9/23

CLASS OF 1990

Class Virtual Event | Game Night! Join us November 12th!

35th Reunion Programming | Let us know your thoughts!

Commencement 2023 | By Stacy Bereck Chernosky ’90

Spotlight | Alumnae Working in the Museum & Public Art Spheres

Mini Reunion Postcard | New York City: Fall, 2023

1990 Event Panels Feedback Ask | Turn your speakers our way

Dues | All the Money we Need to Make your Reunion Ideas Reality

CLASS OF 1990 GAMES NIGHT

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12 | 8:00 PM ET

GAME ON -We’re teaming up with the folks at VirtualGameNight.Live for a special Class of 1990 event: game night. Sign up below for a fun 90 minutes of free, unique, and original online games, including a special 1990 Brown Trivia round curated by your Class Officers. Recruit your friends and fellow classmates.

Sign-ups are due by November 1.

We will send out a reminder to all participants the week of November 5. There will be prizes for the top three finishers and bragging rights in the next newsletter.

Virtual Game Night makes it easy to play, as long as you’re able to both join a Zoom call and interact with a web browser at the same time. You can do both of these things on one device as long as you are using something that can have two applications open at once (for example, a laptop or desktop computer), or you can use two devices if that’s easier for you (for example, join the Zoom call on a tablet and use your smartphone’s web browser). For more details, check this out on YouTube.

See you Sunday November 12 at 8:00 PM ET and Game On! May the best Class of '90 classmate win!

REUNION 35 PROGRAMMING!

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE?

PLEASE ANSWER SHORT SURVEY!

We have just under 600 days until our 35th Reunion and we’ve set a very ambitious goal of bringing back a record number of Class of 1990 Alumni to campus. Thanks to COVID we missed our 30th; we want to make a big splash in 2025.

To that end, your Class Leadership Team has put together an ambitious plan to get folks fired up and ready for Reunion. It’s not too early to start talking about our actual Reunion 35 schedule.

We want to hear from you directly!

What kinds of events are you looking for? What could entice you to come back to Reunion? Which of our classmates do you most want to hear from? What should we change and what should we keep? Take our Countdown to Reunion Survey!

Interested in joining the Reunion Events Committee? Email Jenny Backus

1990 Reunion Committee Members: Jenny Backus, Jenny Ord Bonadio, John Clough, Julia Hyun Lee, Charlie Luband, Rodney Robinson

SHOW YOUR BROWN SPIRIT AT BROWN SPORTS GAMES IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Do you love Brown Sports? Planning a tailgate or a get-together around a Brown sports event in your town like the Head of the Charles in Boston on October 22? Send us the details and we will share! We’re working with the Brown Sports Foundation and the classes who are immediately adjacent to ours on a series of fun events at seasonal sporting events leading up to Reunion 2025, including an event at Brown Homecoming 2024. Have ideas of good games to highlight or an annual event you are already hosting? Ping us.

Commencement Highlights 2023

By Stacy Bereck Chernosky ‘90

It wasn’t a reunion year for the Class of 1990, but a small and mighty contingent of our classmates spent Memorial Day Weekend doing what we Brunonians do best: shivering at Campus Dance on Friday night and sizzling during the commencement procession on Sunday.

New England’s notorious weather swings aside, Brown’s storied commencement traditions also have the ability to make time travelers of all of us (close your eyes during the procession and you might believe you were back in 1990), but the weekend was not without its share of surprises good (an unannounced speech by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Commencement Day )and bad (long lines for Campus Dance and drinks.)

Many of the members of the Class of 1990 attending commencement weekend were there to cheer on a child or another family member graduating in the Class of 2023 or to attend a reunion for a spouse who graduated in a year ending with a three or an eight. The weekends’ festivities also drew others who just couldn’t bear to wait ten years between reunions to see Brown again – even if it meant experiencing all of New England’s weather changes in one weekend.

Brynn Chernosky ‘23 ScM’23 with Mom Stacy Bereck Chernosky '90

Spotlight | Museum & Public Art Spheres

Carrie Geraci ‘90

Jackson Hole Public Art

Jackson, Wyoming

When you were at Brown did you think you would be where you are now? What did you study at Brown and do outside of class?

I was an art major and did not ever think about non-profit management while at Brown. Outside of class, I made art and also loved watching girls' lacrosse and field hockey (my roommate played both).

How did you get involved in working for non-profits, and Jackson Hole Public Art specifically?

I founded Jackson Hole Public Art after working at another non-profit that had installed some temporary public artworks and attending the Americans for the Arts Public Art network gathering where I met colleagues and became inspired by their work.

What is the hardest thing about what you do?

The most difficult thing is starting a project, so much goes into public art, besides the art making. Raising money, engaging the community, design, and technical review.

