FALL 2019
WELCOME TO
Presenting a diverse array of programming in theater, dance, music, film, video, literary art, and visual arts, we strive to improve the intellectual and creative activity within the Babson Community and beyond. This fall offers many thought-provoking, lively, poignant, and meaningful artistic experiences. We can’t wait for you to join us on this exciting journey of exploration and discovery through the arts at Babson College.
Above Photo by Nile Hawver Page Left Photos: (top row) Maria Schneider Orchestra by Maggie Hall, Artist Lilly Saywitz by Taline Karozichian, Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Sprit by Matthew Niederhauser, Babson Music Collective by Taline Karozichian, (second row) Cement Planter Workshop by Taline Karozichian, SEED: The Untold Story, The Love of the Nightingale by Taline Karozichian, On the Wing by Maggie Hall, (third row) Artist, Roya Amigh and student by Taline Karozichian, Birdy by Evgenia Eliseeva, Jericho Brown by Taline Karozichian, Artist Nancy Jenner by Taline Karozichian, (bottom row) Death and the Maiden by Nile Hawver, Artist LaShonda Cooks, A Conversation with Tony Shalhoub by Maggie Hall, Artist Denny Moers by Taline Karozichian.
Steven Maler, Director Leslie Chiu, General Manager Adam Sanders, Associate Director Danielle Krcmar, Associate Director, Visual Arts Richard W. Sorenson Center for the Arts Support for BabsonARTS programs has been made possible through the generosity of Richard W. Sorenson M ’68, P ’97, ’00 and Sandra L. Sorenson P ’97, ’00; Estate of Norman Dorian ’48; and Lee J. Belitsky MBA ’93, P ’17 and Janice Belitsky P ’17.
babsonarts.org
Excerpts Installation by Naoe Suzuki ARTIST TALK AND RECEPTION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 5:00 P.M. (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) EXHIBIT ON VIEW September 12–November 1, M–F 9:00 A.M.–7:00 P.M. Hollister Gallery Naoe Suzuki presents excerpts from her Artist–in–Residence projects at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a leading biomedical research institute. In this new iteration at Babson College, she will compose two pieces that use magic spells from the Edwin Smith Papyrus, the medical papyrus in ancient Egypt that included prognosis for the first time in recorded history. These pieces create rich dialogues, provoking and responding to each other, and offer viewers a deeper reading on topics such as medicine, progress, knowledge, belief, loss and discovery, and the cycle of exploration. Above all, they defy logic and resist singular reading on complex topics on science, progress, and history.
Jamie Kent and Friends CONCERT Thursday, September 26, 7:00 P.M. Carling-Sorenson Theater (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) As part of his three-day residency, Jamie will lead an Arts & Business Panel, headline a music concert with several of Babson’s talented student musicians, co-host a creative/artistic-based rocket pitch competition with the Sorenson and Blank Centers, and speak with students in classrooms. BabsonARTS is proud to welcome Jamie Kent ’09 back to campus as part of the Centennial Celebration. Named by RollingStone.com as an “Artist You Need to Know,” and dubbed a “Must Watch Artist” by The Huffington Post, Kent has quietly been making waves across the country as an artist, entrepreneur, and songwriter over the past decade. His songs have been heard across major network television, from the most recent Google Pixel worldwide ad campaign, to NBC’s The Today Show and World of Dance. Apart from his own music, Kent is the founder of “New Nashville Live,” a traveling showcase of Nashville’s fastest rising talent and was recently named one of the Best Shows at SXSW by Rolling Stone. Jamie headlines a concert featuring some of the talented musicians from Babson College, Olin College of Engineering, and Wellesley College including the Babson Music Collective and Sababa. Rocket Pitch Competition co-sponsored by the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship.
