{"id":132398,"date":"2026-05-31T13:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T17:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&p=132398"},"modified":"2026-08-17T09:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:44:09","slug":"class-notes-6","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/magazine\/articles\/2026\/class-notes-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Class Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Robert T. Freeman, Allan Crite<\/em>\u2014American Griot<\/em>, 2025. Courtesy of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tClass Notes\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Fall 2026 updates from the Boston University College of Fine Arts community<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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May 31, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\tTwitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\tFacebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n

1960s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Susan Surman<\/strong> (\u201960) had her play A Greek Tragedy<\/em> selected for performance in the Naples Players\u2019 Annual New Play Festival, an evening of one-act plays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vern Miller <\/strong>(\u201969) and college friends founded the band the Remains in 1964, with Miller serving as bassist. A new abridged documentary, America\u2019s Lost Band<\/em>, chronicles the band\u2019s travels, including their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show<\/em> and their stint opening for the Beatles in 1966. The film is now streaming on YouTube and can also be seen on PBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1970s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

David Kneuss <\/strong>(\u201970) celebrated the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in 2025. Kneuss, the academy\u2019s artistic director since its opening, has directed 18 productions featuring students from Japan, the United States, China, and Korea, as well as top international opera soloists from around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robert T. Freeman, Allan Crite<\/em>\u2014American Griot<\/em>, 2025. Courtesy of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Robert T. Freeman <\/strong>(\u201971,\u201981) was commissioned by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston to create a fa\u00e7ade painting as part of a tribute to the artist Allan Rohan Crite. In 2025, Freeman accepted the invitation to be artist-in-residence at the Gardner Museum. Also, two of Freeman\u2019s paintings, Etude #1<\/em> and Etude #4<\/em>, which are part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston\u2019s permanent collection, are on display at the John Axelrod Gallery (Gallery 326), also home to Crite\u2019s Tire Jumping in Front of My Window.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate Katcher<\/strong> (\u201973) published a debut novel, 36<\/em> (Vine Leaves Press, 2026), based on the Talmudic legend of 36 hidden righteous people upon whom the world depends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stewart F. Lane <\/strong>(\u201973) was honored along with his wife and partner, Bonnie Comley, at the New York Landmarks Conservancy\u2019s 2025 Living Landmarks Celebration, joining fellow honorees Aerin Lauder, Kenneth Lonergan, Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Wainwright, Stephen Berger, and Darren Walker. The annual celebration recognizes New Yorkers who helped preserve the city through their cultural and civic contributions. Conservancy President Peg Breen praised the couple for bringing \u201cwonderful productions to the stage\u201d and allowing audiences to enjoy the best of Broadway. Lane<\/a> also participated in the Broadway production of Celebrity Autobiography<\/em>, which featured celebrities reading and acting out excerpts from other celebrities\u2019 autobiographies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James A. Walker<\/strong> (\u201973) is among a selection of composers whose work was adopted by the Insight Timer platform, a free and highly rated app for meditation, sleep, anxiety, and mindfulness. Walker is the former director of Humanitas, an online platform dedicated to offering resources for enhancing spiritual presence, and is cofounder of Oasis of the Heart, an interspiritual ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony Beadle<\/strong> (\u201974) retired after a career in symphony orchestra management. After receiving a fellowship from the League of American Orchestras, he held positions in several American orchestras, including the Oregon Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Boston Symphony. In 2010, he became the president and CEO of the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Mass. Beadle\u2019s 2025 memoir, My Father, the Father: A Memoir of Love and Double Lives<\/em> (Archway Publishing), chronicled his secretive upbringing by Ralph Gallagher, a well-known parish priest, and his mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesley Cohen<\/strong> (\u201974) participated in Draw a Line<\/em>, a December group exhibition at Storefront Art Projects in Watertown, Mass., with artists Sand T. Kalloch and Christine Kyle. Cohen\u2019s practice uses charcoal and pastels to make layered marks that join together to form \u201ca fragmented whole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alfre Woodard <\/strong>(\u201974, Hon.\u201904) and Geena Davis<\/strong> (\u201979, Hon.\u201999) costarred in The Boroughs<\/em>, a supernatural series from the Duffer Brothers Productions that premiered on Netflix in May 2026. The show was set in a picturesque New Mexico retirement community, where paradise quickly turned into something far more sinister. Woodard played Judy, a sharp-witted former journalist, while Davis played Renee; the two appeared alongside an ensemble cast that included Clarke Peters, Denis O\u2019Hare, and Bill Pullman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Copeland<\/strong> (\u201975), an actor and a stunt double, was featured in a Canadian publication celebrating the 47th anniversary of Walter Hill\u2019s 1979 film The Warriors<\/em>. Copeland played Pelly, a foot soldier in the Electric Eliminators gang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracy Burtz<\/strong> (\u201978) presented her solo show What She Knows<\/em> at The Painting Center in New York, N.Y., in March of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howard Kolins <\/strong>(\u201978) was production supervisor for the 79th Annual Tony Awards. In addition, Kolins produced Brooklyn\u2019s oldest and largest street festival, the Atlantic Antic Festival, for the fifth time. Kolins\u2019 other roles include show-calling business productions for corporate meetings and special events<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Lebow <\/strong>(\u201978) unveiled Supernatural<\/em>, a new series of oil paintings that blur the line between classical realism and the uncanny. Rooted in academic tradition, Lebow conjures images that feel timeless yet dreamlike, weaving narratives where beauty collides with strangeness and the everyday world slips into the otherworldly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marsha Goldberg <\/strong>(\u201979) was featured in Gesture and Grid<\/em>, a two-person exhibition with artist Jill Scipione, which ran from February to March 2026 at the Fine Arts Gallery at Saint Peter\u2019s University in Jersey City, N.J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edward Wierzbicki <\/strong>(\u201979, COM\u201990) was the producer of Healing Powers<\/em>, a 2025 film that captured the collaborative efforts of mental health professionals and creative artists to advance life-changing therapy while deepening our understanding of trauma\u2019s impact on youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\t