The ACTORS:

Michael Alexander:
I am a native of St. Louis, where I graduated from Beaumont High School. I was a Sergeant in the United States Air Force, working as a Fuels Specialist, servicing aircraft, homes, cars, trucks, oxygen tanks, and more at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. I like the arts. I also like crafts, working with wood and leather. Ever since I was young, I have been interested in acting. Following in the path of St. Louis’ Vincent Price, or even Mighty Mouse, I might become The Actor, should this work out…

Robert Cruz:
I was born in Puerto Rico, but raised in Queens, New York. I am the oldest of six children, and had to look after my siblings after our father died at the age of 45. Since the age of 11, I took little jobs to make some money, such as walking dogs, cleaning houses and washing cars. School was hard, because my family moved a lot, but I always loved to act and dance in school plays. Now, at the age of 28, I have a chance to do so, thanks to the Pulitzer.

Travis Dean:
I am 20 years old. I am very outgoing and have an open mind. I am also committed to putting my energy toward things that are positive and life-enhancing. I am grateful for The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts program and for this opportunity to explore my acting talents.

Gregory Golliday:
I was born and raised in St. Louis. I am a professional truck driver. I feel very grateful and lucky to be part of this Pulitzer program, studying the Old Masters and having the opportunity to perform. I plan to continue pursuing the performing arts.

Ronald Gore:
I was born in Chicago and recently moved from Atlanta, Georgia, to St. Louis.  I plan on being in the Senior Pro Bowlers Association and on visiting all the Great Rivers in Missouri for some great fishing.

Don Hake:
I was born in St. Louis County. I am the eighth child of ten. I am a skilled construction worker, and I enjoy spending time with my family on weekends. I am the father of three, two girls and one boy. Though music and the arts have always been an interest of mine, I have never had the opportunity to be involved. I am enjoying every minute of this experience and feel as though I am growing to be a more rounded person.

Naheem Houston:
I was born in St. Louis, but can’t remember at which hospital…LOL. Fast forward to 2009. I am at a point in my life where I am attending a program at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts to learn about Old Master paintings from the past.  In addition to working with the Pulitzer and the friendly staff, I am also a part-time student at Florissant Valley Community College looking to major in Broadcasting. In my spare time, I gather information for a future career in entertainment, as well as with Green Home Real Estate. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve taken an interest in the performing arts, and I feel that it adds a puzzle piece missing in my life toward my future success. What I’ve learned, I can share with others, opening their eyes and minds to something that they wouldn’t otherwise experience on a daily basis.

Lamonte Johnson:
I was born in 1969 in East St. Louis, Illinois. My parents separated in 1981. I graduated from Madison High School in 1987, where I played basketball for their team. I attended Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, for one year and soon after I joined the Marine Corps.

Daryl Kimbrough:
I was born in St. Louis. I have one sister. I am divorced. I served as a mine sweeper in Kuwait and Rafah in the United States Army. I enjoy acting and am also an entrepreneur.  My goal is to start, with friends, a renewable energy company.

Calvin Robinson:
I was born in St. Louis to Martha and Wesley Robinson of Arkansas and Mississippi. I have six brothers and four sisters. As a single man, I am a proud father of one son, a wonderful grandfather, and a reluctant uncle with a host of nephews, nieces, and cousins. I was baptized in Bethlehem Baptist Church. I also served as National Guardsman, a soldier in the Army, as a Field Artillery Radar crewman and Army reservist.

Karen Sammons:
I am a graduate of the University of Missouri in St. Louis, where I majored in Education and Psychology. I have been a teacher and worked in a research company, and I hope now to work in Customer Service or Human Services. My experiences in the arts will continue to deepen my abilities to express my thoughts and help others find their own feelings to articulate. I find the Pulitzer arts project interesting and fulfilling, learning more about the Old Masters.

