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F O R A lu M N I & F r i e N D S O F C O L U M B I A C O L l e G E C H I c aG O 10
Teaching Funny Studying comedy with Chicago’s improv masters media arts in the 21 st century ts ersati N the in c u c journalism, and the moving image. moving the and journalism, media, social on focusing Arts, Media of School Columbia’s by A year-longexplorationoftrendsandissuesindisciplinestaught T Twitter network social the of Co-founder 2009 6, October esday, T one one Biz O u w ff Clement at 312.369.7084. 312.369.7084. at Clement call President’sClub, the about more To learn event. each following speakers the with V to invitations President’s enjoy Clubdonors eet with us at #bizstonecolum at us with eet i o c i S al t A l IR L o I N E S ponso m I P r: b receptions receptions i K i c a m v o Ti first-served basis at colum.edu/conversations. at basis first-served 1104 at lectures All Sciences. and Arts Liberal and Arts, Performing and Fine Arts, Media schools: Columbia’s three of each to devoted programs of cycle three-year a opens series This T and Co-founder 2010 27, January Huffington Wednesday, ianna A A O l h ff r c e e i c e l k H i al u e HOT ffington Post ffington t S r s . E Wabash Wabash L S a g ponso re available at no charge on a first-come, first-come, a on charge no at available re e E d rS: c 7:00 p.m. at at p.m. 7:00 itor- News Website News A I n v -Chief of of -Chief h e., 8th floor. e.,8th i a c F i lm lm g and and T of Director Wednesday, Nair Mira h R o e e o N M w w a
o mesake nsoon Wedding nsoon C e s e r p o i nema, S A a p laam Bombay! laam , ril 28, 2010 28, ril M i ssissippi ssissippi n n M , a s sala t s , FL A L 2009
d ep a r t m e n t s
5 Vision: a question for President Warrick L. Carter 6 Wire: news from the college community 24 Events: what’s coming up on campus 35 Spin: new recordings from the Curious Mystery, Heather Perry and the ______s, and Chompilation 36 Get Lit: new books by Sean Chercover, Nami Mun, 10 Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin, Jack Kilborn, Arnie Bernstein, and Joe Meno 38 Out There: our alumni section, featuring class news and notes and CAAN updates 45 Point & Shoot: caught on camera around the country 48 Backstory: Gwendolyn Brooks, 1965
S p ot O n
10 Stephanie Keuhnert (M.F.A. ’06) rockin’ author 12 Dan Asma (B.A. ’92) trailer treasure 26 Jorge Ortega (B.A. ’94) car culture 34 Sarah Opila (B.A. ’89) designing woman
fe a t ures What if I Bomb in Front of My Mom? Columbia College and the Second City partner to make comedy studies funnier and smarter. By Robert K. Elder. 13 Photography by Jeremy Lawson (’94) C o ver Mixing It Up
What’s funnier than a rubber chicken? Kid Sister, Flosstradamus, and The Cool Kids are the next Columbia’s Comedy Studies students! Story, wave of Chicago hip-hop artists aiming to break big. page 13. Photo: Jeremy Lawson (’94) 20 By Jim DeRogatis Portfolio: Fashion Design New lines from Anna Fong (’01) and DieterBennet (Dieter Kirkwood and Bennett Cousins, both (’04)), and Launch, 29 the next generation of Columbia designers. Passport to Columbia is your Passport holders receive a 20-percent Passport to Columbia come invitation to hundreds of exciting discount on tickets to The Dance colum.edu/passport events in every art from dance and Center and Chicago Jazz Ensemble Columbia College experience theater to jazz and the visual arts. performances. There is no charge Events Hotline: We present lectures by outstanding for admission to exhibitions and 312.369.7420 columbia artists and scholars, readings many other events. Events calendar: by prominent writers and poets, colum.edu/events transformed Request your Passport by calling the and conversations with leaders Columbia College Events Hotline at in the cultural arena. 312.369.7420. Check our website often for special opportunities available only to Passport to Columbia holders.
M a k e t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n o f a l i f e t i m e . T he Alexandroff Legacy Society honors and acknowledges the vision of individuals remembering Columbia College Chicago in their estate plans. The giving society is named in honor of former Columbia President Mirron “Mike” Alexandroff, a life-long advocate for social justice who believed that everyone
is entitled to a chance to succeed through education. Mirron “Mike” Alexandroff served as president of Columbia College Chicago from 1962 to 1992.
Fo o r m re information on how to include Columbia College Chicago in your estate plan, please contact Kim Clement at 312.369.7084. vol 5 issue 1 FALL 2009
f or alumni and friends of 10 Columbia College Chicago
e x e c u t i v e e d i t o r / v i c e p r e s i d e n t Eric V. A. Winston, Ph.D. fo r institutional advancement
e d i t o r Ann Wiens
e d i t o r i a l a s s i s t a n t Geoffrey Hyatt (’09) c l a s s n o t e s e d i t o r Michelle Passarelli (’99) DEMO is online c r e a t i v e d i r e c t o r Ben Bilow a r t d i r e c t o r Guido Mendez Read, comment, and share e d i t o r i a l a d v i s o r y b o a r d Randall Albers Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin at colum.edu/demo William Cellini (’94)
Joan Hammel (’86) Become a fan! ubinstein (B.A. ’10) R Mark Kelly Find DEMO magazine Justin Kulovsek (’04) Jim MacDonald on Facebook Alton Miller Photo: Alexa Christopher Richert (’99) Brian Shaw (’86) upcm o ing alumni events Jeff Spitz C ontact the Office ofA lumni Relations at Jim Sulski (’84) colum.edu/alumni or 312.369.6987 Sam Weller (’89, ’01) for more information C i olumb a College Chicago September 10–October 1 c h a i r, b o a r d o f t r u s t e e s Allen M. Turner Interactive Arts & Media Alumni Exhibition
p r e s i d e n t Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D. C OHIcaG v i c e p r e s i d e n t fo r Eric V. A. Winston, Ph.D. institutional advancement September 24 n a t i o n a l d i r e c t o r o f Joshua Culley-Foster (’03) a l u m n i r e l a t i o n s CAA F N: S / Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants
Saan Fr ncisco a s s i s t a n t d i r e c t o r o f Michelle Passarelli (’99) : a l u m n i o p e r a t i o n s a s s i s t a n t d i r e c t o r o f Cynthia Vargas (’01) September 24–27 a l u m n i programming e A lumni Reunion Weekend: d i r e c t o r o f a l u m n i r e l a t i o n s , Sarah Schroeder (’00) we s t c o a s t t Evolving Through the Decades C OHIcaG
Oct ober 3
DEMO (volume 5, number 1) s published by Columbia College Chicago. da T echnology Workshop: Radio & Internet Podcasting It is mailed free of charge to alumni and friends of the college three times a year. C OHIcaG The ideas and opinions expressed are those of the writers alone, and do not necessarily reflect those ofC olumbia College Chicago. © Columbia College Chicago 2009. N ovember 7
h T echnology Workshop: Final Cut Pro 7 email US: C OHIcaG [email protected] t CLSAL U : Columbia College Chicago: 312.369.1000 N ovember 19 DEMO magazine: 312.369.8631 S eventh Annual Columbia College Chicago ma S il U : Impact Awards at the Paramount Theater DEM O magazine, Columbia College Chicago, Lo ngs A eles 600 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605 V iew event details at colum.edu/alumni; click “alumni events” Save e The Presiden t ’ s C l u b
c o l u M B I A C o l l e g e C h i c A G O
C olumbia College Chicago acknowledges the following individuals who joined the President’s Club between T HE PresideNT’S CLUB OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO September 1, 2008 and invites you to join us in May 31, 2009:
H . Temel Belek Dara E. Belic ’08 Lutgart J. Calcote bigr n in talent Gregory C. Cameron Timothy Carroll Dan Casey & Dolores Connoly Jim & Jane Cohan to life. Rhea Cohn Catherine Costello Paul E. Elledge & Leasha J. Overturf Ronald A. Elling Terry H. Evans Patrick J. Fahy ’90 James F. Feldstein Georgia & Gerald W. Fogelson Susan M. Gosin John Hass & Mary Francis Budig-Hass Robert A. & Lorraine Holland Robert C. Howard Karen T. & Richard F. Jordan Morton H. Kaplan & Hedy M. Ratner Linda & Jon R. Katzenbach Robert F. Kusel ’78 Ramsey E. Lewis Jr. & Jan Lewis
Sara L. Livingston ells Marilyn C. Lord ’82 nsemble Becm o e Donors of $1,000 or more annually to Louise & Ernie Love E any area of the college are recognized as Jeanie Medrea
a President’s Club members of the President’s Club, the most Marcella Mencotti Photo: Nolan W Phillip Moll member! prestigious giving society at Columbia Sylvia Neil & Dan Fischel Chicago Blues College Chicago. Eliza Nichols Neil P. Pagano Our generous President’s Club donors Fred J. ’96 & Charlotte A. Pienkos Rosita M. Sands enjoy exclusive invitations to several new Steven & Lauren Scheibe and exciting events featuring celebrities Howard Schlossberg in the arts. Shawn Sheehy ’02 Rod & Kiff Slemmons To learn more, call Kim Clement Raymond J. & Kristine Spencer Judith Stein at 312.369.7084 or visit William S. & Ann Marie Swartwood colum.edu/donate. Elizabeth A. Yokas & Nicholas Dwyer
DEMO4 a question for President Carter
Doem : What is the role of Columbia’s research centers and institutes within the larger mission of the college?
D r. Carter: I take very seriously the last part of our name: Columbia College Chicago. And that “Chicago” part means we have a responsibility to be actively involved in the culture of the city. That is one of the primary roles of our centers and institutes—through their programming and their scholarship, they reach out into the neighborhoods, into the city, into various parts of the artistic disciplines and even ethnic communities of which we are part, keeping us actively involved in the life of the city.
Each of these entities serves our mission in a different way, from presenting world-class dance, art, or music to supporting research and scholarship that contribute to the cultural discourse. By reaching out to the city with these entities, we also bring the city to us—we bring practitioners and patrons onto our campus, who in turn become valuable resources for our students. Our students are enriched by those experiences. Having these centers and institutes as part of our campus makes us a better place, a richer place. And it breaks down the walls between town and gown.
Photo: Bill Frederking The Center for Community Arts Partnerships just marked its tenth year at Columbia. For a decade, CCAP has been building meaningful, sustainable partnerships among the college, public schools, and Columbia College Chicago is home to communities through arts-based education. The Ellen Stone Belic the following research centers and institutes. Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media is now five years old, and is clearly having an impact with its work to For links to more information on each of them, deepen understanding of how issues related to women, gender, and view the online version of this message at creativity are shaping policy. The Congo/Women exhibition is opening this fall at the United Nations, and two 2008 Belic Institute Fellows, colum.edu/demo/vision. Lynsey Addario and Lynn Nottage, were awarded Pulitzers this year. The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, in its fifth year under the artistic direction A Nchor GRAPHICS of trumpeter and conductor Jon Faddis, is living its mission “to connect Center for American Places people everywhere to the passion, creativity, joy, and rhythms of big band Center for Asian Arts and Media jazz through outreach, education, and performance.” The Dance Center brings in professional companies that not only provide unprecedented Center for Black Music Research cultural experiences for the people of Chicago, but allow our students Center for Book and Paper Arts to spend time in residencies with these world-class artists. The Museum of Contemporary Photography is one of only two accredited photography Center for Community Arts Partnerships museums in the Midwest, and it draws people onto our campus who Chicago Jazz Ensemble might not have known about us otherwise. Dance Center All of these centers and institutes—and there are many more than Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study what I’ve mentioned here—serve as connectors to particular elements of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media of our culture. They connect us to the city, and connect the city to Institute for Science Education and our campus. But we also know that our students walk through those Science Communication exhibits, come to those lectures, volunteer with those entities, attend those performances, and by doing so they gain a different perspective Museum of Contemporary Photography on what it is to be an artist. I think through the work of these centers, Sherwood Community Music School we are modeling for our students a great way to look at life through and in the arts. news from the Columbia community
Anna Shteynshleyger, City of Destiny Brian Ulrich, Circuit City, (Sukkah), photograph, 2003–08 photograph, 2008 Lecture Series to Focus on 21st-Century The second D.C. showing, at the Media Arts invitation of Senator Barbara Boxer, was timed to coincide with the Conversations in the Arts is an
Lynsey Addario, photograph, from U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Joint annual speaker series that brings Congo/Women Subcommittee hearing, Confronting Photography Faculty notable figures in the arts and Rape and Other Forms of Violence Awarded 2009 culture to Columbia’s campus. This ESB Institute’s Against Women in Conflict Zones. Guggenheims fall, the series begins a multiyear Congo/Women Exhibit The exhibition, scheduled to tour the cycle that will focus on subjects Heads to the U.N. United States, Europe, and Africa Photographers Anna related to each of the college’s over the next two years, will have its Shteynshleyger and Brian Ulrich, three schools—Media Arts, Fine “The arts play a powerful role offical opening in early October and faculty in Columbia’s Photography and Performing Arts, and Liberal as mirror and map to influence be installed until November 2009 at department, are among the 180 Arts and Sciences—over the next social change. Art allows us to the United Nationals Headquarters’ artists, scientists, and scholars three years. be the most human we can be— exhibition space in New York, in from the United States and Canada it advocates for humanity and partnership with the United Nations who were awarded fellowships in The 2009/10 season, Media human response, and art does Population Fund (UNFPA). The the eighty-fifth competition of the Arts in the 21st Century, features have consequences,” said Jane M. exhibition and educational initiative John Simon Guggenheim Memorial speakers who will address major Saks, codirector and cocreator of was supported by the UNFPA, Foundation fellowship program. The trends and issues in the realm the international touring exhibition Humanity United, Oak Foundation, fellows were selected from a group of media, including social media, Congo/Women. “Congo/Women and Pritzker Pucker Foundation as of nearly 3,000 applicants. print and broadcast journalism, and sheds light not only on the situation well as Leadership Donors and other the moving image. Each speaker facing women of the Democratic private donors of the ESB Institute. Guggenheim fellows are appointed in the series will spend a day on Republic of Congo, but on gender- on the basis of stellar achievement campus meeting with students in based violence around the world.” Featuring photographs by and exceptional promise for the afternoon, providing them the photojournalists Lynsey Addario continued accomplishment. opportunity to pose questions to the Saks, executive director of Columbia’s (2009 Pulitzer Prize winner and Shteynshleyger and Ulrich join six leaders in their fields. The evening Ellen Stone Belic Institute for 2008 ESB Institute fellow), other Photography department lectures are open to the public, and the Study of Women and Gender Marcus Bleasdale, Ron Haviv, and professors who previously won each will be followed by a reception in the Arts and Media (ESB James Nachtwey, the exhibition this prestigious award: Dawoud for members of the President’s Club. Institute), created the exhibition in and educational campaign are Bey, Paul D’Amato, T erry Evans, collaboration with Leslie Thomas, designed to raise awareness of the Barbara Kasten, Melissa Pinney, The first speaker to join us this director of Art Works Project, an widespread sexual violence facing and department chair Bob fall will be Biz Stone, cofounder organization dedicated to raising women and girls in the Democratic Thall. Laura Salmon, an alum of Twitter, the real-time, one-to-many awareness of human rights and Republic of Congo and illuminate of the program, is also a past social network that is changing the environmental issues through the global epidemic of gender-based Guggenheim fellow. way people communicate around design and the arts. Congo/Women, sexual violence that confronts the world. Prior to launching this a photography exhibition and women and girls worldwide. Additionally, Photography 140-character sensation, Stone educational program, opened at department faculty member Greg helped build other popular social- Columbia College Chicago in February F or information and Foster-Rice was a winner of this media services, including Xanga, 2009 and has since traveled to exhibition schedule, visit year’s Terra Foundation for American Blogger, and Odeo. Stone will Washington, D.C., (twice) and New York. colum.edu/congo/women. Art Fellowship in Art History. speak at Columbia on October 6.
