Winston-Salem, NC - The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts has announced that Suri Bieler, Kevin M. Brooks, Eric Gutierrez, Emil J. Kang and Mandy Patinkin, have joined the Institute's Board of Advisors, effective September 2008.

Bieler (UNCSA School of Design & Production'71), a former prop master on Broadway, founded Eclectic/Encore Properties, which carries an extensive collection of furnishings and party decor items. Brooks is the Principle Staff Researcher/Technology Storyteller for Motorola, Inc. Gutierrez, an author, journalist and screenwriter, has explored stories on issues of cultural, spiritual and popular significance, primarily to Latin, Lesbian and Gay and religious communities for publications worldwide. Kang is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's first Executive Director for the Arts, a senior administrative post created to help unify and elevate the performing arts at the University. Patinkin, a star actor and singer, won a Tony Award® in his 1980 Broadway debut for his role as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita" and was nominated in 1984 for his starring role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, "Sunday in the Park with George."

Complete bios of the new Kenan Institute board members follow the press release.

“Our new board members bring a wealth of insight and experience to the work of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts,” said Chairman John Mauceri.  “We expect them to provide a wide array of connections and potential partners from their own professional arts careers, which will help to define the important connection between the Kenan Institute for the Arts, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and the work of artists and arts organizations across the globe.”  John Mauceri is Chancellor of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Chair of the Kenan Institute Board of Advisors. 

“We are thrilled with the diversity of expertise, experience and background that our new advisors bring to our work,” said Executive Director Margaret S. Mertz.  “We expect that their input will significantly broaden our vision for the future and the impact of our work.” 

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts builds partnerships to support creative projects, many of which are associated with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.  For more information, call the Kenan Institute at 336-722-0030 or visit www.kenanarts.org.

Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts
1722 South Main Street
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27127

 

Bios of Kenan Institute for the Arts new Board Members

Suri Bieler
Suri Bieler (UNCSA School of Design & Production'71) founded Eclectic/Encore Properties in 1986, which carries an extensive collection of furnishings and party decor items. Prior to establishing her business, Bieler was a free-lance prop master for Broadway, off-Broadway and television with credits including "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "Da," "On Golden Pond," and  "Horowitz and Mrs. Washington." She served on the Board of Directors of Statewide Zone Capitol Corporation, a private, for-profit corporation established in1999 to assist small- and minority-owned businesses locating or expanding in New York's Empire Zones, from 2001-2005.  Bieler established the Set Decorator's Endowed Scholarship in Design & Production in 1990 and hosted the New York kick-off event in 2002 to announce the fundraising campaign for the John A. Sneden Endowed Scholarship.  Originally from Roanoke, Va., she now lives in New York City with her husband, Eliot Brodsky and son, Jack. 

Kevin M. Brooks
Kevin M. Brooks is the Principle Staff Researcher/Technology Storyteller for Motorola, Inc., at the Motorola Labs/Human Interface Research, where his work focuses on applying narrative creation and understanding to user interface design for automobile, handheld and television set-top box platforms. In addition, he has used scenario development to build user experience roadmaps for research; designed and built interface demos using video, graphics and scripting; and used story coaching and scenario planning to aid researchers in innovation development. Previously, Brooks held positions with the MIT Media Laboratory, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories and Apple Computer.  His research interests include applications of narrative in human interface design, applications of storytelling in design and technology. Brooks holds the Ph.D., Media Arts and Sciences, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master's degree from Stanford University, and an undergraduate degree from Drexel University.   

Eric Gutierrez 
Eric Gutierrez holds many professional roles, primarily as a freelance writer in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston.  As an author/journalist/screenwriter, Eric broke and explored stories on issues of cultural, spiritual and popular significance, primarily to Latin, GLBT and religious communities for publications worldwide.  He is also a professor at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, Calif.  Gutierrez also has served as Senior Editor, Latina Media Ventures, and was recruited to oversee all aspects of arts and entertainment, photo features and celebrity cover subjects for the leading Latino lifestyle publication. His awards & affiliations include the Writers' Guild of America, West;  National Association of Hispanic Journalist; Burton Fellowship, Harvard University, 2002-2005;  Imagen Award Finalist, Best Play, "By the Hand of the Father," Imagen Foundation 2002; and Outfest Board of Directors, 1992-1998.  Gutierrez holds the Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University (2005) and his undergraduate degrees are from Harvard University and the Université de Paris IV, La Sorbonne.  He has been traveling extensively to promote his most recent book, "Disciples of the Street: the Promise of a Hip-Hop Church."    

Emil J. Kang 
Emil J. Kang arrived in January 2005 as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's first Executive Director for the Arts, a senior administrative post created to help unify and elevate the performing arts at the University.  In his first season, Kang introduced the University's first major performing arts series, inaugurated in conjunction with the grand re-opening of the University's main venue, Memorial Hall. He is also a member of the music faculty and serves as Professor of the Practice. Prior to his role at UNC, Kang served as President and Executive Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and has also held positions of Vice President of Operations for the DSO, Orchestra Manager for the Seattle Symphony, and Orchestra Management Fellow with the American Symphony Orchestra League (ASOL).  He has also been a member of Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) and completed the Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management program at Harvard Business School.  Born in New York City, and trained in violin studies from a young age, he holds a degree in Economics from the University of Rochester in New York.

Mandy Patinkin
In his 1980 Broadway debut, Mandy Patinkin won a Tony Award® for his role as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita" and was nominated in 1984 for his starring role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, "Sunday in the Park with George." In 1991 he returned to Broadway in the Tony Award®-winning musical, "The Secret Garden," and in 1997 played a sold-out engagement of his one-man concert, "Mandy Patinkin in Concert." Patinkin won a 1995 Emmy® Award for his critically acclaimed performance in the CBS series, "Chicago Hope," and recently starred in the CBS series "Criminal Minds" as FBI profiler Jason Gideon, and the Showtime Original Series "Dead Like Me." In 1989, he began his concert career at Joseph Papp's Public Theater. This coincided with the release of his first solo album entitled "Mandy Patinkin." In 1990 he released his second solo album entitled "Mandy Patinkin In Concert: Dress Casual" on CBS Records. His 1994 recording, "Experiment," on the Nonesuch label, features songs from nine decades of popular music from Irving Berlin to Alan Menken. In 1998, he enjoyed a successful debut of his most personal project, "Mamaloshen," a collection of traditional, classic and contemporary songs sung entirely in Yiddish. The stage production of "Mamaloshen" was performed on and off-Broadway and has toured throughout the country. The recording of "Mamaloshen" won the Deutschen Schallplattenpreis (Germany's equivalent of the Grammy® Award). Patinkin was born in Chicago and was educated at the University of Kansas and the Juilliard School of Drama.