Posts filed under ‘alumni’
Isaak Brown: AEL Alum Guest Lecturer
“Listen to your inner voice” was the message that alumni Isaak Brown ’05 shared with Idyllwild Arts Academy’s seniors at Monday’s Senior Seminar. Isaak, recipient of the Richard MacNeal Award awarded to the most outstanding senior at Idyllwild Arts and a 2005 Presidential Scholar in the Arts, returned as part of the AEL Alum Guest Lecture which is coordinated through a grant from the Arts Enterprise Laboratory. Don Put, administrator for the Arts Enterprise Laboratory, stated “ the series provides a platform for IAA alums to discuss the aspects of a ‘real’ life in the arts and how that might inform other parts of a career that might or might not be directly related to a specific art form.”
Don Put, AEL Administrator, introduces guest speaker Isaak Brown ’05 to the Senior Class
Isaak chose to follow a non-traditional route after graduation. He took a year off and joined “City Year” in Seattle, an organization that is part of AmeriCorps. It was during this year that he made the decision to follow his own inner voice and take a path where he began work with youth and violence prevention programs. He’s continued that work and taken time off to study and pursue opportunities as they’ve presented themselves. Currently, Isaak is enrolled in a masters program at the University of California – Berkeley where he’s focusing on religion and counseling. The choices Isaak made in life have created a path that, for him, has lead to fulfillment and a career.
Don Put states the program is designed “to feature speakers who have taken many different paths since they graduated from IAA; that is, some of them have continued to work in their chosen art form while others have taken less traditional paths that are not necessarily centered on their art, though they incorporate aspects of their arts training into their careers. Our students have been trained to be creative problem solvers and to think outside of the box. When our alums share their individual stories we believe it encourages our current seniors to adopt a broader view of what constitutes a life in the arts and allows them to envision the art of living.”
Moving Pictures Screenings This Weekend
Last minute work continues on the Moving Pictures Department student films to be screened this weekend at Idyllwild Arts.
One of those films, “Life After Death”, by Armani Rodriguez ‘14, is a film that has required the creation of hundreds of “zombies”. The film received special assistance from L.A.-based special effects company, LookFX, who offered their services to create the detailed “zombie” scenes.
Look FX is a company responsible for special effects work behind blockbusters such as Avatar, The King’s Speech, Precious, the Avengers and others. Derek Bird, a digital supervisor at LookFX worked with Idyllwild Arts students to stage the scenes on a green screen. In one scene, a group of six zombies is replicated into hundreds more by LookFX. All told, LookFX worked pro bono on four different shots for the film.
Angelo DiMarco filming a scene
“We are so fortunate to have access to leading entertainment companies in Hollywood. I don’t know of any other school in the nation where students have the opportunity to work with the masters of the craft they themselves aspire to become”, said Marek Pramuka, the Dean of Admission at Idyllwild Arts.
Isaac Webb, Moving Pictures Chairs, discussed what a great opportunity it was to work with a professional company like LookFX on “Life After Death”. Through a mutual friend, the relationship with LookFX was established and they eagerly engaged with how they could assist with Armani’s zombie flick “Life After Death”.
LookFX also invited the student filmmakers and faculty to their studios where they educated them on the various software and roles that it takes to produce special effects. Isaac said that it was an invaluable education experience for the students and that he couldn’t be more thankful for their generosity. Isaac further said “LookFX truly prioritized Armani’s project and put it into their production schedule. They worked well over 5-6 days to shoot and produce the effects for the film. We can’t thank them enough”. LookFX has expressed an interest in working on future projects with Idyllwild Arts’ Moving Pictures department and we look forward to continuing that relationship.
In addition to “Life After Death”, the Moving Pictures department will be screening two short documentaries by alumni Luke Sherman ’11 and Sean Stromsoe ’09. Theaw documentaries were funded through a grant by the Arts Enterprise Laboratory (AEL). Through the grant, Sean & Luke, along with Idyllwild Arts Moving Pictures faculty Ira Abrams, traveled to Ethiopia with the Tropical Health Alliance to produced several short documentaries.
Another documentary by Katherine Kearns ‘13 entitled “A Family Like Mine” will be screened as well. In this documentary, Katherine explores her family situation of being raised by a gay father and discusses with others their experience of being raised in a gay household. This is a deeply intimate and honest documentary for Katherine and a complete labor of love on her part.
