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These hard-working folks labor behind the scenes to form and encourage the kind of support networks that enable artists and arts groups to thrive

Sunday, June 02, 2002

Marilyn Coleman
Executive director, ProArts

There's probably no small arts organization in Pittsburgh that hasn't been nourished in some way by ProArts' services: the workshops on marketing and fund raising, the free legal and business advice, the ticket service now selling on behalf of 45 groups. Coleman, a tireless networker, keeps it all running by raising funds, forging strong contacts with politicians and foundations and staying on top of trends that might affect her flock of small arts groups, many of which use ProArts' events as opportunities to share common struggles and concerns.

Roger Humphries
Jazz drummer, band leader and educator

	A gathering of nurturers: from left, Stephanie Flom, Jay Dantry, Elvira Peake, Phyllis Moorman Goode, Kathleen Zimbicki, Marilyn Coleman and Roger Humphries. (Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette)

Creating a nursery for emerging young talent continues to be Humphries' focus. Aside from being a music teacher and band leader, Humphries can be found every Tuesday night hosting his jazz jam session at James Street Restaurant. He is quite liberal about who he allows on the bandstand: His only requirement is that musicians have an understanding of the nuances of jazz. Over the years, hundreds if not thousands of young players have participated in the sessions, including drummers Tom Wendt, who regularly performs with organist Gene Ludwig, and James Johnson III, who can be found behind the kit in pianist Ahmad Jamal's trio.

Stephanie Flom
Artist/activist

This East Liberty activist loves to make things grow. As director of The Persephone Project and Art Gardens of Pittsburgh, she has promoted a burgeoning awareness of the mayfly through her whimsical Matisse-like cutouts that fluttered through a collaboration with Dance Alloy's Mark Taylor. Recently, Flom, a research fellow at the Studio for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, saw her first artist-commissioned gardens bear fruit at the Frank Auto Park on Bigelow Boulevard. But her grandest achievement finally took root when, after 13 years of cultivation, the Kelly-Strayhorn Community Arts Center in East Liberty had its official opening in April.

Elvira Peake
Director, Clay Place; artist

Peake has a substantial presence in Shadyside -- at her gallery, now in its 29th year, and as a past member of the Shadyside Chamber of Commerce board of directors and the Summer Arts Festival Committee. She's also connected with artists around the region and is a storehouse of knowledge about them. She's a tireless supporter and active member of the art community, exhibiting local artists and regularly attending exhibition openings and programs in other art venues. She's also an artist; one of her ceramic works is in the Westmoreland Museum of American Art collection.

Jay Dantry
Owner, Jay's Book Stall

Jay's Book Stall is what a real bookstore looks like -- no muffins or CDs, just wall-to-wall books. Photos of its proprietor with dozens of the countless writers who've stopped in during the Book Stall's 35 years cover a board near the back door. The display is just a hint of Jay Dantry's stature as Pittsburgh's premier bookseller. Wedged among the ethnic restaurants and pizzerias of Oakland's Fifth Avenue, the Book Stall has endured both the tentacles of the University of Pittsburgh octopus and the locust-plague devastation of superstore chains. Dantry survives -- yes, even prospers (if independent booksellers ever really prosper) -- not only because he loves and knows books but also by the force of his visible presence in the community.

Phyllis Moorman Goode
Executive committee member, Multi-Cultural Arts Initiative

For more than 10 years, as chair of the initiative funded by the Heinz Endowments and The Pittsburgh Foundation, Goode has worked to build African-American arts organizations and promote and foster cultural diversity across all organizations in all aspects of community life.

Kathleen Zimbicki
Director, Studio Z Gallery; artist

As proprietor of her South Side gallery for 26 years, Zimbicki has given local artists a place to show and to meet, seek advice and network. An exhibiting watercolorist herself -- she received the Best of Show award at the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society's annual last month -- she's also an enthusiastic and in-demand juror and teacher at Community College of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Sweetwater. She's also chairwoman for the 92nd Associated Artists of Pittsburgh annual opening Sept. 1 at The Andy Warhol Museum.