Introductory Statement

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE ISEA International Board of Directors for selecting our proposal for Albuquerque to be a host city. Thank you to Artistic Director Andrea Polli and the 516 ARTS Board of Directors and staff for undertaking such a vast project. Their vision and commitment to bringing ISEA2012 to fruition over three years of planning, organizing, and fundraising have been truly remarkable. Very special thanks go to Dean Jim Linnell of the University of New Mexico College of Fine Arts, former Provost Suzanne Ortega and current Provost Chaouki Abdallah, who helped us to set ISEA2012 in motion, and all the generous funders and elected officials who joined together to support ISEA2012, including Owen Lopez, Wendy Lewis, and Norty Kalishman of the McCune Charitable Foundation; Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and the Albuquerque City Council; City of Albuquerque Cultural Services Director Betty Rivera; Albuquerque Public Art Urban Enhancement Program Manager Sherri Brueggemann; Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins; New Mexico Cultural Affairs Secretary Veronica Gonzales; Ray Graham of The FUNd at Albuquerque Community Foundation; Jami Grindatto, Natasha Martell, andThomas Greenbaum of lntel Corporation; Ihe Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; New Mexico Tourism Department; Debra Rornero andThe Albuquerque Museum Foundation; ISEA2012 Fundraising Chair Marta Weber and Development Associate Jane Kennedy; and 516 ARTS Board Members Arturo Sandoral, Juan Abeyta, David Vogel, Perry Bendicksen, and Clint Wells. I am deeply grateful for the vision and generosity of our more than 100 program partners around the region, especially the leading individuals and institutions including Cathy Wright and Andrew Connors of the Albuquerque Museum of Art & History; Catalin Roman, Doug Brown, Geraldine Forbes, Katya Crawford, and Mark Peceny of the University of New Mexico; Charles Walters of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science;
Marilee Nason and Laurie Magovern of the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum; Rick Rennie and the Alvarado Urban Farm; and all the other participating organizations, too many to name here. Thank you to all the artists and presenters, so many of whom made personal investments and did their own fundraising to make their participation in ISEA2012 possible.There are many layers of participants to thank, including the jurors from around the world, the web team out of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and especially the volunteer theme and focus day leaders: Andres Burbano; Agnes Chavez and Anita McKeown; Erin Elder, Nina Elder, and Nancy Zastudil; Catherine Harris; Andrea Folli; Lea Rekow and Tom Leeser; and Stephanie Rothenberg. Last but not least, profound thanks go to my fellow organizers, without whose dedicating inspiration, comradery, and hard work, ISEA2012 would not have been possible, including 516 ARTS staff members Rhiannon Mercer, Teresa Buscemi, and Claude Smith; Jenny McMath and Laura Kesselman of Kesselman-Jones, Inc.; and Nicholas Chiarella, our AmeriCorps staffperson for ISEA2012. Thank you for the tremendous teamwork it has taken to produce this major event together.

• SUZANNE SBARGE, ISEA2012 Executive Producer & 516 ARTS Executive Director