Team
When We Gather would not have been made possible without the expertise and dedication of the following individuals and organizations:
CONSULTANTS
Dr. Nikki A. Greene, Creative Consultant, Host of When We Gather: Together
Dr. Nikki A. Greene is Assistant Professor of Art History at Wellesley College, the Visual Arts Editor of Transition magazine, and an advisor to ICA Boston’s 2022 presentation of Simone Leigh’s work at the United States Pavilionfor the 59th Venice Biennale. She has written for numerous art museums, including The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. Her essays and commentaries have also appeared in artnet News, American Studies Journal, Aperture.com, Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art, and The Delaware Review of Latin American Studies, among others. Her forthcoming book Grime, Glitter, and Glass: The Body and The Sonic in Contemporary Black Art (Duke University Press, 2021) presents a new interpretation of the multimedia works of Renée Stout, Radcliffe Bailey, and María Magdalena Campos-Pons. She has held the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute Fellowship at the Hutchins Center at Harvard University, and was an artist-in-residence for non-fiction writing at Ucross Foundation.
Laura C. Suárez Rodríguez, Assistant Creative Consultant
Laura C. Suárez Rodríguez is an independent visual and performing arts consultant, writer, and curator whose work centers contemporary Latinx and Latin American art histories, performance, artivism, ethics, and decolonial aesthetics. She has worked throughout New England as an researcher for scholar Adriana Zavala, the Galería Cubana in Boston, and the environmental and entertainment non-profit REVERB in Portland, Maine. At Wellesley College, she manages social media, designs print and digital communications, and organizes college community events for the Art Department. With faculty and staff, she has arranged private collection tours, studio visits, and artist talks, from Wangechi Mutu of Kenya/USA to Marco Maggi of Uruguay. Suárez Rodríguez is a graduate of Tufts University and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Wendi Norris, Executive Producer
Wendi Norris started Gallery Wendi Norris in 2010, after ten years of running Frey Norris Gallery and a decade working in Fortune 500 and start-up technology companies. Her San Francisco-based gallery represents seventeen critically acclaimed artists and artist estates, working to ensure that they are included in international museum and private collections, top-tier biennials, art fairs, and publications. Norris and her team have been integral to placing her artists in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and many other museums. They curate and manage major public art installations around the world. Norris speaks and writes regularly on art and economics and art and public policy at outlets including Artsy, the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, SFMOMA’s Modern Arts Council, and Americans for the Arts. She served as the San Francisco Art Dealers Association President from 2014–2016 and is currently on the Board of the Art Dealers Association of America. She has twice been named one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times. She holds an M.B.A. from Georgetown University and B.A. in International Relations/Spanish from The Ohio State University.
Virginia Shore, Producer
Virginia Shore is a curator, producer, arts advocate, and advisor, with extensive expertise in contemporary and modern art in all media. Shore served as ‘Chief Curator’ and ‘Acting Director’ of the US Department of State, Office of Art in Embassies for over 20 years. She envisioned, established, and led the Department’s first art acquisitions and commissioning division. She oversaw all acquisitions, commissioning, and coordination for 79 new US Embassies and Consulates worldwide, while curating 54 of those collections in 12 years. Shore successfully expanded AIE’s budgets and mission to include international artists (emerging through established), while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion as a critical focus for all AIE collections, exhibitions, collaborations, and cultural diplomacy. She has curated hundreds of international exhibitions. She has collaborated with thousands of artists domestically and globally. She has worked with hundreds of dealers, institutions, universities, foundations, ambassadors, diplomats, collectors globally. Currently, Shore is a consulting curator and art advisor to the Obama Foundation for the Obama Presidential Center, the Fredriksen Family Collection (building a collection focused on diversity and inclusion) for the first public-private partnership with the new National Museum of Norway, the Emerson Collective, and the Hall Group. She recently produced YOUVOTE, a GOTV campaign with Jenny Holzer and leaders, athletes, musicians, institutions, universities in five of the swing States, continuing in Georgia.
Jennifer C. Thomas, Supervising Producer
Jennifer C. Thomas is an associate professor and journalism sequence coordinator in the Department of Media, Journalism and Film at her alma mater, Howard University. She was named the Scripps Howard Foundation 2019 Teacher of the Year. She has more than 25 years of news industry experience, most recently as an Executive Producer with CNN, where she was honored with recognition from the National Academy of Arts & Sciences for her contribution as the 9 a.m. newscast producer who helped lead CNN’s coverage of the September 11 Terror Attacks. She also received Peabody Award recognition for her contribution to coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and earned national awards from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). Throughout her career, she pioneered coverage of major events such as the Oklahoma City Bombing anniversary, Summer Olympic Games, and presidential elections and inaugurations. A 2020 Fulbright Specialist awardee and international speaker, she publishes research and creates works that examine prevalent issues surrounding the complex intersection of women, media, and images. Thomas earned her Master of Arts Degree in Journalism from Columbia University and is the founder of MediaReady Consulting, LLC, which specializes in media training, coaching, and crisis management.
