Women in the Arts

As March comes to an end let's not wait another year to highlight women in history. Their creativity behind the scenes in the arts are making history daily with successful careers that used to be almost exclusively male. Here are the career paths of seven area women, of different ages and positions, all of whom have worked together at some point. They all share a love of their creative jobs, hard work and encouraging women in the industry.

Quinn Stone wanted to be an artist for as long as she can remember. She loved to build and create, loved color and shape, and went to arts schools from 4th grade through high school. Her college degree is from a program collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University. Grades in the museum courses were based solely on the student's demonstrated artistic growth for the semester. She notes that grades for the academic portion didn't work that way. Her first job was as a muralist but she found that every time she focused on painting and fine arts, she wound up working in film television and theater, by accident. "I loved it, but I couldn't get away from it either" she says. Since 2008, she has owned and operated Stone Dog Studios, a design and fabrication scene/set shop, that provides creative solutions for film, television, theater, photography, and exhibits. She is one of the few woman-owned businesses in that industry. “We love a challenge and thrive on creative collaboration with our clients,” said Stone, noting that the Stone Dog staff has 20 years experience.

Owner/Operator, StoneDog Studios a Design and Fabrication Scene Shop

Debra Katz Weber wanted to be a veterinarian and actress growing up, but it was a D in 7th grade home economics (her only D ever) that led her to her passion for costumes and wardrobes. She had struggled with her sewing project, a jumper, all year, and came back the next year determined to prove that teacher wrong. She memorized the pattern guide, producing a suit! In high school she was in drama club either acting or sewing and worked as an usher in community theater where she could see every production. When a low budget production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar" had not finished its costumes as opening night loomed, she pitched in to help and she was hooked. After graduating from Brandeis University, she took a job as head costumer for a Lake Placid theater that did 6 shows in 8 weeks so she says she "learned a lot on the fly". It was the mid-70's and she had her sights on New York City. After seeing a play at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park she sent her resume with a letter periodically for a year to the wardrobe supervisor. He finally agreed to interview her, saying it was, "because you were becoming such a pain". She wore her most dramatic outfit to the interview and was hired as a dresser for productions of Henry V and Measure for Measure. She went on to work on Broadway and in film and television and is now a wardrobe supervisor for NBC News.

Wardrobe Supervisor

Julia Samersova always knew she would be involved in photography, fashion, models and art. As a child in Brooklyn she incessantly clipped artistic images from her mother's fashion magazines and made huge collages, some still on display at her mother's home. As soon as she was allowed to take the subway by herself, she started going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art alone. When she was approaching her last semester in high school, not planning on higher education, her guidance counselor called her to her office. She told her that she already had enough credits to graduate and asked if she would like to try an internship in a career of her choice for the final semester. Julia immediately said FASHION! She interned at a then new modeling company and stayed for seven years." I have an eye for for seeing beauty in anything and anyone," she said. This led to a career as a casting director. She also describes herself as All Around Boss Mommy.

President, Cast Inc., Casting Director

Eva Radke remembers finishing her childhood prayers with a plea that God make her a 'movie star'. That focus changed when she was 13 and saw the movie 'Harold and Maude'. "I could not believe people could do this," she recaalls. "I watched it more than 50 times o VHS, memorized the lines, studied the set dressing, montages and cuts. I witnessed how music and angles shaped the narrative." She found out as a high school freshman that you could major in film and television in college, and couldn't get out of high schoool fast enough. After graduation from the University of Texas, she came to New York and worked for 15 years as a freelance doing set design and building, scene art, prop fabrication etc. "Then we tossed all our hard work in a dumpster and I thought 'not okay'. That's when she started her own business Film Biz Recycling with money she had saved and invested since her first job. It was a hybrid non-profit and social enterprise, response to egregious, needless waste and transformed the problem into a jobs, opportunity and community resource. This effort earned her an EPA award in 2014 and succeeded in changing the throw away, dumpster culture in the arts. Her most recent venture, Art Cube, is a 72-city peer-to-peer platform for creative freelancers around the world combining the features of Craig's List, Behance and social forums.

CEO/President, Film Biz Recycling, Art Cube

Sara Foldenauer wanted to be the first woman to play for the New York Yankees until she was about seven when she changed her goal to being an artist. She was always doing arts and crafts and decorating and redecorating spaces. She knew she wanted to do something creative but was not sure what. After college, she took a job as a nanny to get to New York but it didn't last and she went back to Indiana and worked as a photographer's assistant. She returned to New York within a year with that experience and got a job managing a studio and assisting a still life photographer. For the next several years she worked as a photographer's assistant and photo set design. When not working, she was building up her own photography portfolio. "It was before social media so you really had to get out there and pound the pavement", she says.

When things were't happening as fast as she would like, she agreed to do a props job for Target. That job and a few others like it convinced her that her place was not behind the camera. Her work was well-received and she has been workig no-stop for 10 years in production.

Set Design-Building, Prop Styling, Sets By Sara

As a child, Jessica Zindren wanted to be a marine biologist, a singer or a painter, but then in high school her parents set up a dark room in the garage and she fell in love with photography. She took a job in a camera shop at the mall, where she could also get discounts on equipment. Majoring in advertising photography at Rochester Institue of Technology in upstate New York, she was inspired by a stylist who was a guest lecturer in her fashion photography class. As a result, she says "I knew then that was what I wanted to do -be a stylist. I loved the idea of being on the production end of photography as well as supporting the creative vision". When she came to New York she assisted in a variety of different stylists in photographing soft goods, fashion, celebrity and still life. About five years ago that she realized she became paricularly inspired and motivated when her she worked with client's children and she found her niche. "I love how children bring their own element to the shoot," she said. "You may have a beautiful blue outfit but they refuse because they hate blue! You have to find creative solutions in many situations. If they're not happy they won't smile for the photos ad you have to make that work. It sounds crazy but I love that element of surprise."

Freelance Fashion Stylist

Joy Kim grew up surrounded by music and art, trained to be a classical pianist and attended performing arts middle and high school. As a high school senior she applied to music conservatories and was going through auditions, when, on a whim, she added an application to Parsons School of Design. Accepted at both the convervatories and Parsons, she chose Parsons, fially realizing that a long term career as a pianist was ot a good fit for her. She loved that the Design and Management Program at Parsons because it provided the skill set and tools for a business degree but focused the curriculum on design and innovation. After graduation, she got a job as a production assistant, with no experience, and remains grateful for all the talented people who gave her a chance to grow and to learn so much of what she knows today.
Senior Production Manager, Wasserman

Rachel O'Connor wanted to be a dancer as a child because it made her feel free and was a great outlet for her energy. She always loved going to shows and participating in live events. In college at Montclair State University, she chose to major in production design with a concentration in audio. She met alot of designers at various levels who inspired her to try different audio jobs. Her first job was loading for an off-Broadway production of "Rock of Ages" at New World Stages.
Audio Engineer, The Public Theater