Other narrative films have also been produced as part of the film program. The audience will have an opportunity to see Gabrielle DiMarco’s “12 screenplay for “The Wingman” starring alumni Russell Bomgardner ‘10 & Connor Farrell ’11 and “Love Without End” by Ziquing “Rosie” Xu ‘13 .
The Moving Pictures Screenings will take place at the IAF Theatre on Friday and Saturday, May 25 & 26 at 7:30pm.
Marc Shaiman Announced as Commencement Speaker for Idyllwild Arts
Idyllwild Arts Academy is honored to announce that our Commencement speaker for the 2012 Graduating Class is Marc Shaiman. Mr. Shaiman is a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy winning and Oscar nominated American composer, lyricist, arranger, producer, and performer for films, television, and theater. He composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics with Scott Wittman for the new NBC hit series, SMASH, for which he is also an Executive Producer.
Marc and Scott Wittman also teamed up for the musical Hairspray for which their score won the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Awards, and for Broadway’s Martin Short—Fame Becomes Me and Catch Me If You Can, for which Marc’s orchestrations gained him a Tony nomination. The duo are currently at work on a new original musical of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory for director Sam Mendes.
The Commencement Ceremony at Idyllwild Arts Academy will be held on Saturday, June 2 at 11:00 am in the Holmes Amphitheatre.
ISOMATA & Michael Tilson Thomas: 1964 Youth Symphony Orchestra
by Sydney Cosselman, Krone Museum Director
Last week, I happened to catch Michael Tilson Thomas on PBS conducting the San Francisco Symphony at 100 Concert. He looked as youthful and passionate as ever and the concert was delightful. Michael, as you may or not know, was here as a student from USC in 1964 and took part in ISOMATA’s 1964 Youth Symphony Orchestra concert tour to England and Wales.
The tour was by invitation of Dorothy Adams-Jeremiah, Music Supervisor from Monmouthshire County, Wales, and one of the founders of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. She met Max and Bee in the summer of 1962 while teaching music at Claremont College. During the summer of 1963, Dorothy came to Idyllwild to teach at ISOMATA. She then invited the ISOMATA youth orchestra to join the Welsh youth orchestra for concerts in Wales. The ISOMATA group also performed on their own in London and Wales. The tour was planned by Dorothy, Max Krone, and Ralph Matesky. Other supporters were Ernie and Betty Maxwell and Joe and Marguerite Clapp. According to Max it was considered “an experiment in music as a force for creating international understanding and good will.” Money for the trip was raised by students and parents, and on March 14, 1964, over seventy students and chaperones left Los Angeles for London.
This brings me back to Michael. During the trip the conductor, Ralph Matesky became ill, and in 1990 Bee Krone writes:
“We do not know whether this instance was the first “fill in” in the career of Michael Tilson Thomas, but it happened in 1964, in Wales, at a Newport Concert. The Youth Symphony Orchestra was scheduled for a concert with Conductor Ralph Matesky. The trip was highly successful, but Mr. Matesky caught a bad cold and the Newport Concert had to be turned over to the “fill-in” Assistant, the young Oboe player, Mike Thomas. He did a fine job of conducting, and saved the day for the orchestra and the delighted audience.” The rest is history…
I remember reading in an article by Ross Drake that this actually happened again during a concert in 1969 when Boston’s Symphony’s director, William Steinberg became ill during a concert. It seems that he missed most of the season giving Michael the opportunity to gain more experience. 
Summer Program Alumnus Receives 2012 Honickman Book Prize
Tomás Q. Morín, a past fellow at the 2006 Summer Poetry in Idyllwild Festival, was recently awarded the 2012 Honickman Book Prize for his manuscript A Larger Country.
Tomas Q. Morin, Winner of the 2012 Honickman Book Prize
During the Summer Poetry in Idyllwild Festival Tomás worked with Pulitzer Prize winner and poet Natasha Trethewey and poet Cyrus Cassells, winner of the Lannan Literary Award and a Pushcart Prize. Mr. Morín states, “I had a wonderful time at Idyllwild’s poetry program. It was great spending time with so many talented students in the idyllic mountains of southern California. The faculty was stellar and encouraging of all the students. That kind of early encouragement and validation is priceless.”
He received his MFA from Texas State University, and MA from Johns Hopkins University. He is the recipient of scholarships from the Fine Arts Work Center, Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference and the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and was a fellow at the Idyllwild Summer Arts Program. He is a Senior Lecturer at Texas State University.
