ACE PEOPLE

Innovative Placemaking Puts miSci on the Cutting Edge

April 3, 2022 By Corey Aldrich

COREY: Please state your name, title and what you do at miSci. How long have you been here?

GINA: My name is Gina C. Gould and I have been the President of miSci for the past four years. Like most museum professionals, we all wear a lot of hats. In my role as president, I mainly focus on big picture things like the care and preservation of miSci’s invaluable archives and collections, ensuring we are creating cutting-edge, place-based educational programs for our audiences. Making new friends in and around the Capital Region.

Historic Archieve Images involving radio and the electric light. — Images from the miSci Archival Collection.

From Innovation to Inspiration

COREY: You oversee a collection that represents so much technological development for our country and the world in general. All this while being located in a city with an important provenance in the tapestry of innovation. How and what do you focus on in a typical day to push that forward? To create meaning from it…

GINA: miSci’s team spends all of its time developing exhibitions and programs that focus innovations. These areas include science, technology, engineering, art and math. We dabble in past, present and future. We want everyone, regardless of their age or interests, to understand and appreciate that these innovations are what change society and the world. For the good, bad and sometimes ugly. Their lives are surrounded, every second of every day by these innovations that dictate how we live our lives. By understanding these concepts, we hope to provide our youth inspiration. It is that inspiration that will help them to change our world. And for adults, we hope to provide them with enough information to be informed citizens of the world.

Archival images of an engine, florescent light bulb and an early x ray machine. — Images from the miSci Archival Collection

Opening Young Minds

COREY: The past establishes a foundation for the future. As such, where do you see yourself taking the organization to make it as impactful as the history it represents?

GINA: For a long time, miSci neglected what is in its basement. This is where there are some of the worlds “first” inventions of the 20^th Century that changed the world. Unlike other science museums that focus on natural history or early human innovation, miSci’s collections focus on a wide breadth of innovation from lighting the world to renewable energy that will save the world. The general concepts that each object miSci houses, from toasters to jet engines, can be brought down to the basics of such things as heat transfer or combustion. All of these phenomena are what children learn in school. Showing them “firsts,” such as the first toaster, or first dynamo, connects the past to the present and makes it real, tangible. It’s something they can touch if not something they have in their homes, albeit is a more modern form.

Images of an old clock, a young girl and a portable record player. — Images from the miSci Archival Collection

A STEAM Collective

COREY: How do you see miSci growing its value proposition to the City of Schenectady and why is this important?

GINA: With our growing partnership with Clarkson University, the City of Schenectady School District, the Schenectady Historical Society, and Union College, together we will become a STEAM learning and research center for people of all ages.

Image of Jay Street in Schenectady. — Jay Street, a revitalized part of downtown Schenectady.

Placemaking In Action

COREY: I am super excited that you will be hosting an onsite event in conjunction with the NEMA 2022 Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit this month that will be held in downtown Schenectady. Maybe we can bring in your partner Lorraine Cox (Co-Producer at NEMA 2022) on that to talk about how that production team came to partner up with miSci.

Lorraine: The summit is both a sharing of the rich creative placemaking activities happening in this region of the country, as well as a space to inspire and empower placemakers to build new and better partnerships, projects, programs and policies. That would include right here in Schenectady and the broader Capital Region. Creative Placemaking is a strategy that can support the goals of miSci making this a great opportunity to further discuss and flesh out what that might look like. Gina has taken her institution to a new level using these collaborative principles. We felt that miSci would be the perfect real world example of the power of this approach.

Photo of a group event crowd. — Photo: **Richard Lovrich**

See For Yourself

COREY: ACE is excited to play a part of what you have coming up later this month! Gina, I have to say, I have been wanting to do an event here for some time. Can you tell us a little more about what to expect from the Creative Networking Happy Hour event on the 21st?

GINA: Attendees will see how miSci is evolving to become not only a Regional Science Museum but also a community-based museum that specializes in place-based, immersive hands-on STEAM learning. Additionally, we are planning on making a special announcement regarding a new national program that miSci will be instituting that will create commission opportunities for regional designers, makers and artists so make sure to be there for that!

