SARAH BEST / ARTISTIC RESUME
Contact: sarahbest1@gmail.com
ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE
- Daily Photos. Paperboy, Chicago, IL, April - May, 2010.
- Daily Photos, on the Project Wall at Antena. Antena Gallery, Chicago, IL, February 19 - March 20, 2010.
- Daily Photos on Your Cell Phone, January 1-7, 2010. Sent one photo a day for seven days to 75 individuals located nationwide.
- Photos Published in 2009: Photos from the Daily Photos series have been published on the websites of Chicago Public Radio, Chicago Reader, Gapers Block, and Chicagoist in 2009.
- Coney Island (small banner), 2009, embroidery commission for Achy Obejas.
- Secret School 05 (exhibition), Antena Gallery, Chicago, IL, April 18, 2009. As part of an exhibiton curated by Huong Ngo and Alexander Stewart led a "Crafternoon." The exhibition and related programming explored “the importance of food in fostering social networks and the possibilities of barter and exchange in decentralizing market systems.”
- What would you take with you on an expedition? (installation), at The Science of Obscurity (event), Jupiter Outpost, Chicago, IL, July 10, 2009. With David Emanuel, an interactive installation around the themes of our zine “Try Less Hard”. Coordinated by the Chicago Underground Library, The Science of Obscurity was an official lead-up event to the 2009 Printers Ball.
- Try Less Hard (publication). A zine (self-published artist’s book) written and created collaboratively by Sarah Best and David Emanuel with materials culled and created during "Simultaneous Landscapes" at Version >06.
- Sarah Best was the recipient of a 2006 Community Arts Assistance Program grant from the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, which supported the production of this publication.
- Simultaneous Landscapes, at Version<06 (arts festival), Chicago, IL. An installation and performance created collaboratively with Irene Hodes, Ira Murfin, Brianne Waychoff and David Emanuel, that invited visitors to interact in various prescribed and improvised ways with elements of real and imaginary landscapes.
CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
- Dance for the Camera 2010, Chicago Cultural Center, October 13-15, 2010. Co-curated with Jan Bartoszek.
- Dance Film Talkback Discussion, Spooky Action. Links Hall, March 8, 2010. Curated by Rachel Damon and Dan Mohr. "An evening of silent films confronting disembodied performance."
- Dance for the Camera 2009, Chicago Cultural Center, October 13-14, 2009. Co-curated with Jan Bartoszek. A film screening “Character Studies” featured films by Pina Bausch, Michael Jackson, Chunky Move, Hedwig Dances and other artists, and explored the themes of character, gender and personality.
- Film Screening Slumber Party, Links Hall, October 3, 2009. Featuring dance films, documentaries and shorts by Links Hall alumni: Lucky Plush, Molly Shanahan / Mad Shak, Marianne Kim, Litó Walkey and others.
- Life by the Lake, ExploreChicago.org, Summer 2009. This Chicago-centric photo blog gives visitors the opportunity to discover Chicago through the lens of five local photographers: Laurie Chipps, Tammy Green, Eric Allix Rogers, David Schalliol, and Matt Vanderzalm as they explore the city.
- Dance for the Camera 2008, Chicago Cultural Center, October 28 & 30, 2008. Co-curated by Jan Bartoszek. Two film screenings “Landscapes” and “Interiors” focused on how physical setting forms a background and provides an interactive platform for the human activity in dance film. The program was complimented by a panel discussion “Dance Film Now” moderated by Lucia Mauro, and featuring Deirdre Towers, Artistic Director of the Dance Films Association, as well as several filmmakers.
- Dance for the Camera 2008 was the recipient of a Chicago Seminar on Dance and Performance grant.
- Dance for the Camera 2007, Chicago Cultural Center, October 24-25, 2009. Co-curated with Jan Bartoszek. A screening featuring films by DV8 Physical Theater, David Roussève, Lucy Cash/Lin Hixson, Heddy Maalen / Benoit Dervaux and others, was complimented by a panel discussion with dance film scholars Susan Manning and Norah Zuniga-Shaw and local filmmaker Danièle Wilmouth.
- Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Dance Programs, Chicago Cultural Center, 2006-current. As a member of the DCA Dance Force, I have produced and contributed curatorial work to numerous dance programs at the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park including Dancing in the Park (site specific dance in Millennium Park), Link-Up (a presentation of work by Links Hall’s Link Up artists), AbonDANZA! International Dance Festival, and About Dance (a discussion series). My experience encompasses everything from program conceptualization, soliciting and reviewing proposals from artists, drafting budgets, understanding and meeting the artists’ technical needs, helping marketing and communications professionals promote the programs, and coordinating rehearsals, to “being on the ground” during performances.
- First Friday, New York University, 1999-2002. After one of my college professors developed cancer, I took over a monthly reading and performance series at NYU that he had founded. My responsibilities included soliciting and reviewing proposals from diverse artists, managing a staff of 3-4 students, coordinating budgets, supervising the production of a zine that accompanied each event, promoting events, coordinating tech rentals, emceeing events, and producing events at venues like the Salmagundi Club, Washington Square Park, the Violet Café, and a church on 4th Street in Greenwich Village.
- Sarah Best was the recipient of a Special Service award upon graduation for her contributions to arts programming on campus.
EDUCATION
- Continuing Education (Performance): Workshops with Goat Island, Morganville, Sprung Theater, Redmoon Theater; Continuing Education (Embroidery): Workshop with Rebecca Ringquist at Lillstreet Arts Center.
- University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Graduate coursework, British Literature and Performance Studies, 2002-03.
- New York University (NYU), New York, NY. Gallatin School of Individualized Study, BA, magna cum laude, 2002. Concentration: British Literature, cultural practices and ideological systems.
- NYU Study abroad in London, 2000-01, with a focus on British Literature and Performance Studies.
- Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, Erie, PA. Visual Arts, 1997.