FACULTY
ELLEN REISS is the Aesthetic Realism Chair of Education and teaches the professional classes for Aesthetic Realism Consultants and Associates. A poet and critic, she also teaches the course “The Aesthetic Realism Explanation of Poetry” at the Foundation. As Editor of the international periodical The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known, her commentaries on world events, literature, history, and the self have been educating people worldwide… more
BARBARA ALLEN, who taught in Chicago and West Orange, N.J. public schools, is a teacher of the Aesthetic Realism and Education Workshop for Teachers, “Learning to Like the World” classes for children (ages 5-12), and “The Opposites in Music Class.” She’s musical director of the Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company and performs with the company as flutist and flute soloist. See “The Beginnings of Music: The Opposites in the Flute.”… more
BRUCE BLAUSTEIN
graduated with a BA in teaching from SUNY, New Paltz, and received a Master’s Degree from New York University. As a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor he worked for Long Island Jewish Hillside Medical Center in one of their outreach programs before entering the fashion industry. Today, he is an Aesthetic Realism Consultant as well as sales manager of a well-known company on Seventh Avenue, and is one of the founders of The New York Group… more
JEFFREY CARDUNER, Aesthetic Realism consultant, graduated from CW Post University with a BA in History. His article on “The Answer to Youth Violence” has appeared in many newspapers across the nation, such as the Ashland Daily Tidings (Oregon), and the Bangor Daily News (Maine) and others. Along with consultant Anne Fielding, he’s been a speaker at senior centers giving hundreds of presentations on such subjects as “Using Love, the Family, and Age to Like the World”…more
MARGOT CARPENTER, originally of Miami, is a poet and, along with teaching Aesthetic Realism in consultations and seminars, she is Executive Director of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation. Published on love and women’s issues, she is also an authority on dance and was a soloist with the Miami Ballet. With consultant Karen Van Outryve, she teaches poetry classes for young persons between the ages of 6 and 12…more
BENNETT COOPERMAN, consultant and actor, graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in theater. Along with his work at the Foundation, for many years, he was an internal communications professional working for multi-national companies. Mr. Cooperman is part of the Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company which presents—in a new theatrical format that mingles commentary and performance—lectures given by Eli Siegel on world drama, plus thrilling musical presentations….more
ERNEST DEFILIPPIS has presented talks with his colleagues at the Foundation on a variety of subjects, such as: “What Makes a Man Truly Courageous?,” “What Is Missing When Husbands Talk to Their Wives?,” and “Hands and Mind in Ghiberti’s Bronze Doors.” He’s written a number of articles published in newspapers and periodicals including “The Ethics America Needs Right Now”…more
CAROL DRISCOLL is originally from Boston and, as a member of the Boston Women’s Health Collective, contributed to Our Bodies, Ourselves [New England Free Press]. After moving to New York, Ms. Driscoll began studying to teach Aesthetic Realism in classes taught by Eli Siegel. She’s a consultant and a public speaker addressing matters affecting women’s lives, and also one of the administrators of the blog Unions Matter!…more
ANNE FIELDING, (1933-2023). Anne Fielding was an Aesthetic Realism consultant, an Obie award-winning actress, and was Director of the Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company. The company presents dramatic productions of groundbreaking lectures by Eli Siegel on the plays of Shakespeare and others. She also taught the class “Acting, Life, and the Opposites” at the Foundation, and was an author of the book Aesthetic Realism: We Have Been There (“I Believe This About Acting.”)…more
EDWARD GREEN, Ph.D, is a prize-winning composer whose music has been performed across the United States and overseas. He’s a professor at Manhattan School of Music and a Fulbright Senior Specialist in American Music. He studied in classes with Eli Siegel and continues his professional education to teach Aesthetic Realism with Ellen Reiss. He’s one of the teachers of The Opposites in Music. ...more
NANCY HUNTTING gives Aesthetic Realism consultations, and presents seminars with the trio Women Are Various. She grew up near Cincinnati, OH, and with a BA in English literature from Denison University, worked at Newsweek and for a New York architectural firm. She is a coordinator of the international journal The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known, and of the Terrain Gallery, and has written on women today and in history, homelessness, and racism.…more
BARBARA KESTENBAUM worked in the New York City Department of Education, including as a placement officer for Hard of Hearing / Visually Impaired Students. Ms. Kestenbaum is an Aesthetic Realism Consultant and has participated in public seminars here. Her letters and articles have been published in newspapers around the country and online about economic justice, and the crucial importance of labor unions…more
KEN KIMMELMAN is an award-winning filmmaker and recipient of a National Emmy Award for his anti-prejudice public service film “The Heart Knows Better.” He also won an Emmy for his contributions to Sesame Street. He taught film and animation at NYU and the School of Visual Arts, and teaches the new film series here: “If It Moves It Can Move You”: Opposites in the Cinema.. As president of Imagery Film Ltd., he’s produced award-winning films for the UN against racism and apartheid. He lectures on the answer to racism and bullying…more
