STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The Dactyl Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1996 in the early evening of the postmodern day. Our programs are designed to develop an aesthetic that is informed by science, history and philosophy and that takes into consideration both the intellectual and intuitive responses to art. More information.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Victoria N. Alexander, Director of Programs for Thought.
Alexander is co-founder and president. She earned her Ph.D. in 2002 in English at the Graduate Center, CUNY and did her dissertation research in teleology, evolutionary theory, and complexity science at the Santa Fe Institute. Published in the Antioch Review, English Language Notes, Nabokov Studies, and Pynchon Notes, Alexander has investigated the use of chance in narrative by such diverse writers as Martin Amis, Saul Bellow, Louis Begley, Henry James, Milan Kundera, Nabokov, C. S. Peirce, Thomas Pynchon, and Shakespeare. Her novels Smoking Hopes and Naked Singularity pursue similar themes involving coincidence and emergent intentionality. Her honors include a Rockefeller Foundation Residency (Bellagio, Italy), a Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women Fellowship, two Art & Science Lab Residencies (Santa Fe), Alfred Kazin Award for Best Dissertation (GC, CUNY), and the Washington Prize for Fiction. alexander@dactyl.org
Neil Grayson, co-founder and director of visual art. Grayson conceptualized and built Dactyl's gallery/space which he makes available free-of-cost to the Foundation. He is an artist whose work can be found in collections internationally and has been featured in numerous publications including The Peak (Hong Kong), ARTnews, Art in America, The Miami Herald, The Moscow Daily, and The New Russian Word. grayson@dactyl.org
Patrick Markey, MFA (Theater). Markey heads the Film division of the Foundation. He has produced 15+ feature films including: White Oleander, The Horse Whisperer, The Joy Luck Club,
A River Runs Through It, and The Natural (prod. exec.). Markey is an adjunct professor at Montana State University (film department) and a member of the board of directors at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (film program).
Sidney Smolowitz, General Counsel. Law offices are located at 16 West 16th Steet, New York, NY 10011
David J. Sussman, sponsors projects and assists artists in placing their work. Sussman is President of Art Classics LLC, attorney, and Senior Vice President of
family-owned PFP Insurance Co.
John Ashbery, distinguished poet, Bard College. Author of over 20 books of poetry, including Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, Flow Chart, and Some Trees. His many awards include the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, a Fullbright Fellowship and Grand Prix de Biennales Internationales de Poésie (Brussels).
Eamonn Bowles , Musician The Martinets. President, Magnolia Pictures. Former: (President, The Shooting Gallery. Senior VP Acquisitions & Marketing, Mirimax. Head of Distribution, The Sam Goldwyn Co.)
James P. Crutchfield, physicist. Research Professor & Director of the Computation, Dynamics, and Inference Program, Santa Fe Institute.
Willem Dafoe, actor. Member of The Wooster Group. Filmography includes The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, To Live and Die in L.A., and Platoon (Oscar nomination, best supporting actor).
Angus Fletcher, Professor Emertis, English Department, Graduate Center, CUNY
Robert S. Fogarty, Editor Antioch Review. Publications include American Utopianism, All Things New, and Special Love/Special Sex, winner of the Ben Snow award.
Norman Jewison, Director of 25 films which have earned 46 Academy Award nominations and won 12 Academy Awards. Jewison founded The Canadian Film Centre.
Elizabeth LeCompte, Director The Wooster Group. Received NEA Distinguished Artists Fellowship for
Lifetime Achievement in American Theater and MacArthur Fellowship.
Joan Richardson, Professor of English and Executive Officer of the Ph.D. Program of the Graduate School, CUNY. Author of a two-volume biography of Wallace Stevens, co-editor of the Library of America Wallace Stevens edition, and a member of the editorial board of the Wallace Stevens Journal.
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Thuy Tran
ASSOCIATES
Nicole' Maddox Grayson, Photographer and Curator, oversees photo exhibitions and photography book releases in conjunction with exhibitions. For further information email inquiries and/or submissions.
Kate Valk, Curator of the Dactyl Screening Room. Original member of The Wooster Group.
Michael Glazebrook, Internships & Installations. Chairman of the Board, The Point Foundation, Bronx, New York.
Chris Schwerin, Video/Film Editor, Vital
Arts Project.
Maria Villafranca Program Director: Open Mic/Emerging Poets Series. Editor of the online literary and visual arts journal, Verse On Vellum. maria@dactyl.org