Greta Knutzen, Senior Producer
Greta Knutzen oversees large-scale complex campaigns and productions with multiple stakeholder dynamics — moving them from paralytic complexity to working in sync towards the same goal. During her tenure at Obscura Digital, Knutzen was intimately involved in the campaign surrounding Racing Extinction, the Oscar-nominated documentary film, serving as executive producer for two unprecedented large-scale events projecting images of endangered species on the Empire State Building and Vatican that together garnered just shy of 5 billion impressions. Knutzen served as Senior Advisor for Public Art and Production for the Third Avenue Business Improvement District in the South Bronx, where she was involved in community led public art initiatives. Most recently, she was invited by The Mayor’s Office of Citywide Event Coordination & Management (CECM) to serve on the Citywide Events Advisory Group and collaborate with CECM to strategize best practices, share industry-wide solutions, and recommend innovations and protocols for events in New York City. She previously spent 15 years producing documentary film and television for the world’s biggest broadcasters, including the Emmy award-winning Sex Slaves for PBS Frontline, Manson for History Television, and the Gemini award-winning Mayday for the Discovery Channel.
Gabi Madsen, Creative Producer
Gabi Madsen is a film and events producer. She was part of the New York Film Festival as the programming manager and programmed special events, talks, narrative and documentary shorts programs. She also programmed special screening events and produced Directors Dialogues with Agnes Varda, Todd Haynes, Mike Mills, and On Cinema Talks with directors Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Jim Jarmush. While overseeing operations at Ava DuVernay’s production company, Madsen assisted the famed award-winning director while filming When They See Us, Queen Sugar, Redline. She was also part of DuVernay’s activism work launching EVOLVE, an initiative in partnership with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti that placed young people of color in career-development internships throughout the entertainment industry. Madsen also worked for the Sundance Film Festival for over 10 years in Operations and Logistics and venue management, as well as at other film festivals, including Tribeca Film Festival, LA Film Festival, and Miami Film Festival. She was an Associate Producer for the feature film Diane, directed by Kent Jones, and winner of the Tribeca Narrative Feature. She was part of the producing team for three large-scale projection mapping projects on the façade of the Empire State Building; Racing Extinction, Harper’s Bazaar’s 100th Issue; and CNN 2016 coverage for the Presidential Election.
Crystal Whaley, Consulting Producer
Crystal Whaley is a double Emmy Award-winning creative producer and development executive in film/TV/digital offering a unique combination of cross-functional skills with over 20 years of experience and specialized expertise in content development and acquisition, strategic brand initiatives, and creative direction. She is responsible for the overall financial sustainability and creative integrity of multiple shows and projects, including the oversight of all logistics necessary to meet creative mandates, broadcast standards, and brand recognition. Whaley has developed, produced, directed, and supervised award-winning series television, commercials, music videos, and nationally syndicated and Peabody nominated documentaries for PBS and TLC. Owner and Executive Director of Plan C Media Group, she is also former VP of Development and Production of Pixel Media LLC / Lionsgate as well as a former Director of Video Production for Arista Records and former Executive Producer of Free Spirit Films Inc. Whaley is also a curator and producer and is the founder of the forthcoming curatorial project M’Dear: Reclaiming Our Seat at the Table, which will open at MoCADA Museum in 2021. Whaley is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She holds a journalism degree from Howard University and a Film Production Certificate from New York University.
Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung, Production Coordinator
Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung is a Taiwanese documentary filmmaker based in the New York metropolitan area. Born and raised by a family full of wanderers, she has endless curiosities about the world and has lived or produced films across four continents. She is passionate about telling stories of people who are in between places and those who strive to understand and transcend differences. Profiles of Purpose: Flowers in the River, a short film Chung directed and filmed for Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, won Best Film and Audience Choice awards at ESG Film Festival, co-hosted by the United Nations office for Partnerships and Investment News. Her work has also screened at festivals around the world, including London International Documentary Festival, Riga International Film Festival, Sharjah Film Platform, and Cinequest Film Festival. Chung holds an M.F.A. in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University.
Michelle Mehrtens, Additional Editor
Michelle Mehrtens is a recent graduate of Stanford University’s MFA Program in Documentary Film. Previously, she worked on the production team of TED-Ed in New York City. She is currently a freelance editor, writer, and founder of Meesh Says Things, a website dedicated to film and television.
Yeon Park, Editor for When We Gather: Together
Yeon Park is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in San Francisco. Her recent film I Bought a Time Machine premiered at Visions du Réel and won the Best Documentary Short award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival. With the same film, Park was nominated as a semi-finalist in the Student Academy Awards. Born and raised in South Korea, Park was a producer and director at SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) where she directed, filmed, and edited a variety of non-fiction TV shows. After quitting her stable job to be a documentary filmmaker, she pursued an MFA in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University.
