each turn of Pages from Vaccaro Seeger’s “The Hidden Alphabet” the page, and through considerations such as the number of pages,

PURCHASE | 19 celebrated the words of his favorite authors, and entertained children with volumes of fables, bestiaries, and nursery rhymes. In 1992–93 the exhibition Other Languages, Other Signs: The Books of Antonio Frasconi toured nationally after originating at the college’s Neuberger Museum of Art. Isle Schreiber-Noll ’86 BFA, ’89 MFA, came to Purchase specifically to study woodcuts and the art of the book with Frasconi. Schreiber-Noll found her voice as a political artist and incorporated books into her art practice largely because of his influence. The multimedia artist uses paintings, installations, woodcuts, and painted books to express her anguish over political and social Artist’s book by Ilse Schreiber-Noll: Oil Spill Book III, Elegy to Nigeria. issues, but sees her work as a whole. She turns to the book form when she needs what a painting can’t offer: pages. “The books pursuing a career as a children’s book author or illustrator. After are diaries or visual documents to complement the content of my graduation, she spent many years in network television creating paintings. The book can bring out the lyrical, tactile, and poetic show openings and special segments for NBC, ABC, and Fox, and reality that is hidden within my paintings,” she notes. won an Emmy Award for an opening animation she made for an Some of her books are delicate because of the materials she uses. NBC special. Others are strong, painted on paper, canvas, or board with heavy She reached a point in her life when she decided it was time to surface textures that allow them to stand up like sculptures, yet focus seriously on the ideas filling her journals and to create they still invite touch. She believes viewers must turn the pages concept books for children. Seventeen books later, her work has to decipher her meaning. “The books have no text, only a title. earned significant recognition; her accolades include Caldecott The word is embedded yet invisible within the heavily encrusted Honors, Theodor Seuss Geisel Honors, an Oppenheim Platinum surfaces. The viewer has to touch and feel them in order to under- Award, and placement on the New York Times Best Sellers list. stand what I have to say,” she explains. “By turning the pages, the viewer has to take time and look more carefully. I believe this will Vaccaro Seeger presents concepts through words and images in contribute to raising the reader’s awareness.” clever ways designed to appeal not only to children, but also to the adults who read to them. Through the inventive use of die-cuts, THE DUALITY OF APPROACH she forces shifts in perspective that turn even the simplest con- Frasconi and Schreiber-Noll both approach the act of making art- cepts—such as the alphabet in The Hidden Alphabet—into something ists’ books from a printmaking tradition, which has its roots in new and fresh. the literary world and the gallery scene and usually encompasses Her process begins with an idea that captures her interest. Then letterpress and fine-art printing or unique works of art that lean she taps into the skills she honed at Purchase in both graphic toward the sculptural. A second approach stems from graphic design and painting. For The Hidden Alphabet, it was the opportu- design and photography and is often associated with the offset- nity “to force a person to see something one way, then with the printing technique. turn of the page, or the lift of the page, have the perspective com- The history of the book arts at Purchase College continued during pletely change,” she says. “You can see the design influence—the the tenure of Ed Colker, dean of the School of Art+Design (then negative space, the perspective, even the use of the die cut. It’s all the School of Visual Arts) from 1980 to 1985. Colker, himself a design,” she adds. printmaker, has been described by some as the Johnny Appleseed Carol Bankerd, associate professor of Art+Design in graphic design, of the book arts because of the number of programs he has started was a huge influence on her. Vaccaro Seeger also remembers fondly around the country. the lessons she learned from her painting teacher, John Cohen, With the support of both the professor emeritus of visual arts. To this day, she says, whenever printmaking faculty, such as she paints she hears his voice in her head telling her, “Push the Frasconi and Murray Zimiles, paint, Laura, push the paint.” professor of Art+Design, Vaccaro Seeger is an author in the literal sense—she writes the and the graphic design fac- text of her books—but the decisions she makes regarding the use ulty, including Lehrer and of words are integral to the design process and not separate from Phil Zimmerman, professor her artistic choices. “I think of myself as an artist and my tools are emeritus of Art+Design in paint and pencils and words,” she says. graphic design, Colker created the MFA program with HISTORY three concentrations, one of which was printmaking and Purchase College has a colorful history in the art of the book that the art of the book, and also can be traced back to its earliest years, beginning with the late the Center for Editions (CFE), Antonio Frasconi (1919–2013). The renowned printmaker—argu- a print shop and bindery ably the foremost woodblock artist of his generation—taught the located in the basement of art of the book to Art+Design students from soon after his arrival the Visual Arts Building. in 1973 until 2008. He began teaching here at age 54, already an established artist with a highly respected body of work that Colker sought donations included his edition of Twelve Fables of Aesop, which was named from his contacts in the print Clifton Meador pictured in the offset shop on the one of the fifty best books of the year by the American Institute world, and acquired offset cover of the spring 1997 issue of JAB: Journal of Artists’ Books. of Graphic Arts. Through his work he championed social change, and letterpress machines as

PURCHASE | 20 graphs. “I was interested in how groups of photographs worked together—in constructing visual narratives that created a context for pictures.” A simple observation by Robert Berlind, professor emeritus of Artist’s book by Clifton Art+Design in painting and drawing, changed the entire way Meador, A Repeated Meador approached making books. “He told me, ‘You need to Misunderstanding of Nature, 2012 edition of make longer work.’ I think Bob’s comment was the most formative 20, boxed set of five thing anybody said to me, and he was right,” Meador recalls. leporello volumes. The artist has made copious remarkably smart and idiosyncratic books since, and is considered one of the country’s finest and most respected makers of artists’ books working today. Last fall, the Minnesota Center for the Book Arts awarded him its international MCBA Prize of 2013 for A Repeated Misunderstanding of Nature. The limited-edition work (20 copies) features a set of five leporello books (whose pages are folded accordion-style) housed in a ply- wood box, with the title etched in the wood. Meador also offers an unlimited, print-on-demand version for a fraction of the cost of the limited-edition work. An early adopter of technology whose practice has always been digitally based, Meador often creates multiple iterations of his work to reach a wider audience. In 2009–10, he made a book per well as a long-term loan of the famous Pforzheimer collection of week for a year for the project he called 52; he invites readers to antique wood and metal letterpress type from the New York Public download them for free. Library. The availability of offset presses—a Swedish Solna 125 Another Purchase experience that proved profound for Meador was and later a Heidelberg KORD—was unusual on a college campus. teaching. He moved on from Purchase in 1995 and is now a profes- The high cost of the presses and the attendant equipment, such as sor and the director of the MFA program in interdisciplinary book process cameras, plate makers, and film, combined with the diffi- and paper arts at Columbia College in Chicago. culty inherent in running and maintaining them, made the endeavor impractical for most schools to offer to students who wanted to publish. NEW POTENTIAL FOR THE CENTER FOR EDITIONS At that time, however, offset was the name of the game for many The future of the Center for Editions (CFE) is becoming artists interested in creating visual narratives through artists’ clear for Steve Lam, who began his tenure as director of the books—particularly those artists rooted in graphic design and pho- School of Art+Design last fall. He prefers the term “experi- tography. The offset process allowed them to produce books in mental publishing” for the possibilities it promises. larger editions, thereby lowering the cost. Offset printing offered the promise of the democratization of artists’ books. So for a time Using the atelier—a workshop where artists work in tandem from the 1980s through the late 1990s, Purchase earned a reputa- with apprentices—as a model, Lam would like to see the tion as a hotbed of production for such books. CFE as a production site where designers and printers work with students, but that’s not all. “I’d also love for it to be a Like Lehrer, Zimmerman is a highly regarded maker of books; research site where we maintain a website that is a reposi- he’s owned and operated his own press, Spaceheater Editions, tory of articles about the future of the edition and book since 1979. Faculty members in the early years also included Brad publishing as well as an archive of symposia that we orga- Freeman, a well-established book artist, and Johanna Drucker, who nize,” he explains. literally wrote the book on the theory of artists’ books: The Century of Artists’ Books. In 1994, the first issues of the publication JAB: He also envisions a set of possible collaborative classes that The Journal of Artists’ Books, a forum for critical discussion, were cut across academic areas such as media and writing, while printed in the CFE. JAB was the brainchild of Freeman and Clifton also advancing the inherent intradisciplinary nature of con- Meador ’91 MFA. temporary design and print. Some already in place are The Animated Print, a class created by Hooper that bridges print If Ed Colker was the Johnny Appleseed of the book arts, then Clif with digital media and animation, and Lehrer’s Artist/Writer Meador was the rock star. His presence provided another source Workshop. More are in development. of energy surrounding artists’ books at Purchase when he arrived in 1988. He came to the college to pursue his MFA in the art of the For Lam, the etymology of the word publish—to make public—is the key. With full comprehension of the important book, but his reputation for expertise in printing and artists’ book historical role of printmaking, typography, and design, production preceded him. Fresh from a four-year stint as the direc- Lam hopes to link history with the future by embracing the tor of Atlanta’s Nexus Press, important for its facilitation of artists’ potential of the digital world. “Hence my desire to use the book production through its residency programs, Meador was the term ‘experimental publishing,’ which is part publishing, conduit connecting Freeman and Drucker to Purchase. Zimmerman part publicity, and part public-making, but using the conver- recalls, “We always thought of Clif as a colleague even though he gence of the history and future of design and print. There are was getting his degree. We learned as much from him as he learned new modes of storytelling and the book is not the only place from us.” where stories exist,” he says. Meador studied photography as an undergraduate and fell into making artists’ books as a way to create narratives from photo-

