Creative Expressions: Artists in Residence

Thursday, April 16th, 5pm

SUNY Empire is fortunate to have a rich and varied artist community, and just because we can’t be together in person, does not mean we can’t celebrate the arts.   We are excited to announce SUNY Empire’s first “Creative Expressions” virtual art evening on Thursday, April 16 at 5p.m. Join our “artists in residence” and learn about their art, their process, and them! Our artists will also host a Q&A session following their presentations.   

Take a moment to come together this week and subsequent Thursdays at 5 with your SUNY Empire family and share something beautiful. 

Featured this week - Anastasia Pratt, Mindy Kronenberg, and Raul Manzano. 

Anastasia Pratt (bass, vocals), teaches Public History courses at SUNY Empire State College and also works with the Upward Bound program. She serves as the Clinton County historian and has authored several books. Music has always been a constant theme in her life. She began playing the bass when she was 10 and started singing even earlier.  Enjoying many different genres of music, throughout her life she has performed in a wide variety of instrumental and choral groups, including several local chamber and pit orchestras.

Mindy Kronenberg (author, poet) is a widely published poet, writer, critic, and visiting assistant professor of writing and the arts at SUNY Empire State College. Her work has appeared in hundreds of print and online publications around the world, on video, and has been featured in various art exhibits. She is the author of "Dismantling the Playground," a poetry chapbook, "Images of America: Miller Place," a pictorial history, and an illustrated book of poems, "Open." She edits Oberon poetry magazine.

Raul Manzano (painter) has had paintings shown in museums, consulates, galleries, and community centers in Canada, Spain, Israel, and the United States, and has been published in scholarly peer-reviewed journals, magazine covers, catalogs, and periodicals. He is an award-winning artist, who most recently received a second-prize award at Strive, a national juried art exhibition, and a grant from the Puffin Foundation, Ltd. for his project “In the Eye of the Beholder.” Manzano has lectured at leading New York City museums and universities and served as juror at exhibition panel committees. His doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Museum Studies is from Union Institute and University. He earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies with a specialization in studio practice and curatorial studies at SUNY Empire State College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and Painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is a mentor in the visual arts at ESC’s Brooklyn and Hudson locations. He directs the School of Visual Arts’ painting in Barcelona summer program in Barcelona, Spain. See more of his work at this website.

Creative Expressions: Fiber Arts 

Thursday, April 23rd, 5pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us each week to share in some creative expression. Come and meet our “artists in residence” and learn a little about their art, their process, and them! Our artists will also host a Q&A session following their presentations. Join us this week and every week in Zoom at this link - https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionSeries.

Featured this week will be presentations by fiber artists: Cathy Davison, Nan Travers and Diane Shichtman. Facilitator: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Cathy, Nan and Diane will be speaking about their creative works with various forms of fiber arts. As part of their presentations, they will reflect upon what it means to them as they think about creativity, flow, problem-solving, shapes, rhythm, and the meditative comfort that working in their mediums provides.

Diane Shichtman (knitter, tatter, etc.): Diane holds a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies along with an MBA and an MA, and has worked as an information systems professional, doing database design and development and project management, and her volunteer work includes providing project management support in a not-for-profit volunteer-based setting. She’s also worked as a freelance calligrapher and taught calligraphy. She’s been a knitter for decades (and taught knitting) and took up tatting about ten years ago. She does beadwork, quilting, and quilling as well as other crafts.

Cathy Davison (quilter): Cathy earned a PhD in Pharmacology, and after spending time as a research scientist and teacher at Albany Medical College, joined SUNY Empire State College as an Associate Professor and Mentor in the Department of Natural Sciences, where she teaches courses in biomedical sciences. The analytic and creative aspects of her personality were evident from a young age, as she struggled with pursuing a career as a a research scientist vs. a ballet dancer. Cathy now practices the craft of quilting, where her creative nature finds expression. She finds that mathematical and scientific concepts can be illustrated in quilts, and conversely mathematics and scientific reasoning is used in quilt design and construction.

Nan L. Travers (fiber artist): Nan is the director of the college’s Center for Leadership in Credentialing Learning. Nan has a math and science background and taught high school math and college math, statistics and research methods for over 40 years. Her doctorate is in adult learning and currently focuses on learning recognition (prior learning assessment and competency-based learning) and incremental credentialing opportunities (e.g., micro-credentialing). She has held multiple administrative positions at community colleges and SUNY Empire State College. Nan is also a fabric artist, professionally for about 30 years. Her greatest focus is on silk painting, felting, and botanical printing, as well as mixed fiber medias and collage, and provides workshops in fiber arts through her studio, Woodside Pond Studios. 

Creative Expressions: Music Cafe

Thursday, April 30th, 5pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community.  Come and meet our “artists in residence” and learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them! Our artists will also host a Q&A session following their presentations. If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded and the videos can be found at this link.

The sessions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link.

Featured this week will be conversations and live musical performances by: Julie Gedro and John Lawless. 

Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

 John and Julie have performed at many formal and informal gatherings at the college.  You might have heard them at an All College or Fall Academic Conference in the past. On Thursday, you will be able to hear them play their guitars and sing for us from their home “studios”.  They will perform individually and together, as well as speak a little about their musical influences and love of music. To get a sense of some of what you might hear, Julie shared that her dream choir would include Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Cash, Tracy Chapman, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Roseanne Cash, John Prine, Joan Armatrading, Christine McVie, Melissa Etheridge, George Strait, Emily and Amy, and Vince Gill.

Julie Gedro (guitar and vocals): Julie Gedro earned her Ed.D. in Adult Education and Human Resource Development from the University of Georgia while she held positions in Human Resource Management and Development in financial software and telecommunications corporations headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. She holds a B.A. in Economics and English from the College of William and Mary, and an M.B.A. from Kennesaw State University. Julie made an adventurous and fulfilling transition from corporate to academia in 2003 when she joined the faculty at Empire State College where she now serves as Dean of the School of Business.  Julie serves as Vice President for Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue which is serendipitously headquartered in Music City USA (a/k/a Nashville). Music is one of her lifelong passions. Julie is a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rochester where she serves on the Vestry and sings 2nd Alto in the Choir.

John Lawless  (guitar and vocals): John Lawless, Ph.D., MPH is the interim Vice Provost for Academic Administration in the Office of Academic Affairs. He started at Empire State College in 2006 as a mentor in Community and Human Services at the Utica location. Dr. Lawless’ career has spanned human services, psychology, human development, and public health. He lives in New Hartford, NY and enjoys skiing, playing guitar, and hiking (member of the ADK 46er club).

Creative Expressions: When We Were Quarantined 

Thursday, May 7th, 5pm 

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Come and meet our “artists in residence” and learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them! Our artists will also host a Q&A session following their presentations. If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it to a session, all are recorded and the videos can be found at this link . Creative Expressions are live at 5pm every Thursday in Zoom at this link. 