DEMO6 Faculty and Staff Launch Grassroots Scholarship Initiative
Columbia’s faculty and staff— those who work most closely with students—witness firsthand the financial challenges that can complicate so many educational goals. College adviser J. Wayne Tukes and his colleagues in Ariana Huffington the Academic Advising offices wanted to do something to help. Beginning with a core group that met over brown-bag lunches, their effort has developed into a fully realized scholarship program. Screen shot from Sexperts Their faculty and staff committee, In the first five-minute episode, an in cooperation with the Office average small-town couple makes a of Institutional Advancement, has sex video, then accidentally sends it established the Columbia College TV Department via an email attachment to everyone Faculty/Staff Scholarship to Scores YouTube Hit they know. The actors (Beth assist students in need. This new with Sexperts O’Neill and Brian Rabinowitz) are fundraising initiative provides an charming, and the show’s premiere opportunity for employees of the S experts, a new Web series is particularly clever in the way it college to give to the scholarship developed and produced by enlists its own medium as part fund and see their contributions Columbia College Television of its content. In the first episode, Biz Stone matched by the college. students in the Internet and YouTube celebrities Valentina, Tony On January 27, A rianna Huffington, Mobile Media concentration, made Huyin, Michael Buckley, and Karen cofounder and editor in chief of The “It was a spontaneous, collective a smashing debut on YouTube, Alloy make cameo appearances as Huffington Post, will come to campus. response across several premiering May 7 with more than friends of the couple who call in on Huffington, a nationally syndicated departments,” explained Tukes, who 1,000 views in the first 15 minutes. Skype in response to the racy email columnist, author, and cohost serves as chair of the Faulty/Staff After 24 hours, according to the they inadvertently received. The of NPR’s popular Left, Right, and Scholarship Committee. “It’s really Sexperts Twitter account, it was the episode ends with a hint at what’s Center political roundtable, launched about giving something back to our most-subscribed to comedy channel to come: viewers so impressed The Huffington Post in 2005. The college and community. We hope on YouTube for that month. with the couple’s sexual prowess news and blog site quickly became to represent a model not only for that they begin calling in for advice. among the most widely read media Columbia but also the country with Instructor Wojciech Lorenc, who Tyler Rutledge’s script was selected presences on the Internet. the notion of internal giving.” oversaw the show’s production from student work in professor and distribution, expressed surprise Michael Fry’s Writing for Internet Film Director Mira Nair (Salaam The college’s major scholarship at the demographics of early and Mobile TV class, part of a Bombay! and The Namesake) will initiative, Scholarship Columbia, viewers in a ReelChicago.com newer concentration at Columbia speak on April 28, 2010. is partnering with the faculty/staff interview: 59 percent female, 45 focusing on online and handheld initiative, providing matching funds percent over 25, and 25 percent digital media. Tickets for Conversations in the to maximize fundraising efforts. over 45, as opposed to the mainly Arts can be reserved at no charge New and increased gifts from faculty young, male viewership one might Sexperts has been reviewed at on a first-come, first-served basis. and staff are matched 1 to 1, while expect for a sexually themed Web NewTeeVee.com and ReelChicago. Visit colum.edu/conversations for new and increased giving by faculty series. Nine episodes and 125,000 com All episodes are available online details. All lectures begin at 7:00 and staff who are also alumni is views later, just like the show’s at sexpertstheshow.com, along p.m. at Film Row Cinema, 1104 matched 2 to 1. More information amorous couple, Sexperts is still with behind-the-scenes material and South Wabash Avenue. is available at colum.edu/donate. going strong. information about the cast and crew.
Pantelis Vassilakis, chair, Audio Arts and Acoustics department
John Green, chair, Theater department
Audio Arts and Theater Departments Appoint New Chairs
Columbia’s Audio Arts and Acoustics and Theater departments will start the fall 2009 semester with new chairpersons in place. The Theater department welcomes With scholarly and professional John Green, Ph.D., who joins work in the areas of auditory Columbia directly from his tenure fictionary science, music cognition, systematic at Butler University in Indianapolis, musicology, and instructional where he contributed to artistic Hair Trigger design, Pantelis Vassilakis, Ph.D., growth and innovation across Hair Trigger, Fictionary, the new chair of Audio Arts and town and gown communities. Chronicle Win Awards Acoustics, stands comfortably at Green, who noted the strong sense the intersection of art and science. of ensemble he encountered Hair Trigger, the Fiction Writing among theater faculty at Columbia, department’s annual anthology “My passion for sound is also intends to collaborate of student writing, has once again It’s not just Columbia’s fiction longstanding and has shaped my across disciplines. received a Gold Crown Award from writers who are winning awards— life as an artist, a scientist, and the Columbia University Scholastic our journalists are, too. For the a professional,” said Vassilakis. “In higher education we have the Press Association, the journal’s second year in a row, the Columbia “I look forward to engaging that resources and the time to truly fourth consecutive Gold Crown. Chronicle was named the state’s passion and commitment to explore what theater in the twenty- Hair Trigger has won 23 major top student newspaper in its working with the department’s first century is going to be,” he awards in national competitions, category (nondaily newspaper with highly accomplished faculty said. “We need to be innovative and has never failed to place in a school population of more than of professionals, artists, and in suggesting our own ideas and any year that it has been eligible. 4,000). The General Excellence academics who are teaching and also being responsive to the quiet Many Fiction Writing students won award was one of more than mentoring the next generation of revolution that’s been taking place individual awards as well, including a dozen honors the Chronicle international audio professionals.” in professional theater over the first-place awards in all three major won at the 2009 Illinois College past decade. How many productions categories: Stephanie Shaw for Press Association convention Over the course of his career, do we see where live performance “Afterbirth” in the Experimental competition. Individuals who Vassilakis has held research, interacts with electronic imagery, Fiction category; Chelsea Laine contribute to the Chronicle also creative, and administrative incorporating video in interesting Wells for “The Heart of God” in the won first-place awards for In-House positions with a number of private and stimulating ways? Our students Traditional Fiction category; and Promotional Ad (Konrad Biegaj), and public organizations in Europe, need to be learning those tools, J.S. Gordon for “When Thinking Advertising Campaign (Emilia including the English National doing those things.” About Corners” in the Essays Klimiuk), Advertisement Less Than Ballet, the London Chinese Opera, category. Fictionary, the Fiction Full Page (Ben Andis and Matthew and BBC Radio 3. For the past Green succeeds longtime chair Writing department’s semiannual Mielke), Entertainment Supplement several years he has held a joint Sheldon Patinkin, who headed the magazine, won a silver medal in (Jessica Galliart), and Sports appointment at Columbia College department for nearly 30 years. See the Specialty Magazine category. Feature Story (Matt Fagerholm). and DePaul University. our Q & A with Patinkin on page 18.
DEMO8 02.01.09 02.10.09 03.09.09
04.29.09 05.11.09 05.14.09
The Technology Commons at 618 South Michigan Avenue. Photo: Kelsey Wright
05.21.09 06.09.09 06.16.09
Under Construction: Media Production Center
I n February 2009, Columbia College 06.30.09 07.07.09 Chicago began work on the Media Production Center, the first new- construction building in the college’s history. When it opens in the spring of 2010, the MPC will provide classrooms, soundstages, a motion- capture studio, and production space for interdisciplinary learning in film, television, interactive arts and media, and other disciplines. Photographer Tom Nowak has been documenting the building’s progress. These photographs were taken from a nearby rooftop looking south toward the construction site at the corner of 16th and State Street. For more information on the MPC, visit columbiasmoment.org. 08.10.09 DEMO10 St ephanie Kuehnert
Critics lavished praise last summer on Stephanie Kuehnert’s The result, Ballads of Suburbia, is close to her heart. It takes punk-rock-infused first novel,I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. place in suburban Oak Park, Illinois, where she grew up. The A good thing, to be sure. Unless, of course, you’re Kuehnert book’s protagonist, hard-partying Kara, wrestles with self-injury— and you’re about to send your second young-adult novel out into something the author struggled with in her teens and early the world. “That makes me nervous,” says Kuehnert, 30, who twenties. “I lived it and I had to relive it to write the book,” she earned a B.A. in fiction writing from Columbia in 2003 and an says. “I had to go to dark places … I just felt so close to these M.F.A. three years later. “I have real perfectionist tendencies … characters. I wanted to do them justice. The story worked so well You don’t want the sophomore slump.” in my head, and I wanted it to do the same on paper.”
Kuehnert, who lives in Forest Park, Illinois, wrote an early draft It’s a busy time for Kuehnert. Ballads came out in July. She of her latest book, Ballads of Suburbia, even before beginning tends bar three nights a week at the Beacon Pub in Forest Park. Joey Ramone. But, she says, “the first draft was just bad. (“There’s a bartender book in me,” she says.) She’s getting It was in need of better structure. It was too much my own married this fall. She’s working on two new novels. And she’s experiences. If I’m going to write a memoir, I’m going to call in early talks with a producer (a fellow Columbia graduate) to it a memoir.” develop I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone for film.
A breakthrough came about five years ago, though, in a Columbia She credits her time at Columbia for much of her success. She class taught by Joe Meno. Meno played some Johnny Cash met her agent at the college’s annual Story Week festival, and at songs to illustrate the ballad as a storytelling form. “It resonated Columbia she learned the discipline necessary to sit down and with me so deeply,” Kuehnert says. “I wrote it down and let write each day. “I would not be a published author without going it germinate.” to Columbia,” she says.
—E H ATher LALLEY
Ballads of Suburbia is published by MTV Books. Learn more about Kuehnert’s work at stephaniekuehnert.com.
Stephanie Kuehnert photographed at Scoville Park (a prominent location in Ballads of Suburbia) by Chad McGavock (B.F.A. ’09). “My passion for movies came from, strangely enough, the marketing of movies, because that’s what got me excited about them.”
Dansm A a
Dan Asma (B.A. ’92) remembered the blood—gallons and “pounded the pavement,” taking work as an unpaid intern gallons of blood cascading over the elevator doors, splashing and a video store clerk before landing a gig as a production down the hallway, engulfing everything.I t was one minute assistant for New Wave Entertainment, which marketed and 22 seconds of pure terror, and for a 12-year-old kid from for Disney. While he was there, the industry experienced a Waukegan, it was a watershed moment. No other cinematic technological revolution: editing turned digital. Asma set up a memory burned in his brain quite like the trailer for The Shining. cot in one of New Wave’s edit rooms and mastered the new software, honing his skills and learning the language of movie Now Asma creates that excitement for others as one of the marketing. He slowly accumulated “finishes,” or final cuts of founding partners of Buddha Jones Trailers, a Hollywood-based previews that studios bought and put on the air. From there, he company that produces and edits movie previews and TV and moved up at various companies, proved his editorial talent, and radio slots. In four short years, Buddha Jones has burgeoned eventually found enough success to branch out independently. from 8 to 50 employees and has created memorable trailers for films such asN o Country for Old Men, Tropic Thunder, and Twenty-nine years after watching that terrifying trailer for Kung Fu Panda. The Shining, Asma still feels excitement during the previews, especially when people cheer (or even hiss at) one of his own. For Asma, Buddha Jones Trailers is the result of years “You’re participating in the love of movies,” he says, “and of working in the industry. After completing his film degree at you’re participating in a person’s emotional response—and Columbia, he taught at an alternative high school in Chicago that’s what it’s all about.” before heading to California to find a production job. He crashed on the couch of a couple of college friends, and —r No a O’Donnell
Photo: Drew Reynolds (B.A. ’97) DEMO12 By Robert K. Elder / Photography BY Jeremy Lawson “Yeah, Jesus is OK, butwe’re waiting for something better.” Pause. “ I can’t believe I’m going to say that in front of my parents.”
