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 Tickets for the event are $30, available through the Capitol Theatre Box Office at 337-6453 or purchase ONLINE |
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The 2010 Capitol Arts Extravaganza and Rome Arts Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Saturday, April 10, 2010 @ 5 pm
The theme for this year's event is "A Night on Stage at the Capitol", featuring the Rome Arts Hall of Fame inductions, live entertainment, an art gallery display, hors d'oeuvres, and the chance to win prizes. This year's silent auction will include goods and services donated by the Capitol Theatre's Board of Directors and staff. Pianist Greg Unangst will perform cocktail music during the event. Each year, nominations for the Rome Arts Hall of Fame are collected from community members and arts organizations, and a committee made up of individuals from Rome's arts community chooses inductees. Inductees into the Hall of Fame will be featured in an informative showcase display highlighting their accomplishments.
CLASS OF 2010: This year’s class of inductees includes educators Jean and Richard Vollmer, musicans Robert G. Hubbell and John Salerno, poet and author Greg Kuzma, and theatrical arts administrator Ann Hurlbut.
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ROME ARTS HALL OF FAME
The Rome Arts Hall of Fame honors individuals with a connection to the Rome community who have made outstanding contributions to the literary, performing or visual arts. The Rome Arts Hall of Fame provides the opportunity to remember past contributors to the arts, to celebrate current outstanding artists and to inspire young people in future artistic endeavors.
PAST INDUCTEES:
2009 INDUCTEES:
 Walter R. Brooks
Walter R. Brooks was an American author best remembered for his short stories and children's books, particularly the 26 books he wrote about Freddy the Pig. Born in Rome, New York on January 9, 1886, Brooks did editorial work for several magazines, including The New Yorker. His short story �Ed Takes the Pledge� about a talking horse was the basis for the 1960s television comedy series, Mister Ed. Walter Brooks died in 1958.
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 Eleanora Collins
Eleanora Collins has been the choral director of the First Methodist Church of Rome for many years. In her career as a teacher, she used her music in working with the developmentally disabled. In 1974 she was one of six educators selected to perform with her students at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to demonstrate the potential of those with special needs.
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 McKinley 'Mac' Collins
McKinley 'Mac' Collins has been a resident of Rome, New York since his family moved here when he was a year old. As one reviewer noted, �Collins is a distinguished baritone-bass who has performed in concerts around the world.� He sang at the United Nations for an international awards ceremony and toured Greece and Italy with the Helenophile Chorus and Orchestra. Churches, schools and art centers throughout the state have invited him to share his talent with their appreciative audiences.
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 Randy Fields
Randy Fields has choreographed more than 80 productions over the span of his career. Drawing upon his experiences performing in regional theatres and touring companies up and down the East Coast, he has taught modern dance in both college and community venues. Rome audiences will recognize Randy's work as a performer, choreographer or both for virtually every SummerStage production at the Capitol. Other venues with which he has worked include Players' Theatre, Rome Community Theatre, Clinton Central School, Holland Patent High School, and Hartford Youth Players Theatre. Randy has also written and directed a musical revue, �We're Still Here�, for Elderlife in Utica.
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 Peter Loftus
Peter Loftus has been the resident director for SummerStage shows at the
Capitol Theatre for the past 14 years, often appearing on-stage as a performer as well. Active in theatre throughout the Mohawk Valley, Peter also has directed and performed with Players Theatre, Grace Church, Town of Trenton Community Education, and the Mohawk Valley Ballet. His longest running production is �Scrooge�, which has been a fixture at the Stanley Theatre each December for the past 26 years. He also teaches theatre skills at Mohawk Valley Community College Summer Semesters. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Broadway Theatre League.
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 Shirley Barnard Waters
A tireless advocate for the arts in Rome and throughout Central New York, Shirley Barnard Waters has served on boards and committees too numerous to list. Perhaps the most visible monument of her support of the arts is the Rome Art and Community Center, which she helped found. More than one institution in Rome has noted that without Shirley's inspiration and support, they could not have the positive impact they have on the community.
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CLASS OF 2008
 John Bloomfield Jervis
John Bloomfield Jervis was born on December 14, 1795, Huntington, Long Island, New York. In 1798, he moved with his parents, Timothy and Phoebe Jervis, to Fort Stanwix (now Rome, NY).
