The Jewish Museum of Chicago, in partnership with Buddy, is pleased to announce Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy ’99 as the recipient of the 2024 Artist Fellowship. Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy’s solo exhibition Sowing Quilts in Diaspora: Octavia Butler and Tikkun Olam will be on view at Buddy, Chicago Cultural Center from September 6- October 6, 2024. Opening reception was on September 15th from 12pm-4pm. Public program with free community art experience is on September 27 from 12pm-4pm.

“Octavia Butler’s themes of thriving diasporas, communal wealth and housing, and co-existence with wildlife are prophetic,” says the artist. Cynamon-Murphy designed The Earthseed quilt series to honor the work of Octavia Butler. The quilts are sewn with hand-written transcriptions of the verses from her books Parable of the Sower and Parable of Talents tucked into the quilt piecing. The quilts use upcycled and traditional textiles. The Earthseed quilts include 6 panels, the first of which is an 8-foot textural portrait of the author. Other panels provide metaphoric descriptions of elements from Butler’s novels. Congratulations Rebecca!

In May of 2021, Melissa (Arms) Van Dyke ’99 was promoted to Senior Vice President of Global Customer Experience and Insights at Creative Group, a Meetings and Incentives company based in Schaumburg, IL. Their mission is to create business-changing experiences that help people thrive. In this capacity Melissa leads over 150 talents who execute over 400 meetings and incentives experiences worldwide in over 50 countries. Globally, they serve over a hundred clients and send over 150,000 participants all over the world every year. Melissa says, “Being a part of the Meetings, Incentives and Events space is a true passion and has allowed me to call on my IWU education in both behavioral economics as well as international studies.” Congratulations Melissa!

Erik Sgariglia ’99 joined a Chicago-based tech startup named Trala, focused on music education accessibility, which recently closed a Series A fundraise. At Trala he serves as the VP of Operations. Learn more about Trala here. Meanwhile, he is enjoying life in the city with his wife Yoshiko and two daughters, now age 10 and 13, while also trying to learn violin.

Shana Bushyhead Condill ’99, executive director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, explained the meaning behind a new exhibit at the museum called “Disruption” which exemplifies the protection of Native culture by removing sacred objects from public view. Read the full article here.

Titan cousins Benjamin Killey ’99 and Kate Tombaugh ’07 performed a fusion of traditional and modern opera during an alumni recital at IWU’s Homecoming and Family Weekend. Read the full article here.

Joy Stanton ’99 married Chris Farris on February 22, 2022. Congratulations Joy and Chris!

The Chronicle Review published an essay by Ethan Schrum ’99 on Robert Nisbet and the American university: The Prophet of Academic Doom. View it here.

Matthew S. Schuldt ’99 was named to the Tuck MBA Council for the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Read more here.

Shana Condill ’99 was appointed executive director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, in Cherokee, North Carolina, in May 2021. The first female leader of the museum, Shana will work in conjunction with the museum’s board and the Cherokee people to enhance and improve the scholarship and public presentation of the museum.

Laura Powell ’99 published her new book, “Facing Love”, which is apart of the new “Capitol Hearts” series. You can learn more about the new book and her other works here .