A nervous comedienne-in-training says this with a laugh as she paces back and forth behind the Second City e.t.c. stage, mingling with fellow students. Tonight is a final exam of sorts in the Comedy Studies program at the Second City, an ongoing partnership between Columbia College Chicago and the iconic laugh factory.
Crowded behind the stage, among discarded props and a pair of giant Barack Obama and John McCain puppets, these Comedy Studies students warm up their voices, try to calm their nerves, and ponder their fate. Over the past 15 weeks they’ve been honing their skills and mastering techniques that—let’s face it—would get them kicked out of most venerable educational institutions. It’s as if the nation’s class clowns got together and expected their parents not only to encourage their behavior (and perhaps condone a lifelong history of stern notes from exasperated teachers) but also to applaud proudly while they sang dirty songs. In four-part harmony.
DEMO14 But comedy is serious business. After all, this is the “Juilliard of comedy,” the institution that spawned a sprawling Mount Rushmore of comedy, including Bill Murray, Tina Fey, John Belushi, Amy Poehler and many, many others.
So there is tension. The students confront it head-on with a song, rehearsed just now by one of the groups. They sing:
Our Our paarentsrents are are su suppopportivertive / / Anndd gladglad we we t otookok these these classes classes / / Buutt ifif we we use use them them in ina sak estchketch / / TThheeyy’re’re g goonnnana k ikcikc oku oru assesr asses. C an you teach someone Sheldon Patinkin, 73, who stepped counting rolling rehearsals and always been part of how we train to be funny? down this summer after 29 years writing sessions. Only two books people. So the fit was just obvious.” as chair of Columbia’s Theater are required, and the rest of the It depends who you ask. department, pioneered the Comedy time is spent out in the city, seeing Columbia juniors and seniors mix Studies program with Libera. He is theater, comedy, and other types of with other students from around “You can’t,” says Anne Libera, head a bit more philosophical. “You can performances. Though the Second the country, all vying for the of Comedy Studies for Columbia give them the confidence to know City Training Center opened in spotlight in what’s been called College. “You can teach someone that they can be funny, but it really 1985, its Comedy Studies program their semester abroad on Wells about being funny. You can help depends on how you define funny. welcomed its first Columbia cohort Street (home of the Second them discover the voice they do Lots of people can tell jokes. That’s in the spring of 2007. City theaters). have and give them the tools to not what we’re looking for. For us, deepen that and grow that.” honest behavior, honest reaction The academic marriage of Second to what you are receiving from the City and Columbia made sense, T he chemistry of comedy “I think you can,” says acting major others, is what’s likely to be most Patinkin says, because “Columbia’s Annie Castellano, 21. “You have to funny—and that you can teach.” Theater department functions Initially, incoming students fear let your inner intellectual go. You around the concept that theater intensive competition, says Libera, have to let that adult die a little bit Course work looks like this: Each is an unsolvable art, as is improv. who also serves as the executive and bring back the five-year-old you. class comprises 10 to 16 people Improv is required of all of our artistic director for Second City’s You gotta be goofy. You gotta let who work as an ensemble for a directing and acting majors, usually Training Center. But “it’s not at all yourself go there.” full term, four days a week, not in their second year. And it has what happens,” she says. “People
DEMO16 challenge one another, they push The training center can be two predicts. Here, his comedy training one another.” parts immersion education and kicks in. “There’s an orgy scheduled one part summer camp—with all for the 14th. We can finally have “ In these last The program focuses on ensemble the panty-raid and truth-or-dare sex with one another without it work and the improv dictate to traditions well intact. But it’s part being weird—’cause I don’t have 15 weeks, I’ve always make your partner look good. of the bonding, the chemistry of the to see you every day.” That’s not to say, however, there group experience. “Somewhere in gotten less isn’t intensity and competition. the middle we were all supergood Then, of course, there’s the one guy friends. Then at the end we all hated who can’t make it, and you have to sleep than at Back at the e.t.c. stage, just one another. Now we’re back to being send him Polaroids. before the group’s final showcase, supergood friends,” Richardson says. any time in my Gary Richardson, 19, of St. Louis, “So there are highs and lows. It’s “That’s the worst,” Richardson reflects on the experience while pretty much like camp.” says. “In fact, I think I might be entire life. And his classmates warm up. “In that guy. But I’m going to make it.” these last 15 weeks, I’ve gotten Then, of course, there’s the sexual I’ve been happy less sleep than at any time in tension. Comedy school has not What if your grandma dies? What my entire life. And I’ve been been a hook-up-palooza, however. about the funeral? about it.” happy about it,” he says. “This “I don’t think anybody is dating is the best thing that I could have yet, but as soon as the semester is “My grandma would want me to ever done.” over, people will start,” Richardson be there.” E xam in the spotlight
For now, all of the focus is on the showcase. Most of the students are prepared, though for some the wardrobe requirements were met at the last minute. Second City’s dress code requires that people be funny, not look funny, so women wear colorful tops and black pants. For men, the uniform could be called “accountant casual,” with ties, blazers, and white shirts.
The dress code makes bespectacled film major MichaelK lasek, 21, look like the love child of Drew Carey and Dilbert. But up until 35 minutes ago, he didn’t even own a white shirt. He came straight from a thrift store, where he hurriedly picked out a shirt—only to discover it had small blood stains around the collar. “I thought it was ink!” he says in mock panic. “Someone could have been killed in this shirt!” Then he calms and says, “I’m not going to lie to you. I killed someone for this shirt.”
All of the last-minute joking is an attempt to mask his nervousness. His mom is out in the audience. “What if I bomb in front of my mom? What if I say something and she just mouths, ‘Oh my God’?” But he needn’t worry. In short order, the lights go up, and the young comedians come out and sing about the transcendent, healing power of oral sex. In four-part harmony. E overy ne claps. Everyone laughs.
R obert K. Elder is a journalist, author, film columnist, and contributing editor to Stop Smiling magazine. His latest book, Last Words of the Executed, is due out in the spring of 2010. Jeremy Lawson (’94) is a Chicago-based freelance photographer. His work can be seen at jeremylawsonphotography.com.
DEMO18 No Regrets Robert K. Elder interviews Sheldon Patinkin, who steps down after 29 years as chair of Columbia’s Theater department
S heldon Patinkin sits at his desk, John Candy. Even though he was not all Whatever comes out, try it. If you surrounded by … nothing. that good at the beginning, it was clear push it back because you think it There’s still tape up on the walls, the he was going to be. I was fascinated might not work, you’ll never know ghosts of picture frames whose outlines by Bill Murray. I wasn’t part of Second whether it works or not. Therefore, were burned onto the walls over the City then. It was my years in between, better an asshole than a chickenshit. decades. After 29 years, Patinkin— but I saw every show in Chicago. E lder: And how does that apply to a founding “uncle” of the Second City And I thought he was just fascinating. your career? and an icon of Chicago theater— He used to just stand at the back Pkatin in: I have been an asshole all is stepping down from his post as chair of the stage with a cigarette and a cup my life. I’ve never said that before, but of Columbia’s Theater department. I sat of coffee, and you couldn’t take your it’s absolutely true. That means I have down with him in May, as movers made eyes off him. Belushi! Everybody knew taken chances, taken risks, moved on … way for his successor, and listened as Belushi was going to go somewhere. E lder: You’re also plain spoken. That’s the arts guru reflected on his legacy. It’s interesting I said Fred first, isn’t it? the other thing I hear; “He speaks his Rob ert Elder: You’ve worked in Fred has been able to make me laugh mind,” which sometimes is not popular Hollywood, in New York doing SCTV, but anytime he wanted to for as long as I’ve with students. you’ve said, “What I love most is working known him. Pkatin in: Tough shit. I try and start and teaching these students.” Why? E lder: but you’re still teaching, after with what I like. I don’t mince words. Sh n eldo Patinkin: Well, I’ve done a sabbatical. What will the sabbatical I don’t have time for that. I don’t all the others and this is the only allow you to do? think anybody else does either. one where I feel I am accomplishing Pkatin in: Writing. I have two things Anyway, I come from a really tough something beyond myself. I like to be that I started on … both of which I neighborhood on the Southwest Side at the beginnings of people’s careers, want to work on during this year. Many of Chicago, Englewood. which is what Second City is too. years ago, I was the director of the E lder: Why have you always come [Students are] also easier to work with. single most disastrous experience of back to Chicago? I will, for instance, never again direct a my life. And as part of the emotional Pkatin in: Because you can fail and still Second City show, ever … I just don’t turmoil I was in, I wrote a murder find work.B ecause Chicago is basically need all that aggravation anymore. mystery where I killed off everybody ensemble oriented. Because my family, I’m 73 going on 74, and I don’t need I was pissed off at, and I put it away. for the most part, is here. Because I grew it anymore. I went back and discovered that up here and love this city. I lived in New When I direct around town these although the writing sucks, the story York for six years and Toronto for four days, I almost invariably direct in works. So during sabbatical, I’m going and missed Chicago the whole time. storefront theaters, mostly non Equity to rewrite it because it’s a pretty good E lder: do you have a proudest Everyone claps. Everyone laughs.theaters. My contract has been a steak murder mystery. achievement? dinner and a bottle of Dewar’s scotch. The other thing is, I want to write a Pkatin in: This place—this department. I don’t need their money and I’d rather memoir of the playwrights in the early I’m very proud of the department. I that the money that they were paying days of Second City. have no regrets. I have done it enough. me went into production values. E lder: A Sheldonism I’ve heard is: It’s time for me to move on, and it’s E lder: You’ve seen a lot of talent “Better an asshole than a chickenshit.” time for the department to move on. come through Second City. Who did you Please explain. know instantly was going to be a big Pkatin in: T ake risks. Be willing to be John Green succeeds Sheldon talent? wrong. If you don’t take chances, if you Patinkin as chair of Columbia’s Pkatin in: fred Willard. One of the don’t go with what occurs to you … Well, Theater department. funniest people I’ve ever met in my life. by all accounts, don’t censor yourself. Find out more on page 8. Kid Sister, FLOSSTRADAMUS, a nd The Cool Kids ARE THE NEXT WAVE OF CHICAGO HIP-HOP ARTISTS aimING to BREAK BIG
By Jim DeRogatis , a.k.a. Josh Young. Photo: Chrisy Piper a.k.a. Josh Young. , K Flosstradamus: Autobot, a.k.a. Curt and J2 Flosstradamus: Autobot, Cameruci,
DEMO20 Sure enough, the story of hip-hop in Chicago now can be divided into the years “B.K.” and “A.K.”— Before Kanye and After Kanye— because that eager self-promoter was, of course, the loquacious, In the summer of 2005, Cameruci egotistical, and absurdly talented and Young, who studied Audio Arts Mr. West. After making his name and Acoustics at Columbia, were with productions for superstars drawn together by a shared love of such as Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, and turntablism and scratching after Nas, then establishing himself as a mutual friend noticed they both a multiplatinum-selling performer “I never met Melisa, Josh, or the were spinning similar sounds. They in his own right with The College Cool Kids through Columbia, but began hosting a series of parties Dropout (2004) and subsequent we all went there,” Flosstradamus’s that eventually were christened “Get discs, West made good on his Cameruci says. Cameruci earned a Out the Hood,” and the word soon promise to shine a spotlight on B.A. in Interactive Arts and Media spread far beyond Chicago via their other local rappers, crafting tracks in 2005, a degree he values, MySpace page. They’ve since gone for Common, Rhymefest, and Lupe although not in the direct sense on to craft tracks for artists like Kid Fiasco. Just as importantly, though, he might have imagined. “I’m Sister and the Cool Kids, and to he proved that his hometown is doing creative, fun stuff, even if remix De La Soul. But until recently, second to none when it comes I’m not officially doing interactive with the completion of their own to nurturing world-class hip-hop multimedia. But aside from that, studio in Chicago’s West Loop, they It’s March 2000, and South Side talent—which brings us up to the Columbia is what brought me to barely had time to focus on putting native Lonnie Rashid Lynn, better present, and the next wave of Chicago from Kalamazoo, and I met together an album of their own. known as Common, is onstage Chicago artists poised to break big. some awesome people there who at the House of Blues in Chicago. are doing incredibly creative stuff. Why have Flosstradamus, the Hailed by knowledgeable fans Though their sounds are diverse, That holds so much more weight Cool Kids, and Kid Sister all been since the early ’90s as one of the Kid Sister (rapper Melisa Young); to me. Even though I do have a so slow to release full-length most talented freestylers in hip- the Cool Kids (the rhyming duo degree, and I’m proud of it, just recordings? “You know, we have hop, he’s the best known rapper of Evan Ingersoll, a.k.a. Chuck being able to go there and meet all been working hard, but we’re the Windy City has produced at Inglish, and Antoine Reed, or Mikey kids who are doing stuff inspired in this new era of music, and I the time—though his fame, as well Rocks); and Flosstradamus (DJs me to one-up what I’m doing and think for all of us, every single one as his album sales and concert and producers J2K—Melisa’s keep pushing myself.” of us, when we started out were draw, lag far behind his superstar younger brother Josh Young—and just broke kids,” Cameruci says. counterparts from the East and Autobot, a.k.a. Curt Cameruci) Flosstradamus was the first of “When we decided to make this West Coasts, or even the so- do share several key traits. Like the recent wave of local acts to our bread and butter, we all had to called Dirty South. Common and West, they have a make a name outside Chicago, quit our jobs, and that meant we no-nonsense Midwestern sensibility rising from raucous house parties had to work extra hard to make As Common performs songs from his that eschews empty boasting and in Wicker Park to the stages of money [by performing], which didn’t new album, Like Water for Chocolate, nihilistic gangsta bravado in favor giant festivals such as Coachella, leave anything for recording. But a skinny, geeky, high-energy twenty- of stories of real-life challenges Rothbury, and Lollapalooza. The we all worked and worked and something bounds into the box and triumphs. They understand duo also helped to give the new worked, and now we’re kind of where several local critics are hip-hop history, but their grooves scene focus by championing a comfortable, so we can actually reviewing the show. Waving his new and attitudes nonetheless seem unique rhythm called Chicago juke, buy new equipment and work on mix tape, which he doesn’t bother fresh, immediate, and absolutely a sped-up, hypersexualized update recording and releasing some to distribute, he’s literally vibrating relevant today. They’ve all achieved of the city’s classic house sound. music. Everyone is like, ‘Where’s with excitement as he announces, significant national attention even “Flosstradamus is definitely the your album? Where’s your album?’ “Y’all gonna be hearing about me before releasing their official debut quarterback of the team,” Cool But they don’t realize we haven’t real soon, ’cause I’m gonna break albums, all of which are finally Kids’ Reed told Billboard magazine. been in the game that long. We big, and I’m taking Common and the expected this fall. And they all have “The whole scene formulated were doing this for fun and it blew rest of the Chi with me!” ties to Columbia College. around them and their parties.” up, and now we’re catching up.” The wait for Kid Sister’s first album seems to have dragged on even longer: The hip-hop world has been eager to hear a full disc since 2007, when it first fell in “Josh was the one encouraging me love with Melisa Young via the from the get-go, and I saw what he did sassy and sexy single “Pro Nails” and I was like, ‘Come on! My brother on a Kanye West mix tape. The is four years younger than me and star rapper, who also added a he’s flying around the world andI ’m verse to the song, discovered working at Bath & Body Works. I was the Flosstradamus-produced so jealous! I had just graduated from tune through his DJ, A-Trak, also college and I had my degree and I known as Young’s boyfriend, was like, ‘Argh!’” So Melisa Young Alain Macklovitch. Young says began writing songs and performing the many delays for the release wherever she could. “I was jumping date are due to the difficulties on couches with a beer in my hand of securing final mixes from the doing these random songs at long list of contributing producers, Sonotheque,” she says, and, well, which includes Pharrell Williams one thing led to another, and soon and the Swedish House Mafia. she was reborn as Kid Sister. But she notes that it’s all relative, Melisa’s success has not been in since she really hasn’t been the field she studied, and she jokes rapping that long. about not using that film degree. “Seriously, though,” she says, “I’m Young studied film at Columbia, glad I went: I had a couple of great earning a B.A. in 2004, and set professors there who I will always out for New York after graduating remember, so I would never say with the hope of building a career I wasted my time.” behind the scenes on movie sets. “I did a couple of projects in New The Cool Kids’ Reed voices a similar York, but there’s not really that sentiment, acknowledging the much work, and it’s very expensive value of Columbia’s environment, to live there,” she says. “So I came its creative community. He only back to Chicago, I didn’t have any spent a year at Columbia, where he money, and I ended up working on a studied broadcast journalism, not reality TV show here called Starting music. “But I met a lot of people Over. That made me want to start who we work with now while I over: ‘Fuck this, this is horrible, five was there; indirectly, it helped me women, changing their lives in a out a lot. There was a lot of art house—snooze-fest, 2002!’” There going around, and everyone was followed a now-infamous series of working something creative. That dreadful retail jobs, including stints overall environment lets you be at The Limited, Bath & Body Works, inspired, and you’re more likely to id Sister, a.k.a. Melisa Young. Photo: Andreas Larsson a.k.a. Melisa Young. id Sister,
K The Gap, and Victoria’s Secret, get work done when you’re around before Young finally decided to like-minded people who try to do listen to her brother. something creative, too.”
