Verona's Resume | Iris Arts and Education Group

RESUME

Verona Fonte, Ph.D.Art Administrator, Working Artist, Educator

510 524 4150

veronafonte@gmail.com

WEBSITES

http://www.irisarts.org

EDUCATION

B.A. 1965 History, Art History Tulane University History

One year post-graduate Fine Art,1970 San Diego State University

M.A./Ph.D. Psychology 1976 California School of Professional Psychology

PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST 1976 - 1995

Involved as a clinical, organizational, and academic psychologist for twenty years.

Published book: BirdFlu What To Do: Prepare to Survive 2005

ENGAGEMENT IN ARTS

Executive Director Iris Arts & Education Group 1995 - present
Created and member of the collective Why Facts Matter 2020 to present.
Teaches printing in the print room at Berkley City College: affiliated with the MultiMedia Department - 2017 to 2019
Digital Artist Collective, Berkeley City College Chair Venue Committee 2018
Digital Artist Collective, Berkeley City College President 2017
Board of Advisors Women’s Environmental Dialogue 2016-2018
Board of Directors Women’s Environmental Dialogue 2012 - 2016
Creative Consultant to Voz Propia Foundation 2008 - 2014

CURATORIAL

Conceived and curated an exhibition at the Jewett Gallery at the San Francisco Main Library called "The Gravity of Today: Visions for Tomorrow" for the Digital Artis Collective at Berkeley City College. The Exhibition was a journey through different dimensions of the impact of climate change, reflecting the polluters, the impact on the human psyche, the impact on the environment, the resistance and chaos of climate change, the secondary consequences of climate change, and finally, some reflections of hope. This exhibition was chosen because it overlapped with the Global Climate Summit in San Francisco and was affiliated with the Summit.
Curated show at the Jerry Adams Gallery, Berkley City College 2017

EXPERTISE IN THE ARTS AND EDUCATION

Development of digital learning materials: Development of learning materials for graduate school students in psychology as faculty/administrator at Saybrook Institute.
Development of interactive learning systems: “Digital Media Biography” of Karl Linn, Founder of the Community Garden movement in the U.S.; A History of Computer Communications 1968 -1988, for the Computer History Museum.
Fine arts and digital art mediums: Motion graphics and digital video shorts, both video and animations. Digital Printmaking. Photography. Website development (#15) and graphic design projects for non profits internationally through Iris Arts dating from the mid 1990’s.
Digital Media Skills: Fluent in various digital media skills, including Adobe Creative Suite programs: Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premier Pro, Lightroom, InDesign, Bridge, and Animate. Maxon Cinema 4D; learning AutoDesk Maya.
Administration/ Education: Executive Director of NGO, Iris Arts & Education Group, focusing on socially relevant art projects; Previous: Academic Dean of Saybrook, a graduate program in Psychology; Associate Professor Counseling Department San Diego State University.

EXHIBITIONS

2008 Guadalupe Urbina Retrospective, “Origenes” 4:05 Animation(based on art and music by Guadalupe Urbina), ?Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica.
2016 Smaller Footprint, Series - The Elements : “Water”?Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, California, (Curated)
2017 Digital Art: Power of the Pixel, Series -Escape From Fire: “In Flight”, “Victims of Siege - Damascus 2016”, “Refugee Camp”?Berkeley Central Art Passageway, Berkeley, California, (Curated)
2017 Bring to Light, Series Parched: “Parched #1”
Jerry Adams Gallery, Berkeley City College, Berkeley, California, (Curated)
2017 Heart and Soul, Series Escape From Fire: “Maternal Instinct”, “Turtle Island”, “Solitude”?Expression Gallery, Berkeley, California, (Curated),
2017 Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Or do without; Lessons from our Grandmothers, Series - The Elements: “Earth”
San Francisco Library, San Francisco, California. (Curated)
2017 Women and Art, “Jaguar Woman”
Expression Gallery, Berkeley, California, (Curated)
2018 HomeMade Cafe, "CoExistence or No Existence", "Turtle Island"
2018 The Gravity of Today: Visions for Tomorrow,
Jewett Gallery, San Francisco Main Library
2019 Havana 500 Collective Exposition (Exposición Colectiva) Opening December 14, 2019.
2020 'Syrian Refuge Camp' from the series Escape From Fire: The Migration Crisis of the 21st Century was in the show' Emotional Numbness: The Impact of War on the Human Psyche and ecosystems. This was an Iran-U.S. collaboration. Tehran, Iran September 2020; and online exhibition <https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/2307997/emotional-numbness-the-impact-of-war-on-the-human-psyche-and-ecosystems>

