Dave Brain (Chouinard 63) checks in, “What I’ve been doing is writing pieces (sort of like New Yorker profiles) of the people I worked with at various times in my career. Good therapy for lockdown times. One of the pieces is about Corny Cole.”  …

Ken Graning (Chouinard 66) reports, “The American Watercolor society, which is headquartered in the Salmagundi Club, a very prestigious artist organization in New York City, holds its annual international exhibition around this time every year. This is their signature exhibition and one of the most difficult water media shows to jury into in the country….

Lynn Leatart (Kahan) (Chouinard 70) writes, “Here is my graduation photograph from ’69/’70. I’m the woman in the last row, near the right. I’m looking the other way, with something ‘growing up from my head.’ This was taken at the Women’s Club Downtown, and the speaker was none other than Ray Bradbury. Still making art….

Allan Graubard (Critical Studies 71) shares, “Of late I’ve been collaborating with Canadian artist Gregg Simpson on an audio version (my text, his music) of a piece entitled ‘Night Hawk’; a noir-esque narrative of a private detective who falls for a gal who killed another guy he didn’t know. The text, with Gregg’s collages, was…

John Collins (Art MFA 72) writes, “My life has been like an opera in which the fat lady is singing her part from ‘Tosca’ by Puccini, while the rest of the company is performing ‘Aida’ by Verdi.”…

Llois Miller (Art 72) shares, “Aloha, please. See attached picture from Llois Jeanne Miller, Maui: Game Bird Wildlife 2022 conservation stamp contest entry #17. Hunting license concept proposal: Flexo printing iridescent ink on rainbow foil & dicloric film. 3 Kalij Pheasants ==4 stamps.”…

Randy Balsmeyer (Art 73) was visual effects producer and supervisor for the Spike Lee/Netflix picture, “Da 5 Bloods.” His team was nominated for a Visual Effects Society (VES) Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. He also designed title sequences for two of this year’s Oscar nominees, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and…

Jody Diamond (Critical Studies/Music 73) writes “I was playing in five different gamelan groups when the pandemic hit—Bali, Central Java, West Java, American composers, and teaching with my Harrison/Colvig gamelan at SUNY New Paltz—when all rehearsals were canceled. Glad to have other work that is meaningful, I spent the year working on my journal BALUNGAN,…

Rachel Youdelman (Art 73)  reports, “My bookworks are featured in The Met’s webpage ‘Artists’ Publications Study Collection.’”…

Leonard Ellis (Theater 74) checks in, “Here’s my new song for these pandemic times: This Song Is Contagious (Wash Your Hands After Singing). All my music is now available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, and Spotify.”…

Roberta Friedman (Film/Video 74) Together again! Roberta Friedman and Grahame Weinbren (faculty 72/74) re-imagined their film “Vicarious Thrills” (1973/2021) with collaborator/composer Carl Stone (Music 75), adding a new and exciting music track. “The film is sexier and wilder with the new sound!” she says. “We worked on a number of projects at CalArts discussing our…

Denman (Denny) Maroney (Music 74) writes, “In my last note I recounted moving to France and meeting fellow expat bassist Scott Walton. Since then, I’ve formed a band with Scott and two French musicians: reedist Robin Fincker and drummer Samuel Sylvant. We meet regularly to work on a suite of tunes I’ve written for us,…

John Mabry (Art 75) shares, “COVID-19 took my mother’s life on February 12, 2020. She complained about losing ‘her taste’ and sudden inability to walk. She was 93 years old, two weeks short of 94 years of age, born in Northern France at Pargny-Sur-Saulx and later migrated to America—shortly after the end of WWII. During…

Roger Holzberg (Theater 78) reports, “Teaching the ‘Healthcare By Design’ class, in the experience design program at the Theater School, yielded significant successes during the previous year. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, my class delivered a patient experience pilot to infuse creativity into ‘palliative care and end of life’ at Henry Mayo Hospital….