DEMO22 Reed grew up in Matteson, and he was in his last year in high school when he met Inglish after hearing a beat his future partner had crafted and posted on MySpace. The two began collaborating long-distance via the Net before Inglish moved to Chicago from Detroit and the Cool Kids began in earnest, updating the old-school sounds of rap pioneers such as Eric B. & Rakim and Run-DMC for a new audience. They scored an underground hit with the 2007 single “Black Mags,” a tribute to a BMX bike. An EP called The Bake Sale followed the next year, but the duo decided to dump its first attempt at a full-length debut, issuing it as the mix tape Gone Fishing instead. They returned to the studio to craft a different version of the first official Cool Kids album because “we thought we could do better, and we don’t want to do anything less than a classic.”
Pluck, persistence, and a devotion to their individual visions—these are three more characteristics that Flosstradamus, Kid Sister, and the Cool Kids have in common. As their comments about their college days might indicate, they’d be the last to give Columbia all of the credit for instilling those values. At the same time, they all agree those qualities nglish, and Antoine nglish, flow freely through their alma I mater’s classrooms, studios, and hallways, and there’s no way that some of it didn’t seep in. ocks. Photo: Clayton Hauck ocks. Photo: Clayton R ngersoll, a.k.a. Chuck ngersoll, I Jim DeRogatis is the pop music van critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, E ids: the cohost of Sound Opinions on K eed, a.k.a. Mikey a.k.a. Mikey eed,
Chicago Public Radio, and, starting Cool R this fall, an instructor for Reviewing the Arts at Columbia College. FALL ’0 9 E V E N TS See more and get more information at colum.edu/calendar. Events are free unless noted otherwise.
Lucky Plush Productions. See “Dance”. Photo: Karen Wade. DEMO24 G A L leries
Re:figure—A Contemporary Look at Figurative Representation in Art September 8 – October 30 Glass Curtain Gallery 1104 S. Wabash colum.edu/cspaces Indicates events that 312.369.6643 are part of Focus: China, This exhibition explores the a campus-wide programing common ground between initiative that explores the contemporary and traditional Buddhist Jade Temple, Shanghai, China, 2007. contributions and influence representations of the human form Photo: Lorraine Smith (BF.A. ’08) of China and Chinese culture through a diverse range of media. in our 21st-century world. Layer Cake: SM Y P osiu M Tales from a Quinceañera D A N ce t h e A T er September 8 – October 28 Gender, Identity, and C33 Gallery All Dance performances Of Mice and Men the Crossing of Cultures 33 E. Congress take place: October 21 – 31 in Contemporary Chinese colum.edu/cspaces The Dance Center New Studio Theater Art and Media 312.369.6856 1306 S. Michigan 72 E. 11th St. September 25 – 26 Layer Cake features a group of Tickets: $20-$28 at Tickets $10 – 14 at Film Row Cinema artists who capture the fantastic 312.369.8330 or 312.369.6126 1104 S. Wabash, 8th floor confusion of Latin culture’s ritual for colum.edu/dancecenter colum.edu/theater colum.edu/focuschina or ascension into womanhood. Check website for additional, Based on the Steinbeck classic, 312.369.8829 related programming. the tragic story of George Milton This international symposium Pearl of the Snowlands: and Lennie Small, displaced explores the intersections Buddhist Printing at the Derge Merce Cunningham migrant ranch workers during the between culture, gender, and Parkhang Dance Company Great Depression in California. identity in contemporary Chinese September 11 – December 5 October 1 – 3 art and media. Center for Book and Paper Arts World-class dancers perform the f i l M 1104 S. Wabash, 2nd floor ever-iconoclastic work of a dance colum.edu/bookandpaper genius and international treasure with Cinema Slapdown: 312.369.6630 the return of the Merce Cunningham Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas This exhibit features work from the Dance Company. A rare opportunity October 22, 7:00 p.m. Derge Parkhang, a Tibetan printing to view two distinct Events featuring Film Row Cinema temple that collects woodblock prints the historically significant Cunningham 1104 S. Wabash, 8th floor detailing the rich cultural history choreography, in the intimacy of the 312.679.6708 of the Tibetan people. Dance Center’s 272-seat theater. One faculty member loves the film, the other hates it. Where Reversed Images: Lucky Plush Productions do you stand? Screening of films Representations of Shanghai October 22 – 24 & 29 – 31 is followed by a debate with the and its Contemporary This Chicago-based dance-theater faculty members. Material Culture company is known for its distinct September 25 – December 23 blend of contemporary dance with Museum of Contemporary physical theater and visual design. Photography 600 S. Michigan Ave. mocp.org 312.663.5554 Works by photographers, architects, Javier Ramírez Limón, urban planners, and designers Quinceañera con who are examining the city of chambelanes, 2007, Shanghai and its development into giclée print. See “Galleries / Layer a top contender in the 21st-century Cake: Tales from a global economy. Quinceañera” DEMO26 “It was always these 50-year-old dudes with big hot rods and big money. There was nothing for the urban or Latino guy.” Jg aor e Orteg
E ntrepreneur, community organizer, instigator—call him what you American Festival. His friends “were customizing the cars to their will; Jorge Ortega knows how to get things going. He founded the own vision,” he says, “and it became more of an art form. There’s Latino Alliance, Columbia College’s Latino student organization, a lot of creativity that goes into these cars—not just from the when he was an arts management major in the early 1990s. owner, but also the customizer. It’s a project.” He has a film production company, a line of custom clothing, He organized his first stand-alone car show at the now-defunct and spends much of his time these days traveling between International Amphitheater, then moved on to McCormick Place. his home in Chicago and his family’s hometown of Barranquilla, “We were with the big dogs then,” he laughs, “so people really Colombia, where he’s starting up an ambitious community began to take us seriously. We did more shows, had partners arts program. And developing an artist/designer-run store. and investors. But my vision was always to take this car show And working to improve Internet access. And advising cultural to another level and at the same time foster the culture… These influencers. But it started with cars. shows became a place to show your art, your craftsmanship, Ortega grew up on Chicago’s Northwest Side, hanging out with his and then it became a business.” He’s let others carry on that mechanic uncles and customizing small cars (“little toys, Toyotas business lately, pleased that the culture is well represented in and stuff”) with his friends. He was attending Columbia, where the custom-car community. he earned a B.A. in arts management in 1994, when Chicago’s These days, Ortega’s focus is largely on the community of “low-rider scene was just coming up,” he says. He knew guys Barranquilla, where he’s working to develop cultural industries, who had been working on their cars 20 years, and there was a using his skills as a marketer, event producer, and entrepreneur. genuine culture surrounding the scene, but they were just showing “I’m not going to wait for big government or big corporations to the cars to each other “at family gatherings and forest preserve provide funding,” he says. “That could be a long wait.” So he’s picnics.” Around the same time, Ortega was working with the Pan using his own resources, “giving back some of the money I make American Festival, a huge, pan-Hispanic cultural event at Soldier here and my time to try to get things done.” Through his company, Field. He saw an opportunity. Tinta Roja Projects, he’s developing a store in Barranquilla, The big, well-organized car shows all focused on hot rods, not where artists and designers can sell their work. It will provide a “the cars that were coming out of the Latino scene, the low riders gathering space, marketing experience, and hopefully a seed that or the small imports,” he says. And the festival concentrated will grow into larger projects that combine culture, community, and on traditional elements of Latino culture, not the young, urban, entrepreneurship. Things Ortega knows well. hip-hop-influenced scene Ortega and his friends belonged to. He arranged for a custom-car show to become an element of the Pan —NW AN Iens
For more information on Jorge Ortega’s projects visit tintarojaprojects.com and spanglishideas.com
Jorge Ortega photographed by Ben Reed at Showtime Audio, Chicago. ShopColumbia is our new student art store featuring a curated collection of student talent. Artists’ prints, zines, stationery, sculpture, photography, jewelry, one-of-a-kind fashion pieces, artists’ books, totes, tees … anything that is Columbia. colum.edu/shopcolumbia
Columbia College Chicago 623 S. Wabash Chicago, IL 60605 312.369.8616
Artwork pictured: Callie Humphrey, Stephen DeSantis, et.al.
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Angela Meyer, fine art major, class of 2010 Sho I p ONL NE: columbia.bkst.com DEMO28 Fashion Design Columbia’s Fashion Design program stresses both theory and practice, emphasizing the balance of aesthetic, technical, and business skills combined with social and historical knowledge that form the foundation of successful design. Here we present current lines by two successful graduates of the program, and new looks from some of our students poised to enter the field.
Anna Fong, Russet dress, shoe by Vince Camuta. Photo by Mireya Acierto. Stylist: Ruben Lopez; stylist assistant: Kelly Callahan; hair: Anthony Baltazar; make-up: Krystyn J.; model: Megan Lewis. Anna Fong, Camela dress, Jem Anna Fong, Lotus dress vinyl gloves, shoes by Luichiny
DieterBennet, Left to right: Belted cocoon coat with special sleeve and shoulder construction in charcoal reverse quad face wool. Wide, asymmetrical neckline dress with dart and seam details in gunmetal Japanese Melton wool. Wide-neck jacket with dart detail and snap closure paired with dart-detail one-piece construction skirt. Both in process-blue reverse quad face wool. Photo: Nathan Beckner
DEMO30 Anna Fong (B.A. ’01) was named 2008 rising star of new designers by Fashion Group International. Drawing on her Guatemalan-Chinese heritage and her fondness for the fashions of the 1940s and the 1980s, Fong brings a mix of influences to her work. She maintains a design studio in Chicago, where her work is available at Verse, LeDress, Malabar Chicago, and Macy’s State Street.
See more of her designs at anna-fong.com.
DieterBennet is a collaboration between Dieter Kirkwood (B.F.A. ’04) and Bennett Cousins (B.F.A. ’04), who met as students at Columbia. The label combines Kirkwood’s technical and design skill with Cousins’s merchandising know- how, producing a line with a clean, architectural sensibility. The designers source the fabric themselves and every garment is sewn locally, often with hand- finished seaming. This attention to detail and craftsmanship DieterBennet, Twisted sets the line apart. draped top with special one-piece construction in sulpher Japanese wool chiffon paired DieterBennet is available in with black fitted Chicago at Helen Yi (1645 trousers with pockets in chemical-spun North Damen Ave.). See more Japanese wool. Photo: Nathan Beckner at dieterbennet.com. Athanasia Eliopoulos 2.
Alexis Aprati
1.
