Alumni in Action
1975
Doug Miller (dance) exhibited his photographs, America’s Jugular, at The Hand in Brooklyn, NY from April 5–27, 2019.
1976
Francine P. Butler (dance) was featured in an exhibition by Willi Smith at the Cooper Hewitt museum. She appeared in clips of performances by the Dianne McIntyre Sounds in Motion Dance Company.
Herb Mendelsohn (acting) just finished a re-write of an animated feature, Sky. Sky had its beginnings at Purchase when Mara Novak ’76 gave him an inspiring children’s book, Bo and the Sad King, written and magnificently illustrated by Chilean Professor Vittorio Di Girallamo. In the summer of 1975, eight students from the college’s first acting class started WEST, the Westchester Ensemble Summer Theatre. The students co-wrote, co-directed, co-choreographed, and co-produced a stage version of Bo and the Sad King and toured it, along with a zany melodrama called Under the Gaslight, throughout the state of New York. Well, today Bo has evolved in to Sky. At the first table read in September 2020, Purchase alumni Jodi Long ’76 and Jay O. Sanders ’76 (acting) helped give that gift a new life. Sky is the story of how a pre-teen kid steps up to save the last remaining wilderness. Mendelsohn also recently appeared as Seth Rogan’s long bearded rabbi in HBO Max’s feature film, An American Pickle, and had a guest starring role as the father of Mario Lopez’s love interest in Lifetime’s Movie of the Week, Felix Navi Dad.
Michael D. O’Neill (biology) won the Apex Award in 2018 for Publication Excellence with his website bioquicknews.com.
Jay O. Sanders (acting) played The Ghost in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s new cinematic adaptation of Hamlet, Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit in early 2019. He has held recurring roles on the TV series Blindspot, Manhunt, and Sneaky Pete, and narrated the TV documentaries Secrets of the Dead and Nova.
1977
Paul Feldstein (literature) is a literary agent who currently represents many Purchase alumni. Feldstein also welcomes submissions from current Purchase students.
Catherine Mullis (sociology) is working the front line as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
1978
Michael Feldman (history) was elected president of the Farmington River Watershed Association, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the eponymous Farmington River in Connecticut. Serendipitously, Feldman succeeded a previous alumnus, David Donaldson ’78 (literature) as president.
Mark Patnode (visual arts) announced that his painting Church of the City was accepted to the 2019 National Faber Birren Color Award Show at the Stamford Art Association.
Joel Rubin (music) published his new book, New York Klezmer in the Early Twentieth Century: The Music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras (University of Rochester Press) on August 20, 2020. Rubin also studied at California Institute of the Arts and has a PhD in ethnomusicology from University of London. After a long career in academia, he is retiring from his position as associate professor and director of music performance at the University of Virginia at the end of the coming school year. He will be relocating permanently to Switzerland, where he has been living part-time for the past 11 years (after having spent 1989–2003 in Berlin). He has been performing klezmer internationally for the past 40 years with groups including Brave Old World, Rubin & Horowitz, the Joel Rubin Ensemble, and Veretski Pass, and plans to continue performing, teaching and publishing. His most recent CD is The Magid Chronicles (Golden Horn Records, 2019), a collaboration with Veretski Pass.
Mark Webber (visual arts) had a solo exhibition, We Shall be a City Upon a Hill, at Anita Rogers Gallery in Manhattan’s SoHo February 12–March 21, 2020.
1981
Judith Cole (literature) announced that her debut novel, And Jilly Came Tumbling After, a hybrid literary murder mystery/romcom, was released by Red Sky Presents on March 22, 2021. Find out what happens when “the one that got away” comes back in this saucy tale of true love, vengeance, leftovers, and “just desserts.”
Gary Golio (visual arts), a New York Times bestselling author, and Caldecott honoree E.B. Lewis tell an inspiring story of how music can turn darkness into light in Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey to the Stars. Moving prose and luminous illustrations detail the remarkable journey of a poor child from rural Texas who becomes one of the most accomplished slide guitarists of all time. Years after his death, Willie’s signature song, Dark Was the Night, is rocketed to the heavens on the Voyager I space probe’s Golden Record, a testament to the talent of a visionary blind man.
