Issue 3 / Winter 2012GIVE. INSPIRE. CREATE.

MOMENTIN THE

A N E W S L E T T E R F O R D O N O R S A N D F R I E N D S O F C O L U M B I A C O L L E G E C H I C A G O

Since its inception in 2009, Scholarship Co-lumbia has become one of the most success-ful philanthropic initiatives in the history of Columbia College Chicago. As the college’s first publicized matching challenge, Scholar-ship Columbia has raised nearly $1.6 million for the benefit of continuing students, and along the way, inspired a community of giving among Columbia College alumni, faculty, staff, and friends. More than just a scholarship, this mission symbolizes our willingness to come together in difficult economic times, giving current students who are at risk of leaving for financial reasons the chance to complete their college educations.

** In the spirit of building community, gifts to Scholarship Columbia of up to $25,000 are matched 1:1 by the college, while alumni gifts are matched 2:1.

** This is an opportunity for alumni andneighbors to show support for their arts education, while at the same time, champion the successes of future artists and entrepreneurs.

** To date, Scholarship Columbia has awarded over 200 scholarships to students currently facing financial barriers, helping them to achieve their college degrees.

This is more than just an increase in numbers. It is a change in our students’ lives, allowing talented youths to pursue careers that may have otherwise been closed to them, and giving them the resources they need to succeed.

Scholarship Columbia is nearing the comple-tion of its matching challenge, presenting one last opportunity to make a charitable gift be-fore the end of the school year. During its run, Scholarship Columbia has deeply impacted our school, our community, and most impor-tantly, our students. Yet this success would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors. This holiday season, Scholarship Columbia offers another occasion for giving back, fostering not only a stronger Columbia College community, but also a richer future for those artists and educators given a chance to realize their dreams.

For information on giving to Scholarship Columbia, visit colum.edu/scholarshipcolumbia

PAVING THE WAY FOR THE NEXT GREAT GENERATION OF ARTISTS

Welcome to the third issue of IN THE MOMENT, a newsletter celebrating

the generosity of donors and friends to Columbia College Chicago. With your help

we are able to deliver world-class education in the visual, performing, media,

and communication arts. Columbia College Chicago has become a creative

powerhouse — a wildly diverse collective of students who share a passion for

creative work and enterprise. Whether you support scholarships, endowments,

or invest yourself in other ways, your gift makes a difference; thank you.

Scholarship Columbia:

COVER PHOTO: AlisTAiR PORTER (’13). RiGHT: DREW REYNOlDs (’97) 2 |

“You’re the reason why I’m here, the reason why I’m going to be somebody, and the reason why

I’m going to be successful.”ALEJANDRA ORTEGA ’16

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Barbara Metz, an important force in Chicago book arts, passed away at the age of 81 in December 2011. A memorial service celebrating Metz’s life and work was held at Columbia College Chicago’s Center for Book and Paper Arts on April 28, 2012. Metz is survived by her three children, Alan, Ken, and Hillary.

The Barbara Lazarus Metz Endowed Fellowship was established by Metz’s children in recognition of her long-standing dedication to the paper arts. The fellowship is supported by an endowment fund established by the Metz children, and aided by the overwhelming generosity of donations from attendees at the Metz memorial service. Beginning next fall, the fellowship will be awarded to a master’s student in Book and Paper Arts, helping them pay tuition and pursue this specialized art form. Steve Woodall, Director of the Center for Book and Paper Arts, said, “This fund will support fellowships for as long as the Center for Book and Paper Arts exists. Barbara Metz will not only be remembered by those who knew her, but will also have the gratitude of future generations of book artists in training.”

In 1983, Metz co-founded Artists Book Works on Irving Park Road, which later merged with Marilyn Sward’s Paper Press to become the

Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College. Metz was not only one of the founders of the Center, but also played an important role in establishing book arts as part of the Interdisciplinary Arts curriculum.

