N I N A    V A N S U C H
        


Artist Performance Work: Singer, Actor, Composer, Visual Artist, and Writer
  • Concert performances with Bonnie Raitt & Leon Redbone (Pinecrest Music Festival, CT); National Women's Music Festival, Illinois; Sprague Hall and Educational Center for the Arts, New Haven CT. Radio and television performances in New Haven and Hartford: NightAngels with Ginny Bales and Kate Reynolds. Club and coffeehouse performances throughout New England and the Midwest. Performances included singing, acting, and comedy; composed music/lyrics. Coordinated benefit concerts for New Haven Health Advocates, New Haven Women's Center, UCONN Storrs Women's Center. Charter member New Haven Women's Music Collective, UCONN Storrs Music Collective. Performer/co-producer live LP. Managed publicity and promotion. Other works: (completed and in progress)
    • "Where Have I Been All Your Life?" stories
    • "TOWNSPEAK": collaborative oral & written intergenerational historical piece
    • "The State of the Union": radio show/magazine column
    • "Where Have I Been All Your Life?" Ongoing musical memoir/cabaret performances (original 11/1/97 performance funded by the Massachusetts & Belmont Cultural Councils)
    • "Love Songs for Dummies": cabaret/theatre piece
    • "That Crazy American Music!" School enrichment program
    • "Visiting Artist": Belmont Schools; lecture/performance in classrooms
    • "All I Gotta Dream is Do": video with Lynn Pulsifer
    • "I Was Like That!" musical memoir performances for children
    • "Miss Me": a musical memoir
    • "You're Making Me Sick": doctor training performance piece
    • "Jump, Jive, & Wail": Sing & swing dance performance with Bob Thomas, Idy Codington (Kamikaze Jitterbugs), Doug Hammer (Pianist and Music Director), & BHS Jazz Ensemble & Chorus and Dancers, funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Foundation for Belmont Education
    • Cartoonist, artist: Creator of large format art ("Big Stupid Cards © 1985," murals, sculpture), miniature and humongous papier mache & clay sculptures. Designer/artist "Geography Mural" and "Flag Mural" at Burbank School: 80' representational mural funded by The American Business Collaborative and the Foundation for Belmont Education; 80' companion mural of flags of the world; tile installations (student-created tiles; collaboration with Nicole Rockland).
    • 1999 Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Cabaret Fellow: One of 37 performance and cabaret artists chosen from nationwide auditions to attend the Theater Center's Cabaret Symposium. Featured artist in Connecticut Public Television coverage of the Cabaret Symposium (Connecticut Journal)
    • Artist-in-residence: Belmont Public Schools 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003: Public art projects; "Jump, Jive, and Wail"; Get Up theater arts/public speaking presentations, workshops. Artists' development director and coach for school enrichment programs
    • At The Movies: (www.atmmusic.biz) music revue since 1999 with with Brian Patton, Michael Ricca, Will McMillan. Performances include Scullers Jazz Club (4 sold out shows); Hartford Town and Country; Arci's Place NYC, John O'Neil's CABARETFEST! Newburyport, Provincetown, Newfound Lake, NH, et al; Kennedy's; IRNE (Independent Reviewers of New England) Award nominees (1999 & 2004) and winners (2003) "Best Cabaret Act"; featured act: FIRST NIGHT, Boston 2003

Consultant: Free-lance consultant/development coordinator for artists, arts projects, and programs for children and adults
  • Consultant for arts centers, small businesses, and child care programs concerning issues of employee care & management, budget planning/maintenance, family issues and life/time management.
  • Collaborated with Belmont Against Racism (BAR) to design a three-day art exhibit/writer symposium "Celebration", with Patricia Smith, Linda Mizell, and Boston Association for African American Artists. Grant award: Grants for Peace
  • Artists' development director and coach for school enrichment programs
  • Free-lance grant writer: grants awarded by Foundation for Belmont Education ("Community Connections 1 & 2", "Geography Mural", "Jump, Jive & Wail", "Step Up: Master Class"); Belmont Cultural Council ("Community Connections 1", "Jump, Jive & Wail", " Step Up: Master Class", "Community Circle Fabric Mural"); Massachusetts Cultural Council, ("Jump, Jive & Wail"); Grants for Peace ("Celebration", "Symposium on Teasing & Bullying in Schools"); Connecticut Council for the Arts & New Haven Foundation (STAND, Inc. Teen Arts Program); National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists: "Friday Night at the Movies."
  • Writing consultant-Fort Point Arts Community Gallery exhibit: "Sight Squared"; Newton Center for the Arts "Spiritual Geometry"
  • Grant writing workshops: focus on African American artists
  • Arts First: Lesley University workshop with John O'Neil: Auditions: Best Practices (critique of promising young artists)
  • Riverside Theater: Pre-audition workshops for Eugene O'Neill Theater Center