He received his education as an engineer while apprenticing under Benjamin Wright, �the father of civil engineering.� Under Wright, he progressed from axeman and rodman on the survey for the Erie Canal to being in charge of 17 miles of canal by 1819. He went on to become superintendent in charge of the flow of traffic over a 50-mile span of the completed canal in 1823, and was eventually made chief engineer of the Delaware & Hudson Canal, the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, the Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad, the Chenango Canal, the Eastern Half of the Erie Canal, and the Croton Aqueduct, the first reliable water supply to New York City, among others. He was also an inventor, and the author of several engineering books.
Throughout his life, he received many honors. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Hamilton College in 1878, and many objects were his namesake, including the town of Port Jervis, and the Delaware and Hudson Canal and Railway company's finest locomotive. He had been married twice, first to Cynthia Brayton and then to Eliza Ruthven Coates. Upon his death in 1885 at 89, he bequeathed his home, personal library and letters, and his many engineering drawings to the city of Rome for the establishment of Rome's Jervis Library.
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 Carleton W. Brush
Carleton Waite Brush was born on May 1, 1900 in Rome, N.Y. where he spent his entire life. Upon graduation from Rome Free Academy Carleton attended The Utica Conservatory of Music where he earned a teaching certificate in Violin. During the 1920s he taught violin in Rome and played in the pit orchestra of the Strand Theatre. Carleton was a member of the Fuller Orchestra during the Depression, touring the East Coast. A natural musician, he taught himself to play the saxophone, trombone, accordion, and viola, but when he discovered the organ, his passion was set. He married Nellie D. Henderson in 1922 and they had two children, Arthur and Fredericka. Carleton, a very talented musician who could arrange and transpose music easily, also contributed his abilities to many local groups, including the First United Methodist Church, Joe Kahler's band, the Revere band, and the Old Timers Band in Boonville. In the mid 1960's, Carleton was one of the principal champions in the project to save and restore the 1928 M�ller theatre organ at the Rome Capitol Theatre. He went on to become the House Organist for the theatre for the next 20 years. He especially enjoyed playing before shows and movies and never failed to amaze and entertain audiences with the organ's many novelty effects. The organ was personally dedicated to Carleton in 1985 at the Capitol's re-opening as a performing arts center. His legacy lives on.
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Emilie West Hayes
Emilie West Hayes was born in Utica in 1919. Emilie graduated from Utica Free Academy in 1934. At UFA she appeared on stage in the senior class play, her first theatrical production. She worked at Utica Mutual Insurance and acted in radio dramas for Utica stations before moving to Rome with her husband in 1940. In 1950, Emilie acted in Rome Civic Theater's �Born Yesterday.� In 1953 The Rome Theater Guild and the Rome Civic Theater merged to form The Rome Community Theater (RCT). Emilie was cast in their first production, �Light Up the Wind,� which began her fifty year love affair with RCT which included work on stage, back stage, in the front of the house and on the board of trustees, including a stint as president. In addition, Emilie's service to Rome included volunteering at the Rome Historical Society, the Rome Art and Community Center, the Rome Women of the Moose, Rome Trading Post, Rome Newcomer's Club, the Wednesday Morning Club, the Rome Secretaries Association, as well as several parent teacher organizations on a local and state level. Emilie was awarded Rome Volunteer of the Year. In later years, Emilie has been an active member of the Ava Dorfman Senior Center, the South Rome Seniors Center, Mohawk Valley Antique Bottle Club, Rome Coin Club, the Golden Years Club and AARP. She also is a graduate of the Rome Police Department's Civilian Police Academy and a lifetime member of the Lake Delta Yacht Club.