Through her teaching and her work as an exhibition curator for the Center for Book and Paper Arts, Metz helped to establish an exploratory, experimental, and interdisciplinary approach to the nature of the book and its place in contemporary art practice. She also taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Loyola University, in addition to holding workshops throughout the country. Her last curated show for Columbia College was Betwixt & Between: The Dick Higgins Retrospective, which took place at the Center for Book and Paper Arts in 2000.

For more information, visit colum.edu/bookandpaper

The Barbara Lazarus Metz Endowed Fellowship Honors the Memory of Center for Book and Paper Arts Co-Founder,

BARBARA METZ

PHOTO COuRTEsY Of THE METz fAMilY4 |

The CAAN National Leadership Assembly took place in Chicago this past September when the new executive committee for the National CAAN Board was elected. Joan Hammel (BA ’86) continues her role as President, Marty Kane (BA ’06) is the new Vice President, with Pat Blum (BA ’84) and Marie Chaiart (BA ’06) appointed as Treasurer and Secretary, respec-tively. The National Leadership Assembly set a leadership precedent when all 12 members of the National Board gave to the Alumni Scholar-ship Fund. Their commitment serves as an ex-cellent representation of our alumni’s dedica-tion to supporting the next generation of Columbia graduates.

CAAN’s goal is to increase the active en-gagement of Columbia’s former students within their communities by promoting the activities of each alumni chapter.

There are currently 11 chapters, and the goals of each reflect the interests of their respective members, such as working to support student scholarships, providing mentorship, welcom-ing young alumni, and organizing networking events. In the same way that Columbia contin-ues its commitment to training future leaders of creative industries, its alumni continue to support those same students as they enter into the working world and begin building com-munities of their own.

National CAAN Board: Developing a Fundraising Culture

For more information on getting involved with CAAN in your area, visit colum.edu/CAAN

LOOKING BACK AT ALUMNI WEEKEND 2012In September, the Office of Alumni Relations hosted its 6th annual Alum-ni Weekend. The event brought together a record number of alumni from around the country who took part in an action-packed schedule of ac-tivities along with the leaders of the CAAN National Board. The event helped to raise money for the Alumni Scholarship Fund, which was es-tablished in 1991 to help undergraduate students defray the cost of tuition.

Opening the weekend was a reception featuring the photography of noted alumna Diane Dammeyer (’01), whose new exhibition opened on the 2nd floor of the Columbia library. One of the many highlights of the event included the student and alumni fashion and hair show, which was the talk of the weekend. The Alumni Writer’s Panel on Saturday eve-ning featured Emmy Award-winning writer, actor, and producer Dino Stamatopoulos (’87), Thor writer Mark Protosevich (BA ’83), and two-time Eisner Award-winning DC Comic cartoonist and 2012 Alumnus of the Year Art Baltazar (BA ’92).

Now in its 3rd year, the Alumni Weekend career workshop had its high-est attendance to date, and for the first time, current students were in-vited to participate. The Alumni Short Film Showcase was also well at-tended, as was the after party featuring alumnus and Material Issue bassist and vocalist, Ted Ansani (BA ’90).

Save the Date!Alumni@Manifest May 17, 2013

Alumni Weekend 2013 September 27–29

For more information on alumni events, visit colum.edu/alumni

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COLUMBIA ALUMNI MENTOR YOUNG STORYTELLERS IN LA

Alumni from the Los Angeles chapter of the Co-lumbia Alumni Association & Network (CAAN) have begun their third semester working with the Young Storytellers Foundation at Carthay Center Elementary School. The foundation is a nonprofit, volunteer-based creative arts pro-gram that serves students in elementary, mid-dle, and high schools across the Los Angeles area. Using group exercises and one-on-one mentoring, the foundation provides under-served children in the public school system with an opportunity to write stories and see them brought to life on stage. Thousands of adult volunteers donate their time to mentor individual students and perform student works, supporting the foundation’s mission to “inspire children to discover the power of their own voice.”

