The Jersey Arts Podcast is produced by the award-winning team of NJTV and WHYY’s State of the Arts. State of the Arts goes on location with creative personalities and productions. The weekly magazine has earned 29 Mid-Atlantic and New York Emmys among many other awards, and is recognized as one of the outstanding arts programs in the country. State of the Arts has been co-produced by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts since 1985. Funding is also provided by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
Christopher Benincasa produces stories for State of the Arts and works on its overall production. Most recently, he won a 2008 Mid-Atlantic Emmy in the Outstanding Arts Program category for his work on the State of the Arts episode 20th Century Limited. He won his first Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award in 2003 in the Outstanding Magazine Format Broadcast category. A graduate of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, he has a strong interest in the visual arts. When not working on his favorite television show, he still manages to make and write about art. His work is featured in current issues of American Abstract Artists Journal and The Structurist. A native of New Brunswick, New Jersey, Christopher currently lives in Hunterdon County.
Eric Schultz is an award-winning producer and director of arts and cultural programming and a regular contributor to State of the Arts. He has received seven Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards. Previously, he produced several nationally distributed PBS music programs. In the fall of 2006, PBS distributed his documentary, Peanuts Gallery, the recipient of the 2006 NETA Award for Best Performance Program and in 2009, American Public Television (APT) distributed his most recent documentary Bonaparte’s Retreat. Earlier in life, Eric trained as a cellist and during the 1980s performed with orchestras and chamber groups in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Michigan. When he has time now, he continues to play for groups throughout the Delaware Valley.
Susan Wallner is the series producer of State of the Arts. She joined the show as a production assistant in 1988, becoming series producer in 1993. Under Susan’s direction State of the Arts has grown to include a strong presence online and in 2007 it received the National Educational Television Award for Best Website. In addition to her work on the series, Susan has produced several documentaries, including Ben Shahn: Passion for Justice, a film about the social realist artist that aired nationally on PBS. Her most recent documentary is Michael Graves: The Warehouse, a look at the architect/designer’s house. Currently she is producing Seven Steps to Freedom, a new media project about the Underground Railroad, in partnership with the Salem County Cultural and Heritage Commission. Susan has received 11 individual Mid-Atlantic Emmys and four CINE Golden Eagles, among other awards. She has an MA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communication and a BA in Social Theory from New College of Florida. Her studies also include photography and art history at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Susan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with her husband Mark Kobasz, an educator and glass artist, and their two children.
A host and producer of long running arts and culture series State of the Arts, Amber Edwards has earned 12 regional Emmy Awards for her work. She has been a regular contributor to WBGO-FM (88.3, Newark), public radio’s flagship jazz station. In addition to the Emmys, her awards include six CINE Golden Eagles, two “Chris” statuettes from the Columbus International Film Festival, two CEN Programming awards, a Gold Plaque from WorldFest Houston, a NETA award, a Silver Plaque from the Chicago International Film Festival, the Silver Screen Award from the U.S. International Film & Video Festival, and two Silver Apples from the National Educational Media Network. Ms. Edwards’ documentaries have been screened at festivals in New York, Chicago, Paris, Dublin, Montreal, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Naples (Italy), Upsala (Sweden), Durham, NC, Sarasota, FL, Mill Valley, CA, and have been broadcast in the UK, Norway, Italy, Israel, and Japan.
Nick Paleologos, Executive Director, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
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Opera New Jersey’s 2011 Summer Season
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The Jersey Mystique.
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Opera's Appeal
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Lee Sellars of "Twelve Angry Men" at George Street Playhouse
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