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This week: Adult Education for Seniors
Host Cynthia Friedlob talks with Burbank Adult School Principal Joseph Stark, art instructor Randall Williams, and writer/artist Suzanne Knode
JOSEPH STARK (at left with students) is the Principal of Burbank Adult School. The mission of Burbank Adult School is to meet the diverse educational needs of the community by empowering lifelong learners to reach their professional, personal, and family goals. The adult education program includes course offerings in basic and secondary education, including GED test preparation; career and technical education; English as a Second Language; parent education; and community interest classes including a variety of creative arts classes such as painting, memoir and short story writing, screenplay writing, dance, and acting. Click here to see the Fall 2012 schedule.
RANDALL WILLIAMS knew that he wanted to be an artist ever since he attended weekly art classes in first grade in Jacksonville, Illinois. He went on to earn a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Fine Arts from Western Illinois University, then moved to Southern California in 1980 to pursue his art career. He landed a job at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, then worked as a stain-glass artist, an Art Director at two of L.A.’s largest photography labs, and a design consultant for a framing company. He’s now the owner of a gallery and studio in Burbank where he sells his original work and offers art-related services including portraits, murals, framing, photo retouching and restoration. Randall teaches classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, and Photoshop. He participates in art events within the local community and actively promotes art in the schools. He is a member of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, Burbank Noon Kiwanis, the Burbank Arts Federation, Burbank Art Association, Sunland-Tujunga Art Association, and President of the Burbank Boulevard Merchants Association. Learn more at Randall’s website.
SUZANNE KNODE spent most of her life working to raise her kids as a single mom. A few years back, retired now, she moved to the Burbank Senior Artists Colony. Suzanne thought she’d like to try her hand at writing, so she attended an EngAGE writing class at the Artists Colony. She wrote a screenplay as a class assignment and her project, Bandida, was made into a short film by EngAGE. The making of her film, and her story of reinvention, was profiled on national television on the show This American Life on Showtime. She watched the premiere of her film along with an audience of hundreds on the big screen at the El Portal Theater in the NoHo Arts District as part of the Valley Film Festival. Suzanne is now working on several new film and stage projects and has taken up painting and mentoring at-risk teens. In 2010, Knode was selected as one of 11 subjects for a nationwide campaign and photo exhibit to help raise awareness of how people can keep their minds beautiful. The campaign, Beautiful Minds: Finding Your Lifelong Potential, is co-sponsored by the National Center for Creative Aging and Martek Biosciences, a company committed to Brain Health.