Allan Trautman (Theater MFA 78) is performing in three series streaming or airing now. The latest is “The Barbarian and the Troll” on Nickelodeon (or on Nick.com) in which he performs two regular characters—General Skelly of the Undead Army and the wizard Horus Scrumm—in addition to many subordinate characters. You can also see his work…

Steve Weir (Art BFA 73, MFA 78) writes, “I have been working on a book, ‘A View of CalArts,’ of photographs I took while a BFA student 1970-’73 and MFA student, 1976-’78. The images include students, friends, faculty, and colleagues as well as campus locations. I would wander around the campus, exploring hallways and rooms…

William (Bill) Groshelle (Film/Video MFA 80) is now pursuing his personal art and writing projects after a long career as an award-winning director working in San Francisco. His first project is an epic graphic novel being published this July by Dark Horse Comics, the leading independent publisher of comics and graphic novels. “Hellboy,” “300,” “Sin…

Kelli (pka Remi) Gurman (Music 81) checks in, “Hi, CalArts! I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Shoutout LA in which I talk a lot about CalArts and how it’s influenced and inspired my creative work as an artist/songwriter/producer. You can also find it on my website. Photos are included in the interview, but…

Steve Bilow (Music BFA 82) returned to his roots in broadcast television and digital media in February. He is now the product marketing manager for Video Test and Synchronization products at Telestream Inc. He is based in Beaverton, Oregon. Steve joins several old friends and colleagues as the outbound marketing leader for Waveform Monitors and…

Gary Schwartz (Film/Video 82) writes, “HNY (Happy New Year!!!), created at the artist-residency atelier at 319 Carroll Street, Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. Challenged myself to create a short (34-second) stop-motion film on-location in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Limiting myself to what I find in-situ. Collaborating with glass artist Mitchell Gaudet at Studio Inferno in Waveland,…

Jeff Perry (Music MFA 84) reports, “I’ve gone over to the dark side and become an associate dean in the School of Music here at Louisiana State University. I take some solace in knowing that some of my very favorite CalArts people (e.g. John Payne, Amy Knoles, Alan Chaplin) have held a similar position. Creative…

Patrick Neary (Art 85) writes, “Recently selected to be on the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) eClips Educator Advisory Board, analyzing and reviewing STEM educational science videos produced by NASA for K-12 students. Finishing my third academic year as the middle and high school visual arts teacher at Khan Lab School in Mountain View,…

Curtis Macdonald (Music 86) checks in, “After a year of hibernation I am utilizing my ‘inside’ time creating new music and waiting for ‘live’ performances when ‘outside’ time gets back to normal.”…

Michael J. McDonough (Film/Video 86) notes, “‘Dangerous Medicine,’ a feature length film my partner (David Nathan Schwatz) and I wrote, based on a story by writer/director Doug Campbell (Film/Video 85), premiered on the LifeTime Movie Channel (LMC) March 8. We are all hoping for a productive year(s) ahead for all of us. Best to all…

Morgan Rusler (Theater 86) was hired by the brilliant Phyllis Schuringa at the Geffen Playhouse in October 2020 to help develop “Citizen Detective”. A new play by Chelsee Mercantel with Plaloma Nozicka, Citizen Detective was written especially to fit the format of a Zoom meeting. A bold attempt for these trying times. Morgan would like…

Jeanette May (Art MFA 87) will have a solo exhibition, “Tech Vanitas,” at A.R.C. Gallery in Chicago, Illinois, April 30-May 22, 2021. May’s still-life photographs embrace anxiety over new technology and love for beautifully designed, obsolete machines. Her photographs suggest both product photography and 17th century Dutch vanitas paintings with their air of craft guilds,…

Cathe Boudreau (Film/Video 91) went back to school to update her animation skills. Currently, she’s attending animation mentor and studying with several former CalArts Alumnx. At Coastal Repertory in Half Moon Bay, Cathe teaches voice acting and is working on some more improv and comedy in the Bay Area….

James Wade (Art 91) writes, “Created a new website to promote my work.”…

A. Laura Brody (Theater 92)  is co-curating Blank Canvas 8, an art exhibit mounted by United Cerebral Palsy Los Angeles. The show opened May 6 at Washington Reid Gallery in Culver City and Wingwalker Brewing in Monrovia. The Opulent Mobility 2021 call for art is now open! This year, in honor of finally seeing a…

Jillian Campana (Dean) (Theater BFA 92) is a professor of Theatre and associate dean for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The American University of Cairo in Cairo, Egypt. Her newest book, co-edited with Yasmine Jahanmir, was recently published by Routledge. Western Theatre in Global Contexts: Directing and Teaching Culturally Inclusive Drama Around…

Annie Walton-Teter (Art 92) aka Ann Myra had her first two children’s books published. Annabel on the Ground, 2020 and Annabel on the Sea, 2021. Good for ages 3-7 and hopefully more to come in the not-too-distant future….