PRESS & COMMUNICATIONS TEAM
Jan Rothschild is founder and president of Rothschild & Associates. She has over 25 years of experience delivering global communications and marketing campaigns for cultural institutions, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations. As a consultant, she has worked with a variety of for-profit and nonprofit entities around the world including museums, galleries, art fairs, media companies, charitable foundations, and artists. She has worked in-house in world renowned arts institutions including the Corcoran Gallery of Art/College of Art and Design, Washington, DC; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Barnes Foundation Philadelphia, where she shaped communications and marketing for the collection’s move into center city Philadelphia, re-branded and re-introduced the Foundation to audiences and garnered millions of dollars worth of positive media coverage. Rothschild has also worked in executive roles for other prominent organizations including The National Trust for Historic Preservation and National Public Radio, among others. Rothschild & Associates is an arts and culture consulting firm based in New York City and Philadelphia, specializing in communications and marketing strategy, traditional and online media outreach, stakeholder engagement strategy, and crisis communications.
Janet Stapleton has worked in the dance and performance field as an independent producer, arts management consultant, and public relations specialist for three decades. She founded Janet Stapleton Public Relations in 2000, a boutique communications and PR firm that represents artists, cultural institutions, and select special events. Janet has extensive experience creating dynamic campaigns and promoting artists and organizations across all media. Current and recent clients include the Baryshnikov Arts Center, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, The Poetry Project, Martha Graham Dance Company, Okwui Okpokwasili, Richard Move, Yasuko Yokoshi, Ralph Lemon/Cross Performance, Emily Johnson, Armitage Gone! Dance, and the New York Dance and Performance Awards/The Bessies. She was the publicist for the New York citywide festivals: DANSE: A French-American Festival of Performance and Ideas, Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe, and Queer New York International Arts Festival. Prior to forming Janet Stapleton PR, she was the director of marketing and public relations at Dance Theater Workshop. She is a recipient of a BAX Arts Management Award.
CAMPAIGN TEAM
Jessica Tully is an award-winning social practice artist, organizer, and producer. Her media-genic public stunts and installation videos remix core themes of the precariat including voter protection, intersectional feminism, fair wages, housing displacement, the public commons, and water as a spiritual technology. Her work has been seen nationwide supporting Walmart workers, young women’s voter registration, progressive campaigning in nine presidential cycles, and in major museums and cultural institutions, open water, and on the westbound span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Tully was a key member of the Rock the Vote staff that invented voter registration online and founded Rap the Vote. She co-produced the first nationwide rollout of Take Our Daughters To Work Day, is a co-founder of UMA Productions, an all-female music promotion company, Herstory, all-female Hip Hop art collective, and Regime Change Cafe, a political breakfast series in LA. In 2020, she was a collaborating artist in #ProjectYourVote, leading the relational aesthetics and distribution of video projection in 14 states.
Julie Schuchard, Creative Director for Digital + Social Media Manager
Julie Schuchard is a creative director and marketing consultant living in San Francisco, CA. She has a combined background in marketing and graphic design and holds a broad spectrum of experience in the comedy, theatre, and music industries. Current clients include: SF Sketchfest, Adulting Well Podcast, Foundation Rwanda, The Battery, Battery Powered, Moon Hollow Estate and more.
Aïma Paule, Assistant Social Media Manager
Aïma Paule is a multidisciplinary artist more commonly known for her music Aïma aka Aïma the Drmr, aka the Dreamer, and has been performing as well as producing & hosting events for well over a decade. Aïma is co-founder of Oakland’s beloved Soulovely, a QTBIPOC dance party now going into its 10th year. She is also an exhibiting visual artist, her work is currently on display in The Black Woman is God exhibit in San Francisco. Aïma has lived in the Bay Area, California for 20 years. She continues to be inspired by the beauty and brilliance of the art, music, and activism that is fostered here. No stranger to collaboration, she believes in the power of connection using art and music as a bridge between communities.
Alfre Woodard, Narrator
Alfre Woodard currently stars in the feature film CLEMENCY, released in theaters December 2019. Among the critical praise she received for her lead role in the film, she also received a Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. On the small screen, she stars opposite Jason Momoa in the Apple TV+ series SEE, created by Steven Knight. Woodard has been nominated for 17 Emmy Awards (winning four), 7 SAG Awards (winning three), 3 Golden Globe Awards (winning one), 21 NAACP awards (wining nine), and 2 Independent Spirit Awards (winning one). Her Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress was for her performance in Martin Ritt’s CROSS CREEK. In addition to her acting career, Woodard is a longtime activist who has been involved in countless nonprofit organizations including Artists for a New South Africa, a nonprofit she co-founded which is working to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and further the cause of democracy and human rights in South Africa. She is an active advocate for the arts in education, working to narrow the achievement gap and increase student
engagement through the arts.
