Guest Speakers
Mayor John Barrett, III
The Honorable John Barrett, III is the mayor of North Adams, Massachusetts. He has served as the Mayor since 1984, and is the longest serving mayor in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. When North Adams was faced with a slowing economy and impending economic depression, Mayor Barrett used the arts to revitalize the city and transform its communities. Mayor Barrett will speak to the business of art and how the arts and design can be used to drive an economy. Mayor Barrett has received has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career of public service. His honors include Who's Who in American Politics, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Honorary Degree of Doctor of Public Service, and YMCA Citizen of Year Award.
Monica Haslip
Monica Haslip serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Little Black Pearl in Chicago, Illinois. It is Monica's unceasing passion for art, and her desire to highlight the importance of African-Americans in every aspect of life, especially in the arts, that led to the creation of this organization in 1994. Little Black Pearl is an innovative neighborhood art program designed to expose children to the vast contributions that African-Americans have made to the arts. The primary vision is to create an avenue for exposure to art and culture while teaching the profitable connection between art and business. As Founder and Executive Director of the organization, Monica has received recognition from a great number of individuals and organizations that include Hilary Rodham Clinton, Columbia College, Systems Development Integration, the Illinois Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, 100 Black Men, Essence Magazine (December 2002 & Special Collectors Edition 2004/05), The Spirit of A Leader Award, University of Illinois at Chicago, The City Council of Chicago Resolution as Community Hero, LISC/Chicago, Southeast Commission Community Leader Award, University of Chicago, Crain's Business Magazine, African American Arts Alliance of Chicago, INOMA Community Service Award and Connections Black Pearl Award. Monica has received the prestigious recognition as one of the six 2004 Chicagoans of the Year by Chicago Magazine (January 2005 issue). UPTOWN Chicago magazine featured Monica in the 2005 winter issue for her dedication to excellence in the non-profit arena. Most recently, she was honored as one of 50 Women of Excellence by the Chicago Defender. Monica is featured as a community leader in the May 2008 issue of Black Enterprise Magazine.
In addition to the phenomenal leadership that Monica provides to the staff of Little Black Pearl, she contributes her time to boards and committees representing various important causes such as Board of Directors for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Women's Policy Board for Jane Adams Hull House Association and the African American Arts Alliance. Monica's past affiliations include Board of Directors for the City of Chicago Grant Park Musical Festival, Diversity Committee for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Columbia College Arts and Youth Committee, Shore Bank's Advisory Council for African American Women Business Owners, City of Chicago Cultural Facilities Task Force, The Society Inc., Chicago Chapter for the Arts, The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and City Arts Grant Advisory Panel.
Glenn Tomlinson
Glenn Tomlinson is the William Randolph Hearst Curator of Education at the Norton Museum of Art. He earned his B.A. at Hamilton College in upstate New York, and his Masters degree with honors in Art History at the University of Massachusetts. He began his career in museum education as Staff Lecturer in Charge of Academic Programs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where he worked with adult and college audiences. After nine years at the PMA, he became the Director of Museum Education at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. As Curator of Education at the Norton Museum of Art, Tomlinson oversees all education programming for families and adults, for approximately 14,000 school children and summer campers who tour the galleries each year, and for underserved children through the Museum's outreach program, PACE. Tomlinson lives in Jupiter with his wife and two sons.
Betsy White
Betsy K. White has been the director of William King Regional Art Center in Abingdon, Virginia, since 1988 except for a three-year period during the 1990s when she led the Center's Cultural Heritage Project survey of regional decorative arts. She spearheaded the Arts Center's early development that formulated a regional mission emphasizing art education, with particular emphasis on school audiences, and high-quality art exhibitions. Today, the Arts Center's programs for schools provide more than 18,000 contacts for students and teachers in fourteen school districts. Using the Virginia Standards of Learning as the planning focus, these programs are regarded by school superintendents and teachers alike as a valuable extension of the classroom. As a Buchanan County teacher recently remarked,William King Regional Arts Center's Van Gogh Outreach Program is one link between rural Southwest Virginia students and the cultural liberal arts not available in our area.