EDITORS NOTE:
We are excited to announce the first ACE Creative Networking Event of 2022 will be held at miSci in conjunction with the NEMA 2022 Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit. These events always well supported, advance RSVP is recommended and appreciated.

for more info or to RSVP NOW!

Rock Star Style with Hair Maven Molly Tremante

March 1, 2022 By Corey Aldrich

I met Molly several years ago after hearing continuously about her reputation as a hairstylist. At the time I was pretty involved in the upstate fashion scene through my sustainable fashion initiative Electric City Couture. Since then, I have had a number of projects that I was able to work with her on. One was a cool show called REIMAGINED at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls New York where we did a promotional fashion shoot to support an Alphonse Mucha exhibition and a tableaux vivant fashion event in 2018.

Photo: Corey Aldrich

Molly Tremante is a hairstylist & business owner. Her shop, Fur Hairdressing is located in Schenectady, NY on Upper Union Street. Fur is a boutique collective of independent stylists who focus on advanced hair cutting and coloring techniques. They thrive on a passion for hairdressing and cultivating clients authentic true style. The inclusive philosophy: ‘Beauty is for everyone, and all humans are welcome at FUR.‘

As part of her overall passion and retro aesthetic, Molly sells vintage and pre-loved clothing in the shop as well.

Molly Cutting Hair. — Photo: Corey Aldrich

A CAREER IN HAIR

Molly has been working behind the chair professionally as a stylist for 18 years. She has been working in salons for 22 years. Growing up (when she was only 14!) she worked on Saturdays sweeping hair and taking out rollers for weekly wash and set clients. The salon owner at the time was a friend of the family. The opportunity to get a feel for the industry at such a young age got her excited. She knew immediately that this industry was the right career fit for her. Molly ended up going to beauty school at Capital Region BOCES while she was in high school. She started doing hair professionally the day after she graduated.

Molly Tremante Platform LIVE work. — Photo: Glow Optical Photography

When Molly started to find her groove in the industry, she realized that she wanted to focus on hair cutting, editorial styling and sharing her love for the craft. She became an educator for international brand Goldwell / KMS and was able to teach out of their academy’s in LA and NYC. This allowed her to teach classes and do hair shows all over the country. Working for Goldwell also opened doors of opportunity. Working fashion week, creating looks for editorial shoots, being published in and working with various platforms such as American Salon, Modern Salon & Hairbrained. At her peak, she was able to design a hairspray with the brands product development team in Germany. Molly eventually resigned. She was ready to focus on her own vision. To this day though, she continues educating and doing editorial shoots to get her ‘creative fix.’

Sample Cuts by Molly Tremante. — Some recent cuts by Molly.

THE VINTAGE BUSINESS

Molly also branched out into another passion, vintage clothing. A self described newbie to that biz, she is not a new to hoarding tangible pieces of history. She has been collecting vintage furniture, decor and clothing for years. Her mom and sister have always been pickers and trips to the local thrift store was a regular activity for them growing up. As such, she has had a passion for fashion & design as long as she can remember. She has always admired vintage sellers as well. Molly says she currently has way too much stuff, but has a hard time letting it go. So, when her friends put The Vintage Roundup together last summer (Albany’s Vintage & Antique Market) she had to give it a shot.

“I love participating in markets and helping someone find that one piece of clothing or trinket they’ve been yearning for. It is almost as satisfying as someone’s reaction after they get their dream haircut.”

Fur Vintage Clothing. — Part of the mini shop in her salon.

Molly looks to continue in her new entrepreneurial direction.

“I feel like I’ve found my place in the industry and really want to spill that into my shop. Bringing the local hair community together to celebrate inspiration and education is something I’d really like to focus on at my hair home.”

Molly is currently accepting new clients. Make sure to drop in to check out the cool collection of vintage clothes and shoes!

FUR Hairdressing and Vintage | 1702 Union Street | Schenectady, New York

Dishing Out the Deets with Susie Davidson Powell

January 27, 2022 By Corey Aldrich

Pretty sure I met Susie Davidson Powell while enjoying a glass of wine at The Confectionary in Troy a few years ago. Since then, I have had opportunity to hit the road with her and get a front row seat on what its like to enjoy the food life from the drivers seat…and also the passenger seat – in her Porche 911 Targa 4S. Yup, she rolls in style!

