Welcome to the Ai New York City Community Blog!

Keeping you informed about events and people in the Ai New York City Community.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

AI NEW YORK CITY DFM STUDENTS READY FOR THEIR CLOSEUP

Photo of Sir Elton John & Martin Scorsese by Ron Giameo Ai New York City DFM Student




Arianna Huffington with Tribeca Kids Access Reporters Daniel & Charlea (The "Tweet" Photo)



Photo of Martin Scorsese by Ron Giameo Ai New York City DFM Student

Photo of TFF Signage by Kristina Siska Ai New York City Digital Filmmaking student

Ron Giameo at work (Photo by Kristina Siska)

Ai New York City DFM Students Adam Foreman and Bennu Smith On the Red Carpet


A select group of Ai New York City Digital Filmmaking students got the chance of a lifetime to be a part of the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival that opened on Wednesday April 20 with a screening of The Union.

Under the experienced leadership of producer/project manager Len Carter (an Ai New York City alumnus himself), a team of 22 students will be filming select TFF events during the 12-day festival which ends on May 1. In advance of the Festival, Carter taught a production seminar to make sure that students at The Art Institute of New York City understood the project and were equipped to take on the challenge of documenting the Tribeca Film Festival and the Tribeca Kids Access project.

Opening night students worked in two teams; The Red Carpet Team consisting of Ai DFM students Adam Forman and Bennu Smith (Red Carpet DV Cams) and the ENG Team consisting of; Krista Siska, Ron Giameo, Sam Mena, (on still cameras) Chris Conaway and Sara Williams (on DV cameras) filming events outside along with and leading up to the free Elton John concert. The Art Institute students will film premieres, seminars and the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair, providing the edited footage to the Festival as quickly as possible. They will have the educational experience of editing the footage under a tight deadline (with editing sessions lasting until late evening).

“It’s great to be able to provide this unique experience to the Tribeca Kids Access program,” said Peter Downing, Creative Director & Producer of the Tribeca Family Festival. “The student camera crews and personnel from the Art Institute of New York City have continuously provided terrific coverage of our events, and we are pleased to welcome them back this year. We look forward to seeing the results of their hard work.”

“I can recall being in their shoes not so long ago which is why I enjoy being able to come back and help guide the new crop of students,” said Carter, Owner and Executive Producer of Phoenix Entertainment & Media Communications. “This is an experience of a lifetime for these students.”

Alumnus Len Carter and Tribeca Kids Access reporters Charlea and Daniel were the subject of a Tweet by syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington, President and CEO of the Huffington Media Group, who asked Len to take a picture of her with the budding reporters. She later tweeted “With Tribeca Kids at Tribeca Film Festival @TribecaFilmFest http://yfrog.com/h2e8tyoj"
Len tweeted back;"@ariannahuff Just wanted to thank U for the interview that you gave to the Tribeca Kids Access & tweet mention. It truly made their night!"

The Union, is the a real-life experience of musical creation and an unprecedented look at the creative career of Sir Elton John and his landmark collaboration with his early career idol Leon Russell (to whom John had not spoken in over 38 years). Cameron Crowe directs the film, which showcase the creative processes involved in the making of the landmark album produced by the legendary T. Bone Burnett and featuring such musical icons as Bernie Taupin (John’s lifelong lyricist), Ringo Star, organist Booker T. Jones and Stevie Nicks.

Check out the photos above and stay tuned for more coverage!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

MORE FACULTY GOOD NEWS!

Ai New York City Digital Film instructor Susi Graf will be conducting a phone-in interview promoting her latest film this Saturday for a new show on LA Talk Radio called Donkey Punch Radio (see the description below). The interiew will take place at 11:10 a.m. Eastern. Donkey Punch Radio reaches approximately 250,000 listeners.

For more information check out http://www.latalkradio.com/ (they only post a daily schedule for that day). A description of Donkey Punch Radio appears below:

Donkey Punch Radio with Jimmy Palmieri and Angie Miller is the irreverent look at current events,both gay and straight, politics and politicians, religion and religious leaders, liars , thieves, and anything else that Jimmy and Angie have strong opinions on. With a view from Jimmy P., a gay activist, and Angie his straight strong opinioned co-host, Donkey Punch will be a no holds barred hour of semi-controlled chaos. We will feature weekly call-in prizes , interesting guests, and our DONKEY PUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD. We will discuss human equality, the right of marriage, the tragedy of bullying, all in a way that will make you either love or hate us.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

KRISTA SVALBONAS WINS AWARD









Ai New York City Graphic Design instructor Krista Svalbonas received the Board of Trustees Award at the opening reception for the 62nd Annual Silvermine Art of the Northeast for her painting. Check out the happy award winner's painting and photo above and read all about her at http://kristastudios.posterous.com/

Monday, April 18, 2011

IT ONLY TAKES A LITTLE TO GIVE A WHOLE LOT

Ai New York City will be holding a blood drive on Thursday, April 21 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. in the Gallery. For more information on giving blood visit http://www.redcross.org/donate/give. The Ai New York City Community is urged to donate blood if they are able. The lives saved by donating blood are immeasurable. So please consider donating on Thursday.

HOPE ACT LOVE ... CONTINUED


The Hope Act Love exhibit that is currently on view in the Gallery may be closing this week but you can still participate by visiting http://hopeactlove.info/conduit.php or following Hope Act Love on Twitter or Facebook.


