TransCultural Exchange Advisory Board

TransCultural Exchange's Advisory Board is comprised of leading international curators, artist–in–residency directors and artists. They provide multiple perspectives and a broad range of expertise to ensure the long-term success of TransCultural Exchange.

Ute Meta Bauer is the Director of MIT's new Arts, Culture and Technology (ACT) Program, a merging of the former Center for Advanced Visual Studies and Visual Arts Program. Additionally for more than two decades she has worked as an editor and curator, most notably as the artistic director of the 3rd berlin biennal for contemporary art and as co-curator in the team of Okwui Enwezor for Documenta11. She also has served as a director for various art institutions and as an advisor for a number of high-profile cultural boards, such as the chairwoman of the Art Advisory Board of the Goethe Institutes, as a member of the International Scientific Board of the Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau, and most recently she was nominated as a member of the International Committee of the 3rd Yokohama Triennale 2008.

Mario Caro currently serves as the president of Res Artis, an international network of art residencies. He also serves on the board of the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center, which runs an artist-in-residency program dedicated to serving the needs of Indigenous artists from around the globe. He is a professor of Visual Studies and has recently taught at the City University of New York. His previous post was as the Public Scholar for Civic Engagement at Indiana University. He is strongly committed to combining his interdisciplinary academic training with his community-oriented organizing activities.

Machiko Harada is an independent curator based in New York City and special correspondent of J-AIR, the Japanese artist-in-residence network. She studied Art History and Aesthetics in Kanazawa, Japan and Fine Arts in Gotheborg, Sweden, and did her advanced curatorial studies at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Kitakyushu and De Appel in Amsterdam. She also has served as the vice director for the art residency programs at the Kanazawa College of Art and, most recently, as the contemporary arts curator at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village, where she established the basic format of their residential program.

Kayoko Iemura is an architect and Program Director of Tokyo Wonder Site. As an architect she created such projects as the Site of Reversible Destiny – Yoro Park, together with Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins – and later the Lifescape Association, which involved the holistic use of clothing, food, agriculture and living spaces for people of all ages. Since 2001, Kayoko has managed the programs at Tokyo Wonder Site to support and nurture emerging artists, and to exchange global creativity through collaborations between the visual arts, contemporary music, performing and traditional arts.

Jean–Baptiste Joly is the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation Akademie Schloss Solitude, founding Director and Artistic Director of the Akademie. He is also an honorary professor at the Kunsthochschule Weißensee, Hochschule für Gestaltung, Berlin. Quoting Nicholas Tsoutas, Director of Sydney's Artspace, "Akademie Schloss Solitude is a pre-eminent studio residency organization that has not only challenged the very meanings of residencies, cultural exchanges and global mobility – but has challenged and set the very standards and expectations by which residency centers operate."

Johan Pousette founded the Baltic Art Center, a unique international artist-in-production residency and exhibition program. He served as director there until 2007, and is now curator for contemporary art at the Swedish Traveling Exhibitions. Johan also is appointed by the Swedish government as adviser to the Nordic Ministers of Culture on residencies. His curatorial experience is rich, having worked with artists such as Bill Viola, Alfredo Jaar, Fiona Tan, William Kentridge and Jessica Stockholder. In 2009 he was one of the two curators of Sweden's Gothenburg Biennal.

Yaohua Su is the Director of AIR Taipei, Taiwan's premiere residency program, which oversees three very different and unique arts-in-residence campuses around the city of Taipei – the Taipei Artist Village, Grass Mountain Arts Village and Treasure Hill Arts Village. She also teaches arts administration at the National Taiwan Art University and National Taipei Normal University. In addition, since 2007 she has served on the Board of Trustees of the Contemporary Art Foundation, appointed by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City. Yaohua also consulates for the Taipei City Government's Public Arts Fund and the Visual Art Grant of the National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan.

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TransCultural Exchange Board of Trustees

TransCultural Exchange's Board of Trustees – made up of professionals, including artists – provide a variety of expertise, multiple perspectives and oversight to ensure the long–term viability of TransCultural Exchange.

Gordon L. Amgott, Accountant. <website> Gordon L. Amgott is a Certified Public Bookkeeper with an MBA from Babson College. For over 25 years, Amgott has been the Business Manager for The Country Club. In that capacity, he has helped transform their manual accounting system to a fully computerized one and overseen various national tournaments, improvements to the club's property and computer systems conversions. In addition Amgott is the Treasurer of the Congregation Agudath Achim in Taunton, Massachusetts and runs his own accounting practice Gordon L. Amgott Financial Services, primarily providing tax preparation and bookkeeping services. He also is a member of the Massachusetts Association of Public Accountants, National Society of Accountants, National Association of Tax Professionals and Taunton Chamber of Commerce and American Association of Daily Money Managers.