Many would think that you have a dream job! What is it exactly that you do and for how long have you been doing it?

I’ve been writing about food and drink in the Hudson Valley for close to a decade, first when I moved to Columbia County after living in the city, and then in the Capital Region. I’ve been the Times Union dining critic since 2014, so I write weekly restaurant reviews, critic’s notebook features, The Food Life (a trend-focused digital subscriber newsletter) and a monthly cocktail column. I also co-founded thefoodlife.co for Hearst and wrote and filmed Kitchen Raid, a 6-week armchair travel, cooking and recipe subscription focused on pro tips and kitchen ingredients to make fast plates and amazing cocktails. But it’s not as glamorous as people think…

How did you end up getting into this business? Was this part of your original career path or did you develop this over time?

Not at all! I grew up outside London, England, and was always traveling through Europe, later working in Poland and on a Greek Island. Throughout uni and grad school, I worked as a bartender and cocktail waitress, server and occasional kitchen help. This was a great eye opener in terms of the industry and chef and customer behavior.

I came to Albany, New York to attend grad school. I worked as a research program director and stayed in publishing/curricula development for several years. I’m so grateful for that experience. I’d be out on the road for weeks, eating my way from L.A. to El Paso or D.C. to Roswell, NM. A real culinary education. After moving with my family to Columbia County, NY, I wrote a weekly newspaper column about country life and started covering the growing farm-to-table scene around 2003 just as Swoon opened on Warren Street, Hudson, and not long after the 9/11 exodus Upstate. The rest is history.

What does your job look like on a daily basis? I mean, from a practical perspective beyond all the glamour parts! Ok, maybe some glamour stuff also…

I’m constantly tracking new openings, following chef moves between restaurants, and driving – anywhere from Hudson or Woodstock to the Adirondacks – in search of food. I visit new restaurants once or twice each week and circle back for breakfast, lunch or take out a few times a week. I spend a lot of time on background research too, reviewing current and past menus, and setting up interviews. All this before I get to write. One review with travel, eating, and writing time can take 10 to 15 hours. But I do get invited to talk about food-and-drink on radio and TV and I’m often sent wines and spirits to try. That’s the only glamour part!

I pivoted my coverage, writing about take out, drinks to-go, Black-owned eateries following the BLM protests, staff funds, and a series of behind-the-scenes Shutdown Dairies with restaurateurs and chefs. It felt important to show the struggle faced by industry people. Also, I rapidly compiled the first 50 restaurants that switched to take out in the initial lock down, which became the basis of a Times Union take out database. I’m proud of that.

I also ditched my anonymity and hosted online Food Life Lives, chatting with restaurateurs, sommeliers, farmers, even a DJ. We wanted to touch on what we were missing, what we could plate or pour at home, and how to recreate that feeling of being looked after that you have when you dine out. Before the pandemic, I used to host a lot of dinner parties and private wine or whiskey tasting events, so during the lock down I was asked to do a few via Zoom for the Times Union.

What are your goals for 2022? Anything additional that you would like to mention?

All the Covid delays have made me a little gun shy of setting timed goals but I have a drinks, dining and travel hospitality guide in the works called thedishing.com. You can sign up online for details about its launch!

EDITORS NOTE: Corey here, with a shameless plug. Susie with be bringing a non-alcoholic cocktail series to Arts Bar at the Arts Center of the Capital Region for the first quarter of 2022. The events, are held on Troy Night Out in downtown Troy on the 4^th Friday of each month. The first will be on 01.28 from 6:00 to 8:00 at 265 River Street Troy. Come join us for art and a variety of non- and-alcohol based cocktails!

IG: @artsbartroy

Clowning Around with CCIAC Executive Director Aaron Marquise

January 5, 2022 By Maureen Sager

Just when you thought you knew everything about the 518… did you know that we’re on the brink of becoming one of world’s great homes for Clowndom? Aaron Marquise has worked internationally as a performer and clown, and now he’s working to bring the world — and its clowns — to the Capital Region. Read on to hear what drives his amazing vision.

Where are you from?