Featured this week is “When We Were Quarantined”, a collaborative performance of reflective writing and music co-curated by college alumni Job Christenson and Bambi Everson, and theatre faculty Cindy Bates and Lucy Winner. The work includes material by faculty, students and alumni responding to this complex moment in our lives. The idea for the project was sparked in a Living Through COVID-19 (SUNY Empire Connects) writing session. Some material is drawn from that session while the rest was created in a subsequent writing workshop and further developed by the participants. We are happy to share this range of creative responses to the isolation, grief, hope and even humor of the pandemic. 

Co-curators: College alumni, Job Christenson and Bambi Everson Theatre faculty, Cindy Bates and Lucy Winner 

Performers: Jeff Caldwell, Class of 2019 Alexander Carney, Class of 2003 Job Ethan Christenson, Class of 2018 Bernadette Drayton, Class of 2019 Bambi Everson, Class of 2016 Helene Galek Lydia Gaston, Class of 2005 Elizabeth Quincy, post-degree ESC studies Jacklyn Rosa, Class of 2017 Emily Strong, current student 

Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein 

Program: “A New Recipe” - Emily Strong “Groundhog Day” - Jacklyn Rosa “New Essentials in Grocery Shopping” - Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein / Performed by Lydia Gaston Smile - Charles Chaplin / Performed by Bernadette Drayton “Covid & Coffee” - Alexander Carney “Zoom” - Bambi Everson “Rediscovering Rhianna in Dr. Rogers: A New Me in COVID-19.” Rhianna Rogers / Performed by Bernadette Drayton “The Big Slow” - Jeff Caldwell Apartment Song - Written and Performed by Emily Strong “A Rabbit in My Path” - Lucy Winner / Performed by Lydia Gaston “Bellevue in the Face” - Alexander Carney “Metallic Silver” - Bernadette Drayton “Who Was That Masked Man?” - Bambi Everson “Familiar” - Job Ethan Christenson “It Still Holds Up” - Helene Galek “Present Panic” - Lydia Gaston “A Letter to My Daughter” - Cindy Bates / Performed by Jacklyn Rosa No One Is Alone - Stephen Sondheim / Performed by Job Ethan Christenson “Covid 19: Crisis Interupted” - Elizabeth Quincy “Who Would I Tell?” - Lucy Winner / Performed by Emily Strong “Watching the Wheels Go Round” - Jeff Caldwell You’ll Never Walk Alone - Rogers & Hammerstein / Performed by Lydia Gaston 

Creative Expressions: Memories, Mothers & More

Thursday, May 14, 2020

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us each week to share in some creative expression. Come and meet our “artists in residence” and learn a little about their art, their process, and them! Our artists will also host a Q&A session following their presentations.

Join us this week and every week in Zoom at this link - https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionSeries.

Featured this week will be presentations by authors Elaine Handley and Connelly Akstens as well as fiber artist Nan Travers.

Facilitator: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Elaine, Nan, and Connelly will be speaking about their creative works with Elaine and Connelly reading excerpts from their memoirs touching upon their relationships with their mothers. And Nan will share her botanical printing fiber arts inspired from the teachings of her mother.  As part of their presentations, they will reflect upon their creative processes as well as share their works. 

Elaine Handley (author): Elaine is professor in the School of Arts and Humanities.  She teaches a variety of writing and literature courses, including the Art of Memoir.  As this year 's ESC's Imperatore Fellow, she has been conducting workshops in the community, using expressive writing as a tool to help caregivers process their roles and support their important and often unacknowledged work

Nan L. Travers director, Center for Leadership in Credentialing Learning (fiber artist): Nan has a math and science background and taught high school math and college math, statistics and research methods for over 40 years. Her doctorate is in adult learning and currently focuses on learning recognition (prior learning assessment and competency-based learning), incremental credentialing opportunities (e.g., micro-credentialing) and the integration of workplace learning and higher education. She has held multiple administrative positions at community colleges and SUNY Empire State College. Nan is also a fabric artist, professionally for about 30 years. Her greatest focus is on silk painting, felting, and botanical printing, as well as mixed fiber medias and collage, and provides workshops in fiber arts through her studio, Woodside Pond Studios.

Connelly Akstens (author) has been a mentor at Empire State College for more than twenty years. Among her interests are Shakespeare, the history of ideas and American roots music. She lives in Rhode Island and this time of year devotes free time to vegetable gardening and fly fishing for striped bass. The chapter she will be reading, "An Enigmatic Woman" is from her forthcoming memoir, Without Shame: Learning to be Me.

Creative Expressions: Shapes, Shadows and Structures

Thursday, May 21st, 5pm

 The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community.  Come and meet our “artists in residence” and learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them! Our artists will also host a Q&A session following their presentations. If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it to a session, all are recorded and the videos can be found at this link .

Creative Expressions are live at 5pm every Thursday in Zoom at this link .

Featured this week: Duncan RyanMann, Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein, Jim McMahon, and students/alumni Diane Owens, Lisa Schnitzer, and Ashley Vanderhall.

Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

In this session, we will explore shapes formed on the potter’s wheel; shadows captured by the photographic lens, and structures created and friendships formed in the rebuilding of Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Duncan RyanMann (potter) earned a B.A. degree in liberal arts from The Evergreen State College and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania with concentrations in industrial organization, public finance, and health economics. Duncan has taught on the faculties of the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and Williams College. He has also worked as a research analyst and manager in health programs for the Washington State government and the Medicaid program. His teaching and research interests include various aspects of health and medical markets including Patient Centered Medical Homes and Accountable Care Organizations, issues in sustainability and agriculture and higher education markets.

Duncan has consulted with the World Bank and the Washington State government on economic and policy issues in health care and with the U.S. Department of Education on the higher education market. He has consulted with the New York State Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform on applications of cost benefit analysis.

Duncan’s undergraduate degree included courses in the visual and performing arts; drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and dance. Duncan’s mother and oldest daughter received extensive training in the arts and his mother created a number of pottery pieces in the late 1960s and very early 1970s. Duncan started taking pottery classes in the fall of 2016 and is eager to get back in the studio.

Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein (photographer) is currently a visiting associate professor in the Arts & Media Department at SUNY Empire State College’s School of Arts & Humanities. Lisa earned a B.A. in English & General Literature at Binghamton University (SUNY). She completed her M.S. and Ph.D. at Indiana University. Her dissertation analyzed the personal narratives of several female African‐American first-generation college students, focusing on how their ways of knowing and identity development related to their college success. She is co‐author of the book Piecing It Together: A Guide to Academic Success, published by Allyn & Bacon. She is a Past President of the National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA) having served on the Executive Board from 2003‐2006. In 2005, she received the Department of Defense, Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, and she is a 2013 recipient of the State University of New York’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service.

Lisa’s love of art and photography started when she was very young hanging out in her father’s art studio. While she does not have his talent for pen and ink, she developed skills in the areas of digital layout, digital storytelling, and photography.

