Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time

OUR PANELISTS 

MODERATOR JEROME HARRIS '73

Jazz Musician, Jazz/Bass Guitarist

Instagram: @jeromeharrismusician

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After Harvard (A.B., Social Relations), Jerome Harris attended New England Conservatory of Music as a scholarship undergraduate student in jazz guitar, graduating with honors in 1977. His ongoing career as a performing artist began in 1978 as bass guitarist for the iconic saxophonist Sonny Rollins; from 1988 to 1994 he was Rollins’ guitarist. He has worked with Jack DeJohnette, David Krakauer, Amina Claudine Myers, Bill Frisell, Paul Motian, Martha Redbone, Julius Hemphill, Leni Stern, David Amram, Don Byron, Ned Rothenberg, and other leading figures in jazz and jazz-adjacent music genres. Jerome has taught at Hampshire College, William Paterson University, Lehman College (City University of New York), and the Alternative Guitar Summit Summer Camp. His published writings include the essays “Considering Jaki Byard” (Sound American SA22, Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc.) and “Jazz on the Global Stage,” in the anthology The African Diaspora: A Musical Perspective (Routledge), edited by Ingrid Monson, Quincy Jones Professor of African American Music at Harvard. As part of New England Conservatory’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of its jazz studies program—the first such fully accredited program at a music conservatory—Jerome conceived and organized the colloquium “Living Time”: George Russell’s Musical Life and Legacy, an in-depth examination of the career of innovative composer/bandleader/theorist/longtime NEC faculty member George Russell (1923-2009). This event was a major reappraisal of Russell’s career and his critical contributions to African American improvisational art music. Since 2020, Jerome has helped to lead Music Workers Alliance, an advocacy and activism organization dedicated to improving the economic and cultural viability of America’s independent music performers, creators, DJs and sound engineers through collective action.

CALLS TO ACTION:

• Local and regional support for arts and arts education is needed. The non-profit Americans for the Arts has a website; its “By Location” page has state-by-state links to info and ways to get involved. Its “Advancing Arts Locally” page can connect you to the municipal or county level.
• The websites of the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Endowment for the Humanities have parallel lists of state humanities councils.
• If you want to address the national level, an easy way to tell your Federal electeds to properly fund the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts is through the links at the "Protect The NEA" page at the Americans for the Arts website.

LAURIE ANDERSON

Avant-garde artist, musician, and filmmaker

Instagram: @laurieandersonofficial

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Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most reknowned – and daring – creative pioneers. Known primarily for her multimedia presentations, she has cast herself in roles as varied as visual artist, composer, poet, photographer, filmmaker, electronics whiz, vocalist, and instrumentalist.

O Superman launched Anderson’s recording career in 1980, rising to number two on the British pop charts and subsequently appearing on Big Science, the first of her seven albums on the Warner Brothers label. Other record releases include Mister Heartbreak, United States Live, Strange Angels, Bright Red, and the soundtrack to her feature film Home of the Brave. A deluxe box set of her Warner Brothers output, Talk Normal, was released in the fall of 2000 on Rhino/Warner Archives. In 2001, Anderson released her first record for Nonesuch Records, entitled Life on a String, which was followed by Live in New York, recorded at Town Hall in New York City in September 2001, and released in May 2002.

Anderson has toured the United States and internationally numerous times with shows ranging from simple spoken word performances to elaborate multimedia events. Major works include United States I-V (1983), Empty Places (1990), The Nerve Bible (1995), and Songs and Stories for Moby Dick, a multimedia stage performance based on the novel by Herman Melville. Songs and Stories for Moby Dick toured internationally throughout 1999 and 2000. In the fall of 2001, Anderson toured the United States and Europe with a band, performing music from Life on a String. She has also presented many solo works, including Happiness, which premiered in 2001 and toured internationally through Spring 2003.

Anderson has published six books. Text from Anderson’s solo performances  appears in the book Extreme Exposure, edited by Jo Bonney. Anderson has also written the entry for New York for the Encyclopedia Brittanica and in 2006, Edition 7L published Anderson’s book of dream drawings entitled “Night Life”.

Laurie Anderson’s visual work has been presented in major museums throughout the United States and Europe. In 2003, The Musée Art Contemporain of Lyon in France produced a touring retrospective of her work, entitled The Record of the Time: Sound in the Work of Laurie Anderson. This retrospective included installation, audio, instruments, video and art objects and spans Anderson’s career from the 1970’s to her most current works. It continued to tour internationally from 2003 to 2005. As a visual artist, Anderson is represented by the Sean Kelly Gallery in New York where her exhibition, The Waters Reglitterized, opened in September 2005. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art acquired her “Self-Playing Violin” which was featured in the “Making Music” exhibition in Fall 2008.