I’m originally from Round Lake, Exit 11! I left to study play writing and musical theater in New York for a year and half. Then, I moved up to Montreal to study contemporary circus in Montreal for four years. After that, I had the amazing opportunity to work in Switzerland, France, Germany and other places, sharing my time between Europe and the United States. I’ve been back in the area for the past few years now.

What’s the name of your company, and what do you do?

The company is Contemporary Circus and Immersive Arts Center (CCIAC). We promote, produce and present contemporary circus. Our vision is to link this incredible art form with American audiences, who have such an interesting relationship with the term “circus.” We want to redevelop people’s relationship with circus.

CCIAC’s performance at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, a week before lockdown, 2020

How and when did you know that circus – and starting this company — was what you wanted to do?

Growing up, I’d been to Ringling Brothers, and saw Cirque du Soleil in Florida, and thought, “Gosh, this is incredible, I wish I could do this.” But I never knew I could do this for a living, until I went to Montreal. We want to help audiences here experience the amazement and wow of the things that I saw at school, standing in the chapeteau (the French term for circus tent). I want to bring that to our area. We are completely unfamiliar with it.

Aaron’s favorite photo of himself in clown, taken during a performance of his solo show A.Lone, 2017

Is this what you imagined doing for a living, when you were a child?

I’m blessed because I’ve been in the performing arts almost my entire life. I always thought I’d be an actor on Broadway, and I always knew performing was what I’d do. Even as a kid on the playground, I was organizing productions of Peter Pan. So I always had that skill set and desire, but the thought of being in circus — well, that part is new.

Was it hard, as a creative person, to learn how to run a business?

The business part of this was not something I ever saw myself doing. Creative producing has always been in my blood – that part is easy. But payroll and budgeting and marketing and strategic planning is new for me.

I find it so exciting, and I think I understand the long term vision of what we’re trying to do and how we’re going to do it. I’m learning every day. I’m not afraid to say what I don’t understand something, and when I need help.

I heard someone say that show business has two parts to it – it’s the show, and it’s the business. Yes, we can be really good artists, but we have to pay our bills.

What’s your “unique selling proposition”? What is CCIAC doing that no one else is?

No one was focusing on awards for just circus shows, like we see for the Tony Awards or the Oscars. Covid allowed us to do this economically, because the show could be presented digitally. We celebrated work from all around the world, without having to travel.

Clown Aaron Marquise — From CCIAC’s “Behind the Curtain” event in 2021

As a new dad, how do you balance your work and family obligations?

It’s not easy. But I’m a disciplined person, which I learned in school. I love getting up at 4:15 and working out and getting all of my emails done before my son wakes up. That’s where I thrive as a person.

That being said, not every day is like that. There are times where we’re having friends over, drinking a glass of wine, and I’m not into waking up early.

How did the “It’s All Circus” number come about?

I love the opening numbers for award shows, they’re my favorite. So when we were planning the digital ceremony, we thought, “Let’s write a great opening about what circus can be. We wanted to define what it can be, but right now, in contemporary circus, it can be really anything or anywhere. And we wanted a fun way to be able to talk about that.

Feeling the Music Go Through You – A Conversation with Sophia Subbayya Vastek

January 4, 2022 By Corey Aldrich

Memory is so unforgiving sometimes. As such, I don’t quite remember the first time I met Sophia Subbayya Vastek but I do remember somehow beginning to follow her on Instagram and WOW! She would post the most amazing performance snippets and honestly, I fell in love with her work. Then I find out she is deeply integrated into the music scene in Troy (specifically the Troy Music Hall) and that was enough for me, I just had to know more! As the interview unfolded, I realized I had found a kindred soul. Much of what she said resonated with me regarding mind set, performance spaces and shared experiences. So, lets get to it!

Sophia Vastek — Photo by **Kiki Vassilikas**

Please let us know a bit about your practice. Are you a full time performer? Do you have any other creative gigs you do to pay the bills?

I’m a musician (pianist and composer), educator, and producer/event organizer. And, I am a full-time musician. My days are all music-focused.