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Canan Jackson
Canan Jackson was born in Ankara, Turkey where she began her dance training at age three. At seven years of age, she was selected first from hundreds who auditioned for the prestigious Ankara National Conservatory for the Performing Arts. She studied under Masters from the Royal Ballet in London and the Bolshoi Ballet in Russia. Ten years later Mrs. Jackson obtained her teaching certification and graduated with honors. Mrs. Jackson was accepted at age seventeen into Ankara National Ballet of Turkey as a soloist. For the next eight years, she danced most of the Classical Repertoire including Romeo & Juliet, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Le Corsaire, La Fille Mal Gardee, Coppelia, Paquita and others. Mrs. Jackson also performed in numerous ballets from Yuri Grigorovich, director of the Bolshoi Ballet and Yuri Papko noted Russian Choreographer. Mrs. Jackson has performed throughout Europe, including the Varna Dance Competition and in West Germany for seven years as a principal dancer with National Theatre of Mannheim. While there, she met her husband, dancer Stephen Jackson. In 1987, they moved to Rome where in 1988 they opened the The John Hayes O'Neill Studio of Dance. They have instructed thousands of aspiring dancers and staged hundreds of performances to the delight of Central New York residents.
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Stephen Jackson
Stephen Jackson was born in Rome, NY and began his dance training with John Hayes O'Neill at age three. Since then, he has appeared in hundreds of ballet productions, musicals, revues, operas and operettas. Mr. Jackson has studied dance at The Royal Academy of Dance in London, the SUNY Purchase Repertory Dance Company, and with master teachers from the New York City Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. Mr. Jackson performed with the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet and toured extensively throughout the United States as a soloist with the Stars of American Ballet. He has also danced with the Zurich Ballet in Switzerland working with greats Rudolph Nureyev and George Balanchine. Mr. Jackson has performed most of the classical repertoire including Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Giselle and Romeo & Juliet as well as many contemporary and modern works from numerous international choreographers. Mr. Jackson has been a faculty member of The National Dance Institute in New York City. He has also been a guest teacher at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and has choreographed many musicals and operettas and has been resident choreographer and teacher for Capitol Theatre's SummerStage Series. Currently, Mr. Jackson co-directs with his wife Canan. The John Hayes O'Neill Studio of Dance in Rome where they have instructed thousands of students and staged the Nutcracker for the past eighteen years.
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CLASS OF 2007
 Francis J. Bellamy
Francis J. Bellamy (May 18, 1855-August 28, 1931) was born in Mount Morris, NY (near Rochester), and moved to Rome with his family when he was two years old. His father was a minister at the First Baptist Church in Rome. Bellamy graduated as valedictorian from RFA 1872.
Bellamy, a Baptist minister and Freemason, is most famous for penning the original Pledge of Allegiance for Boston's Youth's Companion, a family magazine with a circulation of around 500,000. He was hired in 1891 to work in the premium department. To solicit more subscriptions, he and a co-worker started a campaign to sell American flags to public schools. The campaign quickly snowballed into a movement with a goal to provide an American flag for every school in the nation, with Youth's Companion at the forefront. As of 1892, flags were being flown above approximately 26,000 schools.
The pledge was written to coincide with the World Columbian Expedition, an extension of the flag campaign to commemorate the anniversary of Columbus reaching the Americas. It was published on September 8th, 1892, while Bellamy was chairman of the 1892 National Public School Celebration of Columbus Day through Youth's Companion magazine. Bellamy's original pledge read as follows: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all". Bellamy had considered adding "equality" to liberty and justice, but was afraid that it would be too controversial. In 1924, against Bellamy's will, the Daughters of the American Revolution pressured the National Flag Conference to replace the words "my flag" with "the flag of the United States of America." Bellamy, while not disagreeing with the words themselves in principle, believed that changes to his original work interrupted the flow and simple beauty of the words he had written. The Knights of Columbus were responsible for pressuring Congress to add the words "under God" in 1954. Francis Bellamy is buried in the Bellamy family plot in Rome Cemetery.
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 Grace Carpenter
Grace Carpenter was most likely Rome's first true patron of the arts. She was born Grace Selden Van Wagenen in 1880 in Oxford, New York, and moved with her family to Rome in 1886. She married Rome industrialist Arthur Carpenter and together they created a magnificent Tudor style home located on West Bloomfield Street which in 1967, became the Rome Art and Community Center. It had been Mrs. Carpenter's wish that after her death her home would provide a local setting to foster the arts with accommodations for classes and exhibits.