PURCHASE | 21 PUSHING BOUNDARIES Sue O’Donnell ’02 MFA learned about Purchase from Zimmerman, whom she met while taking a summer course on book structures in Rochester, NY. Zimmerman—along with Lehrer and Margot Lovejoy, professor emerita of Art+Design in printmaking—became one of her mentors. Early in her practice, O’Donnell made one-of-a-kind objects based on memories triggered by her archive of family photos. Those early works pushed the boundaries of what might be considered books. In Memory Game, she mounted text and images on wooden blocks and invited viewers to play with them and build their own stories. In Story Told, she printed stories on acetate, cut up the text, and inserted the pieces between plates of glass in wood frames joined together accordion-style. “The text would shift and reposition with every viewing. The concept of what is revealed and what is hidden, along with shifting and fading memories, has continued to have a strong concep- Artist’s book by Casey Hooper: The bird also has a found a house. tual footing in all of my work,” she explains. MIXING TRADITIONS O’Donnell describes Associate Professor of Art+Design Cassandra (Casey) Hooper ’91 the nature of her work MFA is a photographer who came to Purchase to study printmaking. as storytelling, yet her She had limited knowledge of artists’ books but soon learned from books are not neces- both Frasconi and Meador how the book form could inform her art sarily intended to be practice. read in the traditional sense. “It’s not that I Meador introduced her to expect viewers to read the element of time. For my work—to me that’s Hooper, making prints was not important—but since a labor-intensive process I use a lot of text, I find that limited her narrative that the format of the to a single piece. “But with book, with its one-on- a book, I can bring the one intimacy, lends element of time through itself to the way I work.” sequencing, through the She’s moving away actual physical time and space of moving through the In 2009–10, Cliff Meador made a book per week from the book form for the project he called 52. now toward timelines, pages. It was a very new and maps, and graphs, but interesting aspect for me.” her intention remains Much to her own surprise, Hooper is evolving into a writer, despite the same: to share her the discipline’s challenges. For her most recent book, The bird stories. Currently, she’s also has found a house, Hooper borrowed a poem from the poet H. an associate profes- L. Hix, but she broke it apart and reassembled the words, added sor of digital art at some of her own, then placed them with her photographs. “Those Bloomsburg University words were tortured out of me,” she explains. “But if I had to pack in Pennsylvania. up anything from the book to take with me, it would be the text. Nobody could have told me 20 years ago that writing would be the most important part about making artists’ books,” she says. Works by Sue O’Donnell, Story Told (top); She worked with Hix at the Kansas City Institute, where she taught detail of Memory Game (above); and Molecular Structure (right). after earning her MFA, so he was gracious about her rearrange- ment of his poem and he was thrilled with the result. Recently, Hix published a book of poems he wrote based on artists’ statements called as much as, IF NOT MORE THAN. In it, his poem “In the Dream, a Premonition” is based on Hooper’s statement. Her work untitled (Wild Turkeys) will be featured in Ley Lines, his next collaborative project, in which poets write poems in response to artists’ existing work; the project will culminate in a book and museum exhibition in 2015.

BOOK ARTS NOW While the original hope was to establish the CFE as a publishing entity, deep state budget cuts quashed those plans in the 1990s. The Solna press became damaged beyond repair and has since been scrapped. The much-simpler digital printing process is rapidly

PURCHASE | 22 unique and beautiful limited edition that comprises salted-paper Eight students were prints made from glass negatives, one of which is framed into the recently awarded a book’s leather cover. In 2013, he collaborated with a former stu- residency with Casey dent, Guyang Chen, on a book he designed and printed called The Hooper at the Frans Delicate Work of Song. Paired with poems by Ronald Baatz, Chen’s Masereel Centrum in calligraphic images—as one can see upon close inspection—are Belgium. For a week in actually depictions of single words from the accompanying text March, the students made by rearranging the letterforms that make up the words. The created a limited-edi- complete archives of Seastone’s book art and ephemera are held at tion folio of prints to Yale University. illustrate the Langston Seastone recently pulled scores of examples of student work done Hughes poem “Let in the letterpress shop, revealing the astounding depth and cre- America Be America ativity that Purchase students bring to the art of making books. Again” in homage to Antonio Frasconi, who In 2011, Hooper helped establish Printweek, a weeklong celebra- released a book in tion of prints and artists’ books featuring events, demonstrations, 1998 in which he illus- and exhibitions. In 2011 and again in 2013, working artists were trated the same poem. invited to Purchase for residencies in which they collaborated with students on the creation of artists’ books. (Top: Students in the Connecticut studio of the late During the first iteration of Printweek, a team of students worked Antonio Frasconi. Bottom: On with the Swedish-French artist duo Anna Hellsgårtd and Christian press in Belgium.) Gfeller, known then as Bongout, to create a limited-edition book; in 2013, another group created a ’zine with artist Gary Kachadourian. Every year since 2011, students have run a booth at the New York Book Art Fair at PS1, where they’ve shown those two replacing offset. However, the CFE did manage to publish one book works as well as other collaborative faculty, alumni, and student in 1991. Labyrinth, a visual book by Lovejoy, uses montage and die- artists’ books. cuts to create a compelling interactive experience that explores complex cultural issues associated with gender and power. Labyrinth STORYTELLERS AT HEART was expertly printed and produced in an edition of 500 by Meador. Since Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type and the modern While the MFA became interdisciplinary around 2000 in response printing press in the 15th century, books have been crucial to the to student demand, the art of the book still holds its own in the spreading of ideas—portable containers for words and images. But undergraduate curriculum at Purchase. artists’ books such as those presented here are really an invention 1 Hooper returned to Purchase to teach in 1998. About ten years ago, of the 20th century. From polished, commercially published books she created a class called Extended Media, which requires each to do-it-yourself ’zines distributed for free to unique, sculptural Art+Design freshman to make a book during the first semester at objects, books give artists freedom to explore and express ideas Purchase—a rare requirement for an undergraduate program. The and connect with readers on a level no other visual or time-based students are introduced to working with mechanical media to help art form can provide. produce multiples and learn basic printmaking processes such as Whether they write the words themselves, borrow others’, or screen printing and laser-print transfer. “They learn how to do choose no words at all in their book practices, these artists do quicker projects that will arm them with enough good ideas and share one important thing: they’re storytellers. After years of questions to make something more complex later, if they get a teaching artists, Meador has a theory: “You can teach visual artists taste for it,” she says. how to write somewhat, but it’s much harder to teach a writer how For those who do wish to continue, courses such as Book to make visual art.” He adds, “You can teach people expository Structures, Experimental Book, and Letterpress Workshop allow writing. I don’t know if you can teach people how to be storytellers for more in-depth exploration of the medium. or not, though.” 1 Johanna Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books (New York: Granary Books, 1995), 1. Leonard Seastone ’88 MFA teaches Book Structures and Letterpress Workshop. He’s a poet who started his own imprint, Tideline Press, in 1972; by 1980, a book he designed, printed, and bound, John Anderson and the Pickering Press, had been named to the American Institute of Graphic Arts’ list of fifty best books of the year. An autodidact who mastered the letterpress technique on his own, he enrolled at Purchase to continue his studies beyond what he could teach himself. He was the first student enrolled in the master’s program to study the art of the book at Purchase, and he returned to teach in 1999 when he took on the responsibility of the letterpress shop. A “scrounger” by nature, he secured donations of hundreds of cases of type, mostly 19th-century wood type, to assemble one of the largest collections of its kind for use by students in the United States. Seastone has been designing and printing his own books and collaborating with others for decades. In CRICKETS, his poems Artist’s book by Leonard Seastone: Gooseberry Creek, 1987, printed by Tideline Press. are combined with photographer Bill Westheimer’s images in a

PURCHASE | 23 In public restrooms, dorm rooms, outside, in the basement—and in labs and studios equipped with the most- sophisticated equipment and technology available—students in studio composition and production Liner are getting a big bang for their bucks. They’re also getting discovered while playing gigs in New York City clubs or Notes interning at studios in the metropolitan region, where some of the world’s top artists come to record their latest hits.