Reuben Stewart:
I was born in Stewart, Florida. I have lived in both St. Louis and Florida, between my mother and father. My favorite hobby is boxing, which I grew to love in my teenage years in St. Louis, starting at Tandy Recreational Center. In addition, I enjoy dirt bikes, jet skiing, rapping, working out, fast cars, and motor bikes. I really enjoy work that is hands-on: fabricating and restoring marble and granite, laying tile, as well as masonry and stucco work. I am excited to start school in Social Work next month, yet intend to continue work as a social worker.

Samantha Thomas:
I was born and raised in Bavaria, Germany, and have lived in the U.S. for five years.  I had forgotten how beautiful art is, and I am really excited about this program.

Raheem Thorpe:
I am the father of a beautiful 17-year-old girl. I was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  I went to Forest Park Community College. I had a pretty good childhood. I had a spiritual awakening and experience. I found this wonderful art and acting program. I am grateful for the gifts God has given me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I also like to collect model trains, put jig saw puzzles together, and to listen to jazz.

Steven Tyler:
I was born and raised in St. Louis, and I am a graduate of the St. Louis public school system. I attended college on a swimming scholarship. One of my pride and joys is being a member of the first Black National Swimming and Diving Championship. I am an avid reader. In addition, I also like swimming and riding bikes. I am looking forward to seeing how far I can soar with The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

Dawn Shaw:
I grew up in the St. Louis area. I have one son, Tré, who’s almost 16. I’m a strong, positive woman with many goals, who loves theater and poetry. Prison Performing Arts has encouraged me to see that anything is possible; I am very thankful to be part of this program. I enjoy CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) work; I’ve been a part of this work since I was 17.

Scott McBride:
I was born in East St. Louis and raised in Coffeen, Illinois. I went to Hillsboro High School and really enjoyed my experiences there. I served in the Illinois Army National Guard in Litchfield for six years. When I was growing up, I lived with my grandfather in the country about 300 feet away from Coffeen Lake. I still enjoy fishing, camping, hunting, and anything to do with the outdoors.

The STAFF:

Lisa Harper Chang (Producer):
I have an MSW, and I’m the Master of Community Engagement at the Pulitzer, a position shared by the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. I have twenty-plus years of classical piano training. At Rice University I briefly studied classical voice and co-founded the first undergraduate acapella group while receiving a BA in Computational and Applied Mathematics. I succumbed to the charms of non-profit and social work after volunteering for a mindfulness program teaching meditation and awareness to women held in the Baltimore City Detention Center. Since, I’ve worked in development for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins. In my free time, I enjoy all things edible (both creating and tasting), most things musical (primarily singing, learning guitar, and playing piano), starting new projects (like knitting never-ending socks), and spending time with my husband and cat (who is, quite possibly, the most obstinate domesticated animal on earth).

Craig Courtney (Transcriber)
I was born an Orphan unto a pair of teachers. In 2007, I earned a BFA in Sculpture from SIUE. I taught for St. Louis ArtWorks before joining the Pulitzer Foundation in 2008. In addition to gallery assistance, I have worked on our community engagement programs, including the Community Light Project (Fall 2008) and Staging Old Masters (Spring 2009). My wife and I live in Collinsville, where I continue to develop my work with the intent of attending graduate school in Fall 2010.

Jackie Dodd (Movement Instructor):
I’m a senior at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in modern dance and cultural anthropology. I’ve taught movement as a means of community building, self-awareness, and education with organizations such as Power of Hope (an arts-based youth empowerment program), Delmar Harvard Elementary, and Lydia’s House (a shelter for abused women and their children). I have performed and choreographed extensively in the past four years, most recently for my honors thesis, Becoming Earth, a fifty-minute piece exploring our experiences of environment and community. I am also a classically-trained singer. Staging Old Masters has been a wonderful experience: I firmly believe in the ability of art to express, heal, and empower, and all of the SOM participants have proven that true in a beautiful way. Thanks and admiration to all!