Although her personal artistic endeavors primarily involved painting, she also created a few pieces of sculpture and wrote two books of poetry. She carefully supervised each aspect of the furnishing and design of her unique home. Her third floor studio was specially designed to take advantage of natural light from the north windows. In addition to her devotion to the arts, Grace Carpenter is remembered as a humanitarian and philanthropist lending her time to various youth, community and religious organizations. She was active in the Wednesday Morning Club, served on the education and youth commissions of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York and assisted in establishing St. Andrew's Episcopal Mission Church at Lake Delta. Additionally, she was one of the co-founders of the Women's Community Center which later merged with the Rome YMCA to become the Rome Family Y.
Grace Carpenter inspired cultural and artistic growth throughout the Rome community. Reflecting her legacy and love of the arts, the Rome Art and Community Center provides activities and programs devoted to visual, literary and performing arts; holding true to Grace Carpenter's vision.
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John F. Flaver
John Flaver was born March 4, 1925 in Islen, PA. Shortly afterwards he moved with his family to Rome, N.Y. He was educated in the Rome city Schools. While in school, he studied clarinet with Eustachio Pinti and performed with the Liberty Club Band and the RFA Band. He is a U.S. Army veteran, having served in the infantry in Western Europe during WW II, receiving a purple heart. After mustering out after the war's end in 1945, he returned to Rome, N.Y. and began working in the Rome Manufacturing. He married Conchetta Amoroso in 1946. They have two children, three grand children, and one great grand child.
John left the Rome Manufacturing in 1957, and started a teaching career in the Clinton Central Schools. He later taught in the N.Y. Mills Schools, St. Mary's School in Clinton, Rome Catholic High School, St. Peter's School in Rome, the YMCA Center for the Creative Arts, and was also an adjunct instructor in woodwinds at Hamilton College for twenty five years. In 1966, he became the music director of the Rome Civic Band, while performing with the Utica Symphony Orchestra, and Utica Civic Band. He joined the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra in 1970 and remained with that organization for twenty years.
John taught many private clarinet students in his home, and maintained a woodwind repair shop. For many years he enjoyed the game of golf and playing bocce as a member of the Toccolana club.
John Flaver's clarinet playing is best characterized by a beautiful sound, sensitive phrasing, and a total commitment to mastery of the instrument. John also had a command of the bass clarinet and saxophone that was enviable.
He is a warm person with a pleasing personality, and has always been sympathetic toward the needs of others. His energy, enthusiasm and sense of humor made John popular with many people. [back to 2007 inductees]
Janet Foote
Janet Foote came to Rome with her Air Force Family at age 13 in 1956. In 1971 she met and married Rod Foote when they worked together on productions at the Rome Community Theater, forming a partnership that led to the founding of The Chatham Theatre Company in 1982.
While active at Rome Community Theater she, along with her husband, was awarded the Nora Burke Award and twelve Henry Awards for achievements in acting, production, direction and design. Together they were responsible for producing cultural events such as The National Players at the Capitol Theatre, hosting a statewide summer theatre festival called Summer Showcase, and developing large scale theatrical productions for children.
Janet taught Theatre Arts at Note Dame High School in Utica for 5 years, conducted theater workshops in several fields for The Girl Scouts of America, BOCES, area schools, and colleges. She worked professionally as actress, director, acting coach, make-up artist, set designer and costume designer at various theaters, opera companies and television production companies around New York State. She has been listed in Who's Who in Entertainment and Who's Who in America.
After forming the Chatham Theatre Company she worked with her husband in all areas of theatre including writing the original scripts of musicals, comedies and children' s plays produced by their professional company. [back to 2007 inductees]
Rod Foote
Rod Foote was born in New York City in 1938 and came to Rome in 1955 as an air traffic controller at Griffiss Air Force Base. Once here, he began a lengthy relationship with the Rome Community Theater. He was twice RCT's president and several years on its board of trustees as well as an award winning actor, director, and designer. He was also active in other upstate theater and opera companies as an actor and director.
In 1982 he and his wife Janet formed the Chatham Theatre Company of Rome as a professional production company. In the ensuing years, their company has produced more than 135 plays, comedies, and musicals, many of which were written by Rod or Janet. By 2006, these shows had drawn more than a quarter million playgoers from all over the U.S. and Canada.