Jim McMahon (Rebuild Puerto Rico) is the Student Service Coordinator at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies in New York City. Jim received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the FORUM program of Empire State College at Central New York. Jim went on to earn a Master in Business Administration from Wagner College in Staten Island.    

Diane Owens (Rebuild Puerto Rico) resides in the small Village of Delevan, N.Y., and holds a B.A. in Business from Empire State College (Class of 2011). She is currently attending SUNY Empire State College for a second degree and will be graduating with a B.A. in the Arts with a concentration in Studio Art in 2020.

Lisa Schnitzer (Rebuild Puerto Rico) completed her bachelor’s degree in Business, Management and Economics at SUNY Empire State College last June (Class of 2019). At that point, I thought I was done with school forever, but a life-changing adventure in Puerto Rico inspired me to continue on at SUNY Empire State College for a Masters in Community & Economic Development with an Advanced Certificate in Workforce Development. I just finished my second semester of Graduate School at SUNY Empire State College. I am a single mom to an amazing 19 year old young woman, and I have worked for an insurance MGA for 18 years.

Ashley Vanderhall (Rebuild Puerto Rico) works as a paralegal for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and is currently completing her last class for her MBA in Management.  In addition to work and school, she is a full-time mom who is proud to teach her son the importance of education and helping others.

Creative Expressions: Pop Cultural Products - Impact and Influence

Thursday, May 28th, 5pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community.  Come and meet our “artists in residence” and learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them! Our artists will also host a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded and the videos can be found at this link (https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionsVideoChannel).

The sessions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link (https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionSeries).

Featured this week will be Cindy Conaway, Diane Shichtman, Cindy Bates, and alumna Diane Donato.

Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

In this session, we will explore the influence of Seinfeld on American television; the creative process and control of J.K. Rowlings and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter; and the creative process of podcasting with a look at iHeart radio's Upstate Unsolved.

Cindy Conaway (Seinfeld Project) is an Associate Professor of Media Studies and Communication and the Coordinator for Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies at SUNY Empire State College. She holds a Ph.D. in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University, an MS in Instructional Systems Design from Florida State University and a Bachelor’s degree in English from The University of Chicago. She is working with Diane Shichtman on a digital humanities project called Seinfeld at the Nexus of the Universe. Her work has been published in the books How Television Shapes our World View, Geek Chic, edited by Sherrie Inness and in the journals Flow, Antenna, All About Mentoring and the Mid Atlantic Almanack. She has presented her work at DH2018, Popular Culture Association, International PCA, SCMS, the Sloane Consortium, Console-Ing Passions, and the National Women’s Studies Association as well as at Emory College and Skidmore College. For 12 years she coordinated the online area in Communication and Media, teaching a number of online courses including Television and Culture, Communication through New Media and Women, Girls and the Media. As the coordinator of Interdisciplinary Studies she coordinates development of new programs at the college as well as courses in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Diane Shichtman (Seinfeld Project) holds a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute along with an MBA from the University at Albany and an MA in Technology and Society from The Program in Media Studies at the New School for Social Research. Along with thee degrees, she holds a PMP (Project Management Professional certification) from PMI. She is an Associate Professor and Associate Department Chair at SUNY Empire State College, having also worked as an information systems professional, doing database design and development and project management, and her volunteer work includes providing project management support in a not-for-profit volunteer-based setting.

Cindy Bates (Wizarding World of Harry Potter) is an Associate Professor at SUNY Empire State College where she teaches a range of theater and film courses. She has been recognized for her mentoring and teaching with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2013), the Empire State College Excellence in Mentoring Award (2013), and the Susan H. Turben Chair in Mentoring (2014). Cindy is a Resident Director at Curtain Call Theatre (Albany, NY) and is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, MFA 2000 and DFA 2007.

Diane Donato (Upstate Unsolved) is an award-winning broadcaster and podcaster with over 30 years of experience.  She is a familiar voice as a news anchor on northeastern radio stations in the iHeart Radio network.  She is also a weekly television contributor to Empire State Weekly, which is broadcast on Nexstar television stations throughout New York.

Diane’s recent podcast work includes acting as Executive Director on Upstate Unsolved.  The true-crime podcast has had hundreds of thousands of downloads and is a winner of a New York State Broadcasters award.  Most importantly Upstate Unsolved has generated tips and has helped to keep victims’ stories alive.

Diane has also been recently honored with a Department of Defense Seven Seals award for projects that have told the stories of veterans and reservists.  That work has included a series of podcasts highlighting the personal stories of veterans who have gone through the Boots to Business program and have started businesses of their own.

Creative Expressions: Potpourri of Prize-winning Prose, Public Art, and Personal Practice

Thursday, June 4, 2020

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Come and meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists host a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. Featured on Thursday, June 4, will be a reading from The Masters Review Fall 2019 Fiction Contest winning story "Salt-Sea" by Zeeva Bukai; a presentation on a public art project in Plattsburgh by Anastasia Pratt; and the sharing of art as personal healing and a meditative practice by student Oju Ayọ.

Join us this week and every week in Zoom at this link - https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionSeries.

Weekly host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out.

Anastasia Pratt (public art), teaches Public History courses at SUNY Empire State College and also works with the Upward Bound program. She serves as the Clinton County historian and has authored several books. Music has always been a constant theme in her life. She began playing the bass when she was 10 and started singing even earlier. Enjoying many different genres of music, throughout her life she has performed in a wide variety of instrumental and choral groups, including several local chamber and pit orchestras.

Zeeva Bukai (author) was born in Israel and raised in New York City. Her work has appeared in The Master’s Review where she won the Fall Fiction Contest judged by Anita Felicelli, McSweeny’s Quarterly Concern, Image Journal, December Magazine where she won the Curt Johnson Prose award judged by Lily King, jewishfiction.net, and the anthology, “Out of Many: Multiplicity and Division in America Today.”

Her honors include an Emerging Writer’s Fellowship at the NY Center for Fiction, and artist residencies at Hedgebrook on Whidbey Island, WA, and Byrdcliff Artist Colony in Woodstock NY. She holds an MFA from Brooklyn College and is an academic support specialist at SUNY Empire State College. She is represented by Jessica Salky at Salky Literary Management. You can reach her at: zeevabukai.com

Oju Ayọ (artist) is a member of SUNY Empire State College's Class of 2020, having just completed her Bachelor's of Arts Degree.  Oju Ayọ took a concentration of psychology classes to further explore the ways art can be used to ease and heal the mind. Within weeks of handing in her final assignment at SUNY Empire State College, Oju Ayọ self-published a series of adult coloring books released by IngramSpark on March 31, 2020 serendipitously available as an offering for those looking for quarantine activities. To find out more about her work, visit OJUAYO.COM.

Creative Expressions: Listening and Looking through the Layers - Music and Mixed Media Art

Thursday, June 11, 2020 - 5pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Come and meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists host a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. The sessions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link - https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionSeries.

