Technically, Arwen Lewis inhabits our blue planet, but so much about her belongs in the celestial realm. First and foremost, her earthily angelic voice (just listen and you’ll know that’s not a contradiction in terms). Then there’s her lineage: The granddaughter of Oscar-winning actress Loretta Young and Tom Lewis who created the Armed Forces Radio Network during World War II. She is the daughter of Peter Lewis, a founding member of ‘60s psychedelic cult heroes Moby Grape, she’s been part of the creative cosmos all her life. So it’s no surprise that Arwen’s new OMAD EP is called Under the Stars—or that a slice of sonic heaven is poised to enter your heart, mind and soul.
Arwen creates music in the professional realm for the pure love of creating art, and because of the community that she has found in the world of music and performance. She not only performs but also works with other musicians. including organizes concerts. She is also the host of a music podcast on Pantheon Podcasts called The Arwen Lewis Show. Arwen looks forward to creating new music in the future and exploring the realm of alternative music with nuances of classical and jazz.
Robert LaRoche has been a musician since his teens in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He toured long and hard with The Sighs in support of their Nineties’ albums What Goes On and Different, and when their frontman elected to step out of the spotlight, he found a satisfying role, writing, recording, and performing with Patricia Vonne, whose pop-rock sound has Latin/country flavors. Ultimately, LaRoche’s own muse stirred anew and he released the aptly titled Patient Man in 2015 and its follow-up, A Thousand Shades, four years later.
George Eshleman is a veteran who inspired the upcoming film THE KEEPER which is based on his real-life experience hiking the Appalachian Trail while carrying 363 military name tapes from military members who committed suicide to raise awareness.
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Janet Rutkowski is a Brooklyn-based artist with a studio in Barryville, NY. She’s a self-taught artist whose work spans over 35 years and primarily works in steel, although during the pandemic, she created hundreds of works on paper entitled Quarantine Compositions. Janet is also a curator and currently has a large show in celebration of Women’s History Month entitled: Behind The Mask. The Art of Women Welders. It features 29 women welders and over 50 works of powerful art, as well as one of her large scale pieces.
Marty Martinez leads the Reach Out and Read network, which includes more than 6,000 program sites in all 50 states and nearly 30 regional, state, and local affiliates. Marty brings 25 years of experience working on behalf of young people, families and underserved communities across the Greater Boston area. He has a strong skill set and expertise in public health, nonprofit management and positive youth development.
1. How does Reach Out and Read’s new children’s book, Talk Baby Talk, inspire a conversation about diversity in families?
Tulika Mehrotra is a Chicago-based branding and communications expert. She has over 15 years of experience in various sectors and organizations including start-ups with brand building, digital marketing, and communication. Tulika began with Peterson Technology Partners in 2018 as a consultant, leading brand marketing, communication, and digital strategy efforts across the organization. In 2021 she was promoted as PTP’s first Chief Digital Officer in ’ 25-year history.
Devora Yellin Fish is a social justice experiential educator with the goal to increase inclusion in the world. She mentors under-represented purpose-driven Emerging Professionals and Entrepreneurs toward goals. Her mission is to Uplift each and every person for their unique contribution to humanity. No one and nothing left out. (FormerDirector of Education for the TN Holocaust Commission)
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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lewis M. Simons (Lew) has been a foreign correspondent and investigative journalist for half a century, reporting throughout Asia, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. He covered the Vietnam War, opened the world’s eyes to the terror in Tiananmen Square, was expelled from India for revealing Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s abuses and saved the life of a teen-aged Tibetan monk. Simons won the Pulitzer Prize for for exposing the billions that the Marcos family looted from the Philippines and led to the People Power Revolution and the fall of the government. Simons’ newest book, To Tell the Truth, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, chronicles those and many other extraordinary adventures.
Takeaways for ongoing discussion:
Jim Fielding is President of Archer Gray’s Co-Lab Division. He is a respected leader in brand strategy, consumer products and experiences, and storytelling.
Richard Humann is a Brooklyn-based neo-conceptual artist with innumerable international gallery and museum exhibitions, including: the Kemi Art Museum, the Tampere Art Museum, the Tornio Art Museum, the San Cristóbal Art Museum, the Daelim Art Museum, Macao Art Museum, the Kaohsiung Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Ssamzie Space, and the Espoo Museum of Modern Art. Humann was born and raised in the Lower Hudson Valley region of New York State. He divides his time between Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Woodstock, NY.