Elijah Wolf-Christensen ’15, whose acoustic band, Elijah and the Brown has made a name in the music industry for recording at ven- Moon, plays regularly in Manhattan clubs, was pleasantly surprised ues around the world and then bringing the music back to Legacy in 2012 when a music-licensing company representative heard him Sound in New Rochelle for mastering and postproduction. The play and signed him to a contract. Glennie album, made with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, was recorded at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and the Experimental Later that year, the acoustic guitar intro to his song “Build These Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Walls” was played in television ads for Subaru’s Forester SUV. A Institute in Troy. year later, the agency signed him for another 12 months, and he’d hired a manager to book gigs for his band. In February, he was jug- “An orchestra has such a massive range of colors and textures,” he gling four professional projects as he prepared for his junior recital says. “Your job is to connect the listener, as directly as possible, to in the Music Conservatory’s studio composition program. what’s going on.” “It’s pretty sweet,” says Wolf-Christensen, of Woodstock, NY. “It’s Among the studio composition program’s newest faculty members all working.” is Assistant Professor Jakub Ciupinski, who teaches classes in film Wolf-Christensen is among about 150 undergraduates in the scoring, studio arranging, and MIDI composition for electronic Conservatory of Music’s programs in studio composition and pro- music. His own work combines movement and music on the edge of duction. The studio composition program provides opportunities contemporary performance. In 2013, he created an interactive for singer-songwriters looking to hone their craft for the popular dance piece for Jessica Lang Dance at Jacob’s Pillow using an music industry, while the studio production program teaches stu- instrument called the theremin, which detects hand movements dents the skills needed to produce today’s music. and transforms those movements into sound. The programs’ faculty includes “I was on stage, with the dancers, creating original soundtracks,” he top-notch professionals, such as says. “It’s a very visual experience, and really exciting. The piece Spin Doctors lead singer Chris emerges as I write it.” Barron; songwriter/producer Carl Sturken, who produces and writes songs for the pop star Rihanna; Polish composer Jakub > DISCOGRAPHY STARTS NOW Ciupinski; and Assistant Silas Brown ’94 Professor Silas Brown ’94, whose recording of percussionist Evelyn Glennie won the 2014 Rebecca Haviland ’04, whose rock group, Rebecca Haviland and Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. James Perella ’13, a Whiskey Heart, tours nationally, has returned to Purchase to teach. senior in studio production when the album was recorded, worked Coming back reunited her with Denenberg. She recalls spending with Brown to produce the album—earning a Grammy credit as an long hours at Acme during her undergraduate years. Denenberg assistant engineer while he was still in college. produced her first record when she was 19. Peter Denenberg, who heads both programs, co-produced Martin Haviland’s 90-minute master classes—with two or three students Simpson’s latest album, Vagrant Stanzas, which was nominated for per class—for studio composition students provide insight into the multiple 2014 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Denenberg runs the Acme process that launched her career. She also offers details about the Recording Studios in Mamaroneck, NY. nuts and bolts of making it in the 21st-century music world.

PURCHASE | 24 Top: Peter Denenberg, head of studio production and studio Center: Rebecca Haviland ‘04 and Chris Anderson ‘06 of composition, with students in his office/studio. Above: Studio Whiskey Heart. Haviland now teaches master classes in production student Juan Pena ‘15 interning at Daddy’s House studion composition at Purchase. Right: Peter Denenberg Recording Studio in New York City.

“We talk about building your website, getting radio play for your on Kanye West’s hit Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which won the songs, and recording your music,” says Haviland, who lives in 2012 Grammy for Best Album. White Plains with bassist Chris Anderson ’06. “There are things you Joly works with fellow Purchase alumnus Vira Byramji ’11, the stu- need to know if this is something you want to do for the rest of dio’s assistant manager, who got her foot in the door at Electric your life.” Lady during an internship in 2009. Her band features Anderson on bass and Kenny Shaw ’04 on “I just recorded an entire record for a band from Chinatown called drums. The group, which opened for Southside Johnny and the the Skaters,” says Joly. “I was in charge of drums, bass, and guitars. Asbury Jukes at the Tarrytown Music Hall on May 9, played this It was punk rock, hard-edge. They asked me to distort the micro- winter in Nashville, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles. Haviland phones. We had a real good time. It’s coming out on Warner also tours with Crystal Bowersox, the runner-up in the 2010 Brothers.” American Idol competition. Anderson, meanwhile, who co-writes and co-produces music with Haviland, plays bass for the group A Danielle Grubb ’15, a singer-songwriter from Texas, came to Great Big World. Its hit single “Say Something,” produced by Dan Purchase for the studio production program. A performer and Romer ’04, was recorded with Christina Aguilera, and went double songwriter, Grubb decided to focus her studies on the production platinum in 2013. side of the business because she would like eventually to establish a studio and production company. She was also curious about how Opportunity can strike for studio production students while they recording engineers created the sounds they put on albums. are studying at Purchase. Her studies have paid off already. She recorded her first album, Juan Pena ’15, who transferred to the studio production program Conditions, in her dorm room at Purchase College’s Fort Awesome from Broome Community College in Binghamton, found an intern- residence. The production features Grubb on lead guitar, bass, and ship in 2013 at Daddy’s House Recording Studio—the New York keyboards, which she pieced together on multiple tracks. City–based company owned by rap mogul P. Diddy. Pena typically For a production class taught by Associate Professor Joe Ferry, one works the night shift, which starts at midnight. of the program’s founders, Grubb and other students made a It can get busy in the early morning hours, with stars such as Wyclef recording in the women’s bathroom in the basement of the Music Jean and Justin Bieber stopping by after midnight. Building, without the use of baffles to isolate the sound. The drum set went in the handicap stall, and the singers stood closest to the “One Monday night, I picked up the phone, and they said Justin microphone. “We had to work everything out so it was sonically Bieber was on the way,” he says. “It was just me and the other pleasing,” Grubb says. interns. Bieber’s engineer came in with his entourage and we set them up. Three months later, they called and wanted to know one She also recalls a master class with Barron of the Spin Doctors in intern’s name so he could get a credit on a song.” which the students had to write one song a week. At Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village, Phil Joly ’09 turned a “He came in wearing a bow tie with skulls on it, and I knew it was last-semester internship into a job upon graduation. Five years going to be a cool class,” she says. “One time he had us write a later, he serves as chief engineer in the studio (founded in the song about a very small detail, and expand on it, line by line. The 1960s by guitar legend Jimi Hendrix), which hosts recording ses- whole point was to tell the entire story without saying what was sions for Arcade Fire, U2, Beck, and Prince. Joly recorded all the going on. We had to show it, not tell it.” guitars on Daft Punk’s album Random Access Memories, which won the 2014 Grammy for Best Album. He also recorded all the cellos

