New York, NY
Playwright Nilo Cruz’s Pulitzer prize-winning play, Anna in the Tropics (2002), explores the hopes and dreams of a Cuban-American family when their lives are upended by the arrival of a Cuban lector, who reads Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina to them as they work in their cigar factory. His other plays include Lorca in a Green Dress (2003), a fantasia on the life and legacy of Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, and Two Sisters and a Piano (1996), inspired by the life of Cuban dissident writer Maria Elena Cruz Varela, who sent a manifesto to the Cuban government in support of Perestroika; Cruz’s play follows two sisters under house arrest in Cuba for writing a similar manifesto. He received an MFA from Brown University in 1994 and has taught at Brown, Yale School of Drama, and the University of Iowa. Cruz is also a recipient of a Steinberg Award, Kesselring Prize, and the Kennedy Center Award for New American Play. His plays offer compelling poetic considerations of Cuban, Latin American, Spanish, and U.S. Latina/o cultures.
Anna in the Tropics, 2002; photo courtesy Adrian Jones
Los Angeles, CA
Denari established his architecture practice in 1988 and in the following three decades has become a leading voice in the pedagogy and practice of contemporary architecture. His work has evolved from unbuilt theoretical projects to a growing number of realized commissions that illustrate that progressive ideology is buildable. From his earlier machined aesthetic to his more recent employment of smooth sinuous modeled forms, Denari’s architecture has evolved into a matured ideology that has influenced numerous generations of younger architects. A teacher since 1986, Denari is the former director of SCI-Arc (1997–2001), and is currently a professor at UCLA’s School of Architecture.
HL23, 2009; photo © Hayes Davidson
Anchorage, AK
Perry Eaton draws from his Alutiiq heritage to carve tradition-based Sugpiaq Alutiiq masks. Fewer than 150 original Alutiiq masks still exist. Once deemed heretical by Russian and American colonizers, these masks are now in collections all over the world. During the 1990s, Eaton and a few others began traveling to study the masks and revive this forgotten tradition. Besides making his own carvings, Eaton, who studied art at Gray Harbor Community College, is a dedicated teacher at youth camps and cultural organizations.
The Glenn Godfrey Mask, 2009; photo courtesy William Anderson
Los Angeles, CA
Anthony Hernandez, a photographer of urban areas, has produced series on the homeless, welfare offices, the neglected Los Angeles River, and abandoned buildings. He attended East Los Angeles College from 1966–67 before joining the army and serving in Vietnam for two years. Upon returning to his native city, he began photographing people on the street in black and white, seriously taking up photography in 1970. He now works in color and various formats, and, since 1980, most of his works are devoid of people although their presence is felt in the derelict buildings and sites he depicts.
Landscapes for the Homeless #15, 1989–2007; photo courtesy the artist
Las Vegas, NV
Gilbert Hernandez is a comic book artist and graphic novelist. He and his brother, Jaime, included in Time Magazine’s “Top 100 Next Wave Storytellers,” co-created the acclaimed comic book, Love and Rockets, which explores the contemporary contours of life in U.S. Latina/o culture. He went on to create numerous comic book series including Luba (1998) and Luba Comics and Stories (2000) as well as graphic novels such as Sloth (2006). His work provides a significant window into the complexities of life in the U.S. Latina/o community. Hernandez also wrote, directed, and starred in the television series, Naked Cosmos.
“Julio’s Day,” Love and Rockets, Volume 2; photo courtesy the artist
Chicago, IL
Lin Hixson and Matthew Goulish led the performance collaborative, Goat Island, from 1987 to 2009. Hixson received an MFA in 1980 from Otis Art Institute; Goulish received a BA from Kalamazoo College. Based in Chicago, Goat Island performed a personal vocabulary of movement that was dancelike and pedestrian, incorporating historical and contemporary issues. Hixson and Goulish have recently started a new entity, Every house has a door, to explore project-specific works that include intercultural collaborations. Hixson and Goulish teach at the School of the Art Institute, Chicago, and are visiting faculty at Stanford University.
Let us think of these things always. Let us speak of them never, performance by Every house has a door, 2009 (directed by Lin Hixson), pictured left to right: Matthew Goulish, Selma Banich, Mislav Cavajda, Stephen Fiehn; photo courtesy John Sisson
Brooklyn, NY
Martin Mazorra and Michael Houston co-founded Cannonball Press in 1999 as an alternative press publishing both their own prints and those of emerging artists. They began by publishing only affordable black-and-white woodcuts, all of which are available online. They also collaborate on large-scale (10 x 20 ft.) collages made entirely from oversized woodcuts on canvas. Historically, woodcuts were made to communicate issues to the masses, and Mazorra and Houston have addressed themes of labor, demolition derbies, and excess.
Party, 2008, woodcut on canvas; photo courtesy Cannonball Press
Brooklyn, NY
Martin Mazorra and Michael Houston co-founded Cannonball Press in 1999 as an alternative press publishing both their own prints and those of emerging artists. They began by publishing only affordable black-and-white woodcuts, all of which are available online. They also collaborate on large-scale (10 x 20 ft.) collages made entirely from oversized woodcuts on canvas. Historically, woodcuts were made to communicate issues to the masses, and Mazorra and Houston have addressed themes of labor, demolition derbies, and excess.
Party, 2008, woodcut on canvas; photo courtesy Cannonball Press
Wailuku, HI
Hokulani Holt-Padilla is an esteemed kuma hula (hula master), who started her own hâlau (hula school/troupe) in 1976. Holt-Padilla learned traditional hula from her family and has dedicated her life to teaching, promoting, and supporting traditional Hawaiian culture as well as making it relevant to young Hawaiians. Her award-winning hula dance troupe has performed in competitions all over Hawaii, and she is an in-demand judge. Her evening-length hula drama about Maui’s supreme chief, Kahekili, which combined hula with modern technology and a bilingual script, toured through the U.S. and to two German festivals.
Performer Kahulu Pikoi; photo courtesy the artist
New York, NY
Writer, director, actor, and puppeteer Dan Hurlin has been creating original puppet theater since 1980, combining puppets with human actors in dance and drama. He received a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 1979 and studied dance with Trisha Brown. Hurlin was also a production intern with the Wooster Group and a member of a theater workshop with Ruth Maleczech and others from Mabou Mines. He has received numerous awards and has taught at Princeton University, Bowdoin, and Barnard Colleges. He has been on faculty at Sarah Lawrence College since 1997.
Disfarmer, 2009, pictured: puppeteer Chris Green; photo courtesy Richard Termine