Meet The Experts Presenting In Quick Center’s Open Visions Forum

Meet the Experts Presenting in the Quick Center’s Virtual OVF: Espresso Lecture Series

FAIRFIELD, CT — The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts has announced a new season of free virtual lectures as part of the Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso Series. Led by Fairfield University Professor Philip Eliasoph, PhD, this season’s OVF Espresso programs offer access to panelists and experts on fascinating topics including art, politics, interior design, Woodstock, and more. Meet the experts who will present OVF: Espresso programs via livestream at thequicklive.com:

Thursday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Aviva Lehmann
“From Rockwell to Rothko: Inside the American Art Auction Marketplace”
Aviva Lehmann joined the New York office of Heritage Auctions in January 2013. With more than 20 years of in-depth knowledge and experience in American Art, she holds a broad interest in all aspects of the field. Lehmann previously served as vice president, specialist in the American Art department at Christie’s, and was instrumental in establishing dozens of auction records in virtually every category of American Art. She lectures at museums and institutions throughout the country, and also serves as an adjunct professor of Appraisals and Valuation in the Art Administration Master’s Program at New York University.

Wednesday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.
David Carroll
“Data Quest: Exposing Cambridge Analytica and the Reclaiming of My Voter Profile”
David Carroll is an associate professor of media design at Parsons School of Design at The New School. He became known as an advocate for data rights after legally challenging Cambridge Analytica in the U.K. in connection with the U.S. presidential election of 2016, resulting in the only criminal conviction of the company by the Information Commissioner's Office. Carrol received a BA from Bowdoin College and an MFA from Parsons School of Design. Carroll’s story is featured in the Oscar-shortlisted and BAFTA-nominated Netflix original documentary The Great Hack (2019) and has been widely published in periodicals including Wired, Paper, Quartz, The Guardian, Motherboard, and The Boston Review.

Tuesday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Donald Rattner
“My Creative Space: How to Design Your Living Spaces”
Architect Donald M. Rattner helps individuals and organizations maximize their creativity by drawing on scientific research into the psychology of space. His work has been featured on CNN, in such publications as The New York Times, L-Magazine, and Better Humans, and on numerous podcasts. Rattner holds a bachelor’s in art history from Columbia and a master of architecture from Princeton University. He has taught at the University of Illinois, New York Academy of Art, New York University’s Division of Real Estate Studies, and Parsons School of Design SCE.

Tuesday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Frank Figliuzzi
“It Can’t Happen Here? Assessing the Rising Threats of Domestic Extremist Groups”
A 1985 graduate of Fairfield University, Frank Figliuzzi served as assistant chief security officer at General Electric for five years and is the FBI’s former head of counterintelligence. He has studied patterns of conduct among high-achieving individuals as well as the errors made by unethical people, and has determined that maintaining a “code of excellence” is the key to success in any field. In his new book The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence, Figliuzzi details the training of new FBI recruits and the rigorous maintenance of standards up and down the organization.

Tuesday, April 6 at 3:00 p.m.
Sabine Nikolay
“From Vienna to Woodstock: A European Look at Rock Culture Myths & History”
Sabine Nikolay’s fascination with Woodstock began as an 11-year-old Austrian girl listening to a yellow cassette tape titled Janis Joplin, Woodstock 1969. So powerful was the sound on that tape that it moved something in her. Many years later, in 2009, Nikolay was working as a radio journalist and set out to explore the myths of Woodstock: peace, love, and free music. She travelled the U.S. to meet producers, backstage staff, talent, and audience members — and pieced together a completely different picture of the mystical event of August 1969.

Wednesday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Kay Cosgrove, PhD
“Painters and Poets: Unity of Nature Past and Present”
Poet Kay Cosgrove received a BA from Fairfield University, an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and a PhD in American literature and creative writing from the University of Houston. Dr. Cosgrove is the recipient of awards from The Academy of American Poets, Inprint Houston, and The Westchester Review. She has been named a finalist for the Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize, Oberlin College Press’s Field Poetry Prize, the St. Lawrence Book Award, and Larry Levis Intro Prize in Poetry from Four Way Books. She is currently a visiting assistant professor of English at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

For more information about this season’s Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso Series topics and speakers, visit quickcenter.com or contact the box office at 203-254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396. To join a free livestream lecture, visit thequicklive.com at the time and date of your selected event, as noted above.