[Coral-List] Coral: Symbol, Substance, and Significance / A conference in NYC / October 29 – 31, 2009

[Lisa Koenigsberg]

Initiatives in Art and Culture
REGISTER NOW
Coral: Symbol, Substance, and Significance
October 29 – October 31, 2009
UPDATED SPEAKER LIST
EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT EXTENDED through October 23, 2009
Student discount available

Coral is a comprehensive examination of this 
astonishing organism, exploring its place in both 
in the natural world and in the realm of culture, 
and considering what is being done to protect and preserve it.

Beginning with the role of coral within the reef 
and the criticality of coral reefs to ocean 
ecology and thus to human existence we turn to 
forces threatening reef survival, and to efforts 
of scientists, governments, and nongovernmental 
organizations to protect and restore them. We 
address laws and treaties formulated to govern 
trade in coral, a substance that has been termed 
"too precious to wear." We examine coral in 
history, both its evolving associations over time 
and its traditional place in the wunderkammer, 
and explore its changing role and use in jewelry, 
art, and fashion, with specific discussion of the 
mimetic use of coral alternatives and the 
symbolic use of the coral motif as an 
inspiration. Initiatives in Art and Culture has a 
long-standing commitment to explorations of 
cultural patrimony and of art and ornament. In 
Coral, we again celebrate the object by placing 
it in the broadest possible context. The 
conference, organized by Initiatives in Art and 
Culture, will explore issues relating to coral's 
place in the natural and cultural worlds.

Among those who have agreed to speak are: Michael 
Kowalski, Chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co.; 
Richard E. Dodge, professor and dean, Nova 
Southeastern University (NSU) Oceanographic 
Institute and Executive Director of the Centers 
Coral Reef Institute (NCRI); Kacky Andrews, 
Director, Coral Reef Conservation Program, 
National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration Committee (NOAA); 
Andrew Baker, Assistant Professor of Marine 
Biology and Fisheries, University of Miami; Dawn 
Martin, president of SeaWeb; Christine Dawson, 
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental 
and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State; 
Michele Oka Doner, artist whose breadth of 
artistic production encompasses public art, 
sculpture, furniture, jewelry, and functional 
objects, a significant number of which draw 
inspiration from coral and the sea; Barbara Best, 
Coastal Resources and Policy Advisor, Office of 
Natural Resources Management, Bureau for Economic 
Growth, Agriculture and Trade, U.S Agency for 
International Development; Ilze K. Berzins, 
Executive Vice President, Animal Health, 
Conservation and Research, John G. Shedd 
Aquarium; Ken Nedimyer, Founder and President, 
Coral Restoration Foundation; Susan J. Torntore, 
authority on the Corallium industries in Italy 
and Taiwan; Steve D'Esposito, president RESOLVE 
and formerly president, Earthworks Action; Billy 
Causey, Regional Director, Florida Keys National 
Sanctuary; Caleb McClennen, Director, Marine 
Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society; 
Crawford Allan, Regional Director, TRAFFIC North 
America, World Wildlife Fund; Rebecca Bratspies, 
Professor of Environmental Law, City University 
New York Law School; Mercer R. Brugler, 
Environmental and Evolutionary Biology Program, 
University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Godfrey 
Reggio, producer and director, who is prominent 
in the film world for his Qatsi trilogy and for 
Anima Mundi, (music for all by Philip Glass) 
which convey a humanist philosophy about the 
earth; Marilyn F. Cooperman, jeweler whose work 
often employs aquatic motifs; Amedeo 
Scognamiglio, jeweler, whose family has been 
based in Torre del Greco, a center of the 
creation of jewelry from seashells, corals and 
semiprecious stones; Stephen Dweck, jeweler whose 
work is inspired by minerals and a love for the 
natural world; Janie Schoenborn, design director, 
Lilly Pulitzer; David Wolfe, creative director 
and chief forecaster of Doneger and Co.; Sarah 
Graham, jeweler whose point of departure for her 
coral inspired work are plates in Ernst Haeckel’s 
Art Forms in Nature; and Géza von Habsburg, an 
art historian who has served as chairman of two 
auction houses and whose numerous publications 
include Princely Treasures (1997) and several definitive volumes on Fabergé
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To register on-line: go to: www.acteva.com/go/coral
Fee: The conference fee is $250; an early 
registration discount of $195 is available until 
October 23, 2009.  A discounted rate of $100 is 
available for students. For more information: 
<mailto:info at artinitiatives.com>info at artinitiatives.com 
or call: 646-485-1952 or visit www.artinitiatives.com
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We are grateful for generous support received 
from Tiffany & Co., NOAA Coral Conservation Reef 
Program, SeaWeb, The Henry Foundation, The John 
G. Shedd Aquarium, The Louis and Lena Minkoff 
Foundation, The Magazine ANTIQUES, and The Exeter Group (as of 10/5/09).