Top News—Alumni: Related Content
The New York Times praised the down-and-out New York Philharmonic’s appointment of Deborah Borda ’71—“one of the most successful arts administrators in the nation”—as its new president and CEO.
Actor Tim Daly ’79 will star alongside his sister, Tyne Daly, in the world premiere of playwright Theresa Rebeck’s new drama, Downstairs, which will open the Dorset Theatre Festival’s 2017-18 season.
The Bennington Banner this week featured a story on Sam Clement ’08, a Maine native who stayed local to Bennington after graduating and has since been volunteering his time and music to the community.
The Blind Masseuse: A Traveler's Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia, by award-winning author Alden Jones MFA '01, will be re-released in paperback in March.
The Bennington Banner published an op-ed by Michael Thomson '15 about the impact of walls on national identity and the relationships between nations.
A new literary crime-and-memoir hybrid by Claudia Rowe ’88 dropped recently, earning a spot on New York Post’s “Must Read Books” list and critical praise from Kirkus Reviews and Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl.
Poetry faculty Phillip B. Williams and alumna Safiya Sinclair '10 were included in an article on Poets&Writers called "The Shadows of Words: Our Twelfth Annual Look At Debut Poets."
Artist Cosmo Whyte '05 has been named a finalist for the Hudgens Prize, a $50,000 award for Georgia artists.
Morgan Jerkins MFA '16 was interviewed as part of the Pen Ten interview series on Pen America last month. She spoke about "the responsibility of the writer" which she sees as "to be honest and vulnerable. Jerkins is the author of a forthcoming collection of essays, This Will Be My Undoing. She is currently a contributing editor for Catapult. Her take on the Colin Kaepernick controversy, "What Colin Kaepernick's National Anthem Protest Reveals About American" was published in Rolling Stone in August.
Jaqueline Kramer '76 installed a selection of paintings inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis. The proceeds went to the International Rescue Committee. For Kramer, who studied painting during her time at Bennington, “This series combines my love of painting with my love of service. I’m very excited to share these paintings with others.”
Summer Brennan '01 used tactics straight out of 12th Night in an attempt to undermine internet trolls. She told Flare Magazine about what she learned when she changed her profile picture on Twitter to one of her brother.
In its Guide to 2016’s Great Reads, NPR recommended Nitro Mountain by Lee Clay Johnson ’07, The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney MFAW ’13, Kookooland by Gloria Norris ’76, and The Queen of the Night by former MFAW faculty Alexander Chee.
Ariel Herwitz ’06, Floryn Honnet ’13, Rainer Hunt ’13, and Georgia Lassner ’09 are the inaugural class of a new residency for young alumni artists that was established at Bennington this year. Funded by a grant from an anonymous donor made in honor of faculty members Barry Bartlett and Jon Isherwood, the program invites recent graduates in sculpture and ceramics to live and work on campus for two- to four-week stints. In “studios” in Usdan Gallery, these four artists have had a chance to dive into their practice mostly uninterrupted, and current students have had the opportunity to interact with them in a variety of ways. Says Jon Isherwood, one of the designers of the residency, “It’s a very exciting moment for us in the Visual Arts to be able to bring back alumni and have them develop new work in the gallery. The premise of the residency has been to encourage experimentation. Complimenting this, the VA faculty have invited our alumni guests to visit classes and meet with students one on one.”
The fruits of the artists’ labors will be on view at Usdan Gallery from November 29 through December 8. They spoke with Aruna D’Souza about their student experiences, their approach to art making, and their experience being back on campus.
Earlier this week, Mashable announced their long lists for several categories of the 2017 PEN Literary awards, which include a number of Bennington graduates.
The Huffington Post published an opinion piece by Jesse Larner '88 which explores the role that white supremacist support for Donald Trump has played during and after the recent election.
Mike Rugnetta '06 was part of a live-streamed conversation called "Fed Up: On Social Media and Democracy."
Robin Jebavy '04 has been awarded a Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation in recognition of her work as an "emerging artist." Her work will be included in an exhibition at the Haggerty Museum of Art next June.
Adam Freed '08 was the subject of a piece in The Boston Globe earlier this month about how best to help veterans.
Jenn Stanley '09 and her father Peter participated in an interview on StoryCorps titled "Just In Time for the Election, It's Time for Some Family Political Therapy." In it, they spoke the way that their differing political opinions have affected their relationship. The interview ran on NPR's Morning Edition.
Harper's Bazaar published a story on the Literary Brat Pack, featuring Bret Easton Ellis '86, Donna Tartt '86, and Jill Eisenstein '86, all of whom "helped change the course of American literature—and looked great doing it."
Anaïs Duplan '14 was interviewed in Divedapper following the release of his debut poetry collection, Take This Stallion.
The Oyster War by Summer Brennan '01 was named as a finalist for the Orion Book Award.
Bennington trio Mountain Man was featured as part of the "Musical Map of the United States" series by Brooklyn Magazine.
Jonathan Marc Sherman ’90 received the Hudas Schwartz Liff ’47 volunteer award for his support of Bennington. In her presentation, President Silver praised Sherman for the way he “sustains Bennington by making Bennington part of what he does.”
Deborah Borda ’71 spoke Michael Eisner at the Aspen Ideas Festival about her work managing the LA Philharmonic Orchestra. She also spoke about why she chose to attend Bennington College (after beginning her studies at a traditional music conservatory), citing Bennington's high level of flexibility, and emphasis on entrepreneurship. She soon realized, in Eisner's words, "Bennington would be better," and now advises musicians: “go to a liberal arts school” [9:40]. More.
Amrita Lash '04, and her band, Long Journey, released their debut album, Fierce Folk, last month.
A new exhibition of the later works of Helen Frankenthaler '49 opened today at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. The show, titled Line Into Color, Color Into Line and curated by John Elderfield, includes "works where the painter was exploring the division between drawing and painting." It will run until October 29.
Two alumni were included in Buzzfeed's list of 21 Incredible New Books You Need to Read this Fall. A "colorful new novel" by Jonathan Lethem '86, A Gambler's Anatomy, was featured, along with Safiya Sinclair's '10 new "lyrical and provocative" book of poetry Cannibal.
Sylvan Esso, a group that includes Amelia Meath ’10, was featured in this week’s New York Times Playlist for their single “Radio.” The playlist includes “the week’s most notable new songs.” This week’s theme: “ten tracks you may have missed this summer.”
Morgan Jerkins MFAW ’16 recently published an essay in Rolling Stone on “What Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest Tells Us About America.” In it, she argues that “People aren’t merely upset because he is disrespecting the flag; they are upset because [his] anger illuminates just how divided this nation is and has always been.”