1982
Stanley Tucci (acting) starred in the 9/11 film Worth, released in 2020, as well as in The King’s Man, a prequel to The Kingsman movies (2014 and 2017), due out in August 2021. Tucci also stars in the original CNN series, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, where he travels to different parts of Italy and explores history, culture, and food.
1983
Kevin Sutton (visual arts) makes light fixtures from recycled wine bottles. His art can be viewed on his website zumacreations.com.
1984
Brad Lubman (music) won the 2019 Ditson Conductor’s Award for the advancement of American music.
David Schwartz (film) shared his new book, David Cronenberg: Interviews, which is a collection of fifteen interviews with a director whose work is thematically consistent and marked by a rigorous intelligence, a keen sense of humor, and a fearless engagement with the nature of human existence.
1985
Catherine McGann (visual arts) had a solo show in the Big Art of Our Century Gallery event curated by John Gagne of Gagne Contemporary. McGann was a longtime Village Voice nightlife photographer whose work included vintage images of the drag, trans, and Harlem Ball scenes.
Peter Shea (political science) was recently promoted to full professor in the School of Education at the University at Albany. Dr. Shea’s research, which has received more than 8,000 citations, focuses on promoting student success in online learning environments. He also serves as associate provost for online education, working with deans and other leaders across the University to develop and advance strategy for new online program development, quality, and growth.
1986
John Cruickshank and James Cruickshank (political science) were known as the “Purchase twins” during their years here. After 34 years of service, both James and John retired from the federal government last year in Washington, DC. They both had high profile and senior careers. John was staff associate for policy at the National Science Foundation division of research on learning, where he developed and funded STEM education in Micronesian countries and territories. James worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the office of the deputy assistant secretary, coordinating hurricane disaster recovery after Katrina in New Orleans and Sandy in New York. In addition, both James and John were the highest ranking openly gay officials in their respective agencies. “We instilled Purchase values of diversity and inclusion in our long US government careers,” John says.
1987
Michael Dwyer (visual arts) created an installation project focused on origami titled 1000 Cranes. Dwyer gave an opportunity for ten inmates from Fishkill Correctional Facility to exhibit their work to the general public. 1000 Cranes was shown at the Hudson Beach Glass Gallery in Beacon, NY, and was part of a visual arts class created by the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA).
1988
Daniel Joshua Rubin (drama studies) has written a new book entitled, 27 Essential Principles of Story, which was published by Workman Publishing on August 4, 2020.
1990
Pat Giles (visual arts) not only worked on Daria, but redesigned Count Chocula for a new generation. Giles is now heading a studio with over 20 editors and researchers to create hundreds of animated emoji sticker characters.
1993
Michelle Ainsworth (history) had an essay published in an online medical magazine and had two book reviews published in a print magazine: youandmemagazine.com/articles/how-could-i-be-a-woman and skeptic.com/magazine. Skeptic is sold at newsstands and bookstores nationally. Ainsworth is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and is finishing a young adult novel and researching a cultural history of stage magic.
1996
Andris Kasparovics (design/tech), creative director and lighting director at Sight Unseen Studios, was interviewed for a profile feature on elationlighting.com for their Elation Professional: LD Spotlight March 2021.
1997
Maria-Cristina Necula’s (language and culture) dissertation-based book, The Don Carlos Enigma: Variations of Historical Fictions, was published by Academica Press, and is available on Amazon. To find out more about her work, please visit her website: mariacristinanecula.com
Christopher Wax (visual arts) wrote and directed the indie horror film CASE 347, making its debut March 2020. Wax also wrote and directed the shorts The Faithful and Irish Eyes, and all episodes for the 2013 TV show Blackbox.
1998
Joanna FitzPatrick (literature) is releasing a 10th Anniversary Edition of her first bio-novel, Katherine Mansfield. Kirkus Reviews praises it for being “a well-informed, intuitive account of a singular modernist writer whose life is cut short.” It was due to her studies in Purchase’s literature department under the watchful eye of her mentor, Nina Strauss, that Joanna had the knowledge and courage to become an author. Her third historic novel The Sketch Box is scheduled for release in fall 2021 (She Writes Press).
1999
Joshua Callaghan (literature) graduated August 2019 from Russell Sage College, Esteves School of Education with a master of science in applied behavior analysis and autism. He is currently a behaviorist at Catholic Charities in Albany, NY. He has worked with the special needs community since 2002. His wife of 18 years, Susan Callaghan, née Hauley ’98 is extremely proud of Josh’s accomplishments. The couple has a 15-year-old son, Seamus. He is autistic.
