February 28th: Panel

“Pandemic Spring 2020: NYU’s first remote

semester. Where Are They Now?”

PANDEMIC SPRING 2020 - NYU’S FIRST REMOTE SEMESTER -WHERE ARE THEY NOW

MODERATOR / ORGANIZER: LAWRENCE WHEATMAN (HTTP://WWW.LAWRENCEWHEATMAN.COM)

BIO: LAWRENCE WHEATMAN WAS BORN AND RAISED IN WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, MANHATTAN, NYC, AND ATTENDED PUBLIC SCHOOLS. ALTHOUGH COLLEGE-BOUND, HIS TRAJECTORY CHANGED UPON BEING EXPELLED FROM HIGH SCHOOL WITHOUT WARNING JUST THREE HOURS BEFORE GRADUATION. (THIS WAS THE VIETNAM ERA, AND APPARENTLY, THE SPEAKING SKILLS WHEATMAN EMPLOYED TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS AND FACULTY IN ANTI-WAR AND CIVIL RIGHTS DEMONSTRATIONS WERE NOT APPRECIATED BY ALL.)

AFTER HITCH-HIKING FOR THREE YEARS THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA, WHEATMAN RETURNED TO NEW YORK CITY AND LAUNCHED "COCKROACH ART," A SEVEN-THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT PERFORMANCE COFFEEHOUSE ACROSS FROM THE BITTER END ON BLEECKER STREET IN GREENWICH VILLAGE. "THE ART" TRAVERSED NEW GROUND IN COMBINING EXPRESSION AS DIVERSE AS ROCK, FOLK, COUNTRY, BLUEGRASS, BLUES, BALLET, STAND-UP COMEDY, AND INTERACTIVE LIGHT SCULPTURE IN THE SAME ARTISTIC SPACE. WHEATMAN THEN PERFORMED WITH A NUMBER OF BANDS OF DIVERSE MUSICAL GENRES IN NEW YORK AND EUROPE AND WAS PRODUCED BY THE LATE FELIX PAPPALARDI (WHO ALSO PRODUCED CREAM, ERIC CLAPTON, LESLIE WEST, MORE).

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERIENCE CAME QUITE EARLY TO WHEATMAN IN THE MANY EVENINGS WITH HIS FATHER IN A MAKE-SHIFT KITCHEN DARKROOM. HE FIRST BEGAN TO EMBRACE THE POWER OF THE CAMERA'S EYE IN A VIDEO (LATER PHOTOGRAPHY) AS A PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, CAMERA OPERATOR, AND TALENT FOR MUSIC, FASHION, AND COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. GALLERY SHOWINGS OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK COMMENCED IN EARNEST IN 1984.

BESIDES HIS ACTIVITIES AS AN ARTIST, WHEATMAN ALSO DOES PHOTO WORK IN THE MORE COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE CRAFT INCLUDING MANY PRINT COVERS AND IS A TEACHER OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST DEVELOPMENT AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SINCE 1989. HE USES THIS REALITY OF MULTIPLICITY TO MAKE HIS CHOICE TO NOT SPECIALIZE. THE RESULT OF THIS IS THAT HE UTILIZES BROAD ASPECTS OF CAMERA, FILM, DARKROOM, BRUSH, AND COMPUTER. ~THOMAS MATCHETT

PANELIST: Susanne Mueller (http://www.susannemueller.biz)

Bio: ​​Susanne is originally from Switzerland, residing in New York. Susanne is a global executive coach, traveling globally to 50+ countries, speaking 5 languages. Working for Swiss Airlines, Swiss Mission to the United Nations, Nestlé, and most recently as a leadership coach.

Susanne has shown her photography in New York “Inspirations around the Globe.” (2016) and virtually “Street Photography” (2020). In her spare time, Susanne climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and has completed the full Ironman triathlon distance and many marathon races. She is a weekly blogger, a podcaster, and author of 2 books “Take it from the Ironwoman” (2017), “Lipstick Leadership” (2021).

Panelist: Jordan M. Smith

Bio: Jordan M. Smith grew up hunting rocks and hiking in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Through his graduate studies in New York as an urban planner, he was trained to look more critically at urban design, and appreciate the built environment and architecture as art. His interest in photography started as a way of depicting the relationship between the city’s inhabitants and its physical form, both of which are in a constant state of evolution, particularly in New York.

As a photographer, the manner in which people react to the physical objects around them is a continuous source of surprise and intrigue, and Jordan tries to represent the city as a “character” along with the people depicted in these pictures. Such interactions are generally depicted in an unposed, candid manner, which Jordan believes shows this relationship in the most authentic way.

Panelist: Debby Szersin

Bio: Due to a deep interest from childhood in painting, drawing and fashion, Debby Szersin enrolled herself to Parsons School of Design, New School and Barbizon Institute Of Fashion Merchandising, leading to a work career as a fashion buyer. 

In 2013 she added photography into her toolbox (via one of my courses at NYU-SPS-CALA “Beginning Photographer to Exhibiting Artist”) showing her artwork having been long a desired, yet greatly feared activity, and has been a repeat student and powerful guest presenter many times since. 

Successfully utilizing ‘fun as fuel’ with strong suits in the whimsical/ethereal/theatrical genres, Debby is amongst the most prolific artists I have ever known, and has regularly been featured at local galleries and libraries (a lifelong New Jersey resident) in solo and group showings.