Writer In Residence: Elizabeth Howard

Elizabeth Howard, writer in residence at Randall’s Island Park, has never had barriers between her life, work, art and writing. Experience, sense of place and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility and responsiveness in the projects she designs and engages with. As a journalist her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communications Arts, Communication World, The Strategist, Board Member and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include: Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, reflections on growing up in New Hampshire, published by Thornwillow Press in 2011 and A Day with Bonefish Joe, published by David R. Godine, 2015. She edited Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back published by Easton Studio Press in 2016. She was the inaugural Madeleine L’Engle Fellow at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine from 2017-2020.

Guest Speakers:

Roger Hernandez, Jr.

Roger Hernandez, Jr. is an enrolled native member of the Taino Nation, born and raised in El Barrio, East Harlem, New York.  He graduated from Southampton College, Long Island University with B.A. in Environmental Sociology (1980), and Hunter College with a M.S. in Urban Planning and Community Development (1987). He serves on the Board of Directors for Taller Boricua Cultural Arts Gallery, the United Confederation of Taino People, and Presencia Taina.TV and has written and researched the Ramapough Tribe of the Lenape Nation and The United Confederation of Taino People (www.uctp.org) under a Treaty of Cooperation to complement each tribal objectives and goals. He has identified the Native American community who made the Upper East Side their summer fishing camp location in East Harlem that attracted the early Dutch settlers to establish trade relations, thus creating New Haarlem as their second outpost in New Amsterdam (NYC). Roger produces a weekly public access television show for Manhattan Network Cable.

Evan Pritchard

Evan Pritchard, of MI’kmaq descent, is the director of the Center for Algonquin Culture, Rosendale, New York. He has lectured on native studies at colleges including Vassar, Pace, Marist, Columbia University, SUNY, and several others. He is the author of over fifty books on native culture and history, including Native New Yorkers; Henry Hudson and the Algonquins (Chicago Review Press); Bird Medicine (Inner Traditions/Simon and Schuster); Native American Stories of the Sacred (Turner Books) and No Word for Time (Millichap). Pritchard has published original maps of Native American settlements in the Hudson Valley and is an occasional film maker. He frequently appears on radio stations including WBAI, and WNYC, and has been a featured guest on CNN, ABC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and on Roger Hernandez’s 90-minute special “Touring Native New York” on Manhattan Cable.

Paul Gunther

Paul Gunther is a veteran of the New York arts and design world, joining the Gracie Mansion Conservancy after 35 years as an author, consultant, and executive in the field of historical preservation, land use, and cultural institutions. Born and raised in Rochester, New York, Gunther earned his Bachelor’s degree in Architectural and Art History from Yale. Gunther has worked as a consultant on a number of local arts and historical organizations, and has a written for professional publications on topics. Previously, Gunther served as president of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, a NYC-based national education and presenting organization dedicated to the Classical tradition. He formerly served as Vice President of the Institutional Advancement and Director of Development at the New-York Historical Society, Director of Development and American Liaison at the American Center in Paris, and the Director of Development and Public Affairs at the Municipal Art Society, and as account executive at George Trescher Associates in the administration of Mayor Edward I. Koch when the agency was newly created.

Claudia Whittingham

Claudia Whittingham is a teacher and artist who is honored to support public school communities as a Restorative Justice practitioner.  Grounded in indigenous values, Restorative Practices creates spaces for people to be in community with one another.  She offers an opportunity to experience a Restorative Circle, called a connection circle, using the ideas and content of Braiding Sweetgrass.