PURCHASE | 25 Dear Alumni and Friends: ALUMNI in Action

Once again the stories featured in PURCHASE magazine make me proud to be an alumnus of Purchase College. The success of 1975 fellow alumni, the continued achievement of faculty, and the Jody Oberfelder (dance) has been venturing activities on campus all serve to perpetuate the idiosyncratic into immersive theater. Her newest piece, culture of Purchase. 4Chambers, is a sensory journey into the heart. We’ve long known about the many boldfaced names that our Visit her website, www.jodyoberfelder.com, film program has produced, but it’s great to read about so many for more information. of you who’ve made your way in the film industry, despite its Stacie Nicole Simmons (literature) says that God’s providence and life shifting landscape, as well as those new to the industry who have taken her down many pathways. She and her husband, Evan, have six refuse to allow its obstacles to dampen your burning passion to children, and are the proud grandparents of six grandchildren. Currently, make films. they both teach at the IDEA Public Charter School (Washington, DC). In May, Simmons will graduate from American University with a master’s in history I’m truly amazed at the books created by Purchase visual artists. (concentrating on public history). She says she looks forward to all that the “The Art of the Book” was a nice introduction for me, albeit a future holds for her and her family. reminder for many of you, about the colorful and renowned history of the program at the college. I can’t wait to see where 1976 Steve Lam, the new director of the School of Art+Design, will Larry Isaacs (biology) is a board-certified surgeon with 20-plus years of take experimental publishing and the Center for Editions. operating experience. He has been named a fellow at New York Medical College with an associated academic appointment. Nearly 40 years after It makes perfect sense that Purchase College, with its history of Purchase, he has ended up 5.6 miles down the road from campus! attracting those interested in social change and environmental activism, would be on the forefront of carbon-footprint Maura Mandrano (literature) was unceremoniously retired when Hurricane reduction among colleges and universities nationwide. Sandy destroyed the marine business she owned on City Island in the Bronx. She now devotes her time to wildlife rehabilitation (in which she is licensed Many of the important initiatives undertaken at Purchase would in New York State), animal rescue, and singing in the not be possible without your support. Student scholarships for Westchester Chorale. those most in need, faculty development efforts, and alumni Michael Savage (acting) recently published Tap networking opportunities exist because of the critical Dancing All the Way to Omaha Beach, a book he wrote unrestricted funds provided by the PURCHASE FUND. Please with his father about his father’s famous Hollywood consider making a gift this year to keep Purchase competitive tap-dancing days and heroic experiences in World and thriving. Donations of any size have an impact. War II. Savage is honored that the National Museum of WWII Veterans in New Orleans, LA, carries it in its To find out more about the Annual Fund, go http://www. bookstore. He is looking forward to making a film to purchase.edu/giving/ and click on “Purchase Fund.” You can take the honor to the next level. even donate quickly and securely online. As alumni and friends of Purchase, you play a role alongside the 1977 administration, faculty, staff, and current students to continue Joel Bennett (liberal arts) is president of Organizational the efforts to make Purchase shine even brighter. Help lead the Wellness & Learning Systems (OWLS), and will publish charge as a donor, or become a part of our team through his fourth book in 2014. Raw Coping Power (from Stress volunteerism and active participation in campus and alumni life. to Thriving) helps readers transform stress into positive thriving. OWLS’s well-being, leadership, and team Please stay in touch by sending professional and personal news health programs have been tested in clinical trials for “Alumni in Action,” as well as updated addresses, phone and have reached more than 30,000 workers in the numbers, and email addresses to [email protected]. U.S. and abroad. Bennett lives in Fort Worth/Austin, TX, with his wife, Jan. Check out his website at www. Do you have any suggestions for how we can better connect organizationalwellness.com. with your fellow alumni? Let us know. I look forward to hearing from you and am honored to serve as your president. Jeremy Gerard (literature; Distinguished Alumnus 2008) published Wynn Place Show: A Biased History of the Rollicking Life and Extreme Times of Wynn Handman and the American Place Theatre (Smith and Kraus Publishers), which the New York Times called “an overdue biography… that engagingly recounts Mr. Handman’s Jeffrey S. Putman ‘96 long and storied career.” The New Yorker President, Purchase College Alumni Association, Inc. magazine’s John Lahr said the “robust account” is “lively and well-informed” and that “Gerard’s book bears [email protected] fascinating witness to theatrical times gone by.” Jessica Hentoff (sociology) won funding from the YouthBridge Social --- Enterprise and Innovation Competition to start the Circus Harmony Flying Trapeze Center this spring in St. Louis. She is also raising Dr. Jeffrey S. Putman ‘96 was elected president of the Purchase money to take her youth circus troupe back to Israel to College Alumni Association in December 2007. He is currently continue its Peace through Pyramids Partnership with vice president for studentaffairs & dean of students at SUNY the Jewish/Arab Galilee Circus in Israel. Learn more Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. about these and her other social circus activities at www. circusharmony.org. Wyatt Townley (formerly Barbara Wyatt Baker, dance) Terry McCarthy Laura Rónai Wyatt Townley is the poet laureate of Kansas. Her work has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, read by Garrison Keillor

PURCHASE | 26 on NPR, featured in Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Scarsdale Fire Department, while chairing the board Poetry” column, and published in journals ranging of fire commissioners for the Purchase Fire District. 1980 from the Paris Review to Newsweek. Still living at Mignone is a board member of several not-for- Jay Bernstein (anthropology) is a professor and the confluence of poetry and poetry-in-motion, she profit organizations locally. His next major task, he librarian at Kingsborough Community College has published five books; her latest is The Afterlives says, will be his son’s wedding this coming August. of the City College of New York in Brooklyn. His of Trees. See www.WyattTownley.com. research covers knowledge organization and Tom Murphy (visual arts) lives in Amherst, MA, inquiry. In May he will present “Disciplinarity and working as a pediatric occupational therapist. He Transdisciplinarity in the Study of Knowledge” 1978 founded the Bogin Playscape Project, designing at the 13th International Conference of the Catherine Bobenhausen indoor playgrounds for preschool children International Society for Knowledge Organization (environmental science) (boginplayscapeproject.com). Murphy is happily in Krakow, Poland. discovered whitewater married to Nan Salky, with whom he has two kayaking last summer at almost-grown daughters. He continues to play Mitch Friedman (literature) recently celebrated his Madawaska Kanu Centre. music; see the links to his recent recordings with 28th year with his employer, Smiths Detection. He During calmer moments, Sad Song Radio at http://ssradio.bandcamp.com. is proud and amazed she consults, teaches, and that his education writes. A senior industrial Michael Rabinowitz (music) has worked at GRM helped guide his hygienist/environmental health and safety Document Management for 25 years, and continues career from a position consultant at NYC’s Vidaris, Inc., Bobenhausen is to be active as an improvising bassoonist. He as a manufacturing an adjunct faculty member in the State University plays regularly with the Charles Mingus Orchestra, technician into technical of New York/Fashion Institute of Technology’s French horn player John Clark, and his own trio. writing, marketing, This summer he will be performing and giving and eventually sales. graduate program, and lectures at the City College Mitch Friedman of New York and Columbia. She’s also a “mystery master classes at IDRS’s annual conference at NYU He attributes his woman” for the American Association of University Steinhart. While his two daughters are in college, strong people and Women/Westchester’s STEM (science, technology, he and his wife have been able to travel the world. communication skills to his college experiences and engineering, and mathematics) career day for His website is www.jazzbassoonist.com. education. Friedman’s two sons, David and Andrew, seventh-grade girls, and the author of “Green are now attending college. His favorite hobbies Building: The New Transparency” in the Synergist. 1979 are hiking, mountain biking, and cooking—and he Tessa Bell (film) is currently showing her film Life has enjoyed acting and directing at the Clockwork Tony Castrigno (acting) is the principal and founder Inside Out in festivals around the country. The Repertory Theatre in Oakville, CT, since 1999. of Design Contact and a well-known name in scenic movie is a drama about a family that struggles design. He reports that business is thriving in all David Zarowin (philosophy) recently joined the with its members’ opposing needs and dreams but areas and permanent installations are a growing Woodrow Wilson Foundation as the founding manages to grow stronger together through music. avenue for his work. In the last three years, Design executive director of the It had simultaneous premieres at the Heartland Contact, which employs many Purchase alumni, has Teaching and Learning Lab, a and Hollywood Film Festivals and won the Best taken on installations for Merck Vaccines, Adobe, competency-based, blended- Premiere Award at the Heartland festival. The two CVS|Caremark facilities, McAfee, NCTA, learning graduate school of writers, director, and producer are all women; they and Prudential, using the teams’ abilities as set education for prospective financed the film through Kickstarter. See www. designers, interior designers, interactive designers, STEM (science, technology, lifeinsideoutthemovie.com. illustrators, graphic designers, and artists. engineering, and mathemathics) Virginia Calabrese (visual arts) studied printmaking teachers and school leaders. The Evan Fisher (film) has been in David Zarowin at Purchase with Antonio Frasconi and went lab will be launched in 2016 the entertainment business on to Manhattanville for a teaching certificate in affiliation with a leading for more than 25 years, in art education. In 1980, she married Richard university and one or more school districts, and will and has worked in sales, Oppedisano, an alumnus of Iona College, and they be based in either Boston or NYC. Zarowin can be marketing, and management have two sons and a daughter. Calabrese has taught reached at [email protected]. positions at Cannon Pictures, art classes to all ages from prekindergarten to Warner Brothers, Universal senior citizens in a variety of media. 1981 Studios, National Geographic, and the BBC, among others. Bhavani Jaroff (visual arts) is Garet Livermore (culture and society) was named Evan Fisher He is currently a technology the founder of iEat Green, LLC the executive director of the Sagamore Institute of the Adirondacks in Raquette Lake, NY. He served and strategy consultant to (iEatGreen.com), an organization for 15 years as the vice president for education BabyFirstTV, a worldwide TV channel and content providing healthy chef services, at the New York State Historical Association in publisher, where he has secured content deals with educational workshops, and Cooperstown. In his new position, Livermore Microsoft, Google/YouTube, Samsung, Hulu, Netflix, cooking demos. She is the host of will divide his time between Raquette Lake and and Amazon, as well as numerous international iEat Green with Bhavani, a weekly Bhavani Jaroff Cooperstown, and he invites Purchase alums to licensing deals. radio show on the Progressive experience the real Adirondacks. Radio Network, and is a co-chair Peter Kurz (political science) of Slow Food Huntington. Jaroff has a master’s Carole Stewart McDonnell (literature) reports that is currently living in Israel and degree in education and is a certified Waldorf her novel The Constant working as a freelance marketing teacher; she uses food as her creative outlet. Tower has been nominated consultant focusing on the U.S. for the Clive Staples market. He represents companies Lisan Lema (literature) experienced a rough year in Award for best Christian in the fields of consumer 2013 with the death of her mother. This year, she Speculative Fiction of products, building products, and says, has ushered in a whole new chapter; she has 2013. This work, along Peter Kurz kitchen and bath products. In his purchased an old property along Albuquerque’s with her first novel, Wind spare time, he is the president of “Antique Mile” and is in the process of restoring it Follower, and her short- the Israel Association for Baseball—his training as to operate a shop of her own. Scaling back to part- story collection Spirit the catcher for the Purchase Burnouts, he says, has time at her current retail job, she hopes to be her Fruit, are being released come in handy! own boss by year’s end! in an audio format. She is Albert Mignone (anthropology) spends a fair Noah Lewin (film production) retired from the New currently working on her amount of time spoiling his grandkids. He still York City Department of Education in December third novel, My Life as an works full-time as a fire inspector for the Village of 2013. Onion.