Featured on Thursday, June 11 will be live musical performances of gypsy jazz and contemporary improvisational guitar jazz by Kelly and Andrew Mollica and a presentation of the mixed media and water color art of alumna Cynthia Julian.

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out at this link - https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionsVideoChannel.

Weekly host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out.

Kelly Mollica (musician) - Born and raised in the Capital Region, Kelly Mollica serves as our Capital Region Channel Recruiter supporting incoming students in the region. Kelly has been at SUNY Empire for almost 10 years and has worked in a variety of recruitment roles. Although professionally she has worked in higher education for 13 years, academically, Kelly focused on topics ranging in communications, music performance, and audio production. Trained in classical violin, Kelly enjoys getting the opportunity to play with her husband, Andrew, who is a professional jazz guitarist. Raising two small kids is distracting, so she’ll take on opportunities to play her ‘axe’. 

Andrew Mollica (musician) Musician, Andrew Mollica was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He fell in love with the guitar in his teenage years, studying privately with Marco Oppedisano. He studied classical technique with Michaelangelo Fratino, latin and jazz improvisation with the great Rick Davies, and composition with William Pfaff during his time earning a Bachelor of Arts in Music at SUNY Plattsburgh. An accomplished guitarist, Andrew has performed in numerous ensembles including the Adirondack Jazz Orchestra and Wallace Hill Quartet, and as a soloist. He currently resides in Greenwich, New York, where he teaches guitar lessons privately. Andrew can be contacted via email at andrewmollica@ymail.com or visit him on the web at - https://andrewmollica.wordpress.com/music

Cynthia Julian (Mixed Media Artist), retired after a half century in the workforce (K-12 educator & NY state worker) Cynthia is now enjoying a daily art practice and the freedom to deeply explore what art brings to the human soul. She was raised and lived in the Western US until 2006 when she moved to NY.  A Masters of Arts degree through SUNY Empire State College in 2011 led me across the trail of art journaling, which led to participating in online art classes and communities, primarily with other women artists.

In the last decade, she has developed art friends across the globe. Watercolor is her primary media, but Cynthia creates mixed media art journals and paintings as well. She is currently studying how to oil paint. You can follow her  art creative journey on Instagram: cynthiaajulian.

Creative Expressions: Enduring COIVD-19: Health, Recovery & Hope

Thursday, June 18, 2020 - 5pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Come and meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists host a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. The sessions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link - https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionSeries.

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out at this link - https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionsVideoChannel.

Weekly host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Featured this week is “Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope,” a collaborative online, theatrical performance of health, recovery and hope during COVID-19. The work includes material by Buffalo Project partners Subversive Theatre as well as community actors and SUNY Empire faculty, students, alumni who have responded to this complex moment in our lives. The idea for the project was sparked in a Living Through COVID-19 (SUNY Empire Connects) writing session, run by Rhianna Rogers. Some material is drawn from that session while the rest was created in a subsequent writing sessions and further developed by the participants. We are happy to share this range of creative responses to the isolation, grief, hope and even humor of the pandemic.

Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope

Produced by Rhianna Rogers and Mike Redick

Directed by Job Ethan Christenson

A SUNY Empire Connects/ Creative Expressions/Buffalo Project Collaboration

Written by Rhianna Rogers, Mike Redick, Jeff Caldwell, Sarah McMichael, Patrice Lebron, Sarah Jeanne, Bambi Everson

The Cast (in order of appearance)

Bernadette Drayton

Ross G Hewitt

Alka Sahay

Jeff Caldwell

Calli Medley

Jeffrey C. Wolf

Stacy Kowal

Job Ethan Christenson

Bambi Everson

Annie DiMarco Reeves

Helene Galek

Sarah Jeanne

Mike Redick

Curt Markham

Program is available at - https://bit.ly/EnduringCovidProgram 

Rhianna C. Rogers - Dr. Rhianna C. Rogers is an award-winning scholar, writer, and cultural advocate born in Los Angeles, CA and currently residing in Buffalo, NY. As the creator of COVID-19 stories, screenwriter and co-producer of Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope, Rhianna is excited to be working with a talented group of actors and community members on such an important, timely piece. She would like to thank her friends and partner for their support. “We can make the world better together!”

Michael Redick is excited to co-produce and act in Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope. Mike recently discovered a talent for acting and filmmaking after spending most of his career writing software. You may remember him from such films as "The Cure (2019)" and "Not Another Monster Movie." Well, if you're a fan of INDIE films from Buffalo, NY!

Job Ethan Christenson is a playwright, director and performer in New York City. Job performed as an actor in CATS, RAGTIME, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, JOSEPH, VICTOR/VICTORIA and BILLY ELLIOT just to name a few. He then worked in Chicago doing productions at Marriott Lincolnshire, Chicago Shakespeare, and his very own cabaret show at the Gentry, as well as Davenports. He has also performed with various symphonies including Ann Arbor, Grant Park, Bismarck and Grand Forks Symphonies as a soloist.

He was the artistic director for 6 years of the ND Ballet Company and Apprentice School and Crimson Creek Players, and the Artistic Director/Development Director for Sleepy Hollow Theatre and Arts Park for the past five years.

As a playwright, Job Ethan Christenson has written; The Theist, Mfundo, Out of the Human Town, Where the Wild Ones Play, The Living Trees, The Rigger, In Bed, In Bed II and Therapy. Job has been workshopping and performing in his one man show, BOJ; The Book of Me. He is published by Indie Theatre Now.

Bernadette Drayton: is a singer/actor/writer/floral designer. A 2019 graduate of Empire State College. Bernadette has written four plays and completed a thesis/outline for a book, “What’s Going On – The Parallels. Artists as Activist,” a contextualization of Marvin Gaye’s album, “What’s Going On,” focused on the 1960s and the lives of African Americans from a political, economic, social and cultural construct. Proud member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA. Bernadette is ever grateful to the love and support of family and dear friends. She is happily Auntie Bern to Everly and Jade, and the proud mother of Yasmine.

Bambi Everson is a teacher, actor, playwright and proud alumni of Empire State College, Class of 2016. Her full-length Hammet-Chekhov mashup, THE THIN MAN IN THE CHERRY ORCHARD, which was born at ESC, was featured in the 2019 NY Fringe Festival at the Metropolitan Playhouse. Thanks to the encouragement of mentors, Lynda Crawford  and Lucy Winner, she has now written upwards of 20 plays and has been produced at Manhattan Repertory Theater, Hudson Guild Theater, and Emerging Artists Theater where she is also a member. She delights in teaching a playwriting lab with middle schoolers at the Professional Performing Arts School, and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. She is grateful to be a part of Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope with so many of her former classmates and friends.