Saide Weinberg (dance) shared that her all female contemporary dance company, LITVAKdance, was awarded three commissions that were staged in downtown San Diego, CA.
2000
Pete Malinverni (music), a fixture in New York City’s jazz scene, gave a heartfelt performance at The PAC’S Black Box theater in February 2020.
2001
Garth Greenwell (literature) earned a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020. Greenwell is the author of What Belongs to You, which won the British Book Award for Debut of the Year, was longlisted for the National Book Award, was a finalist for six other awards, and was named a Best Book of 2016 by over fifty publications in nine countries. His second book of fiction, Cleanness, published in January 2020, was named a New York Times Notable Book, New Yorker Best Book of the Year, New York Times Critics Top 10 Book of the Year, and a best book of 2020 by Time, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, The Observer, Mother Jones, Harper’s Bazaar, The Telegraph, Oprah Magazine, Kirkus, The BBC, the Financial Times, Lithub, Buzzfeed, Esquire, The White Review, Refinery29, and Thrillist.
2002
Rodrick Covington (acting) played Papa Ge in the Broadway musical Once on This Island with Brian D. Hills ’05 and LaToya Lewis ’06.
2003
Matt Garrison (music) and Emily Frederick ’15 (music) held virtual concerts during the pandemic and shared them via social media.
Jason Hanasik (visual arts) released a second film for The Guardian’s documentaries division, A Childhood on Fire. Purchase alum Abbi Jutkowitz ’03 was supervising editor. Additionally, Hanasik’s first film for the BBC, Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day in an Unknown World, premiered in July 2020. Versions of the film have appeared on the BBC News’ front page, broadcast on televisions around the world. According to the BBC, it is the first film in Arabic by a major broadcaster to explore the detrimental effects of “gay conversion therapy” in the Middle East. It is Hanasik’s first foreign language film as well as his first animated film.
2004
Hector Torres (visual arts) was part of the group exhibit De Generación a Generación: a subconscious lineage at The Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, CA.
2005
Sidra Bell (dance) was commissioned as the first Black female choreographer to make a work for New York City Ballet in the fall of 2020. The World Premiere of pixelation in a wave (Within Wires) was streamed in the company’s Digital Fall Season in October 2020. Bell will return to NYCB in the fall of 2021 to set a new stage work for the company.
Julia Dixon (visual arts) completed a cultural plan for Bennington County, VT. The Bennington County Cultural Plan is a comprehensive report detailing the results of a year’s worth of work by creative stakeholders in the region. Julia, a consultant and educator, engaged over 600 individuals from April, 2018 to May, 2019 in order to create an actionable plan that strengthens arts and culture in the county.
(Editor’s note: We apologize for misspelling Dixon’s name in the Spring 2020 issue.)
Matt Goldpaugh (visual arts) shares news of an upcoming release of his band’s third album, Here To Tell the Tale, due June 25 via Sower Records (CD/digital) and Crazy Love Records (vinyl). Goldpaugh plays an upright custom bass that he designed and helped build as a full-time career for an act called Lara Hope and the Ark-Tones. He also does all the branding and design for the band, and draws on his visual arts background despite music being his primary focus.
Zachary Bernstein’s (dramatic writing) original romantic musical comedy, DISASTEROID!, about two strangers who become lovers in the face of possible apocalypse, was recently published by Steele Spring Stage Rights after multiple productions in Los Angeles, CA.
2006
Pete Coco (music) released his new CD, Lined with a Groove, in July 2019.
Mykell Messman (political science) was recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member in the Field of Law as an attorney at Messman Law.
2007
Shane Cashman (literature) has published his debut book—Joyless Kingdom: Poems, Prose, and Dispatches From the Plague. It is available through Vulture House Press, Amazon Kindle, and more. Cashman’s writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Atlas Obscura, Pitchfork, Penthouse, VICE, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. He teaches English and Narrative Studies at Manhattanville College and SUNY Orange. Please find Cashman on Instagram (@shanecashman) to follow news of his upcoming book tour and spoken word album.