I’m glad you asked about paying the bills. I encounter a lot of resistance about discussing how creatives organize their finances. Ugh, there’s so much shame and baggage built up in the creative economy…. especially about money, which is a topic that I’ve been working to unpack for myself for years.

Before the pandemic, performing was a bigger part of my income. During the pandemic, my teaching studio grew to be a very important part of my life. This actually became a wonderful and liberating thing for me. I love teaching. Because of having a larger teaching studio, I’m now able to perform when I want, when it’s meaningful, and right. I spent so many years agonizing about whether I was performing enough and in the right venues. Fuck it. I realized that there are so many other aspects to my musicianship that I hadn’t been nurturing. I went full-tilt into exploring composing during the pandemic.

Can you talk a little about your approach to your own compositions and playing?

Playing the piano doesn’t mean a thing to me unless it’s part of a shared experience. Music is a truly magical thing that effects people both physically and ephemerally. It’s sound waves literally hitting your body! How magical is that? When I create music that gives voice to my own feelings, it will in turn give voice to something in someone else. The Gift by Lewis Hyde had a huge influence on my creativity. Seeing what we do as a gift is life-changing. When we put something out into the world, it’s no longer ours – it belongs to others – and that’s a very empowering and humbling concept.

Many people don’t realize that it takes painstaking time, work and care to create music and spaces that feel “right.” I look at what I do as engineering experiences. Whether it’s my own music and performing, or presenting another performance, I’m thinking about what that experience is going to be like for both the listener and performer. Like, how the sound system is going to interact with the acoustics in the space and how it’s going to reach a listener’s ear. You can have the most amazing performer or the most amazing music but if the experience isn’t right, it will fall flat. There are many variables that help create magical experiences beyond just the music itself.

Can you talk a little about what brought you to Troy (Upstate) and where you were before that?

Before we got married, my husband Sam and I lived in New York City and then Baltimore for a while. We were involved with an artist residency program in the Capital Region and had been coming to the area for a few years. Sam also did a residency at EMPAC. We really fell in love with Troy and decided to move here, because we wanted a more stable home base where we could put down roots. We love it here!

I see that in addition to being a composer and performer that you produce events for venues with musicians as well. Can you tell us more about that…is that your 501c3 Organ Colossal?

I’ve run various music series’ in other cities, organized concerts, etc. It was a natural next step to put structure around what I’ve already been doing for a while. I founded ‘Organ Colossal’ with Sam. We produce and present concerts around town like the ‘Lift Series’ in collaboration with the Troy Music Hall. We’re a young organization, but we’ve got big plans for this coming year. We have the most amazing board of directors. There is a lot of thought and care that must go in to bringing people together and creating spaces that are equitable and caring. I can’t imagine doing this work without a team of people that bring different perspectives to the vision.

With the current state of affairs, live music which was coming back strong seems not be totally out of the woods with our ongoing health crisis. Do you have plans on how to deal with that to keep the flame alive?

I’m very optimistic. I don’t think keeping the flame alive is ever going to be the issue. It’s become clear that live music is as important as ever. I have to come back to music as a magic thing – what happens when people experience live music together is totally irreplaceable. Sound waves moving through bodies – your own body and the bodies next to you – create a bond of shared experience. We need these experiences to give voice to the deepest things that we feel that go unprocessed.

My next album that is coming out mid-2022. It’s different from everything else that I’ve put out. It’s scary! This music represents a side of my creativity that I haven’t been able to give voice to until recently. I never gave myself the space to slow down and explore it. The new album is soft, intimate, and enveloping. It’s my own music, recorded on my piano with the best audio engineer in the state, my husband (I’m not biased!). Doing it in my home gave me the freedom to be as vulnerable as possible.

Organ Colossal is in the planning stages of some exciting new projects. We’re committed to creating accessible spaces for music, so we’re moving in a direction that involves more public, open-call work. The next concert on the Lift Series is coming up on on Feb. 23 is Warp Trio (a fantastic genre-bending chamber ensemble). After that, power trio Super 400 (regional superheros!) is slated for March 23. Follow our Instagram page or sign up to my mailing list to keep up to date on future shows and programming.

IG: @sophiavastek
WEB: www.sophiavastek.com

IG: Organ Colossal: @organcolossal