In addition to their company's regular productions, Rod produced and designed, while Janet wrote and directed, several Children's Theater musical plays that toured elementary schools throughout New York State.
Rod has written and directed dozens of scripts including several unique documusicals that showcase noted historical eras. Included among these productions are shows about The Great Depression, World War II, and a musical about Rome and the building of the Erie Canal. [back to 2007 inductees]
Flo Hoppe
Flo Hoppe is a full-time studio artist, teacher, lecturer, and author. She was born Flo Fries in Chicago in 1942. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in textile and clothing design from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. With her husband, Don who was in the Air Force, she moved 8 times in 5 years and had three children in two different countries. Their last posting, before being transferred to Rome in 1971, was for three years in Japan. A 4th child was born in New Hartford a few years later. Flo felt that Rome was a good place to stay because of the outstanding schools, library, and Art Center.
Her basket making career started at that time with a hank of reed and small basketry booklet found in her mother's basement. Enjoying the baskets that she made from that booklet, she did research at Jervis Library for more information on the craft. After a year of experimenting on her own, she began to teach at the Rome Art and Community Center, which she did for more than 30 years.
She began writing articles for magazines in the early 1980s, then went on to write two definitive books on wicker basketry in the late 80s and mid 90s: "Wicker Basketry" and "Contemporary Wicker Basketry", the latter being translated into German. She organized two basketry symposiums (1985 and 1991) at the Rome Art and Community Center. The international exhibits that were connected with these events promoted basketry as an art form. The publication of her second book thrust her onto the international stage and she has since exhibited and taught in many foreign countries: Japan, Russia, Canada, England, Tahiti, Australia, and later this year, New Zealand.
She has just completed co-writing a book on Russian birch bark to be published later this year and is working on a bead book with internationally known bead artist, David Chatt. [back to 2007 inductees]
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CLASS OF 2005
 Amy Bartell, Artist/Activist
Amy is a nationally known visual artist and activist. She is committed to using her talent to provide images that bring social issues to light. Amy was born in Rome, graduated from RFA and lives now in Syracuse. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the State University of New York at Oswego. Many artists do not achieve in a lifetime, the recognition Amy Bartell has achieved at a young age. Her artwork is currently in the permanent collections of organizations which include Trump Towers, Savran Bank, Price Waterhouse and SUNY New York. Many individuals are avid collectors of her work. Amy utilizes a variety of medium for her original pieces including hand-made paper, pastels, acrylics and water colors. Her works are frequently recognizable because of her use of vivid color and bold strokes. The Mural Project has brought much attention recently to Amy's work. The project began in 1996 when the Women's Commission at the University of New Hampshire solicited her to reproduce one of her original works of art as a mural to celebrate Woman Suffrage. The final mural which was created in the student union, measured nine feet by thirteen feet and took about two weeks to complete. During the two week period, Amy had many opportunities to speak with student groups and provide workshops. The "hands-on" experience with youth, lead her to determine to re-create the experience with other university groups. Thus, the Mural Project was born and continues today having covered many different subjects and aspects of human awareness. It has taken place in the states of Washington, Minnesota, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire and California; as well as many locations throughout New York State. The Mural Project has also been adopted by not-for-profit organizations including AIDS Community Resources, Rape Crisis Center, Central New York Food Bank and an inner city Syracuse nursing home. AE Originals (aeoriginals.com) is the business organization, owned and operated by Amy and her partner Michelle Brisson. The business provides many different forms of Amy's creations including posters, postcards and note cards which are distributed through museums, galleries and catalogs. Distribution points include the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C, The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, the National Women's History Museum in Seneca Falls and Liberty Museum in Philadelphia. [back to 2005 inductees]
 Michael Burkard, Poet and Author
Michael Paul Burkard has written nine books of poetry and is currently at work on a new poetry book, "THE GREEN IN THE SUN", as well as at work on a book of short fiction and essays. Michael was born (1947) and raised in Rome, and returned to live in Rome in the