His poems have appeared in New England Review, Narrative, Boulevard, Slate,Threepenny Review, Best New Poets, and elsewhere.
Senior Theatre Majors Attend Chicago Unified Auditions
Our Theatre department seniors and faculty just returned from our annual trek to Chicago, Illinois to complete the Unified Auditions for theatre training programs. This year 14 seniors completed 81 auditions from February 5th through the 9th and these students were able to access one of the biggest collections of theatre programs to date. Idyllwild Arts has developed the tradition of attending the Chicago auditions since it brings the most programs together in one small geographical area. This year the students were able to audition for 48 different programs, all within walking distance of the Palmer House hotel downtown. The schools represented range from 2 year certificate training programs to comprehensive university programs offering BA or BFA training, mostly within the US and England. Our students tend to want many different things in their next phase of education so this trip has something for everyone.
Senior Theatre Majors in Chicago for Unified Auditons
While in Chicago we also try to experience a little of the city life and expose students to new and different dining options. For the alums reading this, we still carry out the tradition of “family dinners” in Greek Town and Russian Tea Time. This year we also hosted an alumni brunch on Sunday morning. It was nice to see the alumni mingling and sharing their experiences with the current students. This year, Natalie Bayard Boone ’04, Brooke Hebert ’11, Angie Caravaglia ’11, Juwan Lockett ’11 and Shane Prentice Walz and Jamie Cahill ’10 were able to attend. Larkin Bogin ’05 had just gotten to town while touring with American Idiot however due to rehearsal calls he wasn’t able to meet up with the group. Hopefully we’ll be able to see him when the tour comes to LA this spring.
As hectic and stressful as this week can be, it is wonderful to see the students using their training to pursue their future goals. Each one has such different visions for their future after leaving Idyllwild Arts yet for these few days, they are working together as a team to help each other achieve.
Past to Present – Alumni Visual Art Show & Opening Reception
Alumni Visual Art Show
In addition to Shepard Fairey, featured artists include Monica Lundy, who is making waves in Northern California with her inmate portraits on linen. Nate Lowman, currently shredding the gallery scene in NYC, will lend one of his bullet holes. Artists Paul Waddell, Arianna Sikorski, Jiwon Yoon, Youree Jin, Laurel Sparks, Kaelen Green and Richelle Gribble will exhibit, while artist books by Alison Yates, Sung Yun Yang and Erin Latimer invite your hand.
In the field of photography, Jovielle Gers will show a few images from her time working at Naropa, including one of the Dalai Lama. Greg Jensen is an Art Director who documented the fall and aftermath at Ground Zero.
Hawkeye Glenn is using his sculptor skills in metal and design to make functional fixtures. Jonathan Taube and Tada Kono are playing with politics and prickly pears, Krista Peters is creating portraits in brass, and Daniel Gray will make a site-specific installation. CJ Dunn has lettered the gallery with his design.
Past to Present: the Idyllwild Arts Alumni Show opens February 10, 2012, running through March 3, in Parks Exhibition Center on the Idyllwild Arts Campus. For more information see the Facebook Page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Idyllwild-Arts-Parks-Exhibition-Center or call the gallery (951) 659-2171 x2251.
Alumnus Shepard Fairey ‘88 Street Artist, Illustrator & Graphic Designer Gives Guest Artist Lecture
(January 30, 2012) Idyllwild Arts is honored to host artist Shepard Fairey, class of 1988; creator of works such as the iconic Obama HOPE poster and OBEY street art, and a featured subject of the acclaimed 2010 documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” Mr. Fairey has distinguished himself as graphic designer, illustrator and street artist, as well as a savvy guerilla marketer. This is Shepard’s first time to speak to students of the school he attended in its earliest years.
Shepard will give an artist lecture on Friday, February 10 at 3:30 pm in the Idyllwild Arts Foundation Theatre on the campus of Idyllwild Arts. The event is free and open to the public, with limited seating. His artwork will also be included in the Visual Art Alumni Show that opens the same evening in Parks Exhibition Center.
When Shepard graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy in 1988, he was part of only the second graduating class. Carolyn Lowman, wife of Bill Lowman—the founding head of the academy—describes Shepard as “a breath of fresh air.” He brought his skateboard with him to Idyllwild, inspiring the Lowman’s to build a half-pipe in their front yard for him and their young son, Nate. Upon graduation Shepard enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) where he completed his education.