Barry Morse (Art, Film/Video MFA 93) continues to model for art classes but now on Zoom … including CalArts!…

Alisa Rasera-Holden (Dance 94) The pandemic had an upside as it gave Alisa time and space to finish her screen dance short, Doors. Alisa has also kept busy as an adjunct professor in the dance department at Mills College in Oakland. She has also continued to audio describe for “live” (or now virtual) performances. Alisa…

Misa Kelly (Dance 96) notes, “I continue on with the spiritual/creative lifestyle engaging in singing/songwriting for the uke and guitar, drawing/painting focusing on the use of ‘pandemic cardboard,’ playwriting/acting/directing, and writing, with dance making not presently a part of my orbit. I’m enjoying developing a shamanic practice, which fuels the creative process, and I am…

David Weinberg (Critical Studies, Theater BFA 97) checks in, “My new book The Marowitz Compendium was published in Europe (Ibidem Press) and America (Columbia University Press) in April 2021. Glenda Jackson CBE two-time Academy Award-winning Best Actress and longtime member of Parliament was kind enough to write the forward for the book. I moved to…

Todd Simon (Music 99) has been selected by the Recording Academy to be slated as a Governor candidate in its upcoming Los Angeles Chapter Board elections. He has taken on an exciting roll at Granada Hills Charter High School running its music production department. Todd’s horn-arranging skills have recently been utilized by Little Dragon, Flora…

Robert Jacobson (Music 00) reports, “I co-founded Galactic Legacy Labs (gll.space), an all-space media content company to inspire fellow humans to dream and achieve. We will be sending an indestructible time capsule with the data of 1 million ‘earth ambassadors’ to the moon in 2021. I also helped previously develop the Lunar Library I (2019)…

Paloma Navarrete (Film/Video 00) writes, “Hi, friends! We’re dropping into a new season with a fresh yummy painting. It’s exploding with happy color at HYPERCLASH Santa Fe. BLAST INTO EXPLORATION with TRUE COLORS, A new horizon by Robert Harkness for HYPERCLASH. Always looking for new artists to add to the shop. Drop us a line!…

Vanessa Nowitzky (Music BFA 00) notes, “Since the fateful ides of March 2020, being temporarily laid off from one job, having my hours reduced in another, and most fortunately receiving generous unemployment benefits enabled me to pursue my dreams and spend my extra time developing my singdancing company. At last I was able to rent…

John Churchville (Music 01) played tabla on the title track on the album Home by Billy Strings, which won a 2021 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. Wrote a chapter for Adam Patrick Bell’s Book, Music Technology Cookbook published by the Oxford University Press. Was a featured presenter at the Michigan Music Conference, presenting on behalf…

Benjamin Goldman (Film/Video 01) and Daniel Gamburg’s animated documentary short was acquired by The New Yorker. “Like the holidays themselves, Daniel Gamburg and Benjamin Goldman’s documentary short Eight Nights mixes nostalgia, family, shame, guilt, and humor into a seriously potent cocktail. In a hybrid of animation, interview, and archival footage reminiscent of Michel Gondry…” —…

Brad Comfort (Film/Video 03) had the joy of editing the feature P!nk: All I Know So Far directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) alongside editor Cindy Mollo A.C.E. The documentary is a behind-the-scenes look at P!nk as she balances family and life on the road, leading up to her first Wembley Stadium performance on…

Tanja Raaste (Theater 04) shares, “Living in London/Europe and in addition to theater and event production I’m focusing on my training courses, one of which is all about how to engage people on Zoom and has been very popular: Rock the Zoom Room. I’m also running courses/giving talks on edible urban gardening—I fell into this…

John Wood (Music 04) Back in October 2020, music alumni Beth Schenck (MFA 02), Matt Wrobel (BFA 03), and John Wood (BFA 04) joined renowned violinist Jenny Scheinman to record a live performance of their ensemble, House of Faern. Selections are being intermittently released via Sheinman’s YouTube channel. In December, Wood and Scheinman collaborated with…

Leilani Drakeford (Theater 06) In 2020 Leilani wrote and executive produced the webseries “Homework,” a serio-comedy about people working from home, and all of the other complications that came with the pandemic during the shutdown. Filmed in quarantine, the cast and crew worked together from five different locations during the shutdown, via Zoom. Directed by…

Alison Rootberg (Dance 06) founded Wellness4Every1® in 2016 providing quality arts education to Chicago Public School students, as well as a space for physical and emotional well-being, through dance and yoga classes. Despite the challenges of shifting to virtual programming, 2020 was a successful year. Wellness4Every1 became a certified Women’s Business Enterprise, continued to host…

Will Kim (Film/Video BFA 07) and Jian Lee (Film/Video MFA 08) participated in Boston Lyric Opera and Philip Glass’ opera feature animated film, The Fall of House of Usher as lead animators. The film premiered in January on Operabox. TV press and media kit….