As a composer, Anderson has contributed music to films by Wim Wenders and Jonathan Demme; dance pieces by Bill T. Jones, Trisha Brown, Molissa Fenley, and a score for Robert LePage’s theater production, Far Side of the Moon. She has created pieces for National Public Radio, The BBC, and Expo ‘92 in Seville. In 1997 she curated the two-week Meltdown Festival at Royal Festival Hall in London. Her most recent orchestra work Songs for Amelia Earhart. premiered at Carnegie Hall in February 2000 performed by the American Composers Orchestra and later toured Europe with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. The piece was performed as part of the Groningen Festival honoring Laurie Anderson in Fall 2008 with the Noord Nederlands Orkest.

Recognized worldwide as a groundbreaking leader in the use of technology in the arts, Anderson collaborated with Interval Research Corporation, a research and development laboratory founded by Paul Allen and David Liddle, in the exploration of new creative tools, including the Talking Stick. She created the introduction sequence for the first segment of the PBS special Art 21, a series about Art in the 21st century. Her awards include the 2001 Tenco Prize for Songwriting in San

Remo, Italy and the 2001 Deutsche Schallplatten prize for Life On A String as well as grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She recently collaborated with Bran Ferren of Applied Minds, Inc to create an artwork that was displayed in “The Third Mind” exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in Winter 2009.

In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance “The End of the Moon”. Recent projects include a series of audio-visual installations and a high definition film, “Hidden Inside Mountains”, created for World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. In 2007 she received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her outstanding contribution to the arts. In 2008 she completed a two-year worldwide tour of her performance piece, “Homeland”, which was released as an album on Nonesuch Records in June, 2010. Anderson’s solo performance “Delusion” debuted at the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad in February, 2010 and toured internationally throughout 2011. In 2010 a retrospective of her visual and installation work opened in Sao Paulo, Brazil and later traveled to Rio de Janeiro.

In 2011 her exhibition of all new work titled “Forty-Nine Days In the Bardo” opened at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. That same year she was awarded with the Pratt Institute’s Honorary Legends Award. In January of 2012 Anderson was the artist-in-residence at the High Performance Rodeo in Calgary, Alberta where she developed her latest solo performance titled “Dirtday!” Her exhibition “Boat” curated by Vito Schnabel opened in May of 2012. She has recently finished residencies at both CAP in UCLA in Los Angeles and EMPAC in Troy New York. Her film Heart of a Dog was chosen as an official selection of the 2015 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. In the same year, her exhibition Habeas Corpus opened at the Park Avenue Armory to wide critical acclaim and in 2016 she was the recipient of Yoko Ono’s Courage Award for the Arts for that project. Anderson lives in New York City.

Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz

CALLS TO ACTION:

• When we were talking about STEAM, I stayed full steam ahead. Let's put that A in... it's so important to have, art as part of this whole thing, and to bring it back in our culture in a meaningful way, instead of all of these art colleges closing every third day. So let's expand them instead of collapsing them.
• Try to practice feeling sad without actually being sad. It's a wonderful distinction, because there are so many sad things in the world. If you pretend they're not there… you're an idiot. But, absolutely do not become sad yourself. I think of that every day in the midst of this.... [you have to] keep your sense of joy and love and truth and beauty and happiness and justice.

HARI KONDABOLU

Comedian-Writer

Instagram: @harikondabolu

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The NY Times called Hari “one of the most exciting political comics in stand-up today” and described his 2018 Netflix special “Warn Your Relatives” as “an incisively funny and formally adventurous hour that reveals a comic in command of his powers.” It was named on many “Best of” lists, including for Time, Paste Magazine, Cosmopolitan, E! Online, and Mashable. He was also named one of 2018 “Comics To Watch” by Variety. His most recent special “Vacation Baby” is now available on Hulu.

In 2017, his truTV documentary “The Problem with Apu” was released and created a global conversation about race and representation. The Nation described it as “a devastating critique of the ultimate comedic sacred cow: The Simpsons.” It is now used in high school, college and grad school curriculums around the country.

Hari has also released two comedy albums, “Waiting for 2042” & “Mainstream American Comic” with legendary indie rock label Kill Rock Stars. Additionally, he has performed on Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with David Letterman among many others. He is also a former writer & correspondent on the much loved, Chris Rock produced FX show “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.” In 2022, he co-hosted the Netflix food competition show “Snack vs. Chef” with Megan Stalter.

As a voice actor, he can be heard as Mr. Walia and Mr. Sawani on Disney’s “Mira Royal Detective.” He also voiced Principal Rahul on Netflix’s “Ada Twist: Scientist.”

A regular on the public radio, Hari is a frequent panelist on the NPR game show “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me.” He was also a guest host on Midday on WNYC. As a podcaster, he co-hosted the popular “Politically Reactive” with W. Kamau Bell. Additionally, he also co-hosts what he politely describes as a “pop up podcast,” The Untitled Kondabolu Brothers Podcast with his younger brother Ashok (“Dap” from HBO’s Chillin’ Island and rap group Das Racist.) He is currently the co-host of the “Health Stuff” podcast with Dr. Priyanka Wali. 