PURCHASE | 27 ALUMNI in Action

Diana Meringolo (biology) is pursuing her longtime David Rosenfeld (design/tech) is entering his Albert C. Petite Jr. (liberal arts) is in his third year interest in the field of physical fitness and is now 28th year at Hudson Scenic Studio as an electrical of teaching in Beijing, now at the Affiliated High a certified personal trainer, after spending many foreman. At Hudson he has participated in the School of Peking University. He also provides years as a project manager in the information system design, construction, automation, and college counseling for overseas-bound students, technology field. She has opened her own electrification of hundreds of Broadway, cruise which he describes as “awakening imaginations company, Fitness for Health and Longevity, LLC, ship, and touring productions. From the radio- and herding cats”; he adds, “Purchase is getting on and specializes in working with people 40 and over. controlled boat for The Phantom of the Opera, now radar screens!” Petite continues to work with the She currently resides in Hopatcong, NJ, with her in its 26th year, to the current productions of Chunmiao–Little Flower medical orphanage (www. husband, Arthur Mario. Matilda and Aladdin, Rosenfeld’s work spans years chunmiaolittleflower.org/), a local project that of technological advances in the theatrical and continues to develop a global reach. His email is James Palka, AIA (visual arts), is a senior project lighting industries. [email protected]. manager in the design and construction department at the University of Pennsylvania. A licensed Irene Jonas architect since 1990, he is currently managing the Sweet (social 1985 construction of the $68M Neural and Behavioral science/visual Jim Benz (visual arts) has been appointed head of Sciences Building on the University of Pennsylvania arts) and David the Peninsula School in Menlo Park, CA. Peninsula campus. Sweet (liberal is an independent, progressive school that focuses studies) met on maintaining a balance of play and meaningful 1982 at Purchase academics, creativity, and cooperation. He is one Mary Ellen Bartley (visual arts) is and earned Irene and David Sweet of the few school leaders with experience in the now represented by the Yancey master’s arts. Benz taught art at Greens Farms Academy, Richardson Gallery in New York. degrees at Fordham. She teaches adult education; then became head of the middle school at Seattle The gallery, which specializes he has worked for Westchester County for 25 years Academy, and then the director of the upper in contemporary photography, as a social worker, presently in the home healthcare schools at Far Brook School in New Jersey. field. They were married in 1991 and moved to featured Bartley’s work at Paris Jessica Shatan Heslin (visual arts) and her husband Carmel, NY, in 1993. They have three sons: Jacob Photo 2013 and will exhibit are thrilled to report that they adopted Sean Levi her photographs at the AIPAD (17), a clarinetist: Matthew (15), a snowboarder and golfer; and Troy (10), who enjoys sports and music. Heslin at birth on May 6, Photography Show in New York 2013; it took nine years, but this spring. Bartley lives with her Heslin is now a new mom at family in Wainscott, NY, and is 1984 50. As Sean’s first birthday working on a solo show scheduled for October 2014 Barbara Drake (literature) has approaches, Heslin is at the Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton. been living in Lima, Peru, since beginning to work part-time Stephanie Klapper (drama studies) is owner of 2007. For the past five years, from home, doing freelance Stephanie Klapper Casting; she is an award- Barbara has taught English interior book design. After winning New York–based casting director for in the translation program of the adoption, Heslin resigned theatre, film, television, and the Web. Her work the Universidad de Ciencias from her position as the Aplicadas, where she was Sean Heslin can currently be seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Barbara Drake leader of interior design at regionally, and internationally. Klapper also honored as the 2011 Teacher Oxford University Press. teaches audition and performance workshops in of the Year. She has also Joe Mannetti (formerly Louie Paul Devendittis, NYC and at colleges and universities nationwide. worked as a field producer for NBC News, focusing drama studies) obtained his master’s degree in She and her husband reside in the NYC area with on climate change and the Joran van der Sloot counseling from CSU Northbridge before moving their two children. She writes that it was a joy and murder case. Drake is returning with her family in back to Connecticut. He received the Dorothy honor to be part of Kay Capo’s recent retirement May to live in Gainesville, FL. Award from the New Haven Pride Center, as well celebration; Klapper appreciated the chance to Karen Pease Marino (visual arts) went on a two- as an award from the Pride NY organization for reconnect with faculty and friends and see her week journey to Uganda last May with Bead for his work with the LGBTQ community. Mannetti mentors, Philippa Wehle and Jay Novick. Life, a group that creates currently works as a mental-health counselor at sustainable opportunities for Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, CT, 1983 women to lift their families out and returned to Purchase for the HIV Equal event Peter Jacobs (visual of extreme poverty. Marino in March. arts) and Elizabeth and her fellow volunteers Smith (visual arts) visited women and girls in Michael A. Rinella (political science) is a senior celebrated their 30th the slums and orphanages editor at SUNY Press. Rinella has signed a contract wedding anniversary Peter Jacobs & in Kampala, as well as in the Karen Marino with the University Press of Kansas to publish an this year. Jacobs Elizabeth Smith villages in Northern Uganda edited and annotated version of the memoir of is a working artist where Joseph Kony’s guerilla Dallas resident George de Mohrenschildt, Lee (peterjacobsfinearts.com) and has owned Fine Arts forces had devastated whole communities. Harvey Oswald as Imaging (fineartsimaging.com) for 29 years. Smith I Knew Him. Last John Moyik (design/tech) is a founding partner of also is an artist (elizabethjacobs.com), and owns the fall, Rinella’s Design Contact and has a long history of scenic Clay Studio in Montclair, NJ. home business, design and design management. A few years Take Aim Designs, ago he led the creation of DC-Connect, which Nora Raleigh (literature) is publishing her 11th published its develops and programs (i)cell technology systems young-adult novel, Subway Love, with Candlewick first board and accompanying (i) Press this May. Two other novels— game, Operation connect display products. Doug Shannon the first (still untitled) about a Battleaxe: Wavell These electrostatic-based girl whose mother is incarcerated vs. Rommel, 1941. in the Bedford Women’s interfaces and Moyik’s Correctional Facility, and the interactive display units Doug Shannon (design/tech) was the gaffer for second, Nine/Ten, exploring the have, he reports, struck gold the film Little Boy, scheduled to open in June 2014. 24 hours prior to 9/11 from the in California. The company A family drama set during World War II, Little point of view of four different has completed more than 10 Boy stars Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson, Michael characters—are both due out in Nora Raleigh projects in California, with John Moyik Rapaport, and Kevin James. It was filmed at Baja 2015 from Simon & Schuster. more to come in 2014. Studios in Mexico.