The Arts Center has been a museum partner of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) since 1989, an association that continues today. In 2004, the Arts Center achieved national accreditation by the American Association of Museums, and Betsy serves as an AAM peer reviewer. Betsy is active in arts and museum communities, both statewide and locally. She is a regular grant reviewer for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, currently represents Southwest Virginia on the board of Virginians for the Arts, and is a past vice president of the Virginia Association of Museums. She has twice served as president of Abingdon's Virginia Highlands Festival and is past chairman of Abingdon's Architectural Review Board. Betsy is a native of Virginia Beach and has lived with her family in Abingdon for thirty years. She is a graduate of Salem College in Winston-Salem NC and is the author of Great Road Style: the Decorative Arts Legacy of Southwest Virginia & Northeast Tennessee, published in 2006 by the University of Virginia Press.
Max Stephenson
Max Stephenson Jr. currently serves as Director of the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance where he also leads the Nonprofit and Civil Society Graduate Studies program of the School of Public and International Affairs. Dr. Stephenson is the author of several dozen publications in his areas of research interest which include the arts and community building, democratic theory and governance, leadership, community development and change processes, nonprofit and nongovernmental organization governance, peace building, humanitarian relief and disaster risk reduction and environmental policy and politics.
He has also written on graduate program curriculum design, doctoral student mentoring strategies and the philosophic underpinnings of a number of pedagogical approaches. Professor Stephenson is a member of the Ethics and Accountability Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of Independent Sector, the Board of Directors of the Virginia Network of Nonprofit Organizations and of the November 5th Coalition and an elected representative to the National Executive Committee of the Nonprofit Education Section of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). He received his academic degrees from the University of Virginia.
Ico Bukvic
The art of composer and multimedia sculptor Ivica Ico Bukvic (b.1976) is defined by the ubiquitous interactivity. Fueled by a synergistic outlook, his work is a balancing act between scientific research of new multimedia technologies for the purpose of betterment of the overall quality of life and a pursuit of new forms of artistic expression using newfound tools. This passion for art and technology coupled by a traditional music background has empowered him to defy preexisting forms and even challenge the very foundations, yet do so without sacrificing their lasting appeal. His opus encompasses aural and visual, acoustic and electronic, performances and installations.
Having received doctorate at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati (2005), Dr. Bukvic is currently working at Virginia Tech as an assistant professor in music composition & technology, the founder and director of the Digital Interactive Sound and Intermedia Studio (DISIS), the music technology and interactivity faculty in the new Collaborative for Creative Technologies in the Arts and Design (CCTAD) interdisciplinary program, a member of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI), and as a faculty (by courtesy) in departments of Computer Science and Art & Art History.
Foster Billingsley
Foster Billingsley has been serving as Deputy Director for the Virginia Commission for the Arts since October 2001. His responsibilities include the fiscal management of a $7,000,000 agency of state government charged with supporting and developing the arts in Virginia. He serves as a liaison and responds to requests and directives from state agencies, legislators and federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts. He advises constituents, arts organizations and artists on grant writing and arts management. He facilitates grant review panels on behalf of the agency. He speaks at Universities, workshops and arts organizations on grant funding and arts management. For the last three years he has worked on the national level planning and implementing peer-group sessions for Deputy Directors at the National State Arts Agencies annual conference. Prior to working with for the Commission for the Arts Foster worked on and off Broadway and Regional Theatres as an Actors' Equity Stage Manager. He also worked for Virginia Opera in Norfolk, Virginia as their Company Manager / Production Coordinator. Foster received his BA in Communications / Theatre from Old Dominion University.
Sandy Rusak
Sandy Rusak is the Deputy Director for Education and Statewide Partnerships for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She received her BFA from The College of William and Mary and her M.Ed.from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked in the field of museum education for over 25 years and has been in her current position with VMFA for 10 years. Ms. Rusak has also served as guest faculty for the Virginia Department of Education on international teacher field studies, teaching in Egypt, Russia, and Peru. She has presented at national and international conferences on a variety of topics relating to art education, art history, and the value of museums. She is a peer reviewer for the American Association of Museums Assessment Program.
As Deputy Director for Education and Statewide Partnerships, Ms. Rusak oversees VMFA's educational programming for audiences of all ages. Her responsibilities include taking VMFA educational programs to constituencies throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, including some 250 partner institutions. She supervises and provides creative leadership for VMFA's education staff, develops educational resources and exhibitions, and is a member of the museum's senior management team.
