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STAFF
Will K. Wilkins - Executive Director [email]
Adrienne Brown - Education Coordinator [email]
Taryn Bunger - Communications Coordinator [email]
Valerie Garlick - Visual Arts Manager [email]
Deborah Herz - Accounts Payable/General Office Clerk[email]
Barbara Hocker - Controller [email]
Valerie Klokow - Development Coordinator [email]
Jean Paul Leblanc - Business Manager [email]
John Morrison - Director of Film Programming [email]
LB Muñoz - Chief Vibe Officer [email]
Diana Rosen - Cinema Coordinator [email]
CAFÉ AND CINEMA STAFF
Namulen Bayarsaihan- Café
Sarah Mohrman - Café
Ashley Scott - Café
Chion Wolf
- Café
M. Bernardo McLaughlin
- Projectionist
Dan Rubenbauer - Projectionist
Ana Altiery - Housekeeping
BOARD
Hank Schwartz - Chair
Gary E. West - Vice-Chair
Jim Bridgeman - Secretary
Carol A. Fitzgerald - Treasurer
John F. Byrnes
Audrey Conrad
Austin Martin
Ileen Swerdloff
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Will K. Wilkins
Executive Director
Will K. Wilkins is Executive Director of Real Art Ways, one of the United States’ leading contemporary multi-disciplinary organizations, in Hartford, Connecticut. Real Art Ways supports artistic innovation, and connects artists and community. Programs include visual arts, theater, music, spoken word, and film and video.
Mr. Wilkins has overseen the $1.8 million development of the Real Art Ways Arts Center, a place for art, ideas and social interaction, which includes a comfortable cinema (35mm, 16mm and video; also used for live arts), three beautifully renovated gallery spaces, a video room, the Loading Dock Lounge, and the Real Room.
Among the highlights of Mr. Wilkins' tenure has been a series of commissioned artist’s projects, many in public settings and involving community participation, including projects by Mel Chin, Mark Dion, Lillian Hsu-Flanders, Ellen Driscoll, Pepón Osorio, Karin Giusti, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Carl Pope, Jr., Rachel Berwick, James Luna, Josely Carvalho, Liz Miller, Nikki S. Lee, Verandah Porche, and Group Material.
Mr. Wilkins is an innovator at linking contemporary art and ideas with community. In recent years, Real Art Ways has sponsored a design competition, with neighborhood residents as jurors, for neighborhood gateways; has commissioned three major artist’s residencies with the neighborhood senior center; and has been a key participant in an inclusive neighborhood planning process, resulting in a redesign of the central commercial district.
During Mr. Wilkins' tenure, Real Art Ways has been a strong supporter of artists’ rights and freedom of expression, and has received support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Ford Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Mr. Wilkins has served on grant review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, the Wallace Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Ct. Commission on the Arts, and the McKnight Foundation. Prior to joining Real Art Ways in 1990, Mr. Wilkins worked at Central Park Summerstage and WBAI in New York.
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Adrienne Brown
Education Coordinator
Adrienne received her undergraduate degree in painting from Connecticut College and the Lorenzo De Medici Art Institute in Florence, Italy. After college she moved to New York City and worked as a civic education coordinator at Federal Hall National Memorial, and as a paralegal for a non profit children's rights firm. She then moved to California for a change of pace. After several years of odd jobs and soul searches, she settled on arts education.
Adrienne comes to RAW after a few years working as a program coordinator and faculty artist for an arts organization in the Berkshire mountains of Great Barrington, MA. She misses the peace and quiet, but as a Hartford native she is happy to have returned to her roots. RAW feels like exactly the right place to share her interests, experience, and general funk.
Outside the walls of RAW Adrienne is probably hiking, painting, or drinking coffee and eating chocolate that is out of her price range.
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Taryn Bunger
Communications Coordinator
Taryn was born and raised in Central New York, attending Syracuse University to earn a BA in English and Textual Studies. She remained in CNY for one year after graduation to pursue her passion for social justice work in the nonprofit sector.
To further realize her goals of working in nonprofit communications, Taryn left Central New York to earn her MA in Public Communication from American University's SOC in Washington, DC. Now settled in Hartford, Taryn comes to Real Art Ways excited to implement her skills and education in a creative, inspiring environment.
Outside of RAW, Taryn loves the outdoors, live music, exploring Connecticut and cheering for the Syracuse Orange.
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Valerie Garlick
Visual Arts Manager
Valerie Garlick is a visual artist, curator, and writer who works in photography, video, and performance. Her art and curatorial projects focus primarily on gender, sexuality, and the intersection of the body with technology. Her work has been the subject of national and international exhibitions, screenings, publications, and lectures. Recent projects have been exhibited at HERE Arts Center, Participant Inc., the Elizabeth Foundation, and Soho20, as well as the Vox Feminae Video Festival in Zagreb, Hotch Potch in Oslo, the Kurye International Video Festival, Istanbul, and Shau Fenster, Berlin. She holds both an MA in Art History, and an MFA in Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut.