Bringing alumni back to Idyllwild Arts to share their memories, experiences and perspectives with students is an active part of the academy’s education experience. Idyllwild Arts strives to build a student experience that not only includes a strong arts and academic education, but also gives them tools to excel upon graduation. Sidney Morgan, a senior Visual Art major said “I am excited to see an alumni that is not only making a decent living with his art, but making a life with his art as well. “
Earlier this year, Idyllwild Arts hosted alumnus Liang Wang, principal oboe of the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Wang worked closely with the music students and performed an oboe concerto with the orchestra. More alumni from all areas of the arts will return throughout the Spring Semester to address seniors in their Life Skills class. This program, managed by the Arts Enterprise Laboratory (AEL), recruits alumni to speak about their post-Idyllwild Arts education and careers.
Michael Fuller, The Museum Classroom and Sara’s Updates from Europe
From: Sydney Cosselman
Krone Museum Director
A Note to Students
In the last museum Blog, I mentioned that Michael Fuller was on campus from time to time researching material for his book. He came back in November, as promised, and this time he posted a special message to you students. Here it is:
Perhaps you have seen the baldheaded old guy in the beret sitting in the library or at a table in the Max and Beatrice Krone Museum amidst scattered piles of papers, a computer, and a small printer. Perhaps you may have wondered who he is and what he is doing here. Certainly, he is too old to be a student – a student here, at Idyllwild Arts Academy, that is, for one is never too old to be a student.
Weird. He looks weird. He knows that. It doesn’t bother him anymore. He is rewriting the history he wrote in 1982 entitled, ISOMATA: The Place and its People. Often, he sees you walking in the hallway on your way into the library or the computer classroom.
He assumes you may have seen the portrait of the man and woman hanging in the hall. Obviously, they are a couple. He wonders if you have really noticed them and if you know who they are. They are Max and Bee Krone, founders of ISOMATA, now known as Idyllwild Arts and Idyllwild Arts Academy. Their portrait was painted by Dot Lewis in 2000. Dot painted them well because she knew them well. That is why they are smiling. Do you have any idea why they are smiling?
They are smiling because you, the students are here. There were not always Idyllwild Arts Academy students. Once upon a time before you or your parents were born, Max and Bee started this place. This “place” was not called Idyllwild Arts then. It was called ISOMATA, and it was not an academy at all but a summer program similar to the one that still exists. In its most mundane sense, ISOMATA is an acronym for Idyllwild School Of Music And The Arts but in the profundity of its spirit, a mantra to the arts spoken with joy by those who founded it, those who taught, and those who came, transcending the fear to sing, to dance, to act, to sculpt, to write a poem and recite it, to create a film, to DO art with the courage that the time taken to create your personal vision will indeed be worth another’s time to witness it.
But you know this already because you are artists. Max and Bee knew that someday you would come and continue to fulfill their vision.
Thank you for doing that.
Museum Classroom
As you all know, Steve Hudson is a gifted storyteller and lecturer. Recently he gave one of his unique art lectures on High Renaissance to Nick Cooper’s class, here in the museum. A laptop and portable screen were brought in to show slides. Because the museum is an inspiring place to hold a classroom lecture, the list of requests is growing. In fact, poet David St. John chooses to hold his two week Summer Program poetry classes in the museum each year. Just give me a call at extension 2325, and I will be happy to put you on the calendar. On another note, I am happy to say that several students have also come in to the museum to research their projects this year. The museum is yours, so use it.
A Note to Teachers
On the same topic, I recently polled teachers to learn how they might envision using the museum space in the days to come. Their responses were quite creative. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who responded; and encourage those who did not have a chance, to do so at anytime. Personally, I do not envision the Krone Museum as being a static room. Instead, I see it as a bridge connecting the past with the present, and as a space that will continue to evolve to meet the needs of Idyllwild Arts teachers, students and staff.
