Presenters
Featured Presenters | Session Presenters | Masterclass Presenters
IAM is pleased to present a diverse and vibrant selection of leading culture creators, artists, and speakers from around the world during the three inspiring evening plenaries and featured sessions at Encounter 09.
Featured Presenters
Billy Collins
Billy Collins was born in New York City in 1941. He is the author of several books of poetry, including Ballistics (2008), She Was Just Seventeen (2006), The Trouble with Poetry (2005); Nine Horses (2002); and Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001). In 2001, Collins was named U.S. Poet Laureate. His other honors and awards include fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. More »Limón Dance
Acclaimed for its dramatic expression, technical mastery and expansive, yet nuanced movement, the Limón Dance Company illustrates the timelessness of José Limón’s work and vision. Founded in 1946 by José Limón and Doris Humphrey, the Company is now led by Carla Maxwell, who worked closely with Limón before becoming Artistic Director in 1978. The Company’s repertory, which balances classic works with commissions from contemporary choreographers, is of an unparalleled breadth, creating unique experiences for audiences around the world. More »Helen Sung
Pianist Helen Sung has been called “one of the brightest emerging stars in jazz today.” Her music is described as “marvelously imaginative,” “astonishing;” and her CD Helenistique (Fresh Sound Records) was praised as “…one of the year’s most exciting listens.” (JazzTimes). She revently won the Kennedy Center’s 2007 Mary Lou Williams Piano Competition. More »Nicholas Wolterstorff
Nicholas Wolterstorff was the Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University, and taught at Yale from 1989 until he retired in June 2002. Previously, he taught at Calvin College, the Free University of Amsterdam, and the University of Notre Dame and was visiting professor at several institutions. After concentrating on metaphysics at the beginning of his career (On Universals), he spent many years working primarily on aesthetics and art philosophy (Works and Worlds of Art, Art in Action). More »
Eva Flatscher
Eva Flatscher is a Viennese painter and performer, working in an avant-garde combination of painting, dance and music known as LIGHTPAINTING. She performs frequently with renowned musicians from differing backgrounds (classical, jazz, new music) and performs with dance and other stage performers. She has performed LIGHTPAINTING throughout Europe.Ljova and the Kontraband
LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND (formerly Ljova & the Vjola Contraband) - is chamber-jam music for the "remix generation". As if by alchemy, Eastern-European and Gypsy melodies, Latin rhythms, Jazz-inspired improvisations, and deeply rooted Classical forms are given new meanings in original compositions that fearlessly forge a new direction, with a nostalgic gaze towards the past.Makoto Fujimura
Makoto Fujimura (born in 1960 in Boston, USA), a 21st Century Contemporary Artist, studied extensively in the U.S. during the 1980s and 90’s, graduating with a B.A. from Bucknell University. He later studied in a traditional Japanese painting doctorate program for several years at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. His lengthy arts education bore fruit with a fusion between fine art and abstract expressionism together with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga. Makoto is the founder of International Arts Movement. More »Alice Rhee
Alice Rhee is a two-time Emmy award winning television producer who has covered breaking news and special events for NBC News and MSNBC for over a decade. From 2000 to 2004, Rhee was a national political producer and field producer for "The News with Brian Williams" and "The News" on MSNBC and CNBC. In the past decade, her assignments have taken her around the country as well as overseas. She worked as a field producer at the crash of TWA 800, the Columbine High School shootings, the Oklahoma City bombing trial, the execution of Timothy McVeigh, and the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush.Susan Isaacs
Susan is an actress and writer with many TV and film credits. She's an alumnus of The Groundlings and holds an MFA in screenwriting from USC. She's read her essays on Weekend America, published on Fresh Yarn, Infuze, and Burnside Writers Collective; and written specials for DirecTV hosted by Amy Grant and Darrell Waltrip. Susan teaches for Act One, and was recently chosen to receive a writing fellowship from Art Within. More »David Sacks