Steve Ducker (Transcriber):
I graduated in 2003 from the University of Missouri in Columbia with a Bachelor’s in Art History and began working at the Pulitzer Foundation the following year, 2004. Later, I earned my Master’s in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development from Saint Louis University’s Public Policy Department. It was this degree that inspired me to work closer with the community to strengthen neighborhoods and improve city living. I feel that, by involving all members of a community in art projects such as The Community Light Project, new bonds can form among neighbors, which ultimately lead to new friendships and safer streets.

Allegra Fisher (Transcriber):
I am junior in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Art at Washington University in St. Louis. Since I was young, I have been active in performing and fine arts. For me, it’s very exciting to have the opportunity to work on a project that combines fine art with performance. It has also been a pleasure to work with everyone involved, and I’d like to thank everyone for being so welcoming and for creating a great experience.

Maggie Ginestra (Editor) :
I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and proudly still ride my bike like a teenager. I love voices, those fragrant trees we hang our strings of word-bulbs on. St. Louis is my favorite city, but the beach is not a city.

Cassie Hamrick (Photographer/Videographer Intern):
Hi, I’m Cassie Hamrick, official photographer and videographer intern for Staging Old Masters. I am a senior undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis. In May of this year, I will graduate with a B.F.A. degree in Sculpture (yikes)! Over the past few years, I’ve discovered within myself a passion for community art. For this reason, I am so excited to be working with Staging Old Masters. Thank you to all on the team who have made this project as fun, deep, engaging, honest, raw, silly, embracing, serious, open, challenging, changing, combustible, caring, and beautiful as it has been. You have truly touched my life.

Francesca Herndon-Consagra (Senior Curator, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts):
I was born to a family of artists in Rome, Italy, which is filled with wonderful art and architecture. Ever since second grade, I’ve filed my art postcard collection by period, style, and location, so I think that I’ve always wanted to be a curator. My interest in art inspired me to get a Ph.D.; to research, help acquire, and write about art; and to organize art exhibitions for museums and other art organizations. I enjoy beautiful works of art because they ignite my imagination, they sometimes tell traditional stories in unique visual ways, and they spark conversations with myself and with others. Why does a particular work affect me? What makes it so beautiful? How does it compare to others like it? What does it tell me about the artist, the story, the culture, and the period? My personal interest in Staging Old Masters at the Pulitzer is based on the joy I feel when I share my love for art, history, and storytelling with an appreciative group who will, in turn, create their own stories and express their own feelings about the art works that I’ve discussed with them. I look forward to attending their plays and looking at these paintings in new and provocative ways.

Rae Hyuck Lee (Evaluator, Practicum Student):
I am from South Korea, and I’m a graduate student at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. I’m doing my internship at the Pulitzer Foundation For the Arts, participating in Staging Old Masters as an evaluator and actor. I’m also working for the Center for Social Development, conducting data management for the Food Stamp and Asset Limit project. I love to swim for my health, and I like to talk with those I meet.

Emily Rauh Pulitzer (Founder and Chairman, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts):
Growing up in a family that valued the arts, I was supported in my decision to make a career in the art world. After graduating from Bryn Mawr College, I continued my studies at Harvard University, while working at Harvard’s art museum in the department which cared for drawings, including those now at the Pulitzer. I came to St. Louis to become the curator at the St. Louis Art Museum. The highlight of my time in St. Louis has been constructing the building for the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts with Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Through this Foundation, I have been able to share my love of art, architecture and music with the community at large. Staging Old Masters has been a great opportunity for us to reach out in new and exciting ways.

Marley Teter (Transcriber) :
I am an undergraduate Theatre major at Washington University, and am thrilled to be a part of the Pulitzer Project! Working as a transcriber is a very interesting way to get to know the actors in the program: I have never met them, nor seen what they look like, and yet I’ve come to know intimately each of their voices and speech patterns (something particularly intriguing to me in regard to my own playwriting). Based on their descriptions, I picture in my head paintings I’ve never seen—and isn’t that powerful, how they can shape the way I see famous works of art?