PURCHASE | 28 Send your news, updates, and photos to: [email protected] u Remember to include your class year and major. also a founder and board member of the Hawaiian in India this year. She 1987 Adaptive Paddling Association, the Polynesian recently married Sarah E. Kelly (philosophy) was recently appointed Voyaging Society, and Malama Honua, H¯ok¯uleà’s Anandraj Gurudhas and vice president for advancement at Wheeling Jesuit World Wide Voyage 2013–2017. “Pa mai, pa mai, gave birth to a baby University, located in the Ohio Valley about 50 Ka makani nui o Hawaiì” (Blow, blow, ye strong girl, Sophie. Neblett minutes outside Pittsburgh. winds of Hawaiì). continues to teach drawing and design at Marcia Neblett 1989 1992 the Savannah College of Art and Design in Hope Griffin Diaz (literature/drama studies) spends Aaron Conte (acting) remains Savannah, GA, where she has taught since 2002. her days (and nights) planning ConCarolinas, an active at the Actors’ Gang She sends a big hello to all of her classmates. annual science fiction/fantasy/speculative fiction Theater in Culver City, CA, convention in Charlotte, NC. This year, she is and appears as Terry in Shana Pontus Wormuth (visual arts) started New working with George R. R. Martin, the author who Betz’s writing and directing Lab, an agency focused on innovating retail is the guest of honor, and David Weber, a special debut, Free Ride, starring through design. New Lab develops turn-key guest. The convention celebrates all forms of Anna Paquin and Drea de retail experiences backed by industry-relevant speculative fiction through literature, music, art, Matteo. It was released data and helps negotiate strategic partnerships. film, fandom, and gaming. in January 2014 by Cargo Wormuth is the chief creative officer, based in James Noel Hoban (acting) will be returning to the Aaron Conte Entertainment and Phase 4 Minneapolis. Purchase has a special place in his Theater at Monmouth this summer for his fourth Films. heart and he gives credit for his career success to season, appearing in productions of As You Like It, A the great thought mentorship that he experienced— Ted Thomas (dance) and Frances specifically from Bill Deere. Woman of No Importance, and What the Butler Saw. Ortiz (’94, dance) graduated from Purchase, married, and 1991 went on to earn their master’s 1996 Tina Davis (literature) runs a team of editors at Joshua Abeles (history) is a degrees in dance in higher Bloomberg News and lives in New York City. She vice president in JPMorgan education from NYU. In 2003 is also at work on a book about Leon Hess and the Chase’s legal department. they established the New Ted Thomas Hess Corporation, due out from Wiley Press in Prior to that he was a director England Academy of Dance in 2015. at ZyLAB North America, a New Canaan, CT. While dancing dispute manager for Deloitte for such world-renowned Joe Kowan (visual arts) recently gave a TED talk, Financial Advisory Services, and Joshua Abeles companies as Paul Taylor, “How I Beat Stage Fright,” which was featured managing partner at OSC Global Nikolais and Louis, Elisa Monte, as the Talk of the Week on TED.com. Check out Services, where he oversaw the and Ballet Hispanico, they the video at www.ted.com/talks/joe_kowan_ company’s growth from 2 to 75 employees in New created the New York–based, how_i_beat_stage_fright.html. York, Bangkok, and Bangalore. He specializes in nationally known modern dance Frances Ortiz Stephanie Silber Zimet electronic discovery, corporate communications, company Thomas/Ortiz Dance. (literature) will premiere project and operations management, global Everything Is Forever, a sourcing, Internet start-ups, and award-winning 1993 documentary about business plans. Alex Lamas (anthropology) enrolled in the fu jow Croatian/American Todd Baker (acting) has joined forces with Doug pai system of kung fu under Master Shue Yiu Kwan rocker Nenad Bach, Stephanie Silber Z. Goodstein, a former executive producer of in 1996, and in 2001 he became an instructor at produced by her and Zimet Howard Stern on Demand (Howard TV), to form Kwan’s Kung Fu. As a kung fu and tai chi instructor, directed by her partner, Good Baker Productions. Their company is off to a Lamas brings his program to schools, campuses, Vic Zimet, at the 47th Annual WorldFest-Houston great start with a co-production deal for the reality and autistic populations. He volunteers as a tour in April; the international premiere will be at the series Breaking the Ice, now in production for TLC guide at Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, NY, and Starigrad Paklenica Fest in Croatia in August. The International. In February, Baker was also hired as teaches kung fu and tai chi in Westchester and the film is a discerning look at the universal creative the producer of the nationally televised version of Bronx. process told through the eyes of an immigrant. Power 105’s The Breakfast Club. Afua Preston (language and culture) is currently Debra Whitman (music) has had an active musical the associate director for foreign languages, 1999 career as a private piano teacher, professional translation, and interpreting at NYU’s School of Ellen Foos (literature) wears two hats: senior harpist, and teaching artist. In 1999 she created Continuing and Professional Studies. production editor at Princeton University Press and the Classical Kids Music program to promote music founder and publisher of Ragged Sky Press. Ragged appreciation in children from prekindergarten 1995 Sky is a nonprofit publisher of poetry books. It through fifth grade. Her music-appreciation Jennipher Satterly Kennedy (visual arts) received, recently published a collection by Lynn Levin, Miss coloring book, Composer Celebration, is among other awards, a Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Plastique, and has put out a call for submissions for available online. She maintains a home studio in Foundation studio in an upcoming anthology with the theme of coffee Larchmont, NY, with her husband and 10-year- Tribeca, along with and chocolate. See www.raggedsky.com/. old daughter. For more information, visit www. full fellowships to Debrawhitmanmusic.com. the Vermont Studio 2000 Center and the Ragdale Kim Michelle Edwards (liberal studies) is currently Michi Hatashita Wong, PhD (psychology), obtained Foundation. Her work working at her church as an office assistant, her doctorate at Fordham University and Weill has been exhibited in where she also prepares the Sunday bulletins and Cornell New York– Jennipher Kennedy New York, Tel Aviv, Berlin, announcements. She was recently employed at Presbyterian Beijing, and throughout Anthropologie, a women’s clothing and craft store, Hospital. She the United Kingdom. In 2008 Kennedy received her where she was a shipping and receiving clerk. works as a clinical MFA from the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. psychologist and Richard “Chard” Gonzalez (dance) founded a She lives in New Jersey with her husband, William, feels blessed to nonprofit dance company in New Orleans. The and two sons, Jack and Skye. be a part of the award-winning Chard Gonzalez Dance Theatre has Michi Hatashita Wong Lanikai Canoe Marcia Neblett (visual arts) received a Fulbright performed throughout Louisiana and at festivals in Club. Wong is Scholar Grant to lecture on woodblock printmaking San Francisco and New York City. In 2013, Gonzalez