Director          Burbank Before & After School Programs (BBASP)
Administrator          Burbank After School Enrichment Classes (BASEC)
Teaching Staff          Grades K-4     266 School Street
Chenery Extended Program (CHENEX)
Grades 5-8     95 Washington Street
Belmont, Massachusetts 02478
1991-2004: Administrative and creative director for non-profit, OCCS (Office of Child Care Services) licensed child-care program: Burbank Before and After School Program - BBASP. (85+ students daily; annual budget $250,000)
1997-2004: Founder/Director of Chenery Extended Program - CHENEX: an OCCS licensed after school program for 5th-8th grade students. (140+ students daily; annual budget $300,000)
Responsibilities for programs included: Curriculum planning and implementation. Policy development with Board of Directors. Grant writing. Liaison with program families and town department members regarding programs accountability and additional program development for the community. Staff recruitment, training, and evaluation. Establishment and maintenance of complete records for children's enrollment, personnel, budget, and all information pertinent to licensing by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services (OCCS). Counseling referral and coordination. Enforcement of compliance to OCCS and Burbank School regulations. Purchasing of all supplies. Advocate/representative for program and liaison with School Department, School Committee and other child-care related groups in Belmont/Boston area.
Teacher in BBASP hours (art, music, theater, games/sports). On teaching staff since 1989; Assistant Director in 1990; Director in 1991.
1998-2004: Director of enrichment class program (BASEC) for entire Burbank School population (over 300 students). Program includes photography, animation, science, woodworking, sports, chess, theater arts, 2D & 3D art, computers, cooking and nutrition, music lessons (piano, cello, violin, voice), nature/science, sewing and fabric crafts/home arts, sports, field trips, et al.


Education Director (1994-96)
ARTS/LEXINGTON, Inc.
         1403 Massachusetts Avenue
Lexington, MA 02173
  • Non-profit arts education program developer and administrator for children and adult classes, and summer and vacation arts camp program for children. Substitute teacher during camp. Responsibilities include: Curriculum planning and implementation; employment of artists/teachers for classes and camp; assurance of accountability to Lexington community regarding accessibility of arts programming; budget planning and accountability
  • Created Arts/Reach: an outreach program for arts programs in after-school, day-care, and elder service centers; Arts/Link: an on-line resource network linking Arts/Lexington and area artists to other arts centers and providing access to cross-referencing arts directory
  • Collaborated with A/L Board in writing Request for Proposal (RFP)

Arts Coordinator/Counselor/Advocate
STAND, Inc.
         Derby, CT
16 Main Street
  • Counselor for teen-aged substance abusers, runaways, and pregnant teens. Co-led counseling groups. Mediator/advocate for families at welfare board hearings. Assisted in the development of a seminal day-care program for low-income families: "Park-a-Tot"
  • Created arts program for adolescents through co-writing of two successful grant proposals to the New Haven Foundation and Connecticut Commission for the Arts (funded partially through the NEA). Created and implemented art & music program. Taught guitar, song writing, singing, and performance workshops. Organized and participated in coffeehouse, club, benefit performances and live LP recording of concert performance.

Staff/Manager/Advertising Coordinator          Rhymes Records
58 Broadway     New Haven, CT
New England Music City
Boston and Cambridge MA
  • Staff and store supervision and training; cash/record control; display coordinator. Personnel director, bookkeeper. Created and implemented advertising program for five store chain. Initiator and overseer of public relations program. Graphic designer of newsprint ads. Winner of RCA Records graphic design award. Wrote, co-produced and performed radio ad spots. Buyer for jazz, classical and country selections.

Office Coordinator/Counselor
Health Center/Women's Clinic
         University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut
  • Responsibilities in work/study program included: establishment and maintenance of accurate records/files; patient advocacy with physicians; counseling/teaching patients and students in areas related to women's health care. Charter member UCONN Feminist Health Collective. Fund raiser for clinic.

Experience/Education/Skills
  • Mother of Matt Kehoe
  • Computer: Macintosh literate; Excel, Word, quick study on other stuff
  • Brooklyn (Ohio) High School
  • University of Connecticut, Storrs
  • 150+ PDP & CEU hours
  • Private voice work with Ric Poulin, Kate Judd
    guitar work with Patrick Noonan
    movement with Bob Thomas
  • Volunteer for local and national political campaigns
  • Secretary, Burbank School Advisory Council (1993-95)
  • Writer/editor/founder: Burbank Community News (1992-94)
  • PTA & PTO Member and volunteer
  • Founder: Belmont Student Care Group/non-profit benefits umbrella group for people employed in the arts and child care
  • Host parent/family for METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) & New England School Of English (NESE) international home-stay students
  • Board of Directors, Kendall Center for the Arts 1997-1999
  • Board of Directors, Boston Association of Cabaret Artists (BACA) 2000-2002
  • Teacher: Kendall Center for the Arts 1996-1999
  • Activist and advocate for issues related to the arts and education.
    Strong ability to build consensus, bridges, and hope.




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