Before joining Real Art Ways as the Visual Arts Manager, Valerie oversaw media archives and commercial operations in the Chelsea gallery district in New York City, implemented the design and production for emerging and established artists' projects abroad, and was a resident artist with the Chashama Studio Art Program and the School of Visual Arts. Valerie has worked on local and community arts projects at the La Lutta Project Space in Brooklyn, the Brick+Mortar International Video Art Festival in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and the Windham Area Arts Collaborative in Willimantic, CT. She has taught undergraduate studio art classes in new media and writing, and curates regularly for Vector Artist Journal, an experimental, multi-media arts publication based in New York City.
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Deborah Zimmerman Herz
Accounts Payable/General Office Clerk
Graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a BA in Film & Television in 1991, Deb worked on many independent films in NYC as grip, electric & associate producer. She wrote and directed a 30 minute short film called The Toys of Earl Grey. In interactive multimedia, Deb created content and games for AT&T - Downtown Digital's early interactive television trials and websites. She has written and produced content at Media Circus for clients such as Sony, Scholastic, Coca-cola & Perry Ellis, as well as producing Nickelodeon's very first nick.com for Viacom.
Deb is now raising 3 children in Farmington CT, making the leap from Creative Producer to "Procreative Reproducer." She is a member of the Farmington Valley Film Commission doing PR, as well as the PR/Marketing/Fundraising Committee Head for the Farmington Public School Foundation. Deb loves to work in the independent CT film scene as grip/electric and occasionally acting.
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Barbara Hocker
Controller
Originally born in Norwalk, Connecticut Barbara Hocker studied Fibers and Printmaking at Syracuse University and Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her mixed media work fuses the material sensibilities of fiber with computer manipulated photo based prints and abstract monotypes to create works on paper, panels, and sculpture. She has exhibited extensively in the Boston and Hartford areas and currently resides in Coventry, CT with her own personal Muse (otherwise known as her husband Tim) and two very spoiled cats.
To support her artistic habit she has held a variety of real jobs including jewelry buyer for the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum Shop, Star Wars Exhibition store manager and buyer for the Museum of Science, Boston, fabric store manager, art supply warehouse order picker, audio services technician, and bookkeeping for college bookstores, cake bakers, jewelry makers, museums, and engineers. She has 10 years retail management experience and 8 years small business management and accounting experience.
Barbara's Website
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Valerie Klokow
Development Coordinator
Valerie was born in Utah near the Great Salt Lake and she grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin; large bodies of water are in her blood. She headed west as a teenager and lived in California for most of her adult life, and she still considers Santa Cruz (the real Surf City, USA) to be her home. Valerie attended Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA and, after graduating in 2000 with an Associate’s Degree she transferred, as a junior, to Yale. After earning her B.A. in Philosophy from Yale, Valerie continued her studies to earn a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Before landing in Real Art Ways, Valerie held a wide variety of positions and roles in extraordinarily different places and fields. Her dream job today is “fish-flinger.” Valerie would love to train sea lions and whales (flinging congratulatory fish into their mouths) but she really likes what she’s doing at Real Art Ways, and she’s decided to shelve the idea of earning another degree—for now.
A writer, a philosopher and a champion of individuals’ rights; Valerie is most proud of her role as mother to her young son. When not swimming at local beaches or camping near lakes and ponds, Valerie and her son (one or both of them) can be found exploring museums, creating and maintaining bug habitats, cooking, knitting, reading, or attending to the various, insistent needs of their ever-growing menagerie of pets.
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Jean Paul Leblanc
Business Manager
Jean-Paul attended Coventry High School and is a graduate of Bryant (College) University. He has been involved with Real Art Ways since about 1992, beginning as an event volunteer. Jean-Paul became an employee in the café selling movie tickets and refreshments once the movie theater shortly after it opened in 1996.
After about 18 months Jean-Paul moved to the office as a bookkeeper and now serves as Business Manager. He is the RAW “phantom” employee as his working hours are usually Monday and Friday evenings as well as special events. He has participated in most aspects of Real Art Ways over the years, serving as a stage hand, set up crew member, sound assistant, cleanup crew member, café sales person, etc.
He has been employed as the Director of Business/Finance at LEARN, a Regional Educational Service Center in Old Lyme, since 1994. He oversees an agency budget of approximately $22,200,000 which is comprised of more than 100 individual program budgets. Prior to his employment at LEARN, Jean-Paul was employed as an accountant at the Capital Regional Education Council in Hartford.
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John Morrison
Director of Film Programming
John Morrison started the Amherst Film Cooperative in 1972, which showed the first continuing program of foreign films in the Connecticut Valley. He also became the Valley Advocate’s first film critic in the premiere issue of 1973. In 1976 he co-founded the Pleasant St. Theater in Northampton, the first art theater in the area; in 1986 he co-founded Pleasant Street Video, which has been called the best video store in New England; and in 1988 he co-founded Tower Theaters in South Hadley, a commercial theater initially funded by Mt. Holyoke College. He was a City Councilor for 8 years in Northampton, MA and Chair of the City Property Committee. He was a co-founder of both the New England Film Festival and the Northampton Film Festival.