CAAN was introduced to the Young Storytellers Foundation through Broadcast Journalism alumna Sheryl Tirol (BA ’00). Tirol has been a mentor for several years and was the catalyst for CAAN’s decision to sponsor Carthay Center Elementary. She got involved with the organi-zation after a well-known actor tweeted about the foundation. Tirol says, “I was hooked the moment I saw what they did. It felt very per-sonal to me since I have been writing my whole life, even as a child.” Tirol and the other par-ticipating CAAN members had big shoes to fill, as the program was previously sponsored by the HBO show Entourage. So far, the response from the Columbia alumni community has been fantastic. Several CAAN mentors have

stayed with the program for three consecutive semesters, and the association has added several new mentors over the last year alone.

Each semester with the Young Storytellers Foundation includes eight weeks of mentor-ship, culminating in a final performance of the students’ scripts called the “Big Show.” This year, alumni from CAAN’s LA chapter will be participating in performances of scripts writ-ten by 5th-grade students in the program. The Young Storytellers Foundation also hosts “The Biggest Show,” its main fundraising event. “The Biggest Show” sees professional actors performing select scripts that students have written throughout the semester. This year’s event took place on October 20 and was an exciting evening for the foundation and its stu-dents, as the student work was performed by the cast of Glee.

Working with the Young Storytellers Foundation is a fantastic way for Columbia alumni to support the artistic community in their area. Volunteers help to bridge a gap between the entertain-ment industry and the local community, becoming an inspiration to the next generation of artists.

The foundation serves around 700 young storytellers each year, and nearly 4,000 students attend the foundation’s public performances. Sarah Schroeder (BA ’00), Director of Alumni Relations, sums up the great work done by CAAN members: “I know that watching the students see their work come to life makes a huge difference to them, and that’s what it’s all about—giving back in a creative way.”

If you would like more information on getting involved with the Young Storytellers Foundation please visit www.youngstorytellers.com

PHOTO: sARAH sCHROEDER (BA ’00)6 |

PHOTO CREDiT

Film Row Cinema of Columbia College Chicago1104 S. Wabash, 8th floor

Debbie Allen is regarded as one of the most important and coveted directors in Hollywood and Theater. A dancer, choreographer, actress, and producer, Debbie Allen is a world-recog-nized artist, having starred in Tony Award-win-ning productions of West Side Story and A Rai-sin in the Sun, and been honored with the first ever Astaire Award for Best Dancer, as well as a Drama Desk Award. In addition to her exten-sive television credits, producing and directing such shows as Grey’s Anatomy and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Debbie Allen has represented the United States as Cultural Ambassador for Dance, fulfilling missions in China, India, and the Middle East. Devoted to arts education for young people, she has engaged students around the world through dance and theater arts, and founded the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in 2001 to expand the reach of dance and theater to youths in LA.

Michele Norris is an award-winning journalist and the host of NPR’s newsmagazine All Things Considered, public radio’s longest-running na-tional program. In September 2010, Norris re-leased her first book, The Grace of Silence: A Memoir, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Christian Science Moni-tor. Before coming to NPR, Norris was a corre-spondent for ABC News, as well as a reporter for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2010 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award, the 2009 Journalist of the Year Award, the Nation-al Association of Black Journalists’ 2006 Sa-lute to Excellence Award, among many others. In 2009, she was named one of Essence Maga-zine’s “25 Most Influential Black Americans,” and has won an Emmy and a Peabody Award.

For more information, please visit colum.edu/conversations

Debbie Allen, February 2013 Michele Norris, April 16 2013

Conversations in the Arts is an event that offers in-depth dialogue with some of the world’s most notable cultural figures. This winter and spring, take the opportunity to listen in as our upcoming featured speakers, Debbie Allen and Michele Norris, share their influential ideas and powerful work in this select and intimate setting.