Thaddeus Beal was formally educated at Yale College and Stanford Law School. He then practiced law in Boston, first as a criminal prosecutor and then as a corporate and securities lawyer for twelve years. He left active practice in 1985 when he withdrew as a senior partner of the Boston law firm, now Nixon, Peabody to attend The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He has continued to work in the legal field in many pro bono capacities, including serving as a hearing officer in matters relating to lawyer misconduct; but he now devotes substantially all of his work life to the practice of art. He has been awarded three Massachusetts Council for the Arts Fellowships. His works are in many collections, including The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and he regularly shows in Boston, Connecticut and New York City. He has served on several charitable boards, and he is currently actively involved as a board member of Discovering Justice, a non-profit dedicated to educating public school students about notions of justice and community involvement, as well as TransCultural Exchange.

Bonnie Clark <website> is an experienced marketing professional with a proven track record of successfully developing and implementing marketing programs to secure market position and awareness within highly competitive industries, including the arts and non-profit sectors. She is also a member of Business Volunteers for the Arts in Boston, involved in providing pro bono marketing services to non-profit arts and cultural organizations. Additionally, Bonnie is a mixed media & collage artist, a member of the Fort Point Arts Community, the Surface Design Association, the International Society of Altered Book Artists, Mensa and the American Marketing Association.

Rya Conrad–Bradshaw is an MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She holds a BA in History of Art from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art with a concentration in international contemporary art. For the past three years, she was Museum as Hub Manager at the New Museum in New York, where she organized commissions, exhibitions, public programs and residencies with international partner institutions. She also has experience working at Creative Time and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, among other arts organizations.

Mark Cooper is an artist and author (with Lisa Sjostrom) of Making Art Together, How Collaborative Art Can Transform, Kids, Classrooms, and Communities. He has been a fellow and advisory board member of the Open Society Initiative and received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Carneige Foundation, Mott Fund, Cafritz Foundation, and over fifty other funding sources for collaborative projects at the Whitney Museum at Philip Morris, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, Corcoran Museum, Boys and Girls Clubs, public libraries, and numerous other public and private institutions. He also teaches studio art at Boston College and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Dan Gregory Dan Gregory is currently the Director of Northeastern University's Digital Media I-cubator, In this role, Dan works with students and faculty across multiple academic disciplines to develop and commercialize digital media projects. Additionally, he is the faculty adviser to IDEA, a student-run venture accelerator at Northeastern. Dan has played a key role in strategic planning, organizational development, and in generating initial revenues for multiple start-up and early stage publishing and digital media companies. His industry focus is publishing and digital media, utilizing information technologies to deliver customized content to the business and education markets.

Dan's entrepreneurial experience includes roles as CEO, a member of senior management teams, and in leading an independent consulting practice. He has been effective in developing, growing, and maintaining high value strategic relationships between companies, research centers, and major universities. As an entrepreneur, he has had extensive partnering experience with leading publishing and digital media companies, including Fortune Magazine, Intuit, Microsoft, Harvard Business School Publishing, Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe and others. Dan has a BA from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he concentrated on Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management.

Mary Sherman founded TransCultural Exchange in 1989 to create art projects that transcend social, political, geographical and historical barriers. She has received numerous grants and awards, the most recent of which is a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant, and has served as an artist in residence at such institutions as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also teaches at Boston College and Northeastern University and has been invited to talk about contemporary art as a guest speaker, visiting lecturer and critic at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design; the University of Chicago; and the National Taiwan Museum of Arts, among others. In addition, she has published numerous articles on the visual arts in national and international publications and worked as the art critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and as a columnist for WBUR. As an artist, her works have been exhibited widely both in the U.S. and abroad, including at Harvard University; the Trans Hudson Gallery, NY; the Oskar Friedl Gallery, Chicago; Zendai MoMA, Shanghai; Kwanhoon Gallery, Seoul; the London Biennale and the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei. She also has curated shows throughout the world, two of which received awards from the northeast chapter of the International Art Critics Association.

She is a member of ArtTable, the Boston Sculptors Gallery, the International Association of Art Critics, the National Writers Union, the College Board's National Task Force on the Arts in Education and the College Art Association.