The exhibit has gotten press from yomiuri shimbun and an article will be forthcoming about this very worthy project. Please check out the links below for relevant articles on Japan:




A reception and silent auction was held on Friday evening April 15 and the exhibit has raised $1,890.04 for Japan relief efforts (this is excluding the Jeans for Japan day held on April 8). Even though the bidding officially closed on Friday evening, any artwork that does not have a bid beyond the starting bid, is still for sale. A red dot indicates that the artwork is sold for the price offered at the reception. Please make it a point to visit the gallery and place your bid for any of the beautiful pieces still avaiable within the next three days.


Organizer Amy Sinclair reports that they are welcoming suggestions from the community as to a place to keep or donate the over 100,000 origami cranes made for the event. It was orginally intended to be sent to http://studentsrebuild.org/ at a value of $2.00 per crane.


Kudos to Amy and her team for organizing such a wonderful event!

TAG ... YOU'RE IT!



Ai New York City Resident Assistant Luis Fuentes organized a Laser Tag event at NYC Paintball/Laser Tag in Long Island City on Thursday April 14.




29 Students attended and a good time was had by all and they cannot wait for the next event!




A photo appears above.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

THERE IS STILL TIME!


If you have not already done so, there is still time to view the Hope Act Love "happening" now going on in the gallery. The schedule of events this week is as follows:


Today, April 13 - 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. A discussion group relating to the devastating tsunami and earthquake in Japan.


Tomorrow, April 14 - 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Edna will lead participants in a Circle Project

12 noon - 5:00 p.m. David Earhart will host "Rebuild-Smashing Events-Building"

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Andrew Paul Browne and Milton Vivas will present "Empathetic Web Design", a web interaction demonstration

5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Meditation and Discussion Group


Friday, April 15 - 12 noon - 5:00 p.m. - David Earhart - Rebuild-Building exhibit

4:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Andrew Paul Browne & Milton Vivas more Empathetic Web Design demonstrations


On Friday, April 15 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. there will be a closing reception and silent auction to benefit Japan relief efforts. You might want to bid on a work by our very own Tad Graham-Handley which is on view in the Gallery!


The exhibit will only be on view until April 20, so why wait? Come to the Gallery and participate in any of these events and show your support for the people of Japan!

Friday, April 8, 2011

SWING INTO SPRING WELLNESS FAIR








Employees were treated to soothing massages, reflexology and blood pressure/chiropractic screenings on Friday, April 8 as part of an employee wellness fair sponsored by Ai New York City's Human Resources Department. Other exhibits included accupuncture, numerology, belly dancing lessons and dental health tips. Thanks to Camille Bateman for organizing the event.


Following the health fair, the community participated in a reception and rememberance for the victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The "Jeans for Japan" day raised over $400, which will be donated to the Red Cross' relief efforts. Kudos to all those who participated in this worthy cause!




Thursday, April 7, 2011

HOPE ... ACT ... LOVE


The Hope Act Love workshops exhibition is a process-oriented collaborative exhibit that was initiated in response to the crisis in Japan. A series of questions informs the exhibit: How can art and design embody a compassionate response? How does an emphasis on process and collaboration inform our understanding of community and interconnection? What is the significance of taking process out of the studio and into the public space of the Gallery? How can documentation and web communications meaningfully embrace and expand upon these questions? All are invited to come to the gallery to create art and engage in discussions and other experiences that explore these topics. Our intention is to increase awareness, raise funds and send messages of hope and love to Japan. The installation is going on from April 1 to April 20 with a reception/silent auction on Friday, April 15, from 6 to 9 p.m. This exhibition will benefit Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Ryan Santana

Collaborative Art Projects Include:



  • Vital Ki: Amy Sinclair, Christina Rodriguez, Deanne Truillo, Milton Vivas, Atanacio Perez, Andrew Paul Browne, John Jiminez, Mario Gomez.

  • The Circle Project: Morgan Palacious and Judy Aiello

  • Electronic Rebuild: David Earhart

  • Community Sentiment Indicator: Foster Birch

  • Unraveled Emotions: Renee Segure
Community Projects Include:

  • Smile-Save Japan Photobooth: Jenni Gonzalez

  • Senbazuru (1000 Origami Cranes): Katie Nekiunas

Also exhibiting are works by individual artists to be sold at a silent auction.

Please go to http://hopeactlove.info/ for more details (site currently in development -- so stay tuned!).

Documentation: Ace Bouchard, Nigel McKain l Graphic Design: Jeffrey Kasper l Web Design: Andrew Paul Brown

An Invisible Strings Project - Guided by Amy Sinclair

WANT TO PUT SOME "SPRING" BACK IN YOUR STEP?

All AiNYC employees are invited to the "Swing Into Spring" wellness fair being held tomorrow, April 8 from 2-4 p.m. at the following locations:

The Gallery -

  • Learn belly dancing (for men and women)

  • Learn about dental health (with an electric toothbrush raffle)

  • Check your blood pressure

  • Learn about sports injury prevention and

  • Podiatry screenings

Third Floor Conference Room -


These events are by appointment only -- to schedule yours, email Camille Bateman today (cbateman@aii.edu)



  • Soothing chair massages

  • Physical Stress Exams for Back pain 8 Acupuncture Cranial Acupressure Energy Meridian Massage (Experience a soothing balancing of the body’s energy system (aromatherapy too!)

Room 3023 - These events are by appointment only -- to schedule yours, email Camille Bateman today (cbateman@aii.edu)



  • Reflexology foot massage

Room 3029 - These events are by appointment only -- to schedule yours, email Camille Bateman today (cbateman@aii.edu)



  • Numerology (Learn how your name and birth date relate to your life’s purpose and challenges!)