PURCHASE | 29 ALUMNI in Action

became the founding president and executive has created seven pieces for with the record label EMI. Following her departure director of the Dance Alliance of New Orleans; he the company, most notably from the music industry, she began working in has now moved back home to San Diego, where he meeting and performing program distribution with HBO’s international will begin relocating his company later this year. her work for the duke and sales group. She recently joined AMC Networks duchess of Luxembourg. Her Media Management Group and supports the 2001 most recent work, Persona digital platform distribution endeavors of AMC, Umbra, was described as “a IFC, SundanceTV, and WE-tv Networks. Recently, In 2014, Emily Carson (visual arts) was made force of excellence” by Eye Tavares began writing her first novel, and has been executive chef at the Astor Center in NYC. She hosts Tiffany Rae- on Dance. accepted to Manhattanville College’s creative Sharp & Hot on HeritageRadioNetwork.org and Fisher writing MFA program. her food writing and recipes have been featured Aaron Rosenstreich on Martha Stewart Radio, the Robb Report, the (photography) uses various historic and New York Times, the Village Voice, Time Out, CBS, contemporary photographic technologies as 2006 NBC, FOX, the Vegetarian Times, and the Food descriptive tools to explore Eric Szyszka (cinema studies) Network. She lives on a farm in New Jersey with her themes of age, place, and is currently entering his son, husband, a flock of chickens, and a dog named time. Rosenstreich is also the third year as an acquisitions Rooster. proprietor of Aggregate Space supervisor at Showtime Lab, a hybrid analog/digital Networks. He previously Garth Greenwell (litereature) will release his novel, darkroom and a public space held the role of content What Belongs to You, in May 2015. After obtaining Eric Szyszka for photographic workshops, ingest manager at the online two master’s degrees, Greenwell spent seven years exhibitions, and lectures. The streaming start-up FilmBuff. as a high school teacher—four of them in Bulgaria— Aaron public darkroom offers the Szyszka is also active on the and is currently an Arts Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Rosenstreich ability to use current digital New York comedy scene with the popular podcasts Workshop. His novel grew out of a novella that won techniques, including scanning We Hate Movies (an improvised send-up/breakdown the Miami University Press Novella Prize in 2010 and printing, plus gelatin silver printing and of individual films) and Blame It on Outer Space (an and was a finalist for the Edmund White Debut alternative-process photography. off-the-wall show about conspiracy theories). Fiction Prize and a Lambda Literary Award. Christine Vartoughian (drama Cheryl Walpole, MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT (visual arts), 2004 studies) earned an MFA in film and Aria Isadora, MPS (visual arts ’00), co-founded Samantha Boyer and TV from the Savannah the Children’s World Art Initiative, a nonprofit (language and culture) College of Art and Design project that established an art-as-therapy program and Mario Partenope and is currently completing with the Collateral Repair Project (CRP) in Amman, (new media) were married a feature film she wrote and Jordan, in March and April 2014. CRP works as a in 2009 and welcomed directed called Living with the community center for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Christine their first child, Melanie Dead. Expanding to different locations throughout Vartoughian Rose Partenope, on the world has always been one of their goals, January 20, 2014. Boyer and Walpole and Isadora report that they couldn’t Samantha, Mario, 2007 is a French and Spanish be more pleased with this collaboration. and Melanie Jared Albert (journalism) has been promoted to teacher at Briarcliff senior publicist at Animal Planet. High School in Briarcliff 2002 Manor, NY. Partenope is a network specialist for Elizabeth Hartley (psychology) received her Ed Cable (visual arts) teaches CSP graphics to the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center in master’s of business administration from the students with learning and emotional disabilities at Westchester County. University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth in Rockland BOCES. In his class, the students learn the 2011 and her JD from Roger Williams University Rob Hart (journalism) just sold his first novel, New basic computer skills needed to work in the fields School of Law in May 2013. She became licensed Yorked, to Exhibit A, the crime-fiction imprint of printing and graphic design. Cable has a master’s to practice law in Rhode Island and Massachusetts of Angry Robot. It’s about an amateur private degree in middle childhood special education and after passing the bar exam in July 2013, and is investigator in the East Village who is seeking to recently completed an advanced certificate in now an associate attorney at a medium-sized avenge the death of the woman he loves. He runs educational leadership. He reports that he loves firm in Providence, RI, specializing in settlement afoul of a drag queen crime lord, gets involved in a being able to use both of his degrees to earn a negotiation. Hartley lives in Massachusetts with her hipster turf war, and generally makes a mess of the living, and looks forward to what the future may fiancé, who is also an attorney. job. The book is due to be released in the winter hold for him. of 2015. More information can be found at www. Amanda L. Ramharack (liberal studies) completed Melanie Martini (visual arts) is a decorator and robwhart.com/. her MBA at Adelphi University in 2012. She now window display artist in New York City. She got owns a home with her fiancé in Rosedale, Queens, engaged on New Year’s Eve to her partner of seven 2005 NY, and currently works full-time as an accounts years, Lauren Montuori, who is a graduate of the payable accountant for Pace Gallery in New York Kate Scott (dance) just completed a run of the Art Institute of Boston and a producer. They live in City. Broadway tour of My Fair Lady in Singapore and Astoria with their corgi-mix dog, and are planning a works primarily in musical theater. She recently fall wedding. joined Actors’ Equity and resides in Astoria. In 2008 addition to her performing career, she works as the Jesse McLaren (liberal studies) works on The Colbert 2003 teaching artist coordinator for a program called Report for Comedy Central as an associate field Llana Carroll (literature) is currently a lecturer in ArtsACTION. ArtsACTION, a producer. He previously worked as a field producer the new Writing and Critical Inquiry Program at program of Unity Stage in for Nate Berkus, Anderson Cooper, and Katie Couric, the State University of New York at Albany. Carroll Queens, focuses on fitness and was nominated for an Emmy in 2013. taught there from 2010 to 2013 in the expository through the performing Teddy Nicholas (drama studies) began employment writing program. arts and serves 7,000 public as a box office treasurer at the Broadhurst Theatre, elementary school children in Tiffany Rae-Fisher (dance) is in her 10th year new home of Mamma Mia, the ninth-longest- western Queens. with the internationally acclaimed modern dance running Broadway show in history, this past company Elisa Monte Dance. She is also the artistic Tommie-Ann Tommie-Ann Tavares (media, October. He is developing a new play with the Glass director of Inception to Exhibition and on the Tavares society, and the arts) began Bandits Theater Company’s PlayDates playwriting faculty of the Joffrey School of Ballet. Rae-Fisher her post-Purchase career group and premiering a new short play called

PURCHASE | 30 #Rageaholic at INTAR’s American Nightcap series; City. They moved to Black Mountain, NC, in he also has a new performance piece called On September 2013. Ruiz is the museum educator at Failure, Betrayal, and Rejection at HERE Arts Center. the Swannanoa Valley Museum, and loves life in WANT TO SHARE YOUR the South. Andrew W. Parker (music) continued his education UPDATES AND NEWS? after Purchase, earning a master’s of music in oboe Esteban Valerio (political science) works in performance from the Yale School of Music and business analytics for Citigroup in Costa Rica and Send an email to: a doctorate of music in oboe performance at the is involved in projects for clients in Mexico. He is University of Texas at Austin. He currently holds completing his MBA in finance from the University [email protected] the position of managing director for the Yale of Costa Rica. Valerio reports two professional Philharmonia/New Music New Haven at the Yale highlights: he was awarded the Citi Latin American Please keep content under 50 words. School of Music in New Haven, CT. Employee of the Month Award for October 2013 Attach digital images and the 2013 Fourth-Quarter Senior Management in high-resolution format. Joe Sabia (music) is Team Award. currently principal trumpet in the St. started a do-it-yourself hiker fashion meme called Thomas Orchestra 2012 #pinkblazing, with the motto “Consent Is Sexy.” and Yonkers Marianna Grady (art history/ Stewart also helped run an “End of the World Philharmonic, and women’s studies) will Party” at the Bowery Hotel in New York City on second trumpet begin a master’s in public Dec. 21, 2012. in the American Joe Sabia health at the University of Chamber Orchestra. Washington this coming Christina Vitolo (journalism/gender studies) His studio, with fall. “Putting ‘Daddy’ in recently started as a youth educator and the a dozen private students, and countless musical the Cart: Ordering Sperm coordinator of services to the LGBTQ community at theater gigs keep him busy, but he still finds time Online,” a content analysis Marianna Grady the Center for Safety & Change in Rockland County. to appear on TV. Most recently, Sabia was seen in Grady co-authored with She credits campus organizations such as FORTH, season four’s finale of Boardwalk Empire on HBO Professor Lisa Jean Moore, Alt Clinic, and LGBTQ for inspiring her to become a and will return in next year’s fifth and final season. will be featured in the edited collection Reframing professional activist. Reproduction: Conceiving Gendered Experiences. Arissa Zervas (art history) will marry her fiancé, Grady lives in Seattle and is the public policy and 2013 Konstantine Paschalidis, in June of this year. advocacy coordinator at the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Shannon Barnett (jazz studies) won the position the Pacific Northwest’s largest AIDS service of second trombone with the WDR Big Band in 2009 organization. Cologne, Germany. Joseph Michael Brent (music performance) earned Arthur Lucas Kapp (new media) has worked for an MM from the University of Georgia, and will Christina Fremgen (design/tech) held an internship Dartmouth College’s Orientation Video campaign graduate with his DMA in 2014. He has shifted his at Design Contact, an alumni-run business in since graduation, executing all parts of an focus from double bass to voice and has performed NYC, during her final semester at Purchase. Upon introductory orientation video, as well as making lead tenor roles in several productions in Europe graduation, she was offered a full-time position music videos for successful bands such as the Low and the U.S., including The Magic Flute, La Bohème, because of her talent and enthusiasm for scenic Anthem and Tallahassee. Playing drums, he has Elixir of Love, Carmen, and The Tales of Hoffmann. He design. Her notable projects include work for the been touring with his band Last Good Tooth around made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2013 in Mefistofele. Walmart shareholders’ meeting, multiple IBM the country as well as with Nicole Wray’s new band, Brent maintains an active bass career. meetings, Heineken NDC, and Lockheed Martin’s Lady. Energy Solutions Center. Martha Lynn Laskie (visual arts) began to build John Procario her career as a professional graphic designer after (visual arts) has graduating from Purchase. She keeps busy running had considerable her own design company, Martha Lynn Laskie exposure to the Graphic Design & Illustration, and recently earned world of high- the Best Designer Consultant Award for business end design since in Yonkers in 2013. Currently, she is the creative graduation. His director for Alpha Beta Creatives. Her work can be work has been found at www.mllgd.com. published in more Jenna Marcus (literature) is an English teacher at EF than 20 magazines Academy. She teaches International Baccalaureate worldwide, has Christina Fremgen and International General Certificate of Secondary been featured on John Procario Education (IGCSE) English and is the Cambridge design websites, International Examinations teacher support and has appeared in Christie Rotondo (journalism) was awarded a coordinator for her school. Marcus is an accredited books about contemporary trends. He is currently first-place New Jersey Press Association Robert P. coursework examiner for IGCSE in English as a first working with interior design firms on a commission Kelly Award, which is given to full-time reporters language, English literature, and world literature. basis. The products that who have less than 12 months of professional She also advises the school’s literary magazine and caught the interest of experience. Rotondo won the award for two news writes the EF blog for the academy. these groups were his stories she had written in 2013 as a staff writer free-form lamps. at the Wildwood Leader in Marmora, NJ. While at Christina Ruiz (environmental Purchase, Rotondo was one of 10 students who studies) recently graduated Cynthia Stewart helped create the college’s first music and arts from Bank Street College (literature) is the festival magazine, The Purchase Beat. During her senior year, of Education with an MSEd, director for Beltane she was editor-in-chief of the publication. specializing in museum 2014 at the Center for education. She and Zach Symbolic Studies in New Kim Whitehead (journalism) is the coordinator Cooper, her fiancé, recently Paltz, NY. In 2013, she of social media for Company B, a marketing traveled cross-country hiked a 600-mile section communications agency specializing in public Christina Ruiz looking for a better quality of the Appalachian Cynthia Stewart relations, social media, and branding for of life outside New York Trail. On the trail, she personalities, brands, and businesses.