Helene Galek is honored to be a part of this dynamic presentation, Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope,  after being connected to Empire State College through the Yip Harburg Foundation Partnership. Most recently, she has appeared in “Faces of America”, an evening of personal monologues with The PlayGround Experiment, which now has their own YouTube channel. Helene is part of two web series that have transitioned to the online TV format: “That Reminds Me” can be found on Amazon Prime and “Working Out the Kinks” is now on Black Oak TV! Helene is also a freelance casting director and has cast 2 projects this month and has been writing several original pieces for various writing groups. A special thank you to Job Ethan Christensen!

Ross Hewitt is an associate member of the American Dramatists Guild. His produced full-length plays are When October Goes (Ujima Theatre Co, Buffalo, NY) and Echoes in the Garden (American Bard Theater Co, New York, NY). His produced one-act plays include Booties, Quicksand, Mother Knows Best, and Crossover. His jukebox musical Rainbows & Ribbons premiered at Don’t Tell Mama in 2017. Ross directed the world premiere of Shawn Nacol's The Trophy Wife (Buffalo Ensemble Theatre), as well as some of his own works. Favorite roles include Richard Banor in You Wouldn’t Expect, Albany in King Lear, Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing (American Bard), Sir Hugh Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare in Delaware Park), Dr. Hubert Bonney in It Runs in the Family (Cortland Repertory Theatre). Ross G. Hewitt, Core Company Member - American Bard Theater Company - www.americanbard.org 

Sarah Jeanne: Born in Tongyeong, South Korea, Sarah Jeanne, who plays the role is Sophie in Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope, was adopted and grew up in Rochester, New York and now resides in Tonawanda, New York. She is delighted to be performing/writing for her very first Zoom production. Recent film and television acting credits include: Captain Isotope and the Enemy of Space, Nuclear Key Codes, Not Another Monster Movie, Til’ Death Do We Rot, and Turn Up the Night. In addition to acting, Sarah also enjoys writing and has contributed to several productions, such as Ashes to Ashes, The Cure, and Unchaste. Gracing the independent film scene since late 2017, Sarah has been involved in over 50 film and television productions, working both as an actor and behind the scenes. When not involved in film productions, Sarah enjoys spending time with her dog, yoga, and travel. 

Stacy Kowal began to indulge herself with a passion for acting over 13 years ago, and her background includes community theater, film, and commercial work. She works in the field of Human Resources and has always lived in the Buffalo, NY area. Stacy is excited to be involved with the Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope, and is grateful for the opportunity.

Curt Markham is an actor and filmmaker in Western New York. He has appeared in independent comedy features including The Tomorrow Man, A Christmas Monstrosity, and Post-Apocalyptic Commando Shark. He played zombies in The Plague, The Plague 2, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, and the RIT student-produced anthology feature Project 9. As an animator, he created the hour-long animated feature The Search for Silverspear as well as the animated sequences for the comedy feature Lonely Bananas. He has worked for Kodak, Xerox, and the PBS station WXXI-TV in Rochester, New York.

Calli Medley is a working artist in New York City. She is an actress, singer, dancer, musician and songwriter, professionally playing piano, guitar, ukulele, and cajon. Calli attended Minnesota State University, Mankato, for Theatre Arts; as well as the Open Jar Residency's 2019 class, led by Jeff Whiting. Recent credits include MADDIE, Forget Me Not (Joey Contreras/Kate Thomas); PENELOPE, Bye, Bye, Birdie (Minnesota State University, Mankato); and TAMMY, Hairspray (Empire Arts Center). Calli is excited and honored to be a part of Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope. @callimedley callimedley.com

Annie DiMarco Reeves was born in Thorold, Ontario and became an American citizen in 2004.  She has had a long career in the legal industry as a legal administrative assistant.  Admittedly, Annie is starstruck, so when the opportunity presented itself to be a part of a Hollywood project, Cold Brook directed by William Fichtner, she was ecstatic.  Since that time, she has also had the pleasure of working on other projects such as the First Purge directed by Gerard McMurray, Staged Killer, directed by Chris Olen Ray and winner of the 41st annual Telly Award for Viewer's Choice, as well as a number of endeavors including music videos and streaming series. Annie loves to travel and has visited many of the Caribbean islands and Hawaii. When she can't be on a tropical beach, Annie enjoys a good romantic movie.

Alka Sahay is making her acting debut in Enduring COVID-19: Health, Recovery & Hope. She is a migrant from India ‘Eastern Part of – City Jamshedpur to the US. Alka works for SEI Investments and I lives in Downingtown PA - a suburb of Philly.

Jeffrey C. Wolf has acted regionally in such plays as ROUNDING THIRD (Riverside Theatre), WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and BOEING BOEING at the Arrow Rock Lyceum, as well as originating the roles in such plays as CHATTING WITH THE TEA PARTY (world premiere, NYC), AMERICA’S BRIGHTEST STAR (world premiere, Railroad Playhouse), and GOD AND MR. SMITH (world premiere, Kaleidoscope Theatre, NYC).  Look for Jeffrey as a supporting lead in the Sci-Fi film, ALTERSCAPE, opposite Charles Baker (BREAKING BAD) and Michael Ironside (TOTAL RECALL), available now on all the major digital platforms.  ALTERSCAPE is a recipient of the Best Feature Film award at the Phillip K. Dick Film Festival in NYC.  Jeffrey is a graduate of the William Esper Studio, having studied with Bruce McCarty in the two year acting program teaching the Meisner technique.  www.jeffreyCwolf.com   @jeffreyCwolf

Creative Expressions: Poetry Slam – Voices be Heard!

Thursday, June 25, 2020 - 5-6pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us and meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists host a Q&A session following their presentations/performances.

Creative Expressions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link - https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionSeries. 

Featured on Thursday, June 25th will be live readings of poetry submitted by faculty, students, staff, and alumni.  Join us for an evening of listening and reveling from the poetic voices of our SUNY Empire State College community.

We put out a call for poetry expressing the energy of exultation and indignation, embodying willfulness, sharing memories, or bearing witness. Our community responded in profound and powerful ways. Come hear their voices. Luxuriate in the artistry and performance of the spoken word.

Faculty member and award winning poet, Mindy Kronenberg; graduate student Lynn Saum (also alumna of the Classes of 2018 & 2019); and faculty member Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein serve as your humble organizers of this first Poetry Slam session.  

Weekly host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. You can also view all of the recordings and materials from the series at this website.

Program

• Introduction – Mindy Kronenberg

• Mirror - Diane Owens, student

• Demon Time - Brittany Hennis, student

• Unfriended - Debbie Kern, staff and student

• Self-centered - Rimsha Javed, student

• Dementia in the Time of Pandemic - Heidi Nightingale, faculty

• Autumn - Vanessa Chonou, student

• I Can’t Breathe - Cecile McIntosh Carl, student

• Screaming in Silence - Marcia Clark, student

• I Will Always Love You, Mama - Cecile McIntosh Carl, student

• Out - Lynn Saum, graduate student and Classes of 2018 & 2019

• Before - Debbie Kearn, staff and student

• the nankeen nothing - Jared Geisenheimer, graduate student

• A Path Back - William Fajen, Class of 2020

• The C Word - Harley Madden, student

• Love Letters - C. Harrison, student

• The F Word - Peggy Lynn, faculty

• Death Penalty - Cecile McIntosh Carl, student

• NO LONGER - Shaunda Holloway, student

• Hope is Not Lost - Teresa Triola, student

• In an Instant - William Fajen, Class of 2020

Creative Expressions: The American Experience: Songs of Protest and Political Art

Thursday, July 2, 2020 - 5-6pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us each week to meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists hold a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. Creative Expressions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link.

