Avid Technology CEO and president Jeff Rosica has been elected board chairman of Boston Arts Academy Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises essential funds for Boston Arts Academy (BAA), the city’s only public high school for the visual and performing arts. Longtime BAA Foundation chair Lee Pelton will be recognized as chairman emeritus, as he also becomes president and CEO of The Boston Foundation.
“It is with great honor that I follow in the footsteps of Lee Pelton,” said Rosica. “Boston Arts Academy Foundation engages private donors in funding programming and opportunities that allow young artists to find their voices, express themselves, and achieve their dreams. I am grateful to serve Boston Arts Academy’s students and faculty during this critical time in our city and our school’s history.”
“It has been my privilege to serve as chairman of the BAA Foundation board of directors and the Boston Arts Academy trustees,” said Pelton, who is celebrating nine years of service to the Boston Arts Academy community. “Boston Arts Academy is an exemplary model of equity and access for underrepresented students, with exceptional support from BAA Foundation. The Foundation’s future will be bright under Jeff Rosica’s leadership.”
Under Pelton’s leadership, the BAA Foundation hired Denella J. Clark as president, who built an exceptional team to engage private donors in bridging the annual multimillion funding gap between Boston Arts Academy’s allocation from Boston Public Schools and the true cost of the school’s arts-intensive and college preparatory education–equivalent to $5,000 per student each year. The Foundation has raised more than $12 million towards its $32 million comprehensive Building Our Future Campaign, which augments the school’s budget and builds long-term financial sustainability. In 2022, Boston Arts Academy’s new school building will open directly across from Fenway Park, immediately increasing the number of students from 480 to 500 and eventually growing over the years.
Rosica has served on the BAA Foundation board since 2018, helping to raise awareness and support for the school from the media and entertainment industry. That same year, Avid Technology licensed all Boston Arts Academy students to use its music and audio creation software, Pro Tools, and in late 2020, donated state-of-the-art equipment to help outfit BAA’s new school building. Rosica served as the chair of BAA Honors 2019, which raised a record-breaking $1.3 million. Avid has made more than $800,000 in technology and Building Our Future Campaign investments for the school.
“I congratulate Jeff Rosica and Lee Pelton on their new roles and am so grateful for their leadership. Along with the entire board, I look forward to working with them as we move into the next chapter at Boston Arts Academy Foundation,” said BAA Foundation president Clark. “Jeff is deeply committed to our students. His leadership and understanding of our school and the unique challenges facing our students make him an exceptional board chair.”
Pelton will step down from the role as board chair on June 1, the same day he begins his new position as president and CEO of The Boston Foundation, after nearly 10 years as president of Emerson College.
“The Foundation will be forever indebted to the visionary leadership of Lee Pelton,” Clark said. “We congratulate Lee on his emeritus role and value our continued partnership with him in this new capacity. His commitment and contributions to BAA and the Foundation are singular in the more than 20-year history of both the school and the Foundation. We look forward to cutting the ribbon of the Lee Pelton Board Room in the new Boston Arts Academy school building next year and celebrating Lee as our Lifetime Achievement Honoree at BAA Honors 2022.”
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More