Save the Dates for

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PHOTO: ERiKA DufOuR

Starting The Year By Saying Thanks

On September 7, the Office of Institutional Advancement hosted an old-fashioned ice cream social to recognize the outstanding philanthropic contributions and volunteerism of the college’s faculty and staff. Sponsored by Baskin Robbins, the event was a great success, with a large number of faculty and staff in attendance. Brent Caburnay, Director of External Programs and Annual Giving, said, “We are incredibly proud of those faculty and staff who make personal financial contributions that benefit the lives of our talented students. Their support of scholarships, programs, and endowments makes a huge difference in the lives of so many of our grateful students. A culture of philanthropy is one of the most valuable assets that an institution can possess, and Columbia is privileged to have so many people within the college giving back.”

Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling Department Celebrates 30 Years

The Dance/Movement Therapy and Counsel-ing department at Columbia College Chicago marks its 30th anniversary this year, celebrat-ing 30 years of dedication to providing stu-dents with a solid foundation of internships, fieldwork, and coursework in counseling/psy-chotherapy, dance/movement therapy, move-ment assessment, and principles of group therapy, facilitating healing and growth.

Today, Columbia’s program is one of only six programs in the United States approved by the American Dance Therapy Association, which recently granted renewal of Columbia’s ap-proval status following a six-year program re-view. From its first graduating class in 1984 composed of only five students, the depart-ment has grown dramatically. Nearly 90 stu-dents are enrolled today, and the program con-tinues to evolve with the field. The word “Counseling” was added to the Dance Move-ment Therapy department title in 2005 to re-flect an important aspect of the field not previ-ously represented.

“Thirty years ago, this was a relatively new field with significantly less job prospects. Many people were still unaware of the benefits of movement therapy and counseling,” explained Susan D. Imus, Chair of the Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling department. “Today, Columbia College has one of the largest programs in the country, and we’re continuing to add groundbreaking programs, such as the Movement Pattern Analysis Certification,

which was started in 2012 and is the first of its kind in the world.”

To celebrate the department’s 30th anniver-sary, the 13th annual Student/Faculty Benefit Dance Concert took place this summer on July 26. The performance featured students, facul-ty, and clients from the Anixter Center’s New Focus Program and Keshet’s GADOL Program, and showcased research, practice, and perfor-mance as therapy. These programs use dance and therapy to help with rehab and treatment for brain injuries and/or intellectual disabili-ties. Donations from the event were collected in support of two departmental scholarships—the Jane Ganet Sigel Award, to assist students in becoming dance/movement therapists, and the Warren Lamb Award, which assists indi-viduals in completing the Graduate Laban Cer-tificate in Movement Analysis.

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DONORS AND STARS ALIGN AT THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Friends and donors of Columbia College Chi-cago mingled among the stars at the 2012 Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) in October.

In our fourth year as a Presenting Partner at CIFF, the Columbia College community was welcomed on opening night for an exclusive reception at the Harris Theatre. As guests of the event, our representatives were treated to orchestra-section seating for the world pre-miere of Stand Up Guys, the festival’s headline feature. Prior to the screening, attendees re-ceived access to the celebrity red carpet arriv-als, catching front-row glimpses of stars Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Jon Bon Jovi, and Alan Arkin, as well as director Fisher Stevens.

In addition to opening night, the college played several featured roles at CIFF this year, hosting our annual Columbia Night—in which we cele-brate alumni achievements in filmmaking—to coincide with the kickoff of this academic

year’s Conversations in the Arts series. The evening spotlighted the stars of the 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic, La Bamba, reuniting the cast for the first time since the film’s debut 25 years ago.

Actors Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, and Elizabeth Peña spoke with a select group of Columbia College friends and supporters in an intimate reception. The event opened with red carpet photographs of the attendees and stars, met by a cascade of flashes from CIFF paparazzi gathered at AMC River East.