He completed degrees at Hobart College and the University of Iowa. He now resides in Syracuse where he teaches in the Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing program at Syracuse University. Michael received two grants in poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts (1984 and 1992). He has also received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and a Whiting Writers' Award In 1988. He is a former writing fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. A work-in-progress received the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America. Among his books are My SECRET BOAT and FICTIONS FROM THE SELF (both published by W W Norton), ENTIRE DILEMMA and UNSLEEPING (both published by Sarabande Books), and PENNSYLVANIA COLLECTION AGENCY (Western Michigan University Press). Michael has worked extensively with community classes at the Rome Art and Community Center, the Central New York Community Arts Council and Syracuse University's community programs. He was a creative arts counselor at Amethyst Counseling Services in Oneida and, early on in his writing life, a psychiatric aide at McLean's hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. His father Paul Burkard lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts where his sister Elizabeth Casazza resides with her husband, Charles, Michael's niece Kristin and nephew Jeffrey. His brother is Peter Burkard. Michael's mother Nettie was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and died in 1992. He graduated from Rome Free Academy in 1964. His friendships from Rome and his love of the area appear often as subject matter in his writings and drawings. [back to 2005 inductees]
 Tom Foster, Theatrical Director/Designer
If you, your parents or your children attended Staley Junior High School, chances are very good Tom Foster was your art teacher. And if you have attended a performance at the Rome Community Theater, chances are very good that Tom Foster sold you a ticket at the box office and that his name appeared on the production program in at least one major category. Tom Foster was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art with post graduate study in theater and art education at Syracuse University and The State University of New York at Oswego. Tom's first teaching assignment was at the West Springfield Massachusetts Junior High School where he taught art for one year in 1956. He then taught the army something about art as he served Uncle Sam from 1957 to 1959. Following his service career, Tom came to Rome and started a very long tenure as an art teacher at Staley Junior High (from 1959 to 1989). During that time, he was named Outstanding Young Educator by the Rome Jaycees. He also received The Saul Lazovik Service to the Arts Award and was honored by the City of Rome for his contribution to the arts. When he retired from Staley, the Board of Education honored him by naming the school auditorium Foster Hall. During his years at Staley, Tom also taught a ninth grade class in theater and served as Director of the Staley Music Theater for more than twenty-five years. It was sometime in the early (Foster continued) 1960's that Tom first volunteered at Rome Community Theater. He believes his first assignment was helping to design and build a stage set. Since that time, he has been involved in just about every aspect of theatrical production both on and off stage. In the past few seasons he has directed "Meet Me In St. Louis", "Little Me", "State Fair", "Babes In Toyland", "Tapestry", "The Pied Piper" and "Silk Stockings". In addition to directing, Tom has served as costume designer, set designer, scenic painter and producer for well over one hundred RCT productions. Additionally, Tom has used his many talents to direct and produce several benefit performances for the Capitol Theatre, the Rome United Way and the Rome Heart Fund. Tom currently serves as a member of the Rome Community Theater's board of directors and was elected board president on seven separate occasions. He is the recipient of numerous Henry Awards. Henry Awards are given each year for outstanding production and acting accomplishments as determined by a group of RCT season ticket holders. Continuing his service to the arts and to Rome, Tom organized and served as director for the Voices of Rome. He has also served as a volunteer in many capacities at the Rome Art and Community Center, the Rome Art Association and the Capitol Theatre. [back to 2005 inductees]
 James McDermid, Sculptor