Launch, a student-produced fashion show featuring the work of 47 fashion design seniors, made its debut May 14 as part of Manifest 2009. The high- energy runway show was produced by fashion design and fashion retail Reginald management students enrolled in Dianne Erpenbach’s Decision Making: Valdezco Fashion/Retail Management course. Several designers were also featured in Fashion Columbia, an annual fashion show and scholarship fundraising event that showcases the work of Columbia’s fashion design students. 6.
DEMO32
Quinntella Rodriguez
Amy Athanasia Fenderson Eliopoulos 4. Kaelyn 1. Alexis Aprati Hand-embroidered wool crepe, mohair, and organza 2. Athanasia Eliopoulos Textures and shapes Garcia with unusual use of fabrics 3. Quinntella Rodriguez* Spanish influences of rich, bold color 4. Amy Fenderson* Vintage-inspired lace and tweed with leather piping 5. Kaelyn Garcia* Draped, Japanese-inspired shapes in muted wools 6. Reginald Valdezco* Ultimate femininity celebrated in black lace, tulle, and rhinestone embellishments 7. Elizabeth Peters Grey and silver gathers with floral print accents 8. Suzie DiMarco Luxurious art deco 3. inspired designs with lace, satin, and gold 9. Tammy Kim 5. Modern elegance with the use of distinct color and attention to detail * Featured in Fashion Columbia / Photography by Jonathan Mathias (photography, class of 2010)
Suzie DiMarco
Tammy Kim Elizabeth Peters
7. 8. 9. “When kids were taking out coloring books, I was already drawing lines and planning space.”
Sarah Opila
Sarah Opila’s (B.A. ’89) career as an interior designer has seen her heading up projects with employers such as Marshall Field’s, Starbucks, and Swarovski Crystal, but it began with crayons. “I was very lucky to have identified my interest in interior design at the age of eight,” she laughs. “I still have my original house plans that I designed back then.”
Opila grew up in Riverside, near the Brookfield Zoo. Currently, she works as an architectural project manager for the world- renowned Swarovski in Rhode Island, designing the boutiques in which they sell their famed glassware and jewelry. Though she has always been drawn to designing interior space, her journey took a few turns before she hit her stride. “I started at Northern Illinois University. I kind of hit a time in my life when I got really unhappy there … I just hit a real bump in the road. I went to Columbia and checked out the campus—there were only three buildings at the time! I really liked it. I had to do a portfolio review with some of the professors to make sure they would accept me into their program, and that went well. Right from there, everything picked up for me.”
The summer before her senior year, she got her first professional interior design experience, an internship at Marshall Field’s. The college, she says, was instrumental in launching her career. “Meeting with a counselor and doing a videotape of yourself doing an interview, and answering a series of questions to figure out what your priorities were, really got you geared, focused, and interested in pursuing an internship.” Opila advises new grads to “take any opportunity in your field that comes your way—no matter how small. Network! Show off your work. Think outside the box. Never forget the world has infinite possibilities.”
—geoff hyatt (M.F.A. ’09)
Sarah Opila at Swarovski in Cranston, Rhode Island. Photo: Ronald Cowie.
DEMO34 T he Curious Mystery Rotting Slowly K Records, 2009. thecuriousmystery.com new recordings from the C i olumb a connection: Shana Cleveland, vocalist and Autoharp player, Columbia community graduated from Columbia in 2004 with a B.A. in poetry. T he sound: Blues, psychedelic T he word: The Pacific Northwest is By Brent Steven White (B.A. ’08) known for rain, sugarless coffee, and bands like the Curious Mystery, who weave psychedelic sounds with straightforward arrangements. This album sounds like a deliberately disjointed mess, occasionally off key and off tempo. Cleveland sounds like a young Hope Sandoval (of Mazzy Star), with her slow, somber voice and melancholy lyrics. Rotting Slowly isn’t an album you’d put on to cheer yourself up, but there’s something beautifully dark in the Curious Mystery’s music. Something curious.
He e ather P rry and the ______s These Appetites S pade Kitty Records, 2009. myspace.com/heatherperrymusic C i olumb a connection: Heather Perry graduated from Columbia in 2006 with a B.A. in theater. T he sound: R ock, indie, atmospheric T he word: T hese Appetites is the third release by Chicago-based singer/songwriter Heather Perry, whose two previous releases were solo albums, The Co-Fighter Blues (2005) and Doing It for You (2007). Here she retains her abstract approach to writing music and lyrics as she teams up with vocalist Emily Wiedmeyer, drummer and producer Noah Samuels, and guitarist Ben Brown. Much of the music on this EP relies on sudden shifts in rhythm and Perry’s unique ability to blend melody with two-part harmonies and layered instrumentation. This album’s best track is “Old Friends in New Beds”—a lighthearted song with Perry at her best, calling to mind a young, vulnerable Fiona Apple.
To submit a recording for Vari ous Artists consideration in DEMO, send a CD and press release to: Chompilation DEMO magazine AMEM P Records, 2009. aemmp.org/site Columbia College Chicago C i olumb a connection: AEMMP Records is Columbia College’s student-run 600 S. Michigan Ave. record label, a project of the Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management Chicago, IL 60605 department. Priority will be given to T he sound: Just about everything under the sun T he word: Chompilation recent recordings on a label. is a 22-song album featuring some of the best up-and-coming bands in CDs will not be returned. Chicago, including Office, Maps and Atlases, and Owen. Highlights of the compilation include songs by the Dials, Netherfriends, Needers and Givers, and Office, who are probably one of the most underrated bands in the city. The compilation marks a turning point for AEMMP records, updating the approach of the label, which was launched in 1982.
There’s more on the Web! Visit colum.edu/demo and click “Spin” for reviews of the Pet Lions’ Soft Right and the Andy Shaw Band’s Ways of the World. new books by Columbia alumni and faculty
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Trigger City empathy for the By Sean Chercover murdered woman. The for the Cubs. [William Morrow, 2009. handful of characters But we live in hope: bounces between one vile situation 304 pages, $23.95 hardcover, who recur are smoothly there’s always next year. and the next over the span of five $7.99 paperback] reintroduced, and Dudgeon’s years. She does it perfunctorily, as Reviewed by Kevin Riordan backstory is further explored. S ean Chercover earned a B.A. from if it is her duty to experience tapped Columbia in 1991. He has worked as veins, dirty shoes, and the sweaty This well-received, Dilys Award- With a deft specificity for locale, a private investigator, scriptwriter, film bodies of strange men. winning second novel continues technology, character, and angry and video editor, scuba diver, nightclub the story of Ray Dudgeon, private bands that begin with “the” (the magician, encyclopedia salesman, car Mun’s ability to attack with eye and Columbia College Cure, the Who, the Stooges, the jockey, waiter, and truck driver and in distinct images, grimy settings, alumnus. What’s not to like? The Clash), Chercover has cemented other less glamorous positions. obtuse characters, and detestable detective has a slightly used B.A. his place in the top ranks situations sets Miles from Nowhere in journalism, and the author, Sean of today’s crime writers from on a charged pace from page Chercover, is a former private any region. He does for Chicago one. She delivers the story in investigator who also draws on something often attempted but Miles from Nowhere an authentic, almost deadpan sundry past jobs; he could probably rarely accomplished: making the By Nami Mun narrative. Where other authors write a hell of a novel about selling city itself a major character, in a [Riverhead Books, 2009. 286 might have clumsily fumbled through encyclopedias. Chercover is an manner reminiscent of Frederic pages, $21.95 hardcover] such grotesque, often clichéd active, thoughtful blogger as well. Brown’s classic midcentury title The Reviewed by Rea Frey (B.A. ’04) subject matter, Mun paints the story Fabulous Clipjoint. matter-of-factly, allowing readers Dudgeon established his Chicago From the first winding sentence, the chance to form their own bonafides in 2007’sBig City, Bad Somewhat less gruesome and Columbia fiction writing professor interpretations. Do we feel sorry Blood as he tackled aldermen, the blustery than in most current Nami Mun constructs a blunt, gritty for Joon? Do we loathe her? Do we Chicago Police Department, and crime fiction, the action inT rigger tale of teen heroine Joon, a strong want to keep reading? The answer, the Outfit (don’t call it the Mob). The City seems all the more real. Even but vacuous girl who knows nothing almost inexplicably, is yes. P. I. goes global in this thriller, where surveillance seems interesting. of grief, love, or the ordinariness a seemingly open-and-shut case Most of Dudgeon’s pain comes from of childhood. After escaping a tragic In one of the most daunting expands fractally and engagingly, such banal activities as throwing home life in favor of the streets, sequences, where Joon and despite the fact that Trigger City isn’t darts or sleeping on his ruined Joon crosses the paths of quirky her boyfriend are high on dust, really a whodunit. An investigation shoulder. Neither postmodern characters like one would encounter he decides he wants to see into just how crazy the killer was, nor overly nostalgic, the book is friends in grade school, with each Joon’s insides: and the power structure behind a pervaded by a mature appreciation providing stark life lessons. private military corporation, carries for the vanishing charms of the city. He splayed the cuts with his the accidentally quixotic Dudgeon It is refreshing, if frustrating, that From drug addiction, rape, teen fingers and examined them, along as he works out a few issues the last section of the book winds pregnancy, and homelessness to making little sounds of discovery. of his own, including a Laura-like down, not unlike a typical season abuse and even death, Joon I asked him what he saw now.
DEMO36 “ I think I see a bone.” He got up, Nami Mun teaches almost tripped while stumbling creative writing at Columbia. more new titles to our table, and came back with She has received a Pushcart Prize, as a spoon. He jimmied the handle well as scholarships from the Corporation Bryan McHenry and Columbia Afraid of the spoon into a cut until he of Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. alum Bryan Barker. Dinello’s piece, By Jack Kilborn found something he could tap. “The Wretched of New Caprica,” [Hachette Book Group, 2009. examines how the end of season 370 pages, $6.99 paperback] Miles from Nowhere is a sharp, 2 reversed the post-9/11 “clash J. A. Konrath (’92) adopted the gravelly read. We will remember Battlestar Galactica of civilizations” allegory, casting pen name Jack Kilborn to create the attempt at an abortion with and Philosophy humans in the role of insurgents this horror-suspense tale of a knitting needles and clothes Edited by Josef Steiff and fighting the occupying Cylons (as bloodthirsty force descending hangers, Joon punching her own Tristan D. Tamplin opposed to humans as the stalwart on a small Wisconsin town. budding womb; the pot-smoking [Open Court Publishing, 2008. survivors of a Cylon terrorist man who shish-kebabbed himself 423 pages. $18.95 paperback] attack). Livingston compares the with a tree branch; the irrational Reviewed by Geoff Hyatt techniques used on the ships Bath Massacre: America’s fear of dwarfs with short arms; Galactica and Pegasus to examine First School Bombing Knowledge, Benny, and the When Battlestar Galactica was differing moral ideologies during By Arnie Bernstein agoraphobic nun; and the gorgeous, revived in 2004, the campiness and wartime. McHenry’s “Weapons [University of Michigan Press, almost out-of-place poetic phrasing derring-do of the 1978 original were of Mass Salvation” looks at how 2009. 200 pages, $18.95 that pops up: “The asphalt was a replaced with depth and seriousness, religion is used in both the series paperback] lace of sparkling diamonds.” transforming the show from a geek and the real word to motivate the Chicago native Arnie Bernstein subculture indulgence into a pop masses—often with fearsome (M.A. ’94) re-creates the events Mun’s tight, sporadic vignettes culture phenomenon. Battlestar results. Barker takes on free will, leading up to a ghastly 1927 about serious subjects—rape, Galactica and Philosophy collects determinism, and Schopenhauer school bombing in Michigan and abandonment, death—manage, in more than 30 essays exploring the in the context of the war between explores its shattering aftermath just a page or two, to feed us all the issues of technology, identity, gender, humans and Cylons. The essays in in this work of narrative nonfiction. information we need. This is a book and ethics central to the show. Though this volume challenge and expand of surprises, where each chapter it was released before the 2009 series on the full story and rich subtext of is a new adventure, with no specific finale, the book covers a wealth of the series. The Great Perhaps plot. However, readers will follow concepts and manages to do so with By Joe Meno this tough but naïve heroine, who an accessible yet intellectual style. Much more than a mere series [W. W. Norton, 2009. 414 floats along through the muck overview or a compilation of pages., $24.95 hardcover] of life wanting only a warm blanket, Coedited by Josef Steiff, associate dormroom musings, Battlestar A family of quirky intellectuals a steady paycheck, and perhaps her chair of Columbia’s Film & Video Galactica and Philosophy is a fun confronts the uncertainties and next hit of heroin. Later, much later, department, the book includes and challenging meditation on the anxieties of modern life in Joe she will come to know the realities offerings from faculty members classic questions of both science Meno’s (B.F.A. ’97, M.F.A. ’00) of sacrifice and love. Dan Dinello, Sara Livingston, and fiction and modern civilization. latest novel. alumni / faculty news & notes Contact your local CAAN chapter leader:
Chig ca o Bill Cellini Jr. (B.A. ’94) DER I A AluMN , [email protected] NeY w ork Metro chapter leaders Chigo ca o N rth Joan Hammel (B.A. ’86) R ecently, alumni leaders from active chapters of the Columbia Alumni [email protected] Association and Network gathered for the third annual CAAN Leadership A tlanta Assembly. The assembly was created in 2006 to allow alumni leaders Susan Fore (B.A. ’99) to report on progress within their chapters, identify opportunities and [email protected] challenges, and set a course of action for the upcoming year of Columbia De env r College alumni activities. Pat Blum (B.A. ’84) This year’s assembly was aligned with Industry pbcaanden@aol.com Night—a campuswide evening of professional Drt et oi networking receptions for graduating students— Patrick Duffy (B.A. ’02) [email protected] and Manifest, Columbia’s end-of-year celebration of student work (May 14–15). This provided alumni LVaas eg s C. J. Hill (B.A. ’99) the opportunity to experience the palpable energy [email protected] and inspiring talent on display during the last week Losgs An ele of the semester. It’s something that I wish all P. A. Cadichon (B.A. ’01) Columbia alumni could witness. There’s really no [email protected] better way to put into perspective the incredible N ashville transformation Columbia has undergone in recent Ross Rylance (B.A. ’84) years than seeing it in person during that time. [email protected] There isn’t enough room here to report all of the Ne oM w Y rk etro initiatives that were agreed upon by the CAAN James “Woody” Woodward (M.A. ’03) [email protected] assembly—we simply covered too much ground Kristie Borgmann (B.A. ’04) in our short time together. Chapter leaders [email protected] CAAN Leadership Assembly, May 13–15, were in agreement that building a strong community of alumni is of great 2009. From top left: Ron Lawless (B.A. Pe ho nix importance, as is the grassroots campaign to do so. Providing services ’82), Michael Underwood (B.A. ’91), Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez (B.A. ’95) Steven Gray (B.A. ’89), Cupid Hayes to alumni, such as networking opportunities and professional assistance, [email protected] (B.A. ’97), Bill Cellini (B.A. ’94), Kristie was at top of mind; mentoring and other alumni-to-student opportunities Borgmann (B.A. ’04), P. A. Cadichon (B.A. Don Fox (B.A. ’85) ’01), James “Woody” Woodward (M.A. were also discussed. Learn more at colum.edu/AlumniAssembly. [email protected] ’03), Don Fox (B.A. ’85), Susan Fore (B.A. Po rtland, OR ’99), Ross Rylance (B.A. ’84), Josh Culley- I want to thank those of you who have stepped forward to help build our Foster (B.A. ’03). Front row, from left: Jodi community as both leaders and participants. The time you invest with us Dan Strickland (B.A. ’94) [email protected] Hardee (M.A. ’04), Joan Hammel (B.A. makes a real difference. We need more alumni like you to be passionate ’86), Sarah Schroeder (B.A. ’00), C. J. Hill Donna Egan (’88) ambassadors for Columbia to reach the great potential that can come (B.A. ’99). Photo: Robyn Martin (B.A. ’05). [email protected] from uniting our talents and ideas. Are there others of you out there who Sanco Francis want to be part of it all? Let me know how we can help. Steven Gray (B.A. ’89) All the best, [email protected] W ashington, D.C. Peyton Caruthers (M.A.M. ’06) [email protected]
Josh Culley-Foster (B.A. ’03) National Director of Alumni Relations
make connections that work: colum.edu/alumni DEMO38 “If you’ve gone to Columbia, you already : aAtlant have a connection with people.” Su san Fore A tLANTA chapter leader
The networking possibilities for Columbia alums in Atlanta are as broad as the city’s cultural and racial diversity. More than 600 of them call the Atlanta area home, giving it the greatest concentration of Columbia graduates in the Southeast. At the helm of the Atlanta chapter of the Columbia Alumni Association and Network is Susan Fore (B.A. ’99), a supervisor in the TBS and Peachtree TV Broadcast Operations Center.