Dr.Paul Winistorfer
Dr. Paul Winistorfer is professor and head of the department of Wood Science and Forest Products, College of Natural Resources, at Virginia Tech. The department is one of the recognized leaders in wood science research, teaching, and outreach in North America. His areas of research expertise include radiation densitometry, and wood-based composites design, manufacture and performance. He is a two-time recipient of the American Museum of Science & Energy Technology Award. He was awarded a U.S. patent for development of an optical system for thickness swell measurements in wood composites. He has published over 40 peer reviewed publications associated with his research in wood composites. He was recognized as the outstanding teacher in the College of Agriculture at the University of Tennessee. He is past president of the Forest Products Soceity. He is deputy director of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations nworking group 5.14 Forest Products Education. Dr. Winistorfer was named a Fellow in the International Academy of Wood Science in 2004, and he is currently President of WoodLINKS USA, an industry-education partnership focused on developing a skilled workforce for the US wood industry.
Chris Jones
Chris Jones grew up in Halifax County and attended public schools here where he concentrated in music and theatre studies. Those studies continued at East Carolina University and Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. Chris apprenticed at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta Georgia, worked with The Puppet Theatre of Atlanta and the Barn Dinner Theatre. Additional professional work included The Globe of the Great Southwest in Odessa Texas and Cortland Repertory Theatre just outside Syracuse New York. After leaving Atlanta, Chris began working for the Belk and Leggett stores in the sales promotion arena but always kept part of his energy in both music and theatre projects.
Chris was part of the core group of local artists and thespians who worked to get The Prizery project "dreamed" and built. Although spending the majority of his time working as The Prizery's Executive Director, Chris continues to keep his interest in music alive by serving as choir director and pianist for the local First Presbyterian Church and also serves as theatre director for Prizery and the Halifax County Little Theatre. He is also directly involved with the Leverano, Italy/South Boston, Virginia sister town program that involves many opportunities for local and Italian students to share in an education and cultural exchange.
Chris hopes to see more opportunities for artists to live and work in South Boston through the joint initiatives of The Prizery and the HEC. Creating a local economy that has the arts as a vital component is one of Chris' dreams. To that end, he hopes to see a professional theatre company located in The Prizery in the next five years, providing jobs and creating yet another reason for South Boston and Halifax County Virginia to become an important arts/tourism destination.
W.W. "Ted" Bennett
W. W. "Ted" Bennett, Jr. is currently the Executive Director of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (HEC). Born and raised in Halifax County, he was in a private law practice, Halifax, Virginia, 1967-December, 2005. In 1989, until his retirement in 2002, he was elected to the Virginia Assembly to represent Halifax, Charlotte and Lunenburg Counties and later portions of Pittsylvania and Campbell. While in the House, he served as: Co-Chair House Committee on Science and Technology; Senior Member, House Education Committee; Senior Member, Corporation Insurance and Banking; Chair of the Joint Senate-House "Commission on the Future of Public Education"; and founding legislative member, Tobacco Commission.
He was named Legislator of the Year by the Virginia School Board Association in 1994, and Outstanding Legislator of the Year by the Elementary School Principal's Association (1996 & 1997), the Commonwealth of Virginia Vocational and Technical Education Association (1997), the Virginia Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development(1996 & 1997), and the Virginia Public Technology Association (1998). Additionally, Ted received the Northern Virginia Technology Council's "Public Policy Champion and Technology and Science in Virginia" award (1997), and the Virginia Parent Teachers Organization "The Child Care Award" for the State of Virginia (2001).
In 2007, Ted led the HEC's charge in making application for a $13.2 million grant from the National Math & Science Coalition to expand Advanced Placement courses and testing in Virginia. Because of the Center's efforts, the grant was awarded to the state of Virginia in September 2007, and Virginia Advanced Study Strategies, a non-profit organization to administer the grant, was created. Ted has been named the 2007-2008 chair of the Virginia Math Science Coalition (VMSC). Subsequent to his appointment, the Coalition has agreed to focus on 15 pairs of Southern Virginia public schools in the 2008 extension of a $4 million federal, math-science grant towards the creation of Southern Virginia Master Teachers in the areas of math and science.
Ted served as former chairman of the Halifax Educational Foundation Inc., a non-profit educational association which owns the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (HEC) facility in South Boston. He was a member of the Board of Visitors at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia from 2002-2006, and prior to being named Executive Director, Ted served as the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the HEC.