PURCHASE | 31 Weddings SCHOOL OF THE ARTS GALA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2014 Lydia Rivera (’05 photography) and Kieran 6:00 PM Johnson (’05 photography) ATE were married in Brooklyn on Sept. 28, 2013. Festivities were held at GOTHAM HALL Galapagos Art Space and 1356 Broadway, New York, NY 10018 the wedding was officiated by Matthew Oberstein (’05 BMus; ’06 performer’s certificate). Standing up Please plan to join us for a festive evening in Lydia and Kieran E D with Rivera and Johnson New York City when the Purchase College were Cheryl Santillo School of the Arts will present the Nelson A. (’05 photography), Yuridia Pena (’05 journalism), Keith Johnson (’05 Rockefeller Awards, honoring the leaders photography), and Jacob Flanagan (’06 literature). The couple and their cameras explored the wetlands of Belize before returning home to NYC, whose artistry and commitment are shaping where Rivera is an arts administrator for the curatorial firm Nancy Rosen the course of contemporary culture. Proceeds Incorporated and Johnson works for the Richard Avedon Foundation. from the evening will support the School of

Ian Falchiere (’09 biology) and T H the Arts endowment. Dasha Weinstock (’07 visual arts) met at Purchase in 2006 through For further details, please call the Office of a mutual friend. Falchiere studied Institutional Advancement at (914) 251-6040. trumpet as a minor and is currently a physical therapist. Weinstock E currently manages the care of Alumni interested in serving on School of the persons with developmental Arts Gala Committee are encouraged to contact disabilities. Although they have [email protected]. pursued careers distinct from V their fields of study, both credit Purchase for bringing them together and helping them lead A creative and insightful lives.

Ian and Dasha In Memoriam S 2012 Rockefeller Curtis McClarin ’91 (acting)—March 3, 2014 Awardees Eugene The Purchase community deeply mourns the sudden passing of and Emily Grant 44-year-old actor Curtis McClarin. A resident of Brooklyn, NY, McClarin surrounded by appeared on Broadway in Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk. Apart from family. his work on Broadway, McClarin appeared in a number of Off-Broadway plays and regional theatre productions across the U.S. His film credits include The Occupant and The Happening, and he had guest roles on television series such as The Good Wife, Damages, The Wire, Law & Order: SVU, and the prison drama Oz. Dean Irby, one of McClarin’s acting professors at Purchase, shared this eulogy: “Curtis McClarin was one of my first students at Purchase. Right after graduation, I cast him in a production of Fences opposite Gil Lewis. 2012 Rockefeller They were wonderful. Curtis was a man with great talent, and even Awardees Eugene greater heart. This brings reality to the make-believe world we work to and Emily Grant create. To his family, and loved ones, know that he’ll be missed.” with President Lisa Morrongiello ‘81 (visual arts)—Jan. 21, 2014 Thomas Schwarz. Lisa Morrongiello was diagnosed with and treated for cancer in 1985 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. After treatment she volunteered at the center as a peer counselor, often distributing blinking eyeglasses to patients and doctors alike. Although her production of art declined after her treatment, she continued to paint, draw, show, and publish her work. She loved art, comedy, music, the beach, good coffee, her friends, and her family. Memories of her rambunctious wit, art, and enduring love will always be with those who knew her. 2012 Arts Gala host Steven Weber ’83, who will return for 2014.

PURCHASE | 32 Neuberger Museum THE of Art PERFORMING An outstanding arts and education institution, the Neuberger Museum ARTS of Art is the premier museum of modern, African, and contemporary art—including specialization in Latin American art and new media—in CENTER the Westchester/Fairfield County region. The museum was conceived with the dual purpose of serving as an important cultural resource to its regional, national, and international audiences, and as an integral part of Purchase College. Each year the Performing Arts Center (PAC) presents a full roster of world-class artists, ranging from international Our mission is to educate our diverse audiences in, about, and through orchestras, renowned dance companies, unique professional the visual arts. Our goal is to engage and inspire by actively fostering theatre, the finest chamber ensembles, contemporary music, the appreciation and understanding of our world-class collections and comedians, pop artists, family programs, film, and more. original changing exhibitions. The PAC’s 37th season, for which subscriptions are currently In 2014, we celebrate our 40th anniversary with a series of landmark available, begins in September with jazz great Branford exhibitions including Becoming Disfarmer: A Portrait Photographer Marsalis and his orchestra. and His Archive, and Kuba Textiles: Geometry in Form, Space, and Time; and the publication of our first extensive collection catalogue, When Among the other artists and ensembles who will be seen on Modern Was Contemporary: The Roy R. Neuberger Collection. the PAC’s stages this autumn are the Czech Philharmonic, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band direct from New Orleans, humorist and writer David Sedaris, singer Suzanne Vega, and, in a new three-year residency, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Winter and spring 2014–15 will feature a holiday performance

PHOTO: JIM FRANK of Handel’s Messiah by Musica Sacra, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, violinist Midori, singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, and a joint concert by Broadway’s Mandy Patinkin and Patti Lupone. In total, there will be more than three dozen presentations on the PAC’s stages, as well as Conservatory performances and other events, offering something for every taste and age level. For subscriptions and information, including the availability of tickets for single events, contact the Performing Arts Center’s box office at (914) 251-6200. www.artscenter.org

Helen Frankenthaler, Mount Sinai, 1956, oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 30 inches (76.5 x 76.2 cm). Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York. Gift of Roy R. Neuberger, 1969.01.13.

Michael Disfarmer, Unidentified, c. 1940–1945. Gelatin silver print, 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches. Neuberger Museum of Art, New York.

PURCHASE | 33 Purchase College U.S. Postage State University of New York 735 Anderson Hill Road paid Purchase, NY 10577-1400 Non-Profit Org. Permit No. 15 Address Service Requested White Plains, NY

Purchase College Alumni Association Board of Directors 2014 Matt Alfano ’10 Fadi Areifij ’99 Paula Cancro ’79 Kevin Collymore ’10 Vice President Audrey Cozzarin ’79 President Emerita Michael Fonseca ’08 Alison Kaplan ’86 Treasurer Emily O’Leary ’06 Mark Patnode ’78 Secretary Jeffrey S. Putman ’96 President Lydia Rivera ’05 Gorman John Ruggiero ’76 Thomas J. Schwarz President, Purchase College Jeannine Starr, CFRE Vice President of Institutional Advancement

EX OFFICIO: Bella Guthrie Ashton ’11 Coordinator of Advancement and Alumni Relations

Address Updates If this address is not current, kindly forward correct address information to us at [email protected] or (914) 251-6054. Thank you.