Featured on Thursday, July 2nd are the artistic talents of Raul Manzano and a presentation on songs of patriotism and protest by Lisa D'Adamo-Weinstein.  

Raul Manzano returns to Creative Expressions to delight our eyes with the bold and brilliant colors of his art, focusing on art as politics and the politics of art. In addition, Raul asks that people cast their vote for the title of the painting he unveiled at the first Creative Expressions session at this link. We will announce the name of the painting at the end of the session. 

And, there will be a special video presentation celebrating our students and SUNY Empire State College crafted by the faculty and staff of the Capital Region.

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out at this link. 

And, Creative Expressions now has a website that includes all our sessions and more.  Check the site out.

Weekly Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Raul Manzano (painter) has had paintings shown in museums, consulates, galleries, and community centers in Canada, Spain, Israel, and the United States, and has been published in scholarly peer-reviewed journals, magazine covers, catalogs, and periodicals. He is an award-winning artist, who most recently received a second-prize award at Strive, a national juried art exhibition, and a grant from the Puffin Foundation, Ltd. for his project “In the Eye of the Beholder.” Manzano has lectured at leading New York City museums and universities and served as juror at exhibition panel committees. His doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Museum Studies is from Union Institute and University. He earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies with a specialization in studio practice and curatorial studies at SUNY Empire State College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and Painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is a mentor in the visual arts at ESC’s Brooklyn and Hudson locations. He directs the School of Visual Arts’ painting in Barcelona summer program in Barcelona, Spain. See more of his work at this website.

Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein is currently a visiting associate professor in the Arts & Media Department at SUNY Empire State College’s School of Arts & Humanities. Lisa earned a B.A. in English & General Literature at Binghamton University (SUNY). She completed her M.S. and Ph.D. at Indiana University. Her dissertation analyzed the personal narratives of several female African‐American first-generation college students, focusing on how their ways of knowing and identity development related to their college success. She is co‐author of the book Piecing It Together: A Guide to Academic Success, published by Allyn & Bacon. She is a Past President of the National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA) having served on the Executive Board from 2003‐2006. In 2005, she received the Department of Defense, Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, and she is a 2013 recipient of the State University of New York’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service.

Lisa’s love of art and photography started when she was very young hanging out in her father’s art studio. While she doesn’t have his talent for pen and ink, she developed skills in the areas of digital layout, digital storytelling, and photography. Tonight, however, she is presenting on songs of protest in American history.

Creative Expressions: Stories We Want to Tell - Community, Ethics, and Artistic Expression 

Thursday, July 2, 2020 - 5-6pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us each week to meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists hold a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. Creative Expressions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link.

Featured on Thursday, July 9th are presentations by Kyle Adams and Barrie Cline exploring community building through the arts, ethical representation, and the arts as a means of expressing things that are just too hard to express in words. Kyle will speak about his approach to photography. Barrie will share her work with the Worker's Arts Coalition. 

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out at this link. 

Also, Creative Expressions now has a website that includes all our previous sessions and plans for future sessions.  

Weekly Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Kyle Adams is the assistant vice president for communications and marketing. Before joining SUNY Empire State College, he oversaw communications at the Rockefeller Institute of Government and previously worked in communications at SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Delhi. Prior to joining SUNY, he worked as a journalist and served as a United State Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine. He has been shooting photos personally and professionally for more than 20 years.

Barrie Cline is the Arts Course Coordinator as faculty at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies. She also serves as site coordinator  for the HVASLS courses with the UA1 plumbers. 

Amy Ruth Tobol was scheduled to present tonight, but she had a scheduling conflict and will present later in the series to talk about community and activism in the fiber arts community.

Creative Expressions:

Storytelling: Ancestral Roots and Fiber Arts

Thursday, July 16, 2020

5-6pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us each week to meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists hold a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. Creative Expressions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link.

Featured on Thursday, July 16th are presentations by Nicola Marae Allain and Dana Brown. Both Nicola and Dana will share their deep maternal family connections to their artistic expressions.  Nicola will be sharing Tahitian storytelling, and Dana will be talking about her fiber art of crocheting.

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out at this link. 

Also, Creative Expressions now has a website that includes all our previous sessions and plans for future sessions.   

Weekly Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

This Week’s Presenters:

Nicola Marae Allain, Ph. D. is Dean of the School of the Arts and Humanities, and associate professor in the arts, digital media, and learning and emerging technologies at SUNY Empire State College. Nicola is a former dancer/choreographer specializing in Asia/Pacific traditions. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Ottawa, Canada, a master's degree in dramatic art with a dance and music emphasis from the University of California, Santa Barbara,  and a Ph. D. in Media and Communication from the European Graduate School in Switzerland.  Born in Great Britain and raised in Tahiti, French Polynesia, she is a former dancer and choreographer specializing in Asia Pacific and Mexican folkloric traditions. Her performances and creative works have been featured at arts, dance, music, cultural and storytelling festivals in the United States and Mexico.  Nicola's creativity is nurtured by the stories from her Polynesian ancestry and rich family history, which she shares in narrative memoir poems. Nicola also translates French poetry and philosophy, and researches Ancient Tahitian history, mythology, performance traditions, and ways of knowing to honor the memory of her ancestors.

Dana Brown is the Interim Director of the Empire Opportunity Program, a mentor, and an instructor of writing and literature at SUNY Empire State College.  Dana is also a professional crochet artist and the owner of Brown Love Art (brownloveart.com).  Creating art has always been a refuge throughout her life - a way to express herself, find peace, and to connect with others.  Keeping the fiber arts tradition alive in her lineage, she has committed to sharing her love of crochet through teaching crochet in her local community.  She has been featured in the News Channel 13 series Women at Work by Elaine Houston, and can be most recently seen featured on the cover of the November 2019 issue of Her Life New York Magazine. 

Creative Expressions: Alumni Artists and Arts Educators

Thursday, July 23, 2020 - 5-6pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us each week to meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists hold a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. Creative Expressions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link.

Featured on Thursday, July 23rd are presentations by alumni Patricia Cazorla (Class of 2017) and Naomi Campbell (Class of 2019).