“It’s almost like a family atmosphere at Columbia,” says Fore of her desire to keep a working relationship with the college 10 years after earning a B.A. in television. “If you’ve gone to Columbia, you already have a connection with people. To keep that connection going is important.”
Fore, 33, an avid Cubs fan, has organized outings at several sporting events to bring the Columbia community together in her city—including Atlanta Braves games when the Cubs were in town. In December 2008, National Alumni Director Josh Culley-Foster and Vice President of Campus Environment Alice Berg flew to Atlanta to give a presentation on Columbia’s new Media Production Center. “That was really great because we had a good turnout,” Fore says. “We’re trying to get the Atlanta network going, get people excited, and get people coming out to events so that hopefully in the near future we can do a once-a-month event.”
In addition to email blasts, Fore uses social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to inform the Atlanta-area of upcoming events. Social media, she says, is important in getting people together to network. “You never know when you’re going to need to contact a person you just met,” Fore says of the importance of networking. Most alums trying to find work or get ahead in media and the arts would agree.
— Brent Steven White (B.A. ’08)
We’ve Been LISTENING ... NOW, HERE IT IS!
Photo: Alexa Rubinstein (B.A. ’10) > More than 800,000 job opportunities from 100,000+ employers > Career development resources > P ersonalized job matches All with one simple login at colum.edu/alumnijobs class news& notes cI o l u M B A C o l l e g e c h i c A G O f a l l 2 0 0 9 W hat are you doing out there? We want to know! To submit your news, log in to the alumni online community at colum.edu/alumni. The listings here are edited for length; the website features expanded news, notes, and pictures.
1970s Jeffrey Fisher (B.A. ’89) wrote and Jennifer O’Connell (B.A. ’87) will Johanna Zorn (B.A. ’89) is founder directed his first feature film,Killer walk 39 miles for the Avon Walk for and executive director of the Third Sheldon Baker (B.A. ’72) is senior Movie, after 10 years directing reality Breast Cancer in order to raise money Coast International Audio Festival vice president and principal of Baker television, including “The Simple Life” and awareness about the disease. Two (TCIAF), a project created by Chicago Dillon Group, a brand marketing and “The Real World/Road Rules people she loves dearly have been Public Radio in 2000. Inspired by firm in Clovis, California, and is Challenge.” Killer Movie premiered at gravely affected by breast cancer. the popularity of documentary film now hosting “Baker: In the City” the Tribeca Film Festival, had a small festivals in the United States and on centralvalleytalk.com. The show run in theaters, and is now available S erita Stevens (B.A. ’81) just motivated by the lack of attention features notables and celebrities on DVD. finished an assignment for Hallmark given to outstanding audio work, the from the business and entertainment Channel, Saving Spirit, which airs this organizers of the TCIAF created their worlds in California and beyond. A nnette Flournoy (B.A. ’89) is a summer. Her script, Murder Me Twice own blueprint for a radio festival. producer for Harpo Radio and was won best screenplay at Cinema City A llen Edge (B.A. ’78) was featured in recognized earlier this year with the International film fest, and she recently August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at Individual Achievement Award for completed a PSA for a Women In s the Court Theater in Chicago this past 1990 Outstanding Producer (News Series Film’s project on St. Joseph Center. summer. Visit shoutlife.com/levite for or Special) for her work on the Oprah Cassaundra Adler (B.A. ’90) updates on Allen’s career. & Friends channel at the 33rd Annual Javier Vargas (B.A. ’89) and is a former financial advisor who Gracie Awards. The Gracie Awards Juan Carranza’s (B.A. ’98) Flying followed her passion to become s recognize exemplary programming With Emilio Carranza is a half-hour a financial educator. Cassaundra 1980 created for women, by women, and documentary that takes you to a lends her support and expertise about women in all facets of electronic small community in New Jersey, where to groups serving traditionally Jay Bonansinga (M.A. ’88) is media, as well as individuals who have every year tribute is paid to a virtually underserved populations such as the author of seven acclaimed suspense novels, as well as three made contributions to the industry. unknown Mexican hero. Captain Emilio the working poor, women, state original screenplays currently in Carranza has been dubbed “Mexico's wards, and foster children. In her development in Hollywood. His latest Michael Goi (B.A. ’80), ASC, has Charles Lindbergh.” In 1928, while capacity as a University of Minnesota novel, Perfect Witness, is available at been chosen by his peers to serve as flying a goodwill mission from New Humphrey Institute Public Policy kensingtonbooks.com. Jay is a visiting president of the American Society of York, his plane crashed in Tabernacle, Fellow, she works to affect public professor at Northwestern University Cinematographers (ASC). New Jersey, during a thunderstorm. policy surrounding issues of poverty in the Creative Writing for the Media Since his death, members of American and financial literacy with leaders program, and is a member of the Nellie Hoffman’s (B.A. ’89) Legion Post 11 in Mount Holly have in Minnesota and Washington, D.C. Writers Guild of America and the Horror 30-second, graphically intensive spot continued to promote goodwill by Cassaundra is a frequent guest Writers Association. More on Jay at: for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra honoring Captain Carranza. For more commentator on economic issues jaybonansinga.com. won five 2009 Gold Addy Awards (Gold information visit flyingwithemilio.com. for Minnesota Public Radio. and Best of, Special Effects; Gold, Best Penelope Cagney (M.A. ’88) has of, and Judge’s Choice). View the spot Greg Woock (B.A. ’88) specializes Meltem Aktas (’93) has launched been appointed to the steering at aurum-design.com. in consumer products and services IMAGO Sacred Images, specializing in committee for the National Arts in wireless, electronics, and PC the painting and restoration of religious Marketing Program of the Phoenix Brigid Murphy (B.A. ’87) has a markets, and is also the former icons, devotional paintings, shrines, Arts and Business Council for 2009- successful and long-running show at CEO of Virgin Electronics and was and crosses for parishes, institutions, 2010. She has also been appointed the Old Town School of Folk Music VP of worldwide sales for Handspring. and religious communities. All work is to the board of the Arizona Costume in Chicago. Milly’s (Almost) All Kids He is the CEO and cofounder of done with organic materials and high Institute, a support organization for Revue is designed for the younger set Pinger, a San Francisco Bay Area quality paints. In addition, Meltem and the Phoenix Art Museum. Penelope is and brings her popular Orchid Show company that builds innovative IMAGO Sacred Images are committed engaged to Nathan Newman, Ph.D., to the Old Town School stage. The mobile phone services enabling to helping communities and individuals the Lawrence chair and director of show features great grown-up and kid people to communicate in new and acquire works of art to enrich private the Center for Solid State Science at performers for the whole family. Get convenient ways. For more information prayer and communal worship. Visit Arizona State University. more information at oldtownschool.org. visit pinger.com. imagoicons.com.
make connections that work: colum.edu/alumni DEMO40 cI o l u M B A C o l l e g e c h i c A G O f a l l 2 0 0 9 cI o l u M B A C o l l e g e c h i c A G O f a l l 2 0 0 8
Matt Brookens (B.A. ’99) wrote and colleges, and is currently on faculty Mary Pawlowski (B.A. ’99), marketing audio, and multimedia services. directed, and Matt Jones (B.A. ’01) at Columbia College. communications manager for Kenosha- produced, The Art of Pain, which was based Riley Construction, has been D avid Baker (M.F.A. ’00) signed an screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center Q uintus McCormick (B.A. ’94) selected as the 2009 Marketer of the option agreement with Astrakan Films in June. Visit artofpainmovie.com. released his second album (his first on Year for her dedication to the Society for his first feature screenplay with the Delmark Records label, untitled at for Marketing Professional Services– director William Olsson, whose film, T racye Campbell (B.A. ’92) is a press time) this summer. After playing Wisconsin chapter. The award salutes An American Affair, recently opened. segment producer for WTTW’s Emmy- blues guitar with A.C Reed, Otis Clay, and an individual whose achievements and Award-winning “Chicago Tonight.” Tracye James Cotton, Quintus formed his own lasting contributions to the industry Kathie Bergquist (B.A. ’05) co-edited interviews guests and researches and band in 1994, and released his debut are exemplary. At Riley Construction, (with Owen Keehnen) the 2009 Pride develops topics based on Chicago’s record, The Blues Has Been Good to Me. the 25-year marketing veteran has Literary Supplement, Stonewall 40: fine and performing arts communities introduced a new website, initiated Looking Out, for the Windy City Times. with a special concentration and Nobuko Oyabu (B.A. ’95) is a a trade show program, expanded its The supplement recognizes the fortieth connection to the multicultural arts freelance photographer and has worked media exposure, and worked to clarify anniversary of the Stonewall riots and community. In 2003, Tracye received for daily newspapers over the years. She and build the Riley brand. examines the progress of the GLBTQ an Emmy nomination for The African has been awarded by photojournalism community over the decades. Bergquist Princess, based on the opera Princess organizations, including the National Tracee Pickett (’96) is a creative is the co-author (with Robert McDonald) of Magogo, the first indigenous African Press Photographers Association. artist and the designer of the A Field Guide to Gay and Lesbian Chicago. opera produced in a live simulcast from After appearing on Lifetime TV’s Frenchenzia Figure Eight Chair Durban, South Africa. Tracye was the original documentary Fear No More: available at traceeandcompany.com. Kristy Bowen (M.F.A. ’07) and first producer to capture and present End Violence Against Women, her Brandi Homan (MFA ’07) were both to American audiences a behind-the- personal project, “STAND: Faces Javier C. Rivera (B.A. ’99) released a included on New City’s Lit 50 list for scenes look the historic event. of Rape & Sexual Abuse Survivors,” short documentary titled The Scare in 2009. Visit lit.newcity.com. became a traveling exhibition. Nobuko 2007 and authored a children’s book Kevin Corlew (B.A. ’95) is an associate was elected as one of the honorary about depression titled Sometimes I’m Kimberly Brehm (B.A. ’00) has with Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP, in board members for the National Sad. Visit javiercrivera.com/store. recently been appointed Lockport Kansas City, Missouri. He represents Sexual Violence Resource Center Township High School District 205’s clients in a variety of environmental and and Pennsylvania Coalition Against Marcos Suiero (B.A. ’91) was new director of development and public toxic tort matters. Kevin also currently Rape, and was selected as one of 10 nominated for a Grammy in Best relations. Kimberly is a former editor defends motor-fuel refiners and retailers journalists to participate in discussions Historical Recording for an album that and reporter with the Southtown Star in multidistrict consumer-fraud class- on “how the media covers rape” at he remastered, Polk Miller & His Old newspaper and was a Fischetti scholar. action litigation. Before joining SHB, Poynter Institute in Florida. In 2007, South Quartette. Visit tompkinssq.com/ Kevin served two years as a judicial Oyabu's book Stand was published in polk_miller_quartette.html. Brittany Brenner (B.A. ’04) joined 10 clerk to Justice John F. Wright of the Japan. More at nobukoonline.com. Connects, a CBS affiliate in Florida, as Nebraska Supreme Court. Jill Urchak (B.A. ’94) began her radio the Tallahassee Political Correspondent Karen Palacios-Jansen (M.A. career immediately after graduating in 2006. In addition to reporting, Brittany Michael Costa (B.A. ’94) is ’93), was named 2008-09 Ladies from Columbia College in 1994. She’s shoots, writes, and edits her own work industry relations editor at Hotel F & Professional Golf Association National done traffic, along with jocking at many (a job that’s commonly referred to as a B magazine, a Chicago-based trade Teacher of the Year. A golf instructor for of the suburban stations. Jill is better “backpack journalist”). Brittany began publication targeting hotel restaurants, 17-plus years, she is a David Leadbetter- known as traffic reporterR oadkill Jill her first internship at IW FR in Rockford, bars, and kitchens. In the past year, he trained former instructor and a Jim on WRXQ radio in Crest Hill, Illinois. Illinois, and later interned with WMAQ’s has been quoted as an expert source McLean Golf School master instructor. health unit prior to landing her first job for hotel food and beverage stories in Palacios-Jansen has appeared on the at WMAQ’s assignment desk in Chicago. USA Today and the Washington Post. Golf Channel, has a weekly golf Internet 2000s In addition to writing for Hotel F & B, radio show that follows the LPGA Tour Brett Bulatek (B.A. ’05) won first Michael is shooting and editing kitchen- on Prime Sports Radio Network, and S amuel Adams (B.A. ’08) recently had place and $7,000 for his screenplay, focused videos for the magazine’s is the Managing Editor of Golf Fitness an image published in the Chicago Reader. The Clearing Agent, at the 2009 website, hotelfandb.com. Magazine and golffitnessmagazine.com. Written Image Awards screenwriting She is a frequent speaker at local and Mark Anderson (’04) is an competition in the Alumni Feature T ania Giordani (B.A. ’95) is the national golf shows and conferences. online editor/smoke artist with Length Category. Other alumni awards author of All Children are Our Children: Her business with Olympic Gold Minneapolis-based CRASH+SUES, went to Marissa Jo Cerar (B.A. ’02) The Motivation of Parent Advocates and Medalist speed skater Dan Jansen, an award-winning post production for The Angel Tree (second), R obb T. is an advocate for equal access Swing Blade Enterprises, has produced company specializing in the seamless Klibowitz (B.A. ’04) for Quicksand to quality education for all children. Cardio Golf and other videos. Read integration of CG, visual FX, animation, (third), E dward Michael Erdelac As an educator, she has taught at an interview with Palacios-Jansen at motion graphics and design, color (B.A. ’99) for Ghost of Sonora (fourth), public elementary schools, private golffitnessmagazine.com. correction, creative editing, finishing, and Martha Shaifer-Haartel (B.A.
