L-R: Stephanie Bauman ’05 and Bjorn Quenemoen ’03. Photo courtesy BjornQorn

Times Union: BjornQorn, “Quirky by Nature,” Buys Roller Rink in Ulster County

“Here’s how a popcorn company ended up buying a roller rink,” writes Alexandra Zissu for the Times Union. BjornQorn, the popular popcorn company coowned by Jamie O’Shea ’03, Bjorn Quenemoen ’03, and Stephanie Bauman ’05 needed a new facility as they expanded their business. Quenemoen and Bauman, who are married, spoke with the Times Union about their recent purchase of Skate Time 209 in Accord, New York, for just that purpose.

Evan Tims and Edris Tajik (L-R).

Three Bard Students, Edris Tajik ’23, Evan Tims ’19, and Michael Nyakundi ’23, Selected as Schwarzman Scholars

Edris Tajik ’23, a student who is from Afghanistan studying at Bard College’s Annandale campus, Michael Nyakundi ’23, a student who is from Kenya studying at Bard College Berlin, and Evan Tims ’19, a Bard Annandale alumnus from Maine, have been selected to join the eighth class of Schwarzman Scholars, a fully-funded, one-year master’s degree and leadership program in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Tajik, Tims, and Nyakundi are three of 151 scholars, from 36 countries and 121 universities, to be chosen out of almost 3,000 applicants. They are part of this year’s exceptional cohort, which comprises accomplished young leaders working at the forefronts of their industries, and will enroll in Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in August 2023.

Patrick Vaill ’07 as Jud Fry in the Bard Fisher Center’s 2015 SummerScape production of Oklahoma!. Photo by Cory Weaver

London Production of Oklahoma! Revival, First Premiered at Bard SummerScape, Wins Best Musical and Patrick Vaill ’07 Wins Best Musical Performance at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards

At the 66th Evening Standard Theatre Awards celebration in London, Daniel Fish’s UK iteration of his Tony Award–winning re-orchestrated revival of Oklahoma! was named Best Musical, and Patrick Vaill ’07 took home the Best Musical Performance Award for his role as Jud Fry in the play. Vaill originated the role 15 years ago as a theater and performance senior in Fish’s 2007 Bard staging, which had been commissioned by the then Director of Bard’s Theater Program JoAnne Akalaitis. “To be received by the audience and the city in this way is beyond anybody’s reasonable expectation of life,” Vaill said.

An-My Lê, Fragment VII: High School Students Protesting Gun Violence, Washington Square Park, New York (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery. ©2020 An-My Lê.

MoMA Retrospective Exhibition of Professor An-My Lê’s Work to Open in November 2023

In November 2023, the Museum of Modern Art will present the first exhibition of Professor An-My Lê’s powerful photographs alongside her forays into film, video, textiles, and sculpture. “For 30 years, the photographs of artist An-My Lê have engaged the complex fictions that inform how we justify, represent, and mythologize warfare and other forms of conflict,” reads MoMA’s announcement of the exhibition. “Lê does not take a straightforward photojournalistic approach to depicting combat. Rather, with poetic attention to politics and landscape, she meditates on the meaning of perpetual violence, war’s environmental impact, and the significance of diaspora.” 

Tom Petty’s “Call Me the Breeze,” created by animator Jeff Scher ’76.

Art, Film, and Music: The Artful Animation of Bard Alum Jeff Scher ’76

Print magazine profiles animator Jeff Scher ’76 and looks at his most recent work: a video for Tom Petty’s “Call Me the Breeze,” from the late musician’s recently released Live at the Fillmore compilation. “All Scher needs to make his movie magic is some live-action film, a chromatic supply of watercolor and pastels and a rotoscope to get his cinematic juices boiling,” writes Steven Heller. “His films can be joyful, unforgettable and heartbreaking.”

Nikkya Hargrove ’05.

For Parents Magazine, Nikkya Hargrove ’05 Writes about How the Respect for Marriage Act Will Impact Her Queer Family

“I’m relieved this bill passed, but I don’t feel any safer or protected than we were last week,” writes Nikkya Hargrove ’05 for Parents magazine in response to the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) in the Senate. The act would require states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriage licenses no matter the issuing state, but Hargrove ultimately questions the RFMA’s reach and ramifications. “The bill forces us to think about what ‘protection’ means for the LGBTQIA+ community,” she writes.

Photo by Chris Kendall ’82

Inside Higher Ed Writes about Bard’s Emergency Ukrainian Student Refuge Program

Inside Higher Ed writes that Bard College is the latest US institution to open its doors to displaced Ukrainian students, bringing 60 students to its various campuses, with most starting next fall. “Bard believes that universities should be responsible civic actors, and, as such, should step up, particularly when education is under threat,” said Jonathan Becker, Bard’s vice president for academic affairs and director of the Center for Civic Engagement.

Central European University, Vienna Campus. Photo by Daniel Vegel, courtesy CEU

Bard and CEU to Offer New Joint International Relations MA Program Track

Deepening its partnership with Central European University (CEU), Bard College is pleased to announce a new option for graduate study. Students pursuing an MA in Global Studies will now have the option of receiving two degrees, one from Bard and one from CEU, through a unified course of study. This new collaboration between Bard College and CEU will allow for student mobility and distinct specialization opportunities. The program, which will initiate teaching during the fall of academic year 2023–24, is now accepting applications for its first class of students with a deadline of February 1, 2023.