Joanne Silver who is the New England correspondent for ARTnews magazine, was the art critic for the Boston Herald for 18 years and has written extensively for The Providence Journal, Patriot Ledger, The Concord, New Hampshire Monitor and Albany Times Union.

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TransCultural Exchange Staff

TransCultural Exchange Staff is made up a group of results–driven individuals, committed to TransCultural Exchange's mission to foster a greater understanding of world cultures through the arts.

Mary Sherman, Director and Chairman of the Board <website>
Mary Sherman founded TransCultural Exchange in 1989 to create art projects that transcend social, political, geographical and historical barriers. She has received numerous grants and awards, the most recent of which is a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant, and has served as an artist in residence at such institutions as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also teaches at Boston College and Northeastern University and has been invited to talk about contemporary art as a guest speaker, visiting lecturer and critic at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design; the University of Chicago; and the National Taiwan Museum of Arts, among others. In addition, she has published numerous articles on the visual arts in national and international publications and worked as the art critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and as a columnist for WBUR. As an artist, her works have been exhibited widely both in the U.S. and abroad, including at Harvard University; the Trans Hudson Gallery, NY; the Oskar Friedl Gallery, Chicago; Zendai MoMA, Shanghai; Kwanhoon Gallery, Seoul; the London Biennale and the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei. She also has curated shows throughout the world, two of which received awards from the northeast chapter of the International Art Critics Association.

Rob Barry, Webmaster.
Rob is a journalist and Web designer. He holds a B.A. in journalism and philosophy from the University of Connecticut and is currently enrolled in a master's program in Digital Media at Northeastern University. He presently works for TechTarget as a news writer in the high tech industry and is a strategic planning advisor at the cultural dance arts center, Springstep.

Mira Bartók, Educational Consultant.
An award winning writer, artist, teacher and cultural specialist Mira Bartók produced suggested materials for the educational component of The Tile Project, Destination: The World. Ms. Bartók is the author and illustrator of the Fox Has His Day - Tales and Poems from the Far, Far North, a picture book anthology of Sami (Lapp) Folktales; the Ancient and Living Culture Series, a children’s book series on art and cultural traditions; the Big World Read-A-Long Series, a series on Native Americans for beginning readers; and a consultant and contributor for My History is American’s History – Fifteen Ways to Save America’s Stories, an education guidebook and website about family and community history, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the White House.

In addition, Ms. Bartók has taught workshops and classes, and has developed public programs on the art, music and oral traditions of world cultures at many institutions, including the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, The Chicago Museum of Science and Technology, St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, the Oriental Museum at the University of Chicago and the Peabody Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology at Harvard University. She is also the former Director of Education at the Chicago Children’s Museum.

Laura Chichisan Pallone, Boston's Art & Culture Calendar Editor <website>
Laura Anca is a Romanian born artist, currently living and working in Boston. Along with her position as the coordinator and editor of TransCultural Exchange's Boston's Arts & Culture Calendar, she is an arts advocate and staff member at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Megan Driscoll, Assistant to the Director.
Megan Driscoll is an artist and writer based out of Boston, specializing in marketing and public relations. Along with working for TransCultural Exchange, she is the Office Assistant for the Department of Intercultural Affairs at Clark University and has worked with several local art galleries coordinating communication materials and promoting special events including RHYS Gallery and the Nielsen Gallery. In addition, she is also a regular contributor to the online art publication Big, Red and Shiny.

Delphine Eychenne, Consultant.
Delphine is a bilingual project manager for the Arts and Cultural sector. She holds two Masters Degrees, one in Culture Project Management and the other in International Business Law. Delphine has 9 years of experience in communications, media relations, event management and legal/political analysis, working as a parliamentary assistant and a communications manager at one of France’s national centers for musical creation. Additionally, over the years she has been involved in many non-profit organizations, including theatres and dance companies, a contemporary art gallery and a film festival, managing and developing projects.

Stephanie Lee, Intern.
A senior undergraduate student at Boston College, Stephanie is pursuing a BA in English and Creative Writing. She has worked with and been published in several on-campus literary and art magazines. She has also served as staff for the past two annual Arts Festivals held in the spring, as well as TransCultural Exchange's 2009 Conference on International Opportunities in the Arts. She is currently employed as a research assistant under Mary Sherman, to help organize and analyze information, as well as research grant proposals, funding, and potential speakers and attendees for future TransCultural Exchange projects.

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