The results of my query showed that many of you wanted to access more information about the history of the school and the area; to view historical photographs and films of former teachers and students; and access Painting’s Edge” lectures and other CD’s, and DVD’s that we have in our collections. Other teachers wanted a place to display works from their classes or have an exhibit relating to their subject; and still more wanted more tables, lamps, and wireless access in the exhibit area. My response is that we can do all of these things. For those of you who want historical information, you should know that a Timeline is being developed for the museum web page and for the museum; historical materials are being archived for easier access; photographs are being scanned; and films, videos and audio tapes are being re-formatted. For others, display cases are available (in both the hall and museum); and wireless is accessible, with your password. I invite you to come in and spend a little time to find out what we have to offer. If nothing else, the museum is a quiet place to grade your papers; meet with a student; read a book in peace or just be still and contemplate the works of teachers who came before you.
Adventures with Sara
For those of you who are following Sara and her adventures in Europe, she recently wrote me that the past few weeks have been a blur. She has been traveling all over Europe and has hardly had a chance to breathe. Sara is returning to the states in January, so understandably she is trying to absorb as much as possible before then. Since her recent email was seven pages long, I will break it into segments in this and future entries. I can tell you I am exhausted after reading it, and I haven’t left my chair. Here goes …
Dear Sydney,
I’m sorry I haven’t written in so long. I’ve been so busy (as you know) working and traveling. Right now I’m on a train to Prague from Brno and writing so I can procrastinate a little longer on reading The Secret Agent for my Anarchy Lit class. I’ve been going all over Europe the last few weeks and will continue to do so until I leave in the beginning of January to go back to Long Beach, then straight to Pennsylvania for the start of the second semester.
I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the Czech Republic. Just looking out of the bus window makes me incredibly happy to be alive, especially with good music in the background (right now I’m listening to Elephant Gun by Beirut on repeat, and it is the perfect soundtrack for this journey). I know that must sound cheesy, but it feels like I’m waking up from some dream of disillusion and unattachment. If I get into terrible situations, I could never regret it because at least something is happening, and I’ll make good stories out of it anyway.
That would lead to a good segway to my worst story (might as well get it out of the way) which happened in London a few weeks ago. I decided to go to the UK for eight days a while ago to check it out and see some of my favorite museums. Like I said before, my favorite museum is Tate Modern (until I went to Tate Liverpool, that is) and I actually did my final research paper on it last year in my Museum Studies class. I wanted to return to see if I still loved it as much. At first I thought about spending the whole time in London, but thought it would be a waste to only see one city, especially since I would be missing a week of classes. Luckily, my old roommate from Idyllwild, Isabel Ellison, had a theater show that would be playing there, so I would go to see her too. Then I would spend Halloween with a friend in Romford (a small city outside of London) then travel to Liverpool and visit the museum there as well as Cody Oyama who just graduated from Idyllwild. A few of my friends from Juniata College are studying in York, so I would spend a night there before going back to London to fly out in the morning. I was extremely excited to get my trip started.
The first few days were horrible. Like, nightmarishly horrible. Let me say this as a precursor: this was my first time traveling so far away (excluding the places I’ve been studying) and it was my first time traveling alone. I was entirely under prepared. I procrastinated too much on everything and nearly missed my trains to Bratislava where I would fly to London-Stansted because I was busy getting my plans settled. When I got to the airport, I had 10kg over in my luggage and had to throw out a few liters of beer I was smuggling to my Couchsurfing host in Liverpool as well as a few other things. When I finally got to London I took a long bus ride to somewhere near my hostel. They dropped me off at a random street sort of close to King’s Cross. I had no map and no idea what to do. It was also past 1am. I wandered up and down the streets trying to find my hostel or a bus that could take me there, but besides Brno, I still had never really used public transportation and I can barely read a map. After about thirty minutes of wandering with a huge suitcase, I gave up and hailed a taxi (for my first time ever). The taxi driver had never heard of my hostel. I told him to take me to Kings Cross and I would try to figure it out from there. After about five minutes of driving, he turned back to me at a red light and said, “Oh! Clink78? Did that used to be a prison?” Little did I know, yes. I was staying in a prison for the night. A redecorated, totally hipster prison, but a prison nonetheless. That was my first night.
Check back next month for Sara’s next day’s adventure……
On a sad note…we recently learned that Irv “Kersh” Kershner has passed away. You may recognize him as director of the first sequel to “Star Wars” and later, “The Empire Strikes Back.” What you may not know is that he and Bob Krone, son of Max Krone, built the first photography lab on the ISOMATA campus and that in 1951; Irv became the first professional photographer on the ISOMATA faculty. We are grateful that Irv made a special point to visit the museum in August, during the Lora Steere Retrospect. Irv will always be remembered for his exquisite photography.
