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C la s s n o t e s
Ron Saunders ’98
“The Creation is Sometimes More Important than the Outcome” by Kim Schomburg Nagorski ’89 While at Otterbein, artist Ron Saunders ’98 focused on painting. Today, however, he is concentrating more and more on multidisciplinary and collaborative art. His work, he says, “is really about the process. The creation is sometimes more important than the outcome.” Currently, he is “developing mechanisms, machines — processes that are dynamic and create work on their own. I am focusing on the spaces between places and trying to find the threshold between two different objects that are seemingly opposing.” Three years spent in South Korea, along with a residency in Finland, helped him develop this latest work. Now residing in Pasadena, CA, he recently completed a large “crowd-sourcing” project, using individuals from various online groups who have similar ideological beliefs about a variety of topics. “I was able to network within those Emily Boldon ’94 was featured in the June issue of Radio Ink Magazine’s article, “Most Influential Women in Radio.” She is vice president of stratus music programming/corporate program director at Cumulus Media, Atlanta, GA. Todd Crain ’94 guest starred on a January episode of NBC’s 30 Rock as the grown-up,
not‑so‑pure‑of‑heart Charlie from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Jenny Stratton Johnson ’95 is an emergency room registered nurse at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. She and her husband, Brian, reside in Upper Arlington with their four children.
James Friesner ’94 with his son, Carl, at his graduation from the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Friesner was awarded a doctorate of ministry degree. He is an ordained member of the roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and serves in the greater Grand Rapids, MI, area.
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| O t t e r be i n To w e r s | Fall 2013
groups and facilitate a project where we used cardboard to build temporary living structures that simulated tents,” he notes. “It was an ongoing installation. Even though I had some control, it was a collaborative effort,” and one that focused on the plight of the homeless in southern California. He will be collaborating with the astrophysics and astronomy departments at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena on an upcoming project, which will involve frozen water-based pigment balls, a large panel and a group of astronomers. Although he considered various art colleges early on, Saunders chose to attend Otterbein because he wanted the flexibility that a liberal-arts college could offer. That decision, he says, “shaped who I am today. Otterbein provided a very multi-disciplinary point of view. I was able to learn things that didn’t necessarily relate to art, and it allowed me to develop critical thinking formulas.” Heather Rutz ’95 received her master of arts in education degree from Bluffton University, Bluffton, OH, in May. Erin Stewart Miller ’97 is the environmental steward for the mayor of the City of Columbus. She managed the city’s residential recycling rollout to 187,000 homes this year.
Celina Clarich Polanco ’98 is an associate director of admissions for the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, CA. She also spent most of the last year performing as Camila in the second national tour of the Tony Award winning musical, In the Heights.
Kathryn Felsenthal Stephens ’97 was honored as part of the 21st class of promising central Ohio young professionals by Columbus Business First Magazine as part of its annual Forty Under 40 awards. She is the only paid employee of Walk with a Doc, an international nonprofit organization headquartered in Columbus. The program arranges for physicians to give a 10‑minute health talk followed by a one-hour walk with participants around public parks.