Monica Hicks-Jenkins (Art 09) checks in, “Hey pals, I’ve been working tirelessly on my favorite project, a company called Pent Up Cookie Company! We’ve expanded into two kitchen locations: one in Los Angeles, the other in Phoenix, Arizona! CalArts taught me to get creative and be resourceful. It’s always a good time for custom cookies….

Christine Marie (Theater 09) was appointed as the Andrew Mellon Arts and Technology Professor of Practice at Occidental College for 2021. Marie is teaching a course on visual storytelling and production. She has created a mobile theater unit equipped with video, sound, and lighting instruments for staging site-specific work off the grid….

Keiko Moreno (Critical Studies 09) writes, “I am the co-founder and creative director at Cryptic Industries. We are a special effects, design, and full fabrication shop based in Los Angeles. We are an entertainment company that can create an entire experience or a singular specialty prop. We work with clients in film, television, themed entertainment,…

Michelle Roshanzamir (Theater 09) notes, “Since graduating from CalArts, I’ve gone to grad school—receiving an MBA with a minor in arts/nonprofit management—and have started my own company, MVR Creative. As a consultant and producer, I help creatives and leaders bring their ideas to life and develop their businesses. I work with a range of creatives…

Miggie Wong (Art 09) shares, “In March 2020, just a week before the world locked down, I transitioned from Los Angeles, California, to Buffalo, New York. There, I created a drawing project named 100 Huis on Delaware Ave Project. This project publishes a collection of mementos and forward momentum during COVID-19. As a new arrival…

Valerie Green (Art 11) reports, “My solo exhibition Reprograph opens at Moskowitz Bayse in Los Angeles on May 15. This will be my third solo exhibition with the gallery. Meanwhile in Doha, Qatar, my work is included in Experimental Photography, curated by Charlotte Cotton, which is part of the inaugural Tasweer Photo Festival Qatar.”  …

Lindsay Rosenboom (Music, Theater 11) After ending her position working at CalArts during COVID-19, Lindsay landed a wonderful new position at Los Angeles Ballet in March of this year. She is currently working as the administrative associate while also supporting the development and fundraising team, and she envisions a long and fruitful career with this…

Charles Levin (Music BFA 75, MFA 12) and CalArts jazz faculty member Joe La Barbera await the September publication of their book, Times Remembered: The Final Years of the Bill Evans Trio. A first-person account, the tome is La Barbera’s memoir of his 20-month stint as the last drummer to play in the iconic pianist’s…

Chase Woolner (Theater 12) writes, “I’m a performing arts teacher specializing in puppetry and scenic design at an independent K-6 school in LA. During the pandemic, I took all of my classes online, and Zoom turned out to be a terrific medium for teaching puppetry to kindergarten. Taking theatrical risks with performing objects yielded new…

Meghan Gordon (Art 14) has become the director of Ochi Projects in Los Angeles after two years with CES Gallery and more than three years with Luis De Jesus Los Angeles….

Sarah Melnick (Music 16) checks in,”Thrilled to be serving CalArts in a new role as admissions counselor for our Herb Alpert School of Music (and expecting my first child in August 2021, a CalArts ’42 hopeful). Also running my own freelance company as a songwriter, composer, arranger, vocalist, harpist, ukulele player, pianist, instructor, sound designer,…

Leann Lo (Critical Studies 17) shares, “Hi! I’m currently in Fresno, California, working at FPU as an assistant professor in Communication and interim program director for the Communication department. I’m working on a romance novel I’m really excited about, and I had a piece I wrote and performed accepted by Near Far Theatre. I also…

Andie Lovins (Theater 19) notes, “While in many ways the pandemic has impacted my ability to not only support myself financially but to engage with my craft, it has also been a time of great reflection. My anger at those in power has fueled my recommitment to local organizing efforts and supporting individuals over corporations….

Socks Whitmore (Music 20) reports, “Graduating in the middle of an industry collapse was far from ideal, but I’ve been lucky. I’ve managed to make and collaborate on art of all sorts all from the socially distanced safety of my home. I was accepted into the Contemporary Choral Collective of Los Angeles (C3LA), the Center…