Patricia is an installation artist whose work consists of figurative drawings and paintings, including portraits of women at all stages in life. Working in acrylics and watercolors, she finds oil paint the most fascinating medium to use.  She is also an adjunct assistant professor at the Bronx Community College, CUNY, teaching Art Survey and Typography Design. (https://patcazorla.wixsite.com/patricia-cazorla-art)

Naomi is an interdisciplinary artist whose work combines art and science in a wide spectrum of studio and new media art. Known for her work that questions the identity of the individual through the malleable forms of space, she explores the universal ideas of loss, meaning and memory. She also at a professor at the Art Students League in NYC.  (https://www.naomicampbellartprojects.com/). 

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out at this link, or check out previous sessions and plans for future sessions on the Creative Expressions website

Weekly Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Presenters' Full Bios:

Patricia Cazorla is an experienced Venezuelan/American visual artist. Over the course of her long career, she has worked with performance, video, sound, installation, traditional forms of painting, digital painting, drawing, and printmaking, with a recent focus in public art. She is as an adjunct assistant professor at Bronx Community College (CUNY.)

Cazorla has participated in national and international museum exhibitions, including: the Hammond Museum and Stroll Garden, North Salem, NY; El Museo del Barrio’s 4th Biennial / The (S) Files, New York; El Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan; El Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas. Her work has been reviewed in ArtDaily, Time Out New York, El Diario La Prensa, NY Arts Magazine, Arte Al Dia, El Nacional, El Universal, CNN Mexico, New York Daily News (special issue), and Art Nexus.

In 2010, Cazorla began an extensive collaboration with artist Nancy Saleme. From concept to execution, they work synergistically to create pieces focused on socio-political issues. The duo has been awarded exhibitions, commissions, residencies, and grants inside and outside of the U.S. have been granted awards and grants from important institutions such as the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, The Puffin Foundation, UNIQLO/NYC Parks, El Museo del Barrio. They have been commission public art pieces by the Garment District Alliance and the Department of Transportation of NYC and the John Michael Kohler Art Center.

Recently, they have been awarded the NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine Community Mural Project for the Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. Their public art piece Once You Hear Me, You Won’t Forget Me, became part of the art collection of NYC H+H Arts in Medicine and now are wall installations for Gouverneur, North Central Bronx, and Morrisania Hospitals. Also, they were commissioned two public art interventions by Pierro Outdoors/Valley Street Windows in South Orange, NJ, and by 4Corners Public Art Initiatives in Downtown Newark, NJ.

Cazorla holds a BA in Visual Arts, SUNY/Empire State College. She earned a Drawing and Painting Certificate at The Art Students League of New York; and an Interactive Media Certificate at Pratt Institute.

Naomi Campbell, born in Montréal, Canada, has been an instructor of the contemporary figure in watercolor at The Art Students League over 12 years. She comes from a working background in both art and science.

“Starting with nature’s sculpted forms, she introduces new definitions of the organic and the synthetic through fragmented objects and hybridized systems that follow the concepts and connotations of natural systems. An interdisciplinary artist, she has also pioneered new directions in three-dimensional stained glass and watercolor. Acting as a potent, visually arresting mnemonics, Campbell’s installations and sculptures harness the physics of light, space, time and perception to reveal the insidious effects of human interference in natural processes.”-Jonathan Goodman, Sculpture magazine

With an interdisciplinary practice of multiple media of over 30 years, Ms. Campbell’s work has won many accolades including several gold medals of honor. She is featured in 24 book publications and has exhibited in almost 200 exhibitions. Her work is in national and international public, corporate and private collections. Her permanent public commissions include MTA Art & Design Bronx Zoo subway station, City of Geochang, S. Korea, City of Irving, TX and SWIFT Pan-Americas, NY. She also designed the LIA London International Awards, New York, London, and the ASPCA Humane Award both used in perpetuity.

Ms. Campbell lives and works in Brooklyn.

Creative Expressions: Intersection of Arts, Culture and Activism

in #BLM and #NativeLivesMatter Movements

Thursday, July 30, 2020 - 5-6pm

The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us each week to meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists hold a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. Creative Expressions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link.

On Thursday, July 30th will be a panel of presenters (Rhianna Rogers, Roberto Borrero, Vera Sheehan, Menoukha Case, and Dan Nyaronga ) discussing the intersection of #BLM and #NativeLivesMatter movements as represented through varied experiences of indigenous peoples (e.g., via art, culture, and activism, and advocacy across groups). There will also be a discussion of the forthcoming Global Indigenous Knowledge Certificate. 

Note: If you missed our previous sessions or cannot make it this week, all of the sessions are recorded. Check them out at this link, or check out previous sessions and plans for future sessions on the Creative Expressions website

Weekly Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Presenters' Full Bios:

Roberto Borrero (Class of 2017) - Presenter

Roberto Mukaro Borrero is a cultural consultant, advisor, human rights advocate, writer, historian, artist, and musician. He offers particular expertise in Caribbean and other Indigenous Peoples issues. His unique perspective draws from multiple sources including his indigenous Taíno heritage, mentorship from indigenous leaders and elders from around the world, and real-time experience in the arts, as well as human rights and environmental advocacy. With over twenty years experience in the non-profit/non-governmental sector, over a decade of experience as Senior Programs Coordinator for Public Programs in the Education Department of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and as a former radio host and producer for WBAI Pacifica Radio’s “Circle of Red Nations,” Mr. Borrero maintains a diverse resource network locally, nationally, and internationally in the civil, business, and governmental sectors.

A cultural consultant and or advisor, Mr. Borrero has shared his expertise in various capacities within the United Nations system, as well as with non-profit and for-profit entities such as PBS, BBC, the Institute for American Indian Studies, El Museo de Barrio, Tribal Link Foundation, the International Indian Treaty Council, Aveda Corporation, Natural Resources Stewardship Circle, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, among others. (www.Mukaro.net )

Vera Longtoe Sheehan (Class of 2020) - Presenter

Abenaki culture bearer, master artist, educator, and activist Vera Longtoe Sheehan is a museum educator and serves her community as Director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, a multi-arts services organization. Her combined experience and education allow her to bridge the gap between the Abenaki community and the mainstream world in creating museum exhibitions, educational programs, and events that promote the vibrant culture of her people.

Her extensive research of archaeology and other primary resources relating to Abenaki textiles and clothing in Wabanaki territory informs her textile-making process. She is an MA candidate in Heritage Preservation at SUNY Empire State College, and holds an Advanced Certificate in Public History, as well as a BA in Museum Studies and Native American Studies also from SUNY Empire State College.

Website - http://abenakiart.org/ 

Facebook page - Vermont Abenaki Artists Association or VT Abenaki Art on Twitter.

Dr. Menoukha Case - Presenter

Menoukha Robin Case is an alumna and Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies at SUNY Empire State College. Books: with Stephanie Sellers: Weaving the Legacy: Remembering Paula Gunn Allen (West End Press); with Allison V. Craig: Introduction to Feminist Thought and Action (Routledge).