CONVERSATION Jamie Kent ’09, Kerry O’Neil M ’79, and Allison Clifford, Marketing Specialist, Bose Live Music Team Friday, September 27, 12:30 P.M. Sorenson Black Box (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) Jamie Kent’s fusion of entrepreneurship and music, which he refers to as “Artrepreneurship,” has led him to top Billboard charts and founding a touring music festival. In this panel discussion Jamie brings together two of his frequent collaborators: Kerry O’Neil M’79, founding member of the entertainment consulting firm of O’Neil Hagaman, LLC, which is focused solely on the entertainment industry as well as co-founder of Big Yellow Dog Music, an independent music publishing and artist development company; and Allison Clifford, Marketing Specialist for the Bose Live Music Team where she develops and tracks marketing strategies and collaborates with PR agencies to create featured product stories focused on artist and festival applications. The panel will discuss the music industry, music management, and how the entrepreneurial and creative thought processes utilize the same filter for idea generation.
Crafting Political Discourse: A Conversation with Adam Farina ’15, Speechwriter Tuesday, October 1, 7:00 P.M. Carling-Sorenson Theater (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) At a time when the U.S. political landscape is dynamic and often divisive, speechwriters craft the persuasive, memorable, and influential messages that help win elections and keep citizens engaged. Adam Farina, valedictorian of the Babson class of 2015, serves as the speechwriter for Congressman and 2020 Presidential candidate, Seth Moulton. Adam will share anecdotes from the campaign trail about the power of political rhetoric and discuss how an entrepreneurship education prepared him for an unorthodox post–Babson career. Foundations of Critical Inquiry (FCI) Speaker, presented by the Arts & Humanities and History & Society Divisions.
Shoplifters A FILM DIRECTED BY HIROKAZU KORE–EDA Tuesday, October 8, 7:00 P.M. Carling-Sorenson Theater (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org)
Awarded the prize for best film at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Shoplifters tells the story of a poor Japanese family who ekes out a living by resorting to petty crime. One day they find an abandoned child and take her into their ramshackle, already crowded home. With humor and empathy Shoplifters reveals itself to be not just a family saga but also a harrowing indictment of society, a poignant examination of the nature of love, and a celebration of the ties that bind. Co–presented by the Global Film Series and the Arts and Humanities Division.
DIRECTED BY STEVEN MALER SCREENINGS Wednesday, October 9, 4:00 P.M. & 8:00 P.M. Thursday, October 10, 4:00 P.M. & 8:00 P.M. Carling-Sorenson Theater (Space is limited. FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) Hamlet 360 is a co-production of Google and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, created with support by Chronotope and Sensorium, and distributed by Boston Public Media producer WGBH. Additional support for Hamlet 360 was provided by Christy Cashman, Morwin Schmookler, Kerry Healey, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, and Babson College.
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company has partnered with Google to take Shakespeare’s most iconic play to the cutting edge of immersive storytelling in Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit, embracing the immersive power of VR to plunge the viewer into Hamlet’s harrowing journey. It is a 60 minute, cinematic, 360-degree adaptation that explores new dimensions of the medium by casting the viewer as the Ghost of Hamlet’s dead father, giving the viewer a sense of agency and urgency as an
omniscient observer, guide and participant. A brilliant cast of actors, as comfortable on stage as they are on screen, deliver powerful performances that bring the play forward to today, making it both current and timeless. “It felt more as if I’d been catapulted into a movie or a play…Stage artists like to speak of ‘immersive theater’’ that obliterates that imaginary ‘fourth wall’ between performers and audience. Well, VR is about as immersive as it gets.” — Don Aucoin, The Boston Globe
Fine Art & Business: A Conversation with Stephanie Bond ’96 of Childs Gallery ARTS & BUSINESS CONVERSATION Friday, October 11, 12:30 P.M. Sorenson Upper Lobby (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) Lunch provided. Stephanie V. Bond, director and co-owner of Childs Gallery in Boston, MA, is an avid collector and has been engaged in the purchase and sale of American and European art for the past twenty years. Established in 1937 on Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay, Childs Gallery holds one of the largest inventories of oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, prints, and sculpture in the United States and has a longstanding focus on women artists. The gallery serves collectors, artists, estates, and corporate clients in the buying and selling of fine art, and places exceptional works in major museums nationwide. Stephanie has served on the board of the Newbury Street League and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Annual Sale.