DALE LAURIN is an Aesthetic Realism Consultant and a New York State registered architect. His architectural experience includes 10 years as a team leader in the architecture/engineering division of the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC), where he reviewed a wide range of public projects from libraries and courthouses to firehouses and detention centers as part of the city’s Excellence in Design initiative. He taught Architectural History at CUNY College of Technology, and with Anthony Romeo and others presents talks in the series “Architecture and You” in many area libraries…more
PATRICIA MARTONE, as a teacher of English as a Second Language in the NYC school system, has taught children from pre-K through 10th grade and from places as diverse as China, Puerto Rico, Tibet, the Dominican Republic, South Africa, and Bangladesh. She teaches other educators in the workshop course “The Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method,” and at professional conferences. Her published articles include “Teaching English as a Second Language to Chinese Children”…more
MIRIAM MONDLIN, for many years a staff member of Local 23-25 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (now Workers United, SEIU), is one of the administrators of the blog “Unions Matter!” An expert on stuttering, she tells in her landmark article “How My Stuttering Ended” what she learned from Eli Siegel and Aesthetic Realism about the cause of this impediment and the scientific process that ends it…more
ROBERT MURPHY has written and spoken on Aesthetic Realism’s understanding of such subjects as economics, love, and the cause and solution to youth violence. With Barbara Allen, he teaches young people in the “Learning to Like the World” class at the Foundation and at youth centers throughout New York. He produced the award-winning films Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana and Thomas Comma by Ken Kimmelman… more
MERYL NIETSCH-COOPERMAN, originally of Massapequa, NY, is an Aesthetic Realism Consultant with There Are Wives, who teach the Understanding Marriage! class. A published author on women’s issues, she has given seminar papers about women in the arts, literature, and history. She is a performer with the Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company…more
ARNOLD PEREY, Ph.D., teaches the course “Anthropology Is about You & Everyone” and is an instructor of “The Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel as Teaching Method.” He received his doctorate from Columbia University. His dissertation, based on Aesthetic Realism, describing research conducted in Papua New Guinea, was supported by the National Science Foundation. He taught at Brooklyn College, Queensborough Community College, Seton Hall University, and Drew University…more
ROSEMARY PLUMSTEAD taught in NYC high schools for 33 years, during which time she pioneered the use of the Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method as the basis of her health, physical education, and science classes. An Aesthetic Realism Consultant to women, she is an instructor with All For Education of the bi-weekly workshop for educators. She’s conducted workshops at conferences for science educators throughout the United States…more
THE REV. WAYNE JACK PLUMSTEAD has a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. Ordained an Elder in Full Connection in the United Methodist Church, he served pastorates in Lower Berkshire Valley, Bayonne, Arlington, Jersey City, and Bloomfield, NJ. Prior to his retirement in 2016 after 43 years of ministry, he served as the District Superintendent of the Palisades District in the Greater NJ Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He’s been an Aesthetic Realism Consultant since 1973…more
MARCIA RACKOW, artist and consultant, teaches the museum/gallery course “The Visual Arts and the Opposites,” “The Art of Drawing: Surface & Depth,” and is one of the teachers of the “Critical Inquiry: A Workshop in the Visual Arts.” She has been a guest speaker at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the School of Visual Arts in the “Artists Talk on Art” series, at New York State Art Teachers conferences, and the 31st World Congress of the International Society for Education through Art…more
FAITH K. STERN has studied Aesthetic Realism since 1965. As a consultant with the travelling trio The Three Representatives, she has given consultations and seminars in the tri-state area. Letters and articles by Mrs. Stern on the economy, health care, and more have been printed by newspapers in many states, and she’s co-author with John Stern of The Imaginative Beauty of New York’s High Line…more
DEVORAH TARROW is an Aesthetic Realism Consultant and sociologist. Her articles on poverty, women, racism, and healthcare have appeared in many publications including The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known. Ms. Tarrow has conducted public seminars here on women’s issues, and is a lecturer on Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, along with her colleague, educator Barbara McClung, at numerous historical societies, schools, conferences, and libraries…more
DR. JAIME R. TORRES, DPM was appointed by President Barack Obama as the Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Region II, and he served from April 6, 2010 until July 18, 2014. (Region II covers New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.)
He currently serves as Vice President of Community Relations & Partnerships at Urban Health Plan, a large community health centers network in New York…more
KAREN VAN OUTRYVE is a poet, consultant, and actress with The Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company. She and Margot Carpenter teach “Poetry & Liking the World,” a class for children based on the Aesthetic Realism understanding of poetry, as part of the Foundation’s outreach programs. In seminars, she has discussed the aesthetics of parenting, the poetry of Anna Hempstead Branch and Edith Sitwell, and the art and life of Aretha Franklin…more
CARRIE WILSON is an Aesthetic Realism consultant to women and teaches the class “The Art of Singing: Technique and Feeling”. She performs regularly with the Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company in dramatic and musical events at the Foundation, and across the country— including New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Billings, Montana. She is also a coordinator of the Terrain Gallery, curating many exhibitions of contemporary art…more