As an artist and educator, Jim McDermid has lived in Rome for almost fifty years. He is best known as a sculptor and has taught that art to students at Mohawk Valley Community College, Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute, Kirkland College and the Rome Art and Community Center. Jim earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He has served as artistic director for the storefront School of the Arts; Piccolo Spoleto Festival, USA and has participated in the artist in residency program for the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Arts in Education Institute of Utica. He has had solo exhibitions at Munson Williams Proctor Museum of Art, The Kirkland Art Center, Rome Art and Community Center, The Little Falls Center for the Arts and has participated in many invitation group exhibitions and regional shows. Jim works in many media but is probably best known throughout Central New York for his wood sculptures. He was commissioned to carve a twenty-two foot maple tree on Elmer Hill Road near Lake Delta to depict the spirit of the town of Delta which was flooded when the lake was created. Jim also carved and painted a large sculpture which was used as the centerpiece for the National Watercolor Exhibition 2001 in Old Forge, New York. In collaboration with Rev. Walter Madej, Jim created two sculptures which now reside on the corner of Oneida and James Street in Utica. Also with Rev. Madej, Jim created a stainless steel and copper Bell Monument which sits on Main Street in New York Mills as a historical reference to the village's past and in honor of the mill workers who formed the majority of the village's earliest population. Jim uses a figurative image in both realistic and abstract ways to express human content. Much of his sculpting is done from natural tree wood, often hollow logs. In addition (McDermid continued) to wood, Jim also uses stone or steel and at times, a combination of materials. Much of his work is created in the former Marcy Grange Hall which he has converted to his studio. Jim is married to Rome native Jane Russell and together they have three grown sons. [back to 2005 inductees]
John Hayes O'Neill, Dance Master
The John Hayes O'Neill Studio of Dance has been an institution in Rome for nearly eighty years. It was founded by Mr. O'Neill in the early 1930s. John Hayes O'Neill began teaching dance in 1917 at the age of sixteen. In addition to his love for dance, John Hayes O'Neill is best remembered for his skills in mentoring young performers and his support for community activities. While continuing to teach locally, Mr. O'Neill also shared musical theatre billings with some of the best known musical stars and dancers of the era including Joe E. Brown. John Hayes O'Neill danced with the legendary Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis, the originators of modern dance in the United States. Mr. O'Neill had taught extensively in the Southern States as well as New England and New York before setting up his permanent studio in Rome. Although dancing was John's passion, he was also active in the Rome Community Concert Association and the Rome Civic Theatre (which joined with another group to become the Rome Community Theater in 1953). John's tenor voice was often a part of choral presentations and he frequently soloed at church functions. He was an avid supporter of the Boy Scouts and was part of a fiftieth anniversary celebration of troop number ten of St. Peter's Church as one of the troop's original members. Mr. O'Neill touched countless Rome residents through his teaching. He passed away in 1986. Shortly after his death, the John Hayes O'Neill Studio of Dance was reopened in his name by his prot?g?, Stephen J. Jackson and his wife, Canan. [back to 2005 inductees]
Jack Palmer, Musician
Jack Palmer was born in Rome in 1913. He spent much of his professional life in New York City and traveling throughout the United States. He returned to Rome where he performed locally for many years before his death in the year 2000. Jack was an original member of the Harry James orchestra. His instrument was the trumpet, though at one time he was also vocalist for the Harry James orchestra. Jack Palmer was best known for his musical performances in the genre of The Swing Era, Big Bands and traditional jazz. Jack made music with the best including Red Norvo, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Count Basie and Mildred Bailey. Jack moved to New York City as a young man and was playing club dates in Newark, New Jersey when he met Jackie Gleason. They became friends and several years later Jack joined the Sammy Spears orchestra (studio orchestra for the Honeymooners and the Jackie Gleason Variety Show). It was during the time Jack lived in New York
(Palmer continued) City that he met a skinny young singer by the name of Frank Sinatra. In fact, Jack and Frank were roommates for a time. Until Frank joined the Harry James band in 1939, Jack was both vocalist and trumpet player for the group. After awhile Sinatra left the James group to join the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. You'll find Jack's credit on many of Sinatra's most popular recordings. In between recording dates, big band tours and broadcast studio groups, Jack played in the orchestra pit for many Broadway shows. Additionally, he took over the Bunny Berigan band for a period of time. In the late 1960s Jack moved back to Rome. He opened the Palmer House on Turin Road. During that time, Jack also managed bands which backed touring performers who appeared at the Three Rivers Inn and later at Bruno's Beach House near Syracuse. [back to 2005 inductees]
 Maria Russo, Dramatic Soprano
