Alison M. Friedman Andy Cavatorta
Alison M. Friedman is a Brown University graduate and Fulbright Scholar. Her company’s mission is bringing China and the world together through the performing arts.
Andy Cavatorta is a sculptor working with sound and robotics. He is an MIT Media Lab grad, Björk collaborator, TED exhibiting artist, and Lincoln Prize recipient.
My passion is doing the impossible and fostering international dialogue and mutual understanding while doing it. I’ve lived in China for thirteen years. My organization has pioneered such crosscultural projects as bringing the first independent Chinese modern dance company to New York City’s Lincoln Center and the first American theater company ever to perform in China’s prestigious National Centre for the Performing Arts. No one thought it was possible. We did it!
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PINGPONGARTS.ORG PHOTO: PING PONG PRODUCTIONS
Despite all of the technology in my work, it’s really about the emotional subtext of everything. Sound is what I feel the most, so it’s how I share what seems true to me. So much is possible now, it can be overwhelming. While my hands are busy building one project, I’m imagining new ones, turning the details of each around like a Rubik’s Cube. ANDYCAVATORTA.COM PHOTO: MITCHELL MCLENNAN
Carol Devine
Carol Devine is a humanitarian and environmental and global health activist who tells stories about beautiful, unexpected things and things we should expect. I’m passionate about audacious people and acts. When not working on The Museum of AIDS in Africa, I live inside books and map my next trip. Now I’m exploring glacier retreat and talking climate change with kids. I’m inspired by people who went before us for rejecting a status quo, pushing limits, and asking questions. My favorite expression is “I didn’t know I couldn’t do it, so I did it.” CAROLDEVINE.INFO THEANTARCTICBOOKOFCOOKINGANDCLEANING.COM PHOTO: SANDY NICHOLSON
Danielle Claro
My passion is helping people live happier, deeper lives. I’m amazed by how much impact we can have on each other when we find the right way to communicate. As a writer, I see what a difference words and pictures and beauty can make in opening our minds to change. Dr. Frank Lipman and I made an illustrated health book that, we hope, feels like wellness in your hands. PHOTO: HAILEY WIST / SONIMA
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