Dr. Dan Nyaronga - presenter

Dr. Nyaronga is an Associate Professor of Psychology at SUNY Empire State College.  His community work focuses on refugees and Immigrant challenges & women’s empowerment in the developing countries. Dr. Nyaronga is also a visiting faculty at SUNY University at Buffalo, where he teaches Summer Study Abroad Program to Africa “Community Development in Context: Mara Region, Tanzania.” An interdisciplinary program with a focus on community development that offers innovative Experiential Learning for undergraduate and graduate students from SUNY Institutions in New York. He previously worked as: a project manager for Africare Tanzania at Mlali Child Survival Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), assistant to the director of Multicultural Program at Valparaiso University, Senior Research Associate at Military Research Institute (MFRI) at Purdue University, and Associate Research Scientist at Public Health Institute, Oakland California. Dr. Nyaronga holds a Ph.D. and Masters degree in Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) from Iowa State University. His Bachelor’s degree in Community Development is from Daystar University, Nairobi. His research focuses on students’ experiential learning, minority groups (e.g., wounded worriers, women empowerment, and refugees and Immigrant families) and physical and mental health outcomes.  Dr. Nyaronga is a passionate writer and a staunch advocate for policy change on issues that affect women and refugees and immigrant families. He is affiliated with community organizations such as Flower Garden Childcare International (current president), HEAL International (past board Member), Buffalo Tanzania Education Project (Member) and Girls Education Collaborative (past board member).  He has published in numerous scholarly journals and edited books. He is also a member of several professional organizations including National Council on Family Relations (NCFR), Council of College and Military Educators (CCME), International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), and American Psychological Association (APA).

Dr. Rhianna C. Rogers - Moderator/Presenter

Dr. Rogers is an expert on cultural and ethnic studies, intercultural competencies and diversity education, cultural mediation, and virtual exchange programmatic development and implementation. Rogers is currently the inaugural Rockefeller Institute of Government-Ernest Boyer Presidential Fellow in the Center for Law and Policy Solutions (2019-present) and was the college-wide Coordinator of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies (2017-2019.) Rogers has won multiple awards for her innovative approach to teaching and learning, including, most recently, the 2020-2021 & 2019-2020 SUNY Empire Provost/Associate Dean Innovation Award, the 2018-2019 Explorations in Diversity & Academic Excellence Award (EDAE), and the 2017-2018 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Faculty Web Site | Twitter| Rockefeller Institute/Buffalo Project

Creative Expressions:  From Film and Photography to Found Objects Art 

Thursday, August 13, 2020 - 5-6 pm

 The SUNY Empire community has a rich and varied artist community. Join us each week to meet our faculty, staff, student, and alumni artists to learn a little about their creative expressions, their process, and them. Our artists hold a Q&A session following their presentations/performances. Creative Expressions happen every Thursday at 5pm in Zoom at this link.

On Thursday, August 13th two of our alumni are going to share their photography and art.

Alumnus Natural Langdon is an award winning director, writer, producer, and photographer, whose passion for arts and education has taken him from producing films about urban drama and social injustice in Brownsville, Brooklyn to teaching youth about film production in underserved communities worldwide. You can find out more about Natural on his website (http://naturallangdon.com).

Alumnus and SUNY Empire State College staff member, Timothy Cosgriff, works in a variety of mediums to make his art, including film/digital photography and found objects, he transforms everyday images or discarded objects into new works. He prefers to take what is not seen and make it the center of attention.

Weekly Host: Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein

Presenters Bios:

Natural Langdon is an award-winning director, writer, producer, and photographer from Brooklyn, New York. His passion for arts and education has taken him from producing films about urban drama and social injustice in Brownsville, Brooklyn to teaching youth about film production in underserved communities worldwide.

Natural holds a Bachelor Degree of Arts in Film Production from SUNY Empire State College and A Masters Degree of Professional Studies in Directing from the School of Visual Arts. He is on a mission to reveal the untold stories of urban communities around the world. Having traveled extensively through Africa, Europe, South America, Asia and the Caribbean, he is in search of authentic culture and the contributions of people of African descent.

 Recently, Natural has produced and directed an International award winning short film “Nikita” (2019) filmed on location in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Additionally, from 2014 to present Natural has collaborated with International recording artists to produce and direct music videos in Ghana, Haiti, Brazil, Morocco, Cuba, Egypt, Iceland, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.

Timothy Cosgriff has worked at SUNY Empire State College for the past 15 year. His currently position with the college is, Regional Operations: Events and Residencies covering Western New York and Statewide events . Previously he was Assistant to the Dean for the college. Prior to SUNY Empire State, Timothy worked for Olsten and Adecco Staffing for 13 years. At Olsten/Adecco, he was a Partnership Supervisor for Chase Bank covering Western New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Timothy Cosgriff holds a Master of Science Degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Science from SUNY Empire State College and Associate Degree from Monroe Community College. He holds a Graduate Certificate in Industrial Labor Relations from Cornell University. He is a Graduate of the Spencer School of London for British Butlers.

Timothy works in a variety artistic mediums. He works in film and digital photography. He works in found objects, alerted books, glass and the pastry arts. He has had solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions around Rochester. He has exhibited at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Memorial Art Gallery , George Eastman Museum and Multi Use Community Cultural Center. He is an Artist In Residency at the Multi Use Community Cultural Center. He currently has work committed for two shows in 2021. He is scheduled to give a gallery talk on his work in fall of 2021.

Creative Expressions:  Poetry Slam #2 - Women’s Voices to Be Heard 

Thursday, August 20, 2020

5-6 pm

Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionSeries 

Website: https://bit.ly/CreativeExpressionsWebsite 

Join us for a second evening of listening and learning from the poetic voices of our SUNY Empire State College community.  We asked the same poets from our first Poetry Slam to return and share more of their energy, more of their exultation and indignation, more of their poems that embody message or memoir, and more of their narratives that are willful or bear witness. Come hear their voices. Luxuriate in the language of the spoken word.

Featured on Thursday, August 20th will be live readings of poetry submitted by Mindy Kronenberg, Lynn Saum, Marcia Clark, Cecile McIntosh Carless, Rimsah Javed, and Teresa Triola. Our poets will also speak about the meaning of their poems and their creative processes. 

Faculty member and award winning poet, Mindy Kronenberg along with Lynn Saum, current graduate student member of the classes of 2018 & 2019 are co-facilitating this 2nd Poetry Slam with host, Lisa D'Adamo-Weinstein.

Tonight's Program:

Incantation – Mindy Kronenberg

What is knowledge? – Lynn Saum

COVID Operation – Mindy Kronenberg

Monster Mom: Homeschooling During Covid-19 – Marcia Clark

Enemy – Cecile McIntosh Carless

Fatal Gossip – Rimsha Javed

My Friend, Mania – Marcia Clark

A Loss of You – Teresa Triola

I am Fat – Cecile McIntosh Carless

Society – Rimsha Javed

When I fell - Lynn Saum

It’s time to say goodbye – Teresa Triola