The Sylvia and David Steiner Speaker Series
The Sylvia and David Steiner Speaker Series is dedicated to bringing creative practitioners who push boundaries, defy definition, and demonstrate excellence in all aspects of the arts, to the Carnegie Mellon campus for deep engagement with our students and faculty. The Steiner Speaker Series is administered by the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, the research laboratory of the CMU College of Fine Arts, with the assistance of an advisory committee comprised of faculty from around the university. Members of the CMU community may apply for Steiner Visitor Invitation Grants for support to bring creative guests to their classrooms, departments, and clubs.
Year Three (Fall 2020)
During the Fall 2020 semester, 29 visitors with expertise across the arts and creative disciplines were nominated and co-hosted by CMU faculty, staff and students. More information about the Fall 2020 visits supported by the Steiner Visitors Invitation Grants can be found here.
- Kibibi Ajanku — artist and community connector; indigo dyeing expert
- Carlos Armesto — director, producer, entrepreneur
- Angela Myles Beeching — arts career specialist
- Lee Blalock — artist working with technology and the body
- Taeyoon Choi — artist, educator, technologist and organizer
- Uday Dandavante — ethnographer and design innovation expert
- Marco Fusi — multi-instrumentalist
- Hilary Greenbaum — designer, typographer, and design director
- Thomas Allen Harris — filmmaker, animator and artist
- Mark D. Heller — computational designer of responsive architectures
- Joyce Hwang — expert in the architectural consideration of animals
- Shawn Jeffers — education specialist working to create inclusive school cultures
- Anthony Jones — theatrical sound designer.
- Ersela Kripa — architect and expert in military urbanisms
- Laleh Mehran — new media artist and educator
- Vernelle A. A. Noel — research scientist, computational designer, and architect
- Sidney Outlaw — baritone and music historian
- Claudia Pasquero — expert in ecological architecture
- Legacy Russell — curator, writer, and artist
- Helena Sarin — visual artist working with artificial intelligence
- Larry Sass — designer and researcher exploring digital design and fabrication
- Nadia Sirota — performer, curator, and broadcaster
- Byron Stripling — renowned jazz trumpeter
- Sharon Egretta Sutton — activist educator and public scholar
- Gil Teixeira — transdisciplinary audiovisual artist
- Lauren Vasey — computational designer and building technologist
- Howard Watkins — vocal coach and conductor
- Sarah Weaver — composer, conductor, technologist, and educator
- Michelle Wong — expert in voice-over acting
Year Two (Spring 2019 – Spring 2020)
During the second year that the STUDIO managed the Sylvia and David Steiner Speaker Series series (November 2018 through May 2020), we presented 22 public lectures and 34 additional student engagement events (including 14 classroom visits, 7 workshops, 3 public exhibitions, and 10 critiques or charrettes), with a total attendance exceeding 2000 persons. These events were presented in collaboration with a variety of institutional partners, including the CMU Schools of Art, Architecture, Design, and Music; the Miller ICA, the Entertainment Technology Center, the IDeATe Network, the Center for Arts and Society, and the Masters of Arts Management Program; and with off-campus partners, the University of Pittsburgh, and The Andy Warhol Museum. These events are documented in the Sylvia and David Steiner Lecture Series Book: Year Two (165MB .PDF), featuring:
- Rob Rogers — Political Cartoonist
- Hannah Davis — Musician and Machine Learning Researcher
- Karina Smigla-Bobinski — Interactive Installation Artist
- Stephanie Dinkins — New Media Artist
- Igor Vamos — Artist/Activist
- Kamal Sinclair — New Media Curator
- Kyle Machulis — Interactive Haptics Artist / FLOSS Activist
- Dr. Elizabeth Hénaff — Designer, Scientist, and Bio-Artist
- Dr. Laine Nooney — Computer Game Historian
- Dr. Sandy Stone — New Media Performance Artist
- Roman Verostko — Computer Artist
- Alan Warburton — New Media Theorist
- Marie Foulston — Game Arts Curator
- Joey Lee — Designer / Machine Learning Researcher
- Amelia Bande — Performance and Video Artist
- Teddy Cruz & Fonna Forman — Architects/Artists/Activists
- Benedikt Groß — New Media Designer
- Morehshin Allahyari — New Media Artist
- Györgyi Gálik — Speculative/Critical Designer
- Kyle McDonald — New Media Artist
- The Canadian Electronic Ensemble — Electronic Musicians
- Tega Brain & Sam Lavigne — New Media Artists
Year One (Fall 2017 – Fall 2018)
During the first year that the STUDIO managed the Sylvia and David Steiner Speaker Series series (November 2017 through November 2018), we presented 16 public lectures, 18 classroom lectures and workshops, and 26 other student engagement events, with a total attendance of 1,782 persons. These events were presented in partnership with a number of institutional collaborators, including the College of Fine Arts Schools of Art, Architecture, Design, and Music, the Miller Institute of Contemporary Art, The BXA Interdisciplinary program, the Dietrich College Department of English, dSHARP, the Entertainment Technology Center, the IDeATe Network, the Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival, and with off-campus partners, the Andy Warhol Museum. These events are documented in the Sylvia and David Steiner Lecture Series Book: Year One (20MB .PDF), featuring:
- Greg J. Smith — Writer / Curator
- V Buckenham — Artist & Game Designer
- Pamelia Stickney — Virtuoso Therminist
- Gene Kogan — Art & Machine Learning
- Bruce Sterling — Futurist & Critic
- Jason Salavon — Art & Machine Learning
- Jenny Odell — Artist and Archivist
- Alexandra Dean —Documentary Filmmaker
- Kelli Anderson — Papercraft Artist / Graphic Designer / Engineer
- Mimi Onuoha — Data Artist / Activist
- Lesley Flanagan — Experimental Electronic Musician
- Ed Popil / Mrs. Kasha Davis — Drag Performer / Actor / Reality TV Star
- Claudia Hart — New Media Artist
- Memo Akten — Artist and Machine Learning Researcher
- Robin Sloan — Writer / Media Innovator
- teamLab — Tokyo-based Interactive Design Studio
- Addie Wagenknecht — New Media Artist / Activist