Since 1995, Morrison has been the Director of Film Programming for Real Art Ways. He created Real Art Ways’ International Family Film Festival, now in its 9th year, as well as many smaller festivals. Real Art Ways’ Cinema has won the “Best of Hartford” award since 1996.
He moved to San Francisco in 1999 to take the position of Outreach and Education Director for the California Film Institute and as the Children’s Film programmer for CFI and the internationally acclaimed Mill Valley Film Festival. He continues to direct film programs for RAW, often finding ways for CFI and Real Art Ways to do joint programs.
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Real Art Ways' Chief Vibe Manager LB Muñoz (left)
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LB Muñoz
Chief Vibe Manager
Born and raised in Windsor, CT, LB has taken the circuitous route to returning to her Greater Hartford roots. She attended Emerson College in Boston as a Musical Theater major before finishing her studies in Education at the University of North Texas. In her various travels, LB has found herself as a Radio DJ in Maine, booking bands in Boston, running an alternative coffee house is Delaware, singing in a cover band on Martha’s Vineyard, and teaching drama to 5 and 6 year olds in Texas.
When LB is not at Real Art Ways, she can most likely be found in Connecticut High Schools as a Diversity Educator for the Anti-Defamation League. As a facilitator for the “A World of Difference” program and a moderator for “Names Can Really Hurt Us,” LB endeavors to empower students to fight hatred and intolerance by embracing their differences.
LB is formerly the Dining Room Manager for Max’s Oyster Bar in West Hartford. Previous to re-locating to Connecticut, LB traveled the country to open restaurants for national chain The Capital Grille. Leaving the world of lobster and steak, LB is thrilled to combine her greatest passions, food and drink with the meaningful goals of Real Art Ways.
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Diana Rosen
Cinema Coordinator
Diana joined Real Art Ways in April of 2008 shortly after she saw her first film here (Teeth). It was love at first bite.
She is a graduate of The University of Hartford, where she received her Bachelors of Science in Audio Engineering Technology with a second concentration in Cinema. Diana owns and operates Greedy Organ Media, offering media production, post-production and exhibition services with a community emphasis. Current clientele includes universities, independent filmmakers, non-profit organizations, film festivals, and artists of all trades. She also runs the Knitty Gritty Committee, a knitting circle that meets once a week in the Real Art Ways lounge.
Some of her favorite things are 16 & 35mm film manipulation, reading, crocheting, coffee, indie films, street art, adventuring, dancing like it's 1999, and all of the eccentricities that life has to offer. Top filmmakers include Stan Brakhage, Harmony Korine, Erkki Kurenniemi, Federico Fellini, and Todd Solondz (Top essayists being Laura Mulvey and Sergei Eisenstein).
Diana loves the sense of community that working for Real Art Ways brings. She can be found at nearly every post-film discussion, and urges you to join in on the conversation.
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John Byrnes
Board of Trustees
John is the President and CEO of RC Knox and Company. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Greater Hartford YMCA. He also serves on the boards of the Bushnell, the Boys and Girls Club of Hartford and Duncaster. He is a corporator of Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and the Hospital for Special Care and a member of the Hartford Rotary Club. John received his B.A. from Clark University and his J.D. from Western New England School of Law.
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Audrey Conrad
Board of Trustees
A familiar face in the crowd at RAW for more years than she cares to admit to, Audrey is a long time supporter of RAW as well as The Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective and Our True Colors where she has volunteered and made presentations. Formerly Executive Director of The Connecticut Outreach Society (a Transgender support and social group), she speaks to high school and college students about gender issues and her life experiences.
Audrey was born and raised in the Chicago area. After graduating from Northeastern Illinois State University, she taught in City of Chicago public schools for five years prior to pursuing a career restoring, caring for and writing about historic railroad equipment. She compares her work to “being a zookeeper for dinosaurs”.
Her spare time is divided between visiting museums and galleries, exploring industrial archeological sites, hiking and dancing. She is honored (and flattered) to be a member of the RAW Board.
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Harold (Hank) Schwartz
Chair, Board of Trustees
Hank is the Psychiatrist-in-Chief at the Institute of Living, Vice-President of Behavioral Health at Hartford Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He has served on numerous other national, regional and local boards but rates his time on the RAW Board as personally most meaningful.
Hank grew up in New York City and moved to West Hartford in 1989 for a position at Hartford Hospital. In his life before medicine he was focused on the arts, particularly theater, television and film. "I always considered myself an arts person who was kind of surprised to wind up in medicine," he reports. "I have always loved my career in psychiatry but, in some important way, I feel I have come home with my connection to RAW. Real Art Ways is a phenomenal organization and I couldn't be prouder to be part of it."
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Ileen Swerdloff
Board of Trustees
Ileen is the managing partner of the West Hartford law firm of Swerdloff & Swerdloff where she practices family law with her husband/partner. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her law degree from Western New England School of Law.
She is passionate about the arts. An inveterate traveler, she visits museums and galleries throughout the world. She believes a connection to the arts is as important to well being as is exercise and a healthy diet.
Ileen also serves on the Board of Hartford Stage, the Greater Hartford Arts Council, and Greater Hartford Legal Aid. In addition, she is an Elector at the Wadsworth Atheneum of Art.
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