Hari attended both Bowdoin College and Wesleyan University, graduating from the former institution with a B.A. in Comparative Politics. A former immigrant rights organizer in Seattle who worked under the leadership of now-Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Hari also earned a Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics in 2008. He was the “Artist In Residence” at NYU’s APA Institute for the 2014-2015 Academic Year and at Shangri La Museum in Honolulu in 2018.

Photo credit: Antoine Didienne

CALL TO ACTION

• Support organizations in Minneapolis right now, because... there's a lot of work being done on the ground. I realize that is not an art-centric answer, but it's the thing that I'm thinking about constantly, what is happening in Minneapolis right now, and what I think will eventually happen all over this country at a greater magnitude, unfortunately. We need to start supporting the people who are doing the work down there, to fight back.

• Here is a comprehensive list of organizations that need your help in Minnesota, from Stand With Minnesota.

ALEXIS ROCKMAN

Artist

Instagram: @alexisrockman

Alexis Rockman, a painter based in Warren, Connecticut, is an environmental activist who began making paintings and works on paper to build environmental awareness in the mid-1980s. Embarking on expeditions to distant locations like Antarctica and Madagascar in the company of professional naturalists, his work tells stories of natural histories confronting the challenging future of the biodiversity crisis, global warming, and genetic engineering. Rockman’s work has been exhibited around the world and showcased at prestigious galleries and museums including the Venice Biennale, Carnegie Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Serpentine Galleries. Rockman worked on the 2012 movie Life of Pi with Ang Lee as “Inspirational Artist.” Recent exhibitions include Alexis Rockman: Oceanus, a major exhibition that premiered at Mystic Seaport Museum in 2023 and is now touring. Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld, the first two-person exhibition of these closely allied artists, had five museum venues in the U.S.. Vertigo at Massimo De Carlo in Paris and Feedback Loop at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City both opened in January 2026. 

Photo credit: Katherine Taylor

CALL TO ACTION:

• If you care about your grandchildren ever seeing an elephant, try to do everything you can every day to make sure that that's possible.

MFONISO UDOFIA

Playwright, Writer, Producer

Instagram: @mfudofia

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Mfoniso Udofia is a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College and obtained her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater [A.C.T.]. While at A.C.T., she co-pioneered, THE NIA PROJECT which provided artistic outlets for San Francisco youth.

From 2024-2026, a consortium of theatre companies and activation partners across Boston will produce all of Mfoniso’s 9-play UFOT FAMILY CYCLE, which follows three generations of a Nigerian-American family. Productions of her plays SOJOURNERS, THE GROVE, RUNBOYRUN, HER PORTMANTEAU, KUFRE N’ QUAY, and THE CEREMONY (all part of the Ufot Cycle) have been produced at Chuang Stage, Boston Arts Academy, the Huntington Theatre, Central Square Theatre, Round House Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company, and Boston Court. She’s the recipient of the 2025 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Script (THE GROVE), the 2024 Steinberg Playwright Award, the 2021 Horton Foote Award, the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission and is a member of New Dramatists.

Mfoniso’s currently commissioned by the Huntington Theatre, the Round House Theatre, Hartford Stage, Denver Center, ACT, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, A.C.T, McCarter Theatre, OSF, New Dramatists, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Hedgebrook, Sundance, Space on Ryder Farm and more.

Since 2018 Mfoniso has been working extensively in television; She is currently co-writing YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH WITH YOUR BEAUTY with Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney as a feature for Outlier Society and Amazon. She previously developed features at HBO and Legendary. In TV, Mfoniso is most recently Co-EP for THINGS FALL APART, Executive Produced by Idris Elba (A24), as well as a Co-EP for the Emmy Award-nominated and WGA Award-nominated LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY (Apple) and Peabody Award winning PACHINKO (Apple). Previously, she wrote on LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Showtime), A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (Amazon), both seasons of LITTLE AMERICA (Apple), AWAY (Netflix), and 13 REASONS WHY (Netflix). She has developed TV projects with A24, Apple, UCP, and HBO among others.

CALL TO ACTION:

• Speaking truth, or speaking out of love, even in moments of deep discomfort, especially in times like this, when truth and love are treated as negotiables. There can be no equivocating on what eyes can see, and speaking truths, whether with a paintbrush, a pen, if you're a contractor, if you're a nurse, a teacher, candle maker, whatever. Use whatever tool your craft has placed in your hands to provoke what needs provoking, comfort who needs comforting, shine light where it has been withheld, build manuals for escape and freedom, make space to breathe, create the future you want to see, and do it with such truth it cannot be disputed. That, I think, is the kind of action that'll last longer than monuments, and the kind of creation that will yield more humanity.

CALL TO ACTION:

The ClassACT Call to Action comes from classmate, filmmaker, and Culture Count working group member Kavery Kaul: our small arts organizations and individual artists need our attention and support.

● Every month attend a cultural event --- a museum or art gallery, open studios; a play or film; a music or comedy program; a literary reading. Subscribe as a member of a local arts group. Join your public library. Remember to support smaller cultural institutions. They broaden the scope of our culture.