Jay Thompson (Web/Creative Intern):
I’m a native of Seattle, and I’m currently finishing an M.F.A. in Poetry at Washington University. I’ve played guitar and sang in bands for most of my life, and I worked as an actor (I’ve played both Tristan Tzara and Uncle Vanya!) and as a production manager for an amateur drama society in college. I joined this program because I believe art changes lives. I write a column for the Kenyon Review’s literary blog and I co-edit a journal with three writer-friends called Thermos. I ride my bike when it’s above 35 degrees out.

Matthias Waschek (Director,the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts):
I wrote my Ph.D. on a French art movement at the end of the 19th century, which is often associated with the attempt to flee the modern world. At the time, I was living in Paris, set to be there for all my life. A lot has changed since then. I have moved to St. Louis to work in a high modern building, and I am dedicating a lot of my time to the question of how to connect what we do at the Pulitzer with the community—how to make art historical concerns relevant to a broader community than that of art historians. Staging Old Masters and other projects took shape after a couple of discussions between me and Lisa. Why show Old Masters at the Pulitzer, we wondered, in an urban situation like ours, if there is no further thought about the public? So we thought about a variety of groups and about how we might build bridges to them. I am very excited about Staging Old Masters, as is our entire staff. I also enjoyed greatly being part of the preliminary discussions with the participants, putting my art historical knowledge to use.

Rosemary Watts (Stage Manager):
I’m an actress/singer and psychologist/dream educator. As an actress, I’ve performed most recently in Menopause: the Musical (for fifteen months) and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (for five months) at the Playhouse in Westport. I’m a member of Actors Equity, AFTRA, and the Screen Actors Guild. For the past two decades, I’ve blended my acting and psychology careers, joining theater and dreams to stimulate creativity and inner reflecting. I have my own company, Dreams Unlimited, and have taught numerous dream classes, workshops, and seminars since 1987.  Since 9-11, I’ve been a part of Dreaming For Peace, using the power of the unconscious mind to tap into the spiritual well-spring connecting each of us, no matter our background, race, religion, or cultural or ethnic ties. Because of my love of theatre, inter-cultural exploration, peace work, and tapping inner resources, I’m delighted to be able to join the staff of Staging Old Masters.

Agnes Wilcox (Director):
I am a theatre director, actress and teacher. I was born in Kentucky and grew up in Wisconsin, and have lived in New York, Chicago, rural Tennessee, rural Illinois and other exotic places. As Artistic Director of Prison Performing Arts, I direct Shakespeare plays with adult inmates at two Missouri state prisons: Northeast Correctional Center, in Bowling Green; and Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, in Vandalia. The men at Bowling Green are currently rehearsing The Tempest and the women at Vandalia are rehearsing Twelfth Night, preparing for July 2009 performances. (In the past, I’ve also taught acting and improvisation at juvenile detention facilities.) I also direct the Alumni Theatre Company, a group of actors now living in St. Louis who worked with PPA while they were incarcerated. I have always been a student or a teacher or both. I hold a B.A. in Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.A. in English from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and an M.F.A. in Directing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. I’ve taught at New York University, the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center (Waterford, Connecticut), Webster University, and Washington University in St. Louis. On my many theatrical adventures, I’ve directed at theatres in Rolla and Ste. Genevieve, MO; Stockbridge, MA; Cleveland, OH; Cowan, TN; New York City; and Paris, France. I’m currently a member of Actors Equity, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.  (I was a member of the Teamsters, but have allowed my membership to lapse.)

Claire Wolff  (Practicum Student):
I’m a student at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, currently working to engage the community in various art initiatives through my practicum with the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. I’m especially interested in Staging Old Masters because the project demonstrates the power that art can have for personal transformation and empowerment. I also work for The Urban Studio, a grassroots community arts organization Old North St. Louis, where I’m currently spearheading the creation of a social-venture café that will generate revenue from coffee sales to fund art programs in the neighborhood.