About the Artists

About Illustrator Gary Kelly

Working in oil, pastel, and monotype, Gary Kelley has created illustrations for The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic Monthly and numerous other publications over the years. He also created the famous author murals reproduced in Barnes and Noble Bookstores nationwide. His work has earned him 27 gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York since 1981. He has illustrated 16 picture books and was the featured American artist at the prestigious Montreuil Children’s Book Fair in Paris in 1998. He was chosen as the official artist of the Kentucky Derby in 2002. He has had solo exhibitions at the Academy of Art in Cincinnati, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, the Hartford Art School, the Art Institute of Southern California, The Kentucky Derby Museum, the Pablo Neruda Cultural Center in suburban Paris, as well as at galleries in New York, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Kansas City, and Tokyo.

Gary Kelley has also exhibited at the Chicago Art Institute, The McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, and Librarie Nicaise in Paris, among others.

He has lectured extensively, including at the Smithsonian Institution and the Corcoran Gallery, both in Washington; The Societies of Illustrators in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas; the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Chicago Art Institute.

Recent years have seen more of a balance between personal work and illustration assignments and a shift from smaller pastels to larger oil paintings on canvas. His focus has remained on figurative work largely influenced by Modernist painters of the early Twentieth Century.

http://www.richardsolomon.com/
http://www.illustrationacademy.com/GaryKelley.htm
http://www.iptv.org/video/detail.cfm/408/ai_20070617_112_kelley

About Conductor Jason Weinberger

Recognized by Leonard Slatkin as one of a new generation of 'gifted American conductors', Jason Weinberger is currently music director of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra in Iowa and associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra.

Since joining the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony as its music director five years ago Jason has made a mark in Iowa with exceptionally committed performances, bold and creative programming, and extensive community engagement. Jason has also become a leading advocate for music throughout the Cedar Valley, and as part of that effort he spearheads the programming and presentation of the WCFSO's wide-ranging educational and outreach initiatives.

In 2007 Jason was invited to join the Louisville Orchestra as its associate conductor. He has also performed with the National Symphony Orchestra and the symphonies of Kansas City, Memphis and Daejeon (Korea). In addition to his professional activities, Jason has worked extensively with music students – he was on faculty at the University of Northern Iowa and also directed the orchestra programs at the Baltimore School for the Arts and the Kennedy-Center Summer Music Institute.

Jason is a native of Los Angeles and began his musical training there on both piano and clarinet. He attended Yale University, first receiving a bachelor's with academic distinction in intellectual history and then completing a master's degree in clarinet performance with David Shifrin. After leaving Yale Jason attended the Peabody Conservatory as a master's student of Gustav Meier.

http://jasonweinberger.com/
http://www.wcfsymphony.org/

About digital producer Scott Smith

Scott W. Smith is a producer/director and partner at River Run Productions in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The first time Scott was paid for his photography he was still in high school. At age 19 he became a staff sport reporter and photographer for the Sanford Evening Herald in Central Florida. While in college in Miami and Los Angeles he began making 8mm & 16mm films and also spent three years studying acting.

Since graduating from film school he has spent over 20 years working on a diverse projects such as shooting footage at Americans’ Downhill in Aspen, producing the international radio program “Renewing Your Mind” with R.C. Sproul, producing several national TV documentary programs for “Primary Focus” in Chicago, and taping interviews of holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah project.

His recent work includes producing commercials, promos, web videos, and photography for Beam/ Electrolux, Blue Bunny Ice Cream, Porta-a-Vet, Reformed Theological Seminary, Lost Island Waterpark and Covenant Hospital. A video he produced for artist Paco Rosic was featured on the main webpage of Yahoo! in 2006 helping Rosic gain international attention.

Since moving to Iowa from Orlando, Florida in 2003 he has won a dozen awards including Addys, Communicators, Gold and Silver Tellys, and best cinematography for two short narrative films. He is also working on two feature film scripts.

Over the years his production work has taken him to all 50 states and over 15 countries including Russia, Jamaica, Berlin, South Africa and last year in Brazil.

He is also the current president of Waterloo Toastmasters and has spoken to several groups from elementary students though college students on video/film/digital production and creativity. He writes a blog called Screenwriting from Iowa.

http://screenwritingfromiowa.wordpress.com/
http://riverruntv.blogspot.com/
http://riverrun.tv