Maria Russo is known throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America. Her performance last May as Brunnhilde in Wagner's Ring Cycle was featured in a front page story of the New York Times. Maria Russo, a Rome native and graduate of RFA, began her musical studies at Nazareth College (BS in Music Theory) and completed her Master of Vocal Performance at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. She attended the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia for further intensive operatic training and performance practice. As a participant in the Merola Apprentice Program at the San Francisco Opera, she made her debut as Rosalinde in "Die Fledermaus" [The Bat], and, a selected student at the Aspen Festival, she was cast as Br?nnhilde in the famous "Ride of the Valkyres". Thus began her early flirtation with the music of Richard Wagner. Her voice teachers were Elizabeth Fischer, Nancy Williams and Eva Illes and she coached extensively with Ettore Campogaliani in Italy. As first place winner of the East and West Artists competition, she was awarded a debut recital in Carnegie Hall which earned a glowing review from the New York Times. Miss Russo, given a grant by the Sullivan Foundation in NYC to attend competitions, was awarded first prize in the prestigious German Radio Music Competition in Munich. As a result, she made radio recordings with the Radio Orchestras of Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Hamburg. She then became a member of the ensemble at the Stuttgart State Opera in Germany. Her stay there was followed by four years at the State Theater in Linz, Austria and, for the following nine years, she sang as a member of the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Volksoper with constant and diverse guest appearances throughout Europe, Asia, and North and South America. One of many highlights was at the Stuttgart State Opera where Maria Russo sang "Alceste" in the Robert Wilson production of Gluck's opera of the same name. She was voted "best new female artist" in the German opera magazine "Opernwelt" [OperaWorld] for her portrayal as Elektra's sister in the John Dew production of "Elektra". She brought her first Empress to life in Basel in a production of "Woman without a Shadow" (Kaiserin in "Frau Ohne Schatten"). Miss Russo has been heard as Abigaille in "Nabucco" in countless countries and dozens of theaters and she has often been (Russo continued) heard as another favorite Verdi heroine: "Aida" (Taipei, Bergen, St. Gallen, and in Syracuse, NY). She has sung favorite Puccini roles like Giorgetta, Tosca and Turandot at the Zurich Opera, in Dresden and at the Vienna Volksoper. A noted Wagner and Strauss specialist, Miss Russo has appeared as a guest artist with major opera companies including those of Trieste and Bologna, the Bavarian State Opera-Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Mannheim, Hannover, Zurich, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and Teatro Teresa Carrena in Caracas as the heroines Elsa, Irene, Br?nnhilde, Isolde, Elektra, Chrysothemis, and the Empress. Maria Russo was "Marie" in the famous Willy Decker production of "Wozzeck" in Bologna and a celebrated Tosca in Bregenz In 2003, Maria Russo's debut at the glorious Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires as Senta in "The Flying Dutchman," under the baton of Charles DuToit, was a sensation. Maria Russo recently made history singing "Brunnhilde," the epitome of operatic soprano roles, at the celebrated Teatro Amazonas in Brazil's very first "Ring Cycle." On May 5, 2005, the New York Times front page story entitled "Adventures in Opera: A 'Ring' in the Rain Forest" wrote about it saying... "... the two complete stagings of the [Ring] cycle, which is scheduled to conclude on May 19, mark the first time that Wagner's most renowned and challenging work has been produced and performed in Brazil. The significance of the event has thus attracted opera devotees not just from Rio de Janeiro and S?o Paulo, but also from Europe and North America." The production will move to S?o Paulo and Maria Russo's "Ho jo to ho" will be heard ringing throughout that theater. Maria Russo has sung with international conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Donald Runnicles, Peter Schneider, Christoph von Dohnnyi, Danielle Gatti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Michael Gielen, Charles DuToit, and Gerd Albrecht.< [back to 2005 inductees]
Harold Bell Wright, Author
Harold Bell Wright was born in the house of his grandfather William B. Wright in Rome's Wright Settlement in 1872. Battling persistent illness, laborious jobs, and the loss of his mother, Wright found solace in his deep religious beliefs and his love of literature. He served as minister for many churches and for a time ventured upon a painting career. Between 1903 and 1942, he wrote 19 books plus magazine articles and stage plays. More than 20 movies have been adapted from his novels. By the time of his death in 1944, six of Wright's works had appeared on best-sellers lists and he outsold every other American author for the first quarter of the century. Though acclaimed as the first novelist to become a millionaire at his craft, Harold Bell Wright remained a down-to-earth, moral, humble man. "If I have succeeded in touching the lives of those for whom I have written, as my mother touched my life, I ask for no better immortality." (To My Sons, 1934) Harold Bell Wright Harold Bell Wright web site - http://www.hbw.addr.com/. [back to 2005 inductees]
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