Performance: News and Events

Faustos Fernós: Podcasting and Lady Gaga—How I Became a Podcasting Microcelebrity
Fausto Fernós is the host of Feast of Fun, one of iTunes' top comedy podcasts. As a pioneer in podcasting, Fausto Fernós started Feast of Fun as an audio blog to promote his live performance art series. The podcast quickly grew to be one of the top shows on the iTunes podcast directory. As a five-time winner of “Best GLBT Podcast” from the People’s Choice Podcast Awards, Feast of Fun is one of the few programs that creates content for an LGBT audience that reaches mass appeal. As an interviewer and journalist, Fausto Fernós leveraged his experience in performance art to create a rich, funny and entertaining program. He’s interviewed many of the world’s best known drag queens and is seen as an expert in the mainstreaming of drag as witnessed by the success and popularity of the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race. Fausto Fernós remembers a time when performance art was in its infancy, the domain of a handful of counter cultural folks working in obscure venues. He’s happy to see the ideas of deconstructing performance, artist/audience relations, and costume come into the mainstream and be embraced by performers like Lady Gaga. In this presentation, Fernós chronicles his experience as a performance artist and blogger, innovating the genre of podcasting and becoming one of the biggest names in the field. Also covered is how to find your voice as an artist in online media and cultivating a relationship with your audience without any boundaries.

Jennifer Mills: I Am Still Alive!
Jennifer Mills is a performance artist and comedian working in Chicago. Mills earned her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and French from Concordia College in Minnesota in 2007 and received a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Performance/Video Art from the New York Center for Art and Media Studies in 2008. She graduated in 2011 with her Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she now teaches in the Contemporary Practice Department. As part of her creative practice, she is involved in Chicago’s theater and comedy scene, frequently performing a fast-paced musical parody show throughout the city and is currently a BOLT artist in residence through the Chicago Artists' Coalition. She has exhibited in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minnesota, Seattle, and Berlin. Her work is in hundreds of collections worldwide.

Emily Siefken: Leaving Footprints in the Sands of Time
Emily Siefken is a 10 year military veteran of two wars in the Middle East (U.S. Navy) where she performed diverse duties such as CCTV operator, documentary filmmaker, electronics engineer, and boot-camp instructor. An ardent supporter for service member’s recognition and rights, Siefken asks her audience to understand what it means to be an American. Siefken uses performance art, emerging technologies, and sometimes sculpture. Her work primarily deals with ritual as it applies to military and religious practice and women’s experience in wartime environments. Siefken has performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Sarah Lawrence College in New York, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has had work displayed in Chicago area galleries. She is sought after as a lecturer on topics regarding women in military combat roles. She is a graduate of Performance and Art and Technology studies from SAIC where she taught Wired computer literacy courses. Emily works for the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Troops To Teachers Program, where she helps to better K-12 education by cultivating superior military talent who teach in our nations neediest schools. Emily is an active member of- and consultant to Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, The Warrior Arts Studio, Women Warrior Artists, and the Vet Art Project.