Later in the evening, supporters were invited to the private Conversations in the Arts presen-tation, in which the three actors discussed au-ditioning for the film that made them stars. The trio also discussed their careers and role choices since the 1980s, as well as the cur-rent climate in Hollywood for Latino actors. They offered advice for up-and-coming actors and, of course, signed autographs and took photos with their guests and fans.

PHOTO: Gil lEORA | 9

PHOTO CREDiTs

GREASE COAUTHOR ESTABLISHES STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP

Jim Jacobs, actor, singer, songwriter, playwright and coauthor of the hit musi-cal Grease, has established a scholar-ship for continuing Musical Theatre ma-jors. Starting next fall, the scholarship will be awarded to students entering their sophomore years and will be awarded based on financial need as well as scholarly merit. Jacobs has a stepdaughter in the Musical Theatre program at CCC, so he understands the importance of supporting young talent.

“This is for those students who once thought that what they were think-

ing about, most of the time, was an impossible dream. It is with great pleasure that I can establish a Musical Theatre scholarship at Colum-bia College Chicago,” Jacobs said.

Though Jacobs now resides in southern California, his ties to Chicago and to Columbia College are deep and strong. He began his theatrical career in Chi-cago in the 1960s, where he was part of the first wave of off-Loop theatre that helped make the city an international cultural capital. He worked with the fa-bled Hull House Theater under artistic director Robert Sickinger and with Second City cofounder Paul Sills. His performance in the title role of “Jimmy Shine” in 1969 at the Candlelight/Forum Theatre under director William Pul-linsi earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for best actor. He also appeared in the classic 1969 film Medium Cool.

In 1970, Jacobs and his fellow actor and writing partner, the late Warren Casey, wrote what would become one of the most successful musicals in his-tory: Grease. Based on Jacobs’ experiences as a teenage “greaser” in 1950s Chicago, Grease had its premiere at Kingston Mines Theatre in 1971. The show was a runaway success and attracted the attention of New York produc-ers, which led to an Off-Broadway production in 1972. Later that same year, Grease transferred to Broadway where it went on to become a smash hit.

When the original production of Grease closed in 1980, it was the longest-running show in Broadway history. Its 1978 film version, for which Jacobs and Casey penned new songs, was also a hit. A sequel, Grease 2, was released in 1982, and a second sequel is in development. Jacobs’ other writing credits include Island of Lost Co-eds, also coauthored with Warren Casey. A spoof of 1950s sci-fi/horror/jungle movies, the show was produced at Columbia Col-lege as the inaugural production in the Getz Theatre.

We are proud to announce the Jim Jacobs Scholarship and welcome one of the entertainment industry’s greatest artists to Columbia College Chicago.

PHOTO COuRTEsY Of JiM JACOBs10 |

Chairman’s Circle is for donors who provide $5,000 or more annually. Benefits include special activities, private receptions and opportunities to take part in programs and classroom activities with faculty and students.

The President’s Club is for donors who provide $1,000 or more annually. Benefits include special invitations to events.

Manifest Club is for alumni who give $10 a month or a grand total of $120 a year. Benefits include listing in the Alumni Honor Roll of Donors and a Manifest Club pin.

Visit colum.edu/giving to learn more

WHO WE ARE

Executive Editor/Vice President for Institutional AdvancementEric V. A. Winston, Ph.D.

Editor/Content ManagerAlistair Porter (’13)

Assistant EditorGino Orlandi (’13)

Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement Michael Andersonmanderson@colum.edu

Senior Director of Development, Major GiftsChandra Denniscdennis@colum.edu

Director of External Programs & Annual GivingBrent Caburnaybcaburnay@colum.edu

Director of Development, Major GiftsNancy Rampsonnrampson@colum.edu

Director of Planned GivingRuby Schuckerrschucker@colum.edu

JOIN ONE OF OUR ANNUAL GIVING SOCIETIES

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give. arts matter.

PHOTO: DREW REYNOlDs (’97)

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