Jay Gassner ’97: Waterline Reading Series Showcase Wednesday, October 30, 5:00 P.M. Glavin Chapel (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) Waterline features a fast-paced hour of literary works with readings by Babson College faculty fiction writers, poets, and essayists. Past readers have included Ellen Argyros, Stephen Bauer, Melissa Leonard, Michael Martin, Weston Miller, Mary O’Donoghue, and Mary Pinard. Presented by the Division of Arts & Humanities Photo by Taline Karozichian
United Talent Agency ARTS & BUSINESS CONVERSATION Friday, November 1, 12:30 P.M. Sorenson Upper Lobby (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) Motion Picture Talent Agent Jay Gassner ’97 grew up in Holliston, MA and joined United Talent Agency in Los Angeles shortly after graduating from Babson College. There he started in the mailroom and was promoted to an agent in the TV Literary Department in 2001. In 2013, he was named a Partner in the agency and has been the Co-Head of the Motion Picture Talent Department since 2015. He also oversees the Commercial & Endorsements Group. Gassner’s clients include Kevin Hart, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone (collectively The Lonely Island), Issa Rae, Craig Robinson, Keegan Michael Key, Randall Park, Constance Wu, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, and RICK & MORTY creator Justin Roiland. We wrap up the fall Arts & Business series featuring Babson alumni with this candid talk about working with actors and talent in Hollywood.
Deindustrialization: Photographs by James Hunt ARTIST TALK AND RECEPTION Thursday, November 7, 5:00 P.M. (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) EXHIBIT ON VIEW November 7–January 10, M–F 9:00 A.M.–7:00 P.M. Hollister Gallery Babson professor and photographer James Hunt has documented the once thriving textile mills that populated the Blackstone River Valley in central Massachusetts and Rhode Island. From Worcester to Providence, an average of one dam and one mill were built for every mile of river. For over 200 years, these mills were tended by hundreds of thousands of workers who processed millions of tons of textiles, generating vast wealth, for some, and vast pollution for the Blackstone, which was described as one of the most polluted rivers in the U.S. As work and money went elsewhere, the mills slowly emptied, monuments to economic cycles of boom and bust, now abandoned, burned, repurposed, or left waiting.
Laila at the Bridge A FILM DIRECTED BY ELIZABETH MIRZAEI AND GULISTAN MIRZAEI Tuesday, November 12, 7:00 P.M. Carling-Sorenson Theater (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org)
A story of heroism against impossible odds, this documentary follows Laila Haidari, an irrepressible survivor of child marriage and her own traumatic past. In the face of physical threats, governmental opposition, and the departure of the international community from an Afghanistan on the verge of collapse, Laila fights to keep alive her labor of love — a drug treatment center and a restaurant staffed by recovering addicts. Laila at the Bridge is a portrait of a determined woman who risks everything and perseveres in the face of overwhelming challenges. Elizabeth Mirzaei, one of the directors of Laila at the Bridge, will introduce the film and lead a post-film discussion. Co–presented by the Global Film Series and the Arts and Humanities Division.
Babson Music Collective Fall Concert Monday, December 9, 7:00 P.M. Sorenson Black Box (FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org) The Babson Music Collective is a student band dedicated to playing jazz, as well as other popular forms of music. The band reflects the unique make-up of the Babson community, highlighting each member’s talents and interests. With improvisation and spontaneity at the core of the music, no two performances will be the same! Photo by Taline Karozichian
Student Artists at Babson The Empty Space Theater presents
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow A PLAY BY ROLIN JONES DIRECTED BY JONATHAN ADLER October 24, 25, and 26, 7:00 P.M. October 25, 2:00 P.M. Carling-Sorenson Theater Tickets $15; Babson faculty/staff $10; students $5 Jennifer is a typical 22-year-old California girl who reengineers obsolete missile components for the U.S. Army from her bedroom. When she decides to meet her birth mother in China, she uses her technological genius and entrepreneurial drive to devise a new form of human contact. Rolin Jones’ irreverent “techno-comedy” chronicles one brilliant young woman’s quest to determine her heritage and face her fears with the help of a Mormon missionary, a pizza delivery guy, and her astounding A.I. creation named Jenny Chow. An Obie Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist, this play is all about the power — and limits — of technology to solve our problems. The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Services, Inc., New York. This play is supported in part by a Babson-Olin-Wellesley Presidential Innovation Grant.