what are you doing out there? send us your news: colum.edu/alumni C L A S S n e W S & N o t e s ( C o n t . ) cI o l u M B A C o l l e g e c h i c A G O f a l l 2 0 0 9
’80) for Vigilante Mama (fifth). The gaffer on the project. Trailers of the film Journalist of the Year by the National Megan McManama (M.A. ’08) is Written Image is in its ninth year, are available at blackgelpictures.com Association of Hispanic Journalists. the new membership and programming and is sponsored by Lakeshore manager for the Chicago Loop Alliance. Entertainment, Eberhart Productions, D arlene Curcio-Elsbury’s (M.A. Monica Dimperio (B.A. ’05) She will be responsible for cultivating and the Columbia College Department ’00) nonfiction articles about started The MidWasteland in 2007 prospective members, fostering of Film & Video. Visit colum.edu/film. thoroughbreds, horse breeding, to document street style in Chicago. relationships, and growing involvement training, and racing were published In 2008, The MidWasteland went to among current members. L izzy Calhoun (B.A. ’00) has worked in the New York Thoroughbred Stallion a dedicated URL and became the as an editor on “Ugly Betty,” “The Directory (1999-2006), where a destination for fashion, lifestyle, E ileen McVety (M.F.A. ’02) has Closer,” and most recently, HBO’s chapter from her novel, Divining a and culture in the Midwest. The found success with her humor book, “Flight of the Conchords.” This fall, she Swan Song, also appeared. site, themidwasteland.com, offers a Welcome to the Company (or what it’s will be assistant editor on the screen chance to shop local, read about the really like working here). This mock adaptation of World War Z, directed R achel Damon’s (B.A. ’05) current evolving Midwest style scene, and gain employee handbook satirizes office by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, project is a collaboration with sound inspiration from the Street Style blog. politics and culture and was published Monster’s Ball, Stranger Than Fiction). artist Dan Mohr. The project, Stridulate, in March 2009 by Inkwater Press. Lizzie is also raising funds to produce explores hybrid forms in voice and C hristine DiThomas (M.F.A. ’01) Visit welcometothecompany.com. a documentary feature on the plight of movement. The piece premiered in was awarded a 2009 CAAP grant for Ugandan orphans against LRA rebels June at Galaxie in Chicago. Stridulate photography from the City of Chicago A aron Munoz (B.A. ’01) shot the for the nonprofit Village of Hope. Visit is supported in part by the Crosscut Department of Cultural Affairs. Her Cartoon Network live-action movie, villageofhopeuganda.com. Program, a partnership of Experimental work was recently exhibited in a BEN 10: Alien Swarm in March, and Sound Studio and Links Hall. Visit two-person show, “En Route: Visions just completed filming a costar role Brad Chmielewski (B.A. ’05) and Ken synapsearts.com. of the American Landscape,” at the in the ABC pilot, Solving Charlie. Hunnemeder (B.A. ’05) host a video Moser Art Center, University of St. His feature film debut, Cadillac podcast called “Hop Cast,” for which D anielle Dellorto (B.A. ’04) is a Francis, Joliet, Illinois. Records, is currently out on DVD. they review two beers from a specific producer in the medical news unit Visit aaronmunoz.com. state, brewery, or style each episode. for CNN. A my L. Dvorak (B.A. ’05) is now the Viewers also get tidbits of information managing editor at the Association of Julie Naylon (B.A. ’00) is the owner about the brewing process, ingredients, S tephen DeSantis (M.F.A. ’08), Legal Administrators, where she serves of No Wire Hangers, a green home and packaging. Many episodes feature Brandon Graham (M.F.A. ’08), as chief editor of its member magazine, organizing business that emphasizes guests who bring on their favorite beer Joseph Lappie (M.F.A. ’08), Heyjin ALA News. living a more ecologically minded to share with the hosts. Find Brad Oh (M.F.A. ’08), A eimee Le (M.F.A. lifestyle. Visit nowirehangers.biz. and Ken at hop-cast.com. ’05), E lizabeth Long (M.F.A. ’06), and Nicole Garneau (M.A. ’02) has launched Marion Runk (M.F.A. ’09) exhibited “Evidence,” a subscription-based series Nichole Odijk (B.A. ’08) is the director Hunter Clauss (B.A. ’08) has been their artist’s books for the second year of photo postcards documenting radical of communications for the Greater hired as a copy editor for decider.com, in a row at the Seoul International public performance. The performances Northwestern Indiana Association of a website that was started by Book Arts Fair in Seoul, Korea. All are are all part of the monthly “Uprising” Realtors®, where she is in charge of the creators of the Onion and the graduates of the Interdisciplinary Arts project exploring practices of revolution. public relations, advertising, website A.V. Club. Hunter was an editor of the Book & Paper M.F.A. program. DeSantis Visit nicolegarneau.com. and e-newsletter content, podcast Columbia Chronicle while in school. shared the second-place prize in the creation, and special events. competition and his book, WINDOW, Joseph Lappie (B.F.A. ’08) has been S oo Choi (B.A. ’02) is a fashion will be exhibited at the Frankfurt hired as a visiting assistant professor C hristine O’Malley’s (B.A. ’04) designer and entrepreneur. She is International Book Fair in Germany at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, company, O’Malley Creadon, is signed inspired by the dimensionality of in October. Following the SIABF, Oh Iowa. This is one of the (relatively) few with Nickelodeon to produce the making clothing—the process of arranged for all of these artists’ books book arts programs in the country, and first-ever SpongeBob SquarePants forming and creating. The garments find to be displayed in an exchange show at Joseph will teach a variety of classes documentary in celebration of the their meaning in the most seemingly the Hong IK University in Seoul in June. involving print, design, and book arts at series’ tenth anniversary. Patrick insignificant detail, a string of beads or the university for the coming year. Creadon (director) and O’Malley particular seam, but also sometimes F ernando Diaz (B.A. ’04) has been (producer) have been twice nominated explore ideas like vocabulary. Soo is named a finalist for the prestigious Mark Levin’s (B.A. ’08) D-PAN (Deaf for the Grand Jury Prize at the currently in Antwerp, Belgium, pursuing Livingston Award for Young Journalists Performing Artists Network) received Sundance Film Festival for their work, design work there. Visit soosline.com. for his work with the investigative a Special Achievement Award at the including Wordplay (2006) and news outlet the Chicago Reporter. Detroit Music Awards in April. I.O.U.S.A (2008). T imothy Coghlan (B.A. ’05) has Journalists across the country directed his first feature film,T he Color compete for this highly regarded James Martinez (B.A. ’01) is PR L eigh Peterson (’00) owns of Bruises. Marcin Wawrzyczek award. Fernando now is a reporter director for the National PTA, where he GoFetchGifts.com, an online gift shop (B.A. ’03) was camera operator and for the Chi-Town Daily News. Last is doing new media development and for dogs, cats, and pet lovers. Go Fetch C ameron Dershem (B.A. ’08) was year he was named 2008 Emerging policy development. Gifts specializes in safe, cuteness-
make connections that work: colum.edu/alumni DEMO42 cI o l u M B A C o l l e g e c h i c A G O f a l l 2 0 0 9
approved items for pet lovers, including Sherman), Blackout (Amber Tamblyn), R yan Williams (B.A. ’08) is doing Baum Gallery of Fine Art at the many personalized and breed-specific Isolated Incident (Dane Cook), Frank writing and research for Human University of Central Arkansas’ items. The blog shares pet health tips TV (Frank Caliendo), Anamorph (Willem Resources Development Inc. (hrdi. Six Degrees of Transmutation: and news. GoFetchGifts is also on Dafoe), and more. org), which he describes as a nonprofit Emerging Artists ’09, an exhibition Twitter: @GoFetchGifts. organization that provides substance- of contemporary work in various Brian Ulrich (M.F.A. ’07) was awarded abuse rehab, mental and behavioral media. Visit skarbakka.com. A llison Riggio (B.A. ’07) is working a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship health facilities, and services to in the research department of Crain's in Photography. He will be taking underprivileged minority communities Jessica Tobacman (M.A. ’07) Communications in downtown Chicago. advantage of this award to continue on Chicago’s South Side, Alabama, is marketing & communications his Copia project, a 10-year endeavor Nevada, and Boston Metro. coordinator for the National C ara Rouse (B.A. ’08) is an assistant that addresses one of our biggest Association of the Remodeling and coordinator in the post department challenges at the dawn of the twenty- C atherine Wolf (B.A. ’05) won a Industry (NARI). for The Dr. Phil Show in Los Angeles. first century—our relationship to regional Edward R. Murrow award for our consumption and the potential a four-part series she did for 90.7 A shley Sero’s (B.A. ’07) pilot reassessing of its role as purpose KMWU, the St. Louis public radio In Memoriam script entry was a finalist in the in our lives. Guggenheim Fellows station. The series was on Missourians Scriptapalooza TV Writing Competition. are appointed on the basis of stellar who are living green. Norman Pelligrini (’50 – Radio/ achievement and exceptional promise Television) Jonathan Shanes (B.A. ’05) has for continued accomplishment. James (Woody) Woodward been working as a composer, producer, (B.A. ’03) returns to the music Nicole L. Shields (’92 – Journalism) arranger, orchestrator, copyist, A aron Vanek (’03) is writing for the industry as owner and operator performer, and/or engineer since Los Angeles Examiner, a free website of Lateral Management, a full-service Jacob Knapp (’09 – Cultural Studies) moving to Los Angeles in 2006. Film dedicated to uncovering the skinny on management company based in and television projects include The the city. Aaron’s domain is the cocktail New York, and currently represents International‚ (Clive Owen), One Missed scene in Los Angeles so if you want to DavidK. Visit lateralmanagement.biz Marriages & Unions Call (Ed Burns), John From Cincinnati‚ know where to get a good margarita or or myspace.com/Davidknyc. (David Milch), Because I Said So what seasonal fruit is infusing the latest Melissa K. Stallard (M.F.A. ’08) (Diane Keaton), The Two Mr. Kissels creations, check out his page at examiner. Kerry Skarbakka (M.F.A. ’03) married Phil Navallo in a small (John Stamos), Happiness Runs (Adam com/x-5200-LA-Cocktails-Examiner. exhibited photography in the ceremony in Chicago.
S teve Turre October 2, 2009 7:30 p.m. The DuSable Museum of African American History 740 E. 56TH Pl., Chicago The Rhythm Within Art tis ic director, jon faddis® T he Chicago Jazz Ensemble with Artistic Director Jon Faddis and special guest Steve Turre, trombone and shells One of the world’s true jazz innovators, Steve Turre, joins Artistic Director Jon Faddis and The Chicago Jazz Ensemble for an evening of outstanding music featuring Turre on both trombone and shells. In addition to performing his own compositions, Turre, widely considered to be one of the finest jazz trombonists in the world, honors the late J. J. Johnson, recognized as one of the greatest jazz trombonists of all time.
More information ao hb ut T e Chicago Jazz Ensemble can be found online at chicagojazzensemble.com or by calling 312.369.6270. TIC A KEts C N BE PURCHASED online at ticketweb.com.
Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation
Louis Armstrong The Robert Pritzker Education Foundation Family Foundation faculty& staff notes cI o l u M B A C o l l e g e c h i c A G O F A L L 2 0 0 9
R andy Albers (Fiction Writing) was curators invited to put together the Guido Mendez (Creative Services) Jane Saks (Institute for the Study co-chair of the 2009 AWP national principal exhibitions of contemporary received a 2008 Circle of Excellence of Women & Gender in the Arts & convention, had a chapter of his novel- American photography for the FotoFest Award bronze medal from the Council Media) was among 250 LGBT leaders, in-progress published in TriQuarterly, 2010 Biennial, the longest running and for the Advancement and Support of activists, and philanthropists invited served on the selection committee for most acclaimed photography biennial in Education (CASE) for the design of to a reception and speech at the the Harold Washington Literary Prize the country. FotoFest takes place March DEMO magazine, issue 8. White House with President Barak awarded to Dave Eggers, was named to 12 through April 25, 2010, in Houston. and First Lady Michelle Obama in June. Joe Meno (Fiction Writing) stopped by NewCity’s Lit 50 list, and taught a Fiction The event commemorated the fortieth Mary Farmilant (Photography) the WBEZ studios on May 7 and sat Seminar in Columbia’s Florence, Italy anniversary of the Stonewall riot in exhibited works from her series down with Web Producer Andrew Gill for summer study abroad program, where New York, considered the beginning “Hospital” in “Contact: Toronto an installment of “The Wikipedia Files.” he also served as lead administrator. of the gay rights movement. This was Photography Festival” in May. Meno’s latest book, The Great Perhaps, only the second time a group of LGBT S tephen Asma (Humanities, History, came out in May (See “Get Lit,” page 37). Bill Frederking (Dean’s Office, SFPA) individuals has been hosted at the & Social Sciences) published the had a piece in the exhibition “Prohibido A my Mooney (Art & Design) received White House, and the first time by article “Happy Serf Liberation Day” in el Cante. Flamenco y Fotografía/ a Smithsonian Post-Doctoral Fellowship the President. In These Times magazine. The article Don´t sing. Flamenco and Photography” for her book proposal, Portraits of is both a glimpse at the past and a L ouis Silverstein (Humanities, at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Noteworthy Character. The book will suggestion for the future of Chinese/ History, & Social Sciences) presented Contempráneo in Seville, Spain. examine the central role portraiture Tibet relations. In “Ancient Antidotes to a paper at the annual meeting played in fostering American social Timeless Troubles,” in the Chronicle of Monica Hairston (CBMR) was of the Humanities Education and mobility from 1890 through 1950. Higher Education, Asma applies Stoic recognized by the Chicago Defender Research Association on “Death and Mooney was one of 8 fellows selected philosophy to our current recession. with a Women of Excellence award. Dying,” the subject of his new book, from more than 1,800 applicants. If you don't win the lottery soon, you The objective of this award is to Encountering Life’s Endings. Silverstein may find great consolations for your “acknowledge and celebrate African D avid Pritchett (AEMM) was invited was the featured speaker at the economic woes in the philosophies of American women who personify the to present a poetry project to students inauguration of the SGI-USA Chicago ancient Greece and Rome, he advises. qualities of respect, responsibility, and faculty at Jiujiang University, Culture of Peace Resource Center’s passion, sisterhood and leadership.” Jiujiang China. His presentation Distinguished Speaker Series in June. Martin Atkins (AEMM) and D avid Lewis consists of a lecture to teachers on His presentation was titled “Teaching A (Portfolio Center) were featured on T erri Hemmert (Radio) has been contemporary American poetry and Culture of Peace.” NPR’s “All Things Considered” on May nominated for induction into the a poetry writing project with selected 15, in association with the relaunch of National Radio Hall of Fame. Hemmert Nancym To (Center for Asian Arts students, resulting in the creation of AEMMP Records. AEMMP was also the is an on-air personality at WXRT-FM. & Media) was one of five Asian artist books of original poetry in English subject of a story in TimeOut Chicago. American women honored for their S usen James (English) is the part- and Chinese, which will be displayed See our review of the latest AEMMP leadership in the creative arts at time faculty recipient of the 2009 at Columbia’s library this fall. release, Chompilation, in “Spin,” page the Chicago Foundation for Women’s Excellence in Teaching Award, awarded xx). Pigface 6, Atkins’s latest record with R ose Camastro Pritchett (AEMM) Asian American Leadership Council’s by Columbia’s Center for Teaching his band, Pigface, was released in June. was artist-in-residence at Jiujiang "Breaking Barriers" event in April. Excellence. University in Jiujiang, China, last spring. D ave Berner (Radio) has authored a S arah Faust Waddell (Photography) C raig Jobson (Art & Design) is the She gave an open lecture to faculty and memoir, Accidental Lessons, about what received several 2008 Circle full-time faculty recipient of the 2009 students on the connection in her work he learned teaching language arts to of Excellence Awards from the Excellence in Teaching Award, awarded between storytelling, artists’ books, eighth graders for a year as part of a Council for the Advancement and by Columbia’s Center for Teaching and performance art, and created a program to attract teachers to troubled Support of Education (CASE) Excellence. performance art piece with students schools. Berner is a reporter and news for design. The winning pieces centering on transition and change. anchor for WBBM Newsradio 780. A llan Johnston (English) presented were the Lectures in Photography The work is a continuation of a piece a paper at the HERA conference on Poster, Photography Department; Melissa Jay Craig (Book & Paper she developed for the Museum of the collapse of metaphors of nature in Newly Admitted Piece, Admissions; Arts) had a solo show at Women’s Contemporary Art as part of the nineteenth-century discourse. He has and M.F.A. Photography Poster, Studio Workshop and was in residence Works-in-Progress program last fall. also recently published poetry in Two Photography Department. there for six weeks on the 2009 NEA Review, and Wordriver, and has work Marilyn Propp (Art & Design) had a Paper Studio residency grant. Her work forthcoming in Adirondack Review, solo show, “Journeys,” at St. James A nn Wiens (Publications) was co- was also featured in “Marking Time,” Segue, Ezra. His poem “Meditation Cathedral in Chicago. Eight horizontal, chair of the 2009 CASE Editors Forum, the Guild of Bookworkers triennial on Bliss” appeared in A Congress of four-panel paintings were installed on the annual conference of college exhibition, which travels nationwide Poets, a collection celebrating the either side of the nave, moving toward and university magazine editors, in through 2011. Craig enjoyed summer election of Barack Obama. And he was the altar. She also received a 2009 San Francisco. Wiens led a session residencies at the Artists’ Enclave at nominated for a Pushcart Prize for his Community Arts Assistance Program on “bringing the fun” into college I-Park, in Connecticut, and the Ragdale poem “Cutting Cedar Shakes in the (CAAP) grant from the City of Chicago magazines, and moderated a panel Foundation in Lake Forest, Illinois. Aladdin Star Valley, Washington, 1975,” Department of Cultural Affairs and the discussion on the future of print and Natasha Egan (MoCP) is one of five published in Argestes. Illinois Arts Council. web-based magazines.
what are you doing out there? send us your news: colum.edu/alumni DEMO44 Fashion Columbia
[ 1 ] Fashion Columbia Patrons’ Party, May 11, 2009, Saks Fifth Avenue. From left: Fashion Columbia host Susanna Negovan, editor in chief, Michigan Avenue magazine; Patrons’ Party cohost Dean Richards (’76), entertainment critic/reporter, WGN; Patrons’ Party cohost Anna Fong (’01), recipient of the Alumni Achievement in Fashion Design Award; Steven Rosengard, former fashion design student and Project Runway contestent; and Project Runway’s Terri Stevens (’96) [ 2 ] From left: Dianne Erpenbach, Dennis Brozynski and Nena Ivon at the Fashion Columbia luncheon, May 12, 2009, 1 at the Harold Washington Library Winter Garden [ 3 ] T rudy Cassin in a dress and coat designed by fashion design alum Tamara Jones (’08), right, at the Fashion Columbia luncheon [ 4 ] A rlen Rubin and Elaine Cohen at the Fashion Columbia luncheon
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Richard Florida, Conversations in the Arts Commencement
[ 1 ] Richard Florida spoke at Film Row Cinema as part of Conversations in Commencement 2009 included a marriage proposal. the Arts: The Founders Lectures, on April 30, 2009. [ 2 ] Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, signs books following his lecture.
1 2 Golf Invitational 2009
[ 1 ] From left: Tom Trainor, Dan McLean, and Brad Akers, sponsors of the 2009 Golf Invitational [ 2 ] Former Chicago Bears Richard Dent and Otis Wilson Pride at the White House Jane Saks, executive director of the ESB Institute, with First Lady Michelle Obama at the LGBT Pride Celebration hosted by President and Mrs. Obama at the White House, June 29, 2009.
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Alumni Time!
[ 1 ] Ben Blount (M.F.A. ’05), foreground, peruses the Book & Paper Alumni Exhibition, About Time, February 27 – March 31, 2009 at the Center for Book & Paper Arts [ 2 ] Brett Bulatek (B.A. ’05), first-place winner in the alumni category at the Written Image screenwriting competition awards ceremony, and Gary Schultz (B.A.
’01) [ 3 ] Student Alumni Association Etiquette Dinner, 1 2 April 17, 2009. Niles Howard (’11), Kelsey Lindsey (’11), Stephanie Tanner (’11), and Chelsea Middendorf (’12) (B.A. ’01) [ 4 ] New York chapter leader James “Woody” Woodward (M.A. ’03) talks with students at Industry Night, May 14, 2009. [ 5 ] P at Parker (’85) displays her wares at the Manifest Alumni Bazaar, May 15, 2009. [ 6 ] Bai Price (B.A. ’03) participated in the Manifest Alumni Bazaar, May 15, 2009. [ 7 ] President Carter (center) with recipients of Alumni Scholarships. From left: Dana LaCoco (’09), Karen Bovinich (’09), Petya Shalamanova (’09), Laureen Lembe (’10), and Theresa Klaban (’10) 3 4
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Manifest Alumni Reception
[ 1 ] Susan Fore (B.A. ’99) Joan Hammel (B.A. ’86), Chris Richert (B.A. ’99) at the Manifest Alumni Reception, May 15, 2009 [ 2 ] Julie Poznan (B.A. ’01) and Belia Ortega (B.A. ’05) [ 3 ] L a Tanya Smith (B.A. ’01) [ 4 ] Yvonne Davis (B.A. ’99) and Gabe Pastrana (B.A. ’05)
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CAAN Chapter Events
[ 1 ] Clockwise from top: Karen Gorrin (B.A. ’86), Vice President of Campus Environment Alicia Berg, Jan Simon (B.A. ’78), Diane Cole (B.A. ’95), and Roger Ewald (B.A. ’81). Berg gave a presentation, How Columbia is Changing the Face of Chicago, for CAAN: Seattle in March. [ 2 ] P at Blum (B.A. ’84), Jodi Miller (M.A. ’04), Sarah Schroeder (B.A. ’00), and Mindy Simon (B.A. ’05) at CAAN: Denver’s Runnin’ of the Green event in March [ 3 ] Alumni Lolita Ratchford (B.A. ’85), Ingrid Shelton (B.A. ’93), and Rose Yuen (BA ’97) at a CAAN: San Francisco event
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Photographers: Louis Byrd (B.A. ’90), Stephen DeSantis (M.F.A. ’08), Bob Kusel (’78), Kelsey Lindsey (’11), Robyn Martin (B.A. ’05), Naomi T. Saks, and Stephanie Tanner (’11) see more photos @ colum.edu/alumni and click “seen” 1965
By Heidi Marshall
Chicago native and poet Gwendolyn Brooks taught at Columbia College from 1963 to 1969. She received the college’s first honorary degree, a Doctor of Humane Letters, in 1964. The commencement program for that year used Walt Whitman’s portrayal of poets to describe her:
“With soul of love and tongue of fire! Eye to pierce the deepest deeps and sweep the world! .... You are the poet of the great idea, the idea perfect and free individuals.”
Brooks was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 for Annie Allen and was named the poet laureate of Illinois in 1968. She is pictured here instructing a class at Columbia’s former location at 540 North Lake Shore Drive, where she taught and oversaw the college’s poetry curriculum.
Heidi Marshall is Columbia’s college archivist. If you have photos or materials you think might be of interest for the archives, let her know! [email protected] / 312.369.8689. Visit the Columbia archives online at lib.colum.edu/archives.
DEMO48 Evolving through the decaDes: alumni reunion weekend 2009
9.24.09 – 9.27.09 You are invited! Evolving Through the Decades will be full of exciting events and opportunities to reconnect with old friends and faculty members, network, and have fun. Don’t miss this annual celebration. We look forward to you joining us!
“With soul of love and tongue of fire! colum.edu/AlumniReunion eye to pierce the deepest deeps and sweep the world! .... You are the poet of the great idea, the idea perfect and free individuals.”
obyn Martin (BA ‘05) P OTOTOGh raphy : R N on-profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Madison, WI Permit No. 254
600 South MICHIGAN AVENUE, CHICAGO, IL 60605–1996
F or Alumni & Friends of Columbia College Chicago
Scholarship Columbia A Challenge for Excellence rika Dufour (’96) E Photo:
Give a dollar. We’ll give two.
In these times, helping our students find the financial resources they need to complete their Columbia educations is our number-one fundraising priority. So we’re pleased to announce the Scholarship Columbia Challenge Grant, a five-year, $1-million this is challenge to raise unrestricted scholarship dollars for deserving students with demonstrated need. Accept the challenge in the spirit of giving and giving back. If you’re a Columbia alum, the college Columbia’s will match your gift two to one.* Moment
*For details or to make a donation, visit colum.edu/donate or call Kim Clement at 312.369.7084. c olum.edu/DONATE