David is a photographer whose client list includes The New York Times Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and the Hard Rock Cafe. He has won many awards for his photography, and has shot in over twenty countries. His exhibition "Portraits of Hope," featuring photographs taken in Africa, supports the work of Covenant Mercies, which serves AIDS orphans in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Zambia. For more information on David, visit www.davidsacks.com. .Roberta Ahmanson
Roberta Green Ahmanson is a writer and philanthropist whose public activities are focused on deepening awareness and understanding of the role of religion in public life, the importance of knowing history to understand the present, and the vital role the arts play in shaping human experience.Steve Garber
A teacher of many people in many places, Steven Garber is the director of The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture. A professor for many years particularly interested in the relationship of political culture to popular culture, he authored The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior, and is a frequent contributor to various journals. Married to Meg, they have five children and are members of The Falls Church in Virginia.Nigel Goodwin
Nigel is Chaplain to the Arts for Encounter 09. He trained as an actor and worked in film, television and theatre before combining this experience with a theological training. His background enables him to understand and encourage those in the arts and media.Dick Staub
Dick Staub is an experienced broadcaster, writer and public speaker, a thoughtful observer of belief in contemporary culture. Staub is particularly fascinated with America's spiritual quest which today is often unlinked from organized religion. He believes there is a vibrant ongoing conversation about "ideas that matter" and belief going on in today's popular culture through movies, books, theatre and music. In 2006 Dick launched "The Kindlings Muse", a podcast (heard at www.thekindlings.com) of "intelligent, imaginative, hospitable explorations of ideas that matter in contemporary life."Session Presenters
Wayne Adams
Wayne Adams is a Brooklyn-based artist who received his B.F.A. from Calvin College and M.F.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in 2000. Adams has exhibited throughout the Midwest, New York and Vienna, Austria. Recent shows include, “The Strange Place,” Alogon Gallery, Chicago, IL (2008); "Really?" New York Center for Art and Media Studies, NYC (2007); Pole Position, Brooklyn, NY (2006). Adams co-founded umami clothing company in 2008.Vito Aiuto
Vito was born in Tecumseh, Michigan, and attended Western Michigan University where he developed a love for writing poetry. His first book of poems, Self-Portrait as Jerry Quarry, was published by New Issues Press in 2002. A self-described agnostic, Vito experienced a spiritual conversion at the age of 20 and soon after enrolled at Princeton Theological Seminary to study theology and prepare for ordained ministry. Currently he is the senior pastor of Resurrection Presbyterian Church, a church he planted in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, in 2005.The Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique, have performed and recorded as The Welcome Wagon.
Alf Bishai
Alf is a composer and music theorist who teaching at NYU. His score for The Dueling Accountant won "Best Score" at the Long Island International Film Expo. He is currently the music director of Trinity Grace Church in Chelsea.Squire Broel
Squire Broel is an artist, designer and illustrator creating a language of hopefulness and beauty amidst our frenetic, culturally -driven reality in materials as diverse as canvas, wood bronze, fabric, and glass. Broel works in series and repetition to delve into the subjects and themes of his art; ever-working to distill the spirit of the thing.Broel's work is in numerous private and public collections throughout the US and he has participated in solo and group exhibitions throughout the Pacific Northwest, Canada, Austria, Vietnam, China and Indonesia.
While his work is exhibited internationally, Broel lives and works in Walla Walla, Washington. His current work continues in a variety of dimensions to explore the derivations of his abstract floral paintings. Moving between works of large-scale and diminutive stature celebrates the inherent physicality of the creative process itself, and how changes in process build and affect meaning.
