Kinesis Project Presents Virtual Annual Spring Gala Honoring Jennifer Wright Cook and Yasemin Ozumerizfon

Kinesis Project's Board of Directors presents Kinesis Project's Annual Spring Gala in a virtual realm, honoring Jennifer Wright Cook and Yasemin Ozumerizfon, hosted by TruDee, with LIVE performances by Kinesis Project NYC and Seattle, on Friday, May 8, 2020 at 7:30pm ET. Tickets are available at https://www.kinesisproject.com/events/kpgala2020.

For a fun, sparkling, connected, staying home evening, join Kinesis Project in a private Zoom room from where-ever you are to enjoy a toast, watch performances, bid on fun and virtual offerings, and win a double thumbs up from Erin Courtney for your best Zoom Party Top.

7:30pm - Enter + cocktails (recipe will be available)

7:45pm - Live performance by Kinesis Project

8:00pm - Honorees Celebration!

8:15pm - Performance by Kinesis Project NYC and Seattle

Continue party, into virtual dance party

A native of Istanbul, Yasemin Ozumerzifon, Director of Community Action at Gibney, enjoys her roles as an administrator, researcher, and facilitator. After beginning her dance and psychology training in her hometown, she attended Connecticut College on a four-year full-tuition scholarship. Combining her two passions, she completed an M.A. at Columbia University in Developmental Psychology, with a focus on creativity and human development. Her background in arts education, prior to joining Gibney in 2011, includes working at New 42nd Street's Education department, All Stars Project and Lyman Allyn Art Museum.

Yasemin has developed and conducted research projects such as a two-year study that investigates the Development of Children's Art Making and Comprehension of Art, a study that evaluates Guggenheim Museum's Learning Through Art program as well as administering data collection for Yale University's Emotional Literacy program.

As Director of Community Action at Gibney, Yasemin administers programs that use the arts to address gender-based violence including movement workshops for survivors; violence prevention assemblies & residencies that promote healthy relationships amongst young people; as well as ongoing trainings, workshops and resources locally, nationally and internationally that provide support for projects that are at the intersection of arts and social justice. In addition, she is working as a co-instigator for a two-year clinical trial to determine the effects of group-based dance and movement workshops on the physical and mental health of survivors of domestic violence.

The Field empowered Executive Director Jennifer Wright Cook, to cut her teeth twice. First, in 1996 when she was an exhausted dancer/waitress/personal trainer in need of a life change; and then again in 2006 when her full-time performance life was waning, and she was ready to test her leadership skills. Her current role as Executive Director is firmly grounded in these two experiences - that The Field can truly change someone's life. As Executive Director of this 34-year-old organization, Jennifer oversees The Field's mission delivery to 1,200 artists in NYC and beyond. She is deeply proud of The Field's commitment to individual artists, anti-racism in the arts, and its courageous and humble self-examination of its work and the sector - as evident in its publications like to fail and fail big, We Are No Longer Strangers and Beyond 26%. From that place in 2019, The Field launched an ambitious new Vision to support artists' full life resilience (thefieldvision.org). Jennifer's work has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal, WNYC Public Radio, and by participation on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, emcArts, CUNY Prelude Festival and the former Dance Theater Workshop. Jennifer is Co-Chair of the Board for New Yorkers for Arts and Culture and is active advocate for city funding. She is also a proud alum of Coro Leadership NY XXI. As a (now retired) dance/theater performer, Jennifer performed/created with the San Francisco-based Joe Goode Performance Group (1997-2005) and others. She has performed her own work in Madrid, New York, San Francisco and Portland, OR. She sings alto in a gospel choir and lives in Brooklyn with her partner and daughter.

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