THOUGHT LEADER FEATURES AND TESTIMONIALS
Montgomery Media Arts Institute joined West Valley Arts to collaborate on the ARTrageous Online! Program and connect classrooms to the amazing and impactful work being advanced by local thought leaders in our state.
DEE-DEE DARBY-DUFFIN
Jazz Singer/ Actor
April 20, 2022
"Soul Sister Suzi- it was one of the most thorough and thought-provoking projects I have worked on. From the beginning, the objectives were clear and concise. The team not only made me look and sound good, but I felt safe to be myself and to be vulnerable enough to speak my truth. I am confident that teachers and students will find something relatable in the content. If given an opportunity, I would 100% without a doubt do this again."
NALINI NADKARNI
University of Utah Ecologist/ Biologist
April 12, 2022
“My experience with creating educational videos for a broad spectrum of students with Suzi Montgomery was positive and learningful. She and her team gathered an impressive diversity of source material and from them, extracted insights, truths, and affirmations about my work to engage people about the importance of trees and forests. She had her own creative ways of assembling concepts and information that led to positive responses and true student inquiry about complex topics in science, arts, and the humanities.”
MMAI film crew interviewing thought leader, Jorge Fierro, a Mexican immigrant entrepreneur whose mantra is “pay it forward” and who went from homelessness to founding Rico Brand products sold in all major grocery stores in Utah.
MMAI film crew interviewing thought leader, Atem Thurch Aleu, a Sudanese Lost Boy who fled the Sudanese Civil war where 20,000 orphaned boys fled the country on (bare) foot.. Atem is now working for Workforce Services to help establish refugees in Salt Lake. He is also an artist who began creating charcoal sketches in a Kenyan refugee camp to express his suffering. Now with two Masters degrees and having taught at Harvard, he brings his experience and art to refugees still in the camps.
NOEMI
HERNANDEZ-BALCAZAR
District Arts Coordinator: Granite School District
April 7, 2022
"Oh my goodness. The Thought Leader program interview and whole project was absolutely fantastic. I am proud and honored to have been invited for my voice to be heard and experience shared. The quality of the process was well planned and the product turned out of the highest quality. Suzi created curriculum of depth and easy to understand, the content is valuable and accessible for any educator who wants to share authentic knowledge in an engaging and dynamic way."
"In spring 2021 I had the real pleasure of sitting with Suzi Montgomery and her film crew to tell my story in my own words. I was born in 1960 at a time in America where progress towards a more equitable society was being actively created. The songs of protest are sung everywhere from Selma to Central Park by artists like: Aretha Franklin, Peter, Paul, and Mary. The hope of a better future was a real possibility which sadly today has eroded to dust. Current generations and those to come must be given an inclusive history.