Sean Kenealy (dramatic writing) has co-written, co-directed, and co-starred in the feature film In Action, currently submitting to festivals. In Action is the winner of Best Film at MidWest WeirdFest, winner of the Audience Choice Award at The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, and winner of the Best Action Feature at Underground Indie Film Festival. In Action screened with New Filmmakers NY in NYC in January 2021. Distributor Gravitas Ventures picked up the film and it will release for rent or buy in May 2021.
Francesca M. Padilla (creative writing) signed a book deal for her debut novel, What’s Coming to Me, with SoHo Teen (a subset of SoHo Press). After the ice cream stand where she works is robbed, 17-year-old Minerva Gutiérrez plans revenge on her complicit boss, while navigating grief, anger, and the possibility of escape from her dead-end town—as well as secrets and mistakes of her own. Publication is planned for Summer 2022.
Travis Sluss (studio composition), was named to Fairfield County Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list. The entrepreneur founded MacInspires Makerspaces, with locations in Mamaroneck, NY and Greenwich, CT, where those ages 5 to adult with any level of experience can get inspired, stretch their imaginations, and work together using STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) education.
2008
Robert Stewart-Rogers (creative writing) is excited to share that he started a job with the Fairbanks Concert Association in Fairbanks, Alaska as an office manager. He is becoming increasingly involved in various aspects of operations. The company is a local nonprofit that brings performing artists from around the world for shows, education, and outreach in rural Alaska.
2009
Daniel Pereira (piano performance) released a double CD title 90 Scriabin Complete Piano Preludes with Odradek Records, available both in physical and digital formats. Also, starting in January 2021, Dr. Pereira will digitally publish his extensive 15-year-long research on Piano Traditions and their Genealogy Trees on the International Piano Archives at Maryland’s website, with free access.
2010
Kevin Collymore (political science) received his master of arts in higher education and student affairs from New York University in May 2020.
Erica Evans (design tech) is a health coach who co-founded a voluntary humanitarian project entitled Health Coaches Without Borders. Evans is providing free individual and group counselling for anyone affected by COVID-19.
Lucia Hierro (painting) had an immersive art installation at the Bronx Museum of the Arts annual benefit gala in March 2020.
Victor Oliveira (cinema studies) announced that his first feature film was being distributed by Gravitas Ventures and available for viewing on many platforms. The S.S. Swenson is available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, etc. Victor’s website: www.olivetreeproduction.com.
Claribel Ortega (journalism) has recently teamed up with Romper for their campaign #operationstorytime, reading books for children staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ortega is reading from her book, Ghost Squad, which is “Coco meets Stranger Things with a hint of Ghostbusters” in this action-packed supernatural fantasy.
2011
Andy Roninson (piano) received a 2019 Jonathan Larson Grant and a 2019–2020 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship. Roninson is also the host of Take a Ten, a musical podcast which has won Best Musical twice at Tnny’a Sound Bites festival and the 2016 City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting.
2012
Erin Sullivan (liberal arts) is a travel photographer, writer, and adventure guide. Her blog and Instagram account, Erin Outdoors, has a significant following and serves as inspiration for travel enthusiasts. Additionally, she delivered a Ted Talk about her work, shot for clients like Adobe and Sony, and hosted a mini-series, In Our Nature, for REI.
Mattson Tomlin (film) will be show runner and executive producer for an upcoming animated series based on the Terminator franchise with Netflix and Skydance in partnership with Production I.G.
2013
Mike Ladouceur (studio composition) is a London-based American composer who has released an album, Between Worlds. The album was recorded at Angel Studios with a 42-piece orchestra and female choir. It was published by Warp Publishing, a world leading independent music publisher. Ladouceur has been working in film and TV for a number of years on high profile projects, and his music is available to buy or stream on all platforms. You can listen on Spotify or Apple Music.
2014
Alberto Casadevall (political science) attended the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and received his JD in May of 2020. He was admitted to the New York Bar Association in early 2021 and is now a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society, where he represents people detained by ICE in their fight against deportation.
Gabriell Lucchese (liberal studies) completed the professional certificate program in early childhood development, which involved a practicum at The Children’s Center on campus. She received her master’s degree in 2019 at Adelphi University in communication sciences and disorders. She is a speech-language pathologist and an ESL tutor. Lucchese is proud to announce that she is now an author. Her first children’s book, Phil Fly’s First Flight, at philflyflies.com. She is thankful to have had her experiences at Purchase.