John Farkas
John Farkas graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1988 with degrees in Theatre and English. He and his wife Renee then joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ where John developed special projects and directed creative communication for FamilyLife. In 1995 he was invited to serve as the Pastor of Creative Arts at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. He now works in Nashville continuting to serve the Arts and Artists.Kevin Gosa
An award-winning saxophonist, Kevin holds a masters degree in music and is active in NYC performing at the Joyce SoHo, Living Room, Knitting Factory and other venues across the country. While currently gigging most frequently with Jake Armerding, he performs in many genres, from bluegrass to contemporary classical and beyond. He is Conference and Membership Director for IAM.Alisa Harris
Alisa Harris has a B.A. in English from Hillsdale College in Michigan. She is a reporter for WORLD, writes for Patrol and Curator magazine, and teaches a journalism class at The King's College. She writes from quirky coffee shops in Brooklyn, New York.Nathan Jacobson
After years working as a Creative Director, in 2009 Nathan Jacobson struck out on his own, freelancing in Web and print publishing. Nathan created his first website in 1993 before the Web had stylesheets and Photoshop had layers. Smitten with art and ideas, he loves to crop, slice, bleed, filter, tweak, hack, upload, reload, kern, and write into the wee hours.Merrily Kerr
Merrily Kerr is an art critic and writer living in New York City. She writes regularly for Time Out New York and creates on-line art reviews on video available on her website. Merrily leads gallery and museum tours for individuals and groups and teaches at Marymount Manhattan College.Samuel Kho
Samuel Kho co-founded 100 Stewards in 2006, with the hope of bringing collectors and artists together. Kho has worked for a variety of galleries in Asia, New York and Los Angeles. After completion of his graduate degree, one of his activities will be curating shows in 2009 for an alternative space in Greenwich Village, New York City.Linnea Kickasola
Linnea Leonard Kickasola is an opera singer who has performed leading and supporting roles in the U.S. and Europe with companies such as the Chattanooga Opera, Lyric Opera of Waco, Delphi Theatre, Operafestival di Roma, and the Sound Symphony Orchestra. She was a 2007-2008 Resident Artist with the Opera Company of Brooklyn.Joe Kickasola
Joe Kickasola is a filmmaker, author, and college professor, living in New York City. His book The Films of Krzysztof Kieslowski: The Liminal Image won the 2006 Spiritus Award for best writing on religion and film. He currently directs the Baylor Communication in New York program for Baylor University.Mark Meehan
Mark is currently Dean of Community Life and Professor of Business at Nyack College in New York, where he has also served as Dean of the School of Business. He has led several initiatives in the MBA program at Nyack, incorporating creativity courses into the curriculum and advocating for business leaders to become creative catalysts.Caleb Seeling
Caleb Seeling is Senior Editor at NavPress.David Sessions
David Sessions is the editor of Patrol, a culture magazine based in New York. He is a frequent contributor to Slate, and an occasional music columnist for the Christian newsweekly World. Sessions graduated from Patrick Henry College in 2008 with a B.A. in journalism. He grew up in Fairfield, Texas.Louisa St. Pierre
Louisa Saint Pierre is hybrid Illustrator, Director of Illustration and Interactive at BA Reps and Boutique, and manager of Spread ArtCulture Magazine. Her illustration is inspired by Byzantine religious art, Folk Art, Pop Art, Blake, Beardsley, and Klimt and personal accolades include a "Henry", the Greetings Card Industry's Oscar, Gold for Best Design in Museum Shops, Images: The Best of British Illustration, Archive 200 Best Illustrators, American Illustration and The Society of Illustrators.During her tenure as Chair of The Society of Artists’ Agents, pro actively campaigning for the rights and profile of artists, she developed The SAA Awards, cultivating sponsors, large cash prizes, and an exhibition at The London Transport Museum. The winning art appeared ubiquitously on the Underground.
She exhibits and lectures worldwide, has judged numerous competitions, and been involved with prominent industry events: Art After Dark at The Guggenheim, Cross Pollination at The Royal College, Love or Money: the Value of Authorial Illustration; The Future of Illustration for GAG; Urban Vinyl at Soho House for The Creative Social, Spread ArtCulture Magazine at The Chelsea Art Museum, Shepard Fairey at The Shore Club, Art Basel, and the ICON 5 Conference.
Christy Tennant
Christy Tennant is a writer and musician who also still acts every once in a while. She has contributed to Discipleship Journal, Pray, Bible Study Magazine, and Comment, and she blogs on ConversantLife.com. She holds (loosely) credits at two different colleges, which she hopes will not expire before she manages to graduate, probably in her next life. She takes the Staten Island ferry several times a week to get to her job on staff with International Arts Movement and lives in "the forgotten borough" with her dog, cat and a steady stream of visitors. You can read/hear/see more at www.christytennant.com.Brie Walker
Brie Walker is a writer, director and performer from Austin, Texas, whose work focuses on the development of new plays and “community-engaged” theatre. She holds an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU where she co-founded a laboratory workshop for students exploring “devising” techniques, and performed in two seasons of New Plays for Young Audiences, workshopping with playwrights including Byrony Lavery, Y.York, Susan Zeder, and Laurie Brooks. Her own work has been performed in Austin’s FronteraFest fringe theatre festival and HopeArts festival, and in New York at New Dramatists, NYU’s Theatrix Festival of New Work, The Village Church, and by Threads Theater Company.Brie currently works for Fiscal Management Associates, LLC, a consulting firm that provides training in fiscal management for nonprofit organizations, while continuing to write and experiment with approaches to devising new plays.