SHORTS PRODUCED BETWEEN 1996 - 2023

Pro-Democracy Series: These are 30-second PSAs focusing on the importance of supporting our Democracy by voting, honoring our Constitution, and valuing the majority of citizens.
Ocean Series: 'Be An Ocean Advocate.' This series of 43-second shorts encourages people to become ocean advocates by recognizing the importance of the ocean and protecting our oceans by becoming taking specific actions such as "ditch the disposable lifestlye", "demand plastic alternatives", "reuse and recycle"!
'Baraye: We Yearn For Freedom.' This short was made to amplify some of the internal yearnings reflected by the song Baraye (by Shervin Hajipour, which won the Grammy Award Social Change Agent Special Merit Award) that may be present in the psyches of many Iranian women. This yearning erupted into spontaneous demonstrations throughout Iran after the Morality Police in Tehran caused the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022.
An Afro-Cuban Yoruba Creation Myth' (9:08) Animation using the artwork of Cuban Yoruba artist Victor Mora. Animated by Verona Fonte, sound by Peter Lewis. Spanish version complete 2020.
This is an animated logo for Kevin Oramas, a digital media artist from Havana, Cuba. 2020. Verona, through Iris Arts, also created his website. <https://kevin-oramas.jimdosite.com/>
Several motion graphics for the Why Facts Matter 'Get Out The Vote' project 2020.
'A Peaceful Warrior' (11:51)—This is a Short film about the work of Gusein and Olga in Dagestan, using martial arts to teach peace to youth in the Caucasus.
'Miracles of Each Moment' (8:06) - Short using paintings and narrative by Zen teacher Kaz Tanahashi.
'Soul of Oaxaca' (4:55) - animation using deconstructed elements from paintings by Roman Llaguno of Oaxaca. Narrative by Verona Fonte is based on an interview with Roman about his paintings.
'Quest For Justice' (11:18) is a film about Korean Comfort Women who use their paintings to tell their stories through the powerful voice of Korean Comfort Woman Grandmother Soon Due Kim.
'Karl Linn: Memorial 1923 -2005' (7:19)—This section contains images only of Karl throughout his life in Germany, Palestine, Switzerland, New York, Philadelphia, and Berkeley. He sought utopian communities throughout his life and moved on when disappointed. He founded the urban garden movement in the US.
'Childhood in Germany: 1923 - 1934' (3:05)—This is a short about Karl Linn's formative years before his escape to Palestine. It is part of a digital media biography I created about his life, making multiple shorts about his life events, his mentors, and his wisdom words. I created it in the last year of his life at his request. The original footage is housed at the Holocaust Museum in Berlin.
'Exposing Ansel Adams' (8:23) is a short film presented at the Ansel Adams Centennial in Yosemite about Ansel's two eldest darkroom assistants.
'Jaguar Woman' (3:27) - animation using music and deconstructed elements from paintings by Guadalupe Urbina.
'Origenes' (4:05) - animation based on the song Origenes by Guadalupe Urbina, using deconstructed elements from her paintings.
'El Sol Llego' (1:00) - animation of a poem by Guadalupe Urbina; music also by Guadalupe Urbina
'Maya Tzolkin Chichen Itza' (:21) - Preliminary Study about concepts of TIME and is an animation of the observatory at Chichen Itza and the Maya Tzolkin calendar working. Verona constructed and animated everything.
'Misra Yantra' (1:34) is a preliminary Study about concepts of TIME and an animation of the Misra Yantra, a 60-foot-high astronomical instrument at the Jantar Observatory in Delhi, India, which was constructed in 1724. Verona constructed and animated everything.
'Galileo Galilei Pisa Padua Years' (:55) - Preliminary Studyan animation about the Pisa Padua Years of Galileo's life.