Workshops BabsonARTS workshops give participants the opportunity to explore their own creativity and build important visual and communication skills. Visit babsonarts.org for more information.
Workshops are open ONLY to Babson, Olin, Wellesley students and Babson faculty and staff of all levels of experience (unless otherwise noted). All events are FREE with reservation at babsonarts.org
Street Art Workshop With Percy Fortini-Wright Wednesday, September 25, 6:15 P.M.–8:15 P.M. Trim Hall 215 Learn basic spray can techniques and make your own piece of portable street art with acclaimed Boston-based artist Percy FortiniWright. Percyfortiniwright.com All materials will be provided.
Improv for the Entrepreneur (Open to the Public)
Pinch Pots (2 sessions)
Wednesday, October 16, 5:00 P.M.–7:00 P.M. Active Listening Sorenson Black Box
Wednesday, October 2, 5:00 P.M.–7:00 P.M. Wednesday, October 9, 5:00 P.M.–7:00 P.M.
Wednesday, October 30, 5:00 P.M.–7:00 P.M. Confident Speaking Carling-Sorenson Theater
Trim Hall 221/Babson Ceramics Studio
Join visiting artist Kristen Mazzocchi and Sorenson Center Associate Director Adam Sanders for an introduction to the basic concepts of improvisational acting. Each session relates different techniques and activities to specific challenges in entrepreneurship and leadership. Join for one or both! No prior experience necessary. Open to the public.
Try out our amazing Ceramics Studio! Making pinch pots is an easy, fun way to explore the creative possibilities of clay. Danielle Krcmar and Ceramic Studio instructors will show participants how to make their own pots, bowls, or vases in the first session and glaze the fired pots in the second session. Plants will be provided in the second session for those who wish to turn their pots into planters.
Student Performances There are an amazing number of student artists at Babson. These are just a few of the studentled groups that perform on campus. Come check them out! Performances in the CarlingSorenson Theater unless otherwise noted. Dates and times subject to change.
AMAN: SOUTH ASIAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION November 7, 8:00 P.M.
ROCKET PITCHES, a cappella group December 8, 6:00 P.M.
BABSON PLAYERS, November 15–16, 7:00 P.M. and November 17, 2:00 P.M.
SAG: STUDENTS AGAINST GRAVITY, improv September 13, October 11, November 8 and December 6, 9:00 P.M. (Grille Room, Trim)
BDE: BABSON DANCE ENSEMBLE December 5–7, 8:00 P.M.
Sorenson Art Scholars The Sorenson Art Scholarship program gives students with exceptional artistic talent the chance to combine their artistic pursuits alongside an entrepreneurial education at Babson. The program provides professional mentorship and feedback from a structured, peer-led process, allowing scholars to develop not just as artists, but also as thinkers and leaders.
This year’s Sorenson Art Scholars are (L–R) Amara Ogukwe ’22, Logan Harris ’22, Madison Adler ’21, Maria Blanco ’20, (not pictured: Caroline Clark ’23 and Gabriela Martin ’23, Joseph Nash ’20) Photo by Taline Karozichian
The Babson Campus BabsonARTS events take place on the picturesque campus of Babson College, an independent college located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Babson is a recognized national and international leader in entrepreneurship education, blending innovative, integrated, and applied business and liberal arts programs. The Sorenson Center for the Arts is located at 19 Babson College Drive. Free parking is available in the Trim Parking Lot, a short walk from the theater. Visit our website or Facebook page to view our helpful video to plan your trip to BabsonARTS.
It is Easy to Join Us at BabsonARTS!
CONNECT WITH US BOX OFFICE: 781-239-5880 WEBSITE: babsonarts.org To sign up for our monthly newsletter, email Heather Darrow, Director of Marketing, at hdarrow@babson.edu
Top Left: Babson Music Collective, Photo by Chuck Losey, Top Right: Karen MacDonald and Ryan Winkles in Universe Rushing Apart: Blue Kettle and Here We Go, Bottom Left: Another Word for Body: Paintings by Coral Woodbury, Bottom Right: Mustang: a film by Deniz Gamze Ergüven.
MOST EVENTS ARE FREE! BABSONARTS.ORG, 781.239.5880