What is the most gratifying?

Watching the community interact with a newly installed artwork.

Do you ever run into other Brown grads in Wyoming?

Yes, there are plenty of Brown grads in Jackson, Wyoming. And I stay in touch with all my Brown roommates whose careers are all very inspiring!

Lucretia Kargere-Basco ‘90:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York City

When you were at Brown did you think you would be working in the world of art? What did you study at Brown and what did you do outside of class?

Having completed a Baccalaureate in France in Economics and Political Science, I was an international relations major through sophomore year. I changed to Visual Arts and Art History my junior year, taking classes at RISD (drawing/painting/illustration, sculpting). I also played the piano on a music scholarship. I changed to art history once I realized I was just regurgitating my classes in Political Science and International Relations, but did not have a personal insight into the world. Art and its history provided me with that individual perspective. I was not sure where I was going with it, but passion and drive were sufficient incentives at the time (Graduated summa cum laude and member of Phi Beta Kappa).

How did you get into conservatorship work?

Out of college, looking to work in the arts, I took an administrative position at The Met which gave me a first insight into the world of museums. After a year, I went back to graduate school in art history at the Institute of Fine Arts NYU-IFA. With a Master's degree in hand and facing a PhD track, it was at that time that I questioned the worth of my degree and my place in the workforce, especially if I wanted to stay in New York. I humbly realized I did not have sufficient charisma to hold a professorship or curatorship in the city, given the highly competitive nature of that job market. By charisma, I mean a certain attitude and confidence, which as a non-native speaker and at the shy age of my early twenties, I did not consider having. I also was not interested in the commercial aspect of art galleries. Wanting to return to the material quality of works of art, I volunteered at the Met in the Department of Objects Conservation (with small jobs on the side to make ends meet), where I was introduced to the mind-boggling world of art under high magnification (microscopes), and the treatment and preservation of works of art. From there, the path was clear. I went back to school to complete four semesters of pre-med level chemistry, and completed four more years of graduate school with a Certificate in Art Conservation at the IFA-CC.

What is the hardest thing about working for a non-profit?

Salaries/ compensation, especially in New York City. I was driven by passion, but also wanted to have a family, and unless you have supplementary financial support, it is very difficult to survive in a city such as New York.

What is the most gratifying part of working for a non-profit?

Your work is your passion. Your soul is at peace in that you are working for the better good of society and not for egotistical advancement. Working at the museum also gave me the freedom to be an academic without the pressure of academia. I have published 24 articles and a book.

Mini Reunion Postcard from NYC

A squad of Class of '90 Brownies from around the country gathered at a historic brownstone in NYC for a fun September weekend including a boat ride, brunch, a visit to the Met, and a spa visit. There was a lot of dancing, laughing, and reminiscing.

Attendees included Theresia Gouw, Sangeeta Bhatia, Sharon Marine, Sam Bryant, Laura Johnson, Courtney Morrison, Jenny Ord Bonadio, Ashley Johnson Mason, Suzi Rosenblum Guardia, Victoria Sams and Jenny Backus.

This group of women first came together during Brown’s freshman year in Perkins, Pembroke, Littlefield and the Quad. This group has remained friends for over 30 years! There were lots of toasts to friends who left us too soon (Lisa Neal Healy) and friends far away (Tanya Blumstein). The highlight of the weekend? A special Saturday night cocktail party Theresia organized for our children and close families: complete with rooftop signature drinks and our surprise special guest visitors Nancy Shutkin and Bruce Richman.

WE WANT YOUR MINI REUNION PHOTOS

Have you had a mini reunion recently with your Brown 1990 pals? Send us pix for us to share in our newsletter, on social, and on our website www.brown1990.com

1990 Feedback: Do You Work in the Social Service Non Profit Sphere? Healthcare? Social Justice?

HIGHLIGHTING THE UNSUNG HEROES OF

THE CLASS OF 1990

A CLASS EVENT SERIES STARTING IN 2024

Nurses, teachers, public defenders, veterans, first responders, founders, leaders of nonprofits, and social justice activists have dedicated their careers to strengthening their communities and building a better world. We want to recognize and honor your work and your vision. As we countdown to Reunion 35, we will be hosting a series of virtual panels highlighting these often unsung heroes starting with our first panel celebrating leaders and founders of social service nonprofits. We will follow that with panels highlighting educators and teachers and health care professionals and first responders in the Fall of 2024.

We want to make sure we cast our net far and wide when it comes to panelists, highlighting folks from across the country and across the Class. If you know someone who would be good to feature on any of these panels or you want to take part, please email us!

– Your Class of 1990 Leadership Team

Lisa Ryers ‘90, Editor