2015
Emily Frederick and Matt Garrison ’03 (music) held virtual concerts during the pandemic and shared them via social media.
Lindsay Wilson (journalism) completed a service year with AmeriCorps NCCC after graduation, where her efforts earned her a Congressional Medal Award within that ten-month period. She then become a reporter at SaratogaTODAY newspaper. She is currently a newscast producer at WRGB-CBS6 News covering news in New York State’s Capital Region.
2016
Celia Chevalier (acting) performed in FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF at the Public Theatre in NYC.
Myles Clohessy (theatre and performance) starred in the Netflix indie thriller Last Ferry, directed by Jaki Bradly.
Joseph Phillips (political science) received his PhD in December 2020 from Penn State University. While attaining his PhD degree, Phillips did and continues doing a post-doc research fellowship at the University of Exeter, England. The post doc goes until December 2021. The fellowship is about misperceptions regarding COVID-19 among populations in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. In January 2022, he will begin teaching at Penn State University.
2017
Eliza Evans’ (visual arts) conceptual activist artwork, All the Way to Hell, was on view at the Thomas Erben Gallery in Chelsea in the group exhibition ecofeminism(s) from June 19–September 26, 2020. The work had been mentioned in The New York Times, Art in America, Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, and others.
2018
Tristen Stafford (cinema studies and playwriting and screenwriting) premiered his debut feature film, Pretenders, at the 2021 Cinequest Film Festival on March 20. Pretenders follows a trio of “hometown heroes” who refuse to grow up and instead pretend to be other people in this sun-drenched LGBTQ stoner beach comedy. The movie will be available any time of day to all those with tickets, which can be bought at Pretendersthemovie.com. Pretenders features many Purchase alumni, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. The movie is led by Libby Larkin ’17 as Jasper, Emma Grace Myers ’18 as Hannah, and Diata Coleman ’19 as Nick, with support from Kara Kind ’18. The film was written, directed, and edited by Tristen Stafford and produced by Adam Gale ’17 under their production company, Journey Home.
Leah Woods (studio composition), an indie folk and soul singer-songwriter from Saratoga Springs, NY, was selected by Tarik Moody, director of digital strategy and on-air music host for 88Nine Radio Milwaukee, to be featured on NPR’s Top Shelf livestream series on July 9, 2020, hosted by Tarik and Bob Boilen.
Charlotte Woolf (visual arts) is working on a project to collect images of the inside of people’s fridges and/or freezers since everyone is working around their kitchens during the COVID-19 pandemic. Woolf currently has 11 countries’ worth of entries so far.
2019
Sara Barkat (philosophy) published her debut graphic novel, The Yellow Wall-Paper, an unabridged treatment of the classic feminist story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Barkat also organized a 30-day writing challenge in April 2020 that focused on building health through food choices.
Mariales Diaz (film) was one of ten Sundance Ingite x Adobe fellows for 2020, chosen from a global pool of more than 1,600 applicants. Diaz is a queer, gender expansive Dominican immigrant raised in Brooklyn who creates documentaries and narratives focused on exploring human relationships, the conceptualization of the “American Dream,” and intersectionalities within identity. Their storytellings center on Black and brown trans and gender-expansive folxs.
De’Juan Encarnacion (cinema studies) was part of Mark Ruffalo’s HBO project called I Know This Much Is True, which premiered May 2020 on HBO. De’Juan was hired as a background extra. Once they saw his perseverance and work ethic, he was called back to be a production assistant.
Elizabeth Mehling’s (film) thesis film, Memories of Rain, is currently on the festival circuit. In this stop motion/live action hybrid, a young woman must confront the physical manifestation of her mental illness to win back control of her mind and her memories. The film, which was the 2019 recipient of the BFA Film Conservatory Senior Film Award, has received praise for its depiction of mental illness. The film has screened at Jersey Shore Film Festival and was a student animation finalist in the International Student Animated Film Animafantasia Festival 2020. Memories of Rain will also show at the 2020 (now June 2021) New York Animation Awards, where it is a semi-finalist.
Taulant Mehmeti (music) collaborated with fellow alum Keefe Martin ’19 (music) and other musicians to release Songs To My Brother.
Eunha So (music) was featured as part of the Annual White Plains Jazz Festival with her eponymous Quartet.