Category: blog

Each month, we will feature interviews with the volunteer staff that make ATA possible, recognizing their work at ATA and their contribution to our vibrant artistic community.

Here are the first two interviews in this series. The first interview is with Anastasia Pahules who does fundraising and volunteer coordination, and the second is with Sam Manera who curates the window and does A/V tech.

ANASTASIA PAHULES

Can you tell us a little about your background prior to volunteering at ATA?

I’m originally from Arizona. I studied Linguistics at Arizona State University. After graduating I floundered around for a while and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Eventually, I joined the Peace Corps with my husband. We were Peace Corps volunteers for two years in Benin, West Africa. When we returned to the United States, we decided to move to Oakland for no reason in particular. While I was in Benin, I realized that I should make a career out of my lifelong love of film, so after we moved to Oakland I began applying for grad school. I eventually earned a MA in Cinema at San Francisco State.

How did you first become involved with ATA?

I heard about ATA from a friend and I started attending screenings while I was in grad school. After I discovered ATA, I knew I wanted to volunteer here. It’s such an interesting space and I’ve seen some incredible films here. At first I thought of volunteering as a way to watch free screenings, but I quickly became involved in the behind the scenes work here.

What do you do at ATA? And outside ATA?

I am one of two volunteer coordinators and am also a fundraising committee member at ATA. I love being a part of the fundraising committee because we essentially organize big parties, which is great. I also love that both of these roles allow me to meet a lot of very interesting people inside and outside of the organization. Outside of ATA, I work at SFMOMA as the Media Arts admin assistant. I am also producing a documentary and working in my spare time as a video editor. I also enjoy doing work as a script supervisor from time to time. Really, I just try to get experience in as many different things as possible. I’m usually game to help out with a compelling project.

(more…)

Crystal Palace is an experimental film/video festival curated by Liena Vayzman for ArtSpace’s 15th Anniversary, its crystal anniversary, that calls for crystal-themed, crystallizing, and multi-faceted video and film. Non-narrative and experimental narrative work created in any film/video/digital media format is welcome. Projections will be accepted in DVD format only. Crystals include snowflakes, diamonds, ice crystals, gems like amethyst, and salt. We call for work that explores these references in abstract or narrative form, or takes as a starting point the scientific, chemical, cultural, or mathematical aspects of crystals. Additionally, submissions are encouraged to interpret the theme structurally by applying the metaphor of a crystal—as a geometric shape of flat surfaces with specific, characteristic orientations—to the structure of the film/video project. Deadline for submissions: June 15, 2012. http://artspacenh.org/opportunities.asp?id={19DF0BE3-0330-4AAF-B39F-8DF0FB26F352}