Presenting Sponsor

Welcome to Gratitude Island! At Islands of Brilliance, gratitude is at the core of everything we do. Every day we appreciate our amazing students, our dedicated mentors, and the many friends, families, and sponsors who support us in our mission. For this reason, we believe that Gratitude Island is the perfect place to gather together this year to celebrate our community. You will be able to listen to music, admire work from local artists, and meet some of our talented students. While we will miss celebrating together in person, I know you will be amazed at the experience we have created here on Gratitude Island.

Our mission at Islands of Brilliance is to build on the capabilities of our remarkable students and provide a pathway to independence, employment, and a higher quality of living.

2020 has been a year like no other and has brought challenges to us all. Islands of Brilliance’s commitment to its mission and dedication to its students are stronger than ever. We have been able to continue to provide essential programming and support to our students at a time when it was needed the most. In the last seven months, Islands of Brilliance held 416 online classes and provided 3,608 hours of instruction to students in 10 states. In addition to our Foundation Programming, Brilliant Breakfast Club, and Digital Academy, we added new classes such as online Doodle Lounge, Natterdays, Smactivities, and Lighthouse Conversations. Our students now meet mentors in Zoom rooms and learn, create, and collaborate in a virtual classroom. Gratitude Island is a perfect example of how creativity at Islands of Brilliance is thriving and how our students continue to exceed our expectations.

Thank you for joining us tonight. We are grateful for your support and hope you enjoy your visit to Gratitude Island!

With much gratitude,

Kelly Scott Board Chair, Islands of Brilliance

Welcome to Colors & Chords 2020– Gratitude Island!

Compelling Virtual Reality Experiences

foresightvr.com

REIMAGINING Colors & Chords: THE Gratitude Island Experience

Your hosts for the evening: IOB Co-founders Margaret and Mark Fairbanks

This year, Milwaukee’s favorite music, art, and tech spectacle will be the most unique yet as we’re headed to Gratitude Island—a virtual world imagined and created by Foresight Studios with the help of our own Digital Academy students.

Everything you’ve loved about past Colors & Chords has found a new home on the island. Artists and bands will still come together on four different stages to create magic. IOB student artwork will still be front and center for you to enjoy and see. And we’ll have the chance to celebrate all we’ve been able to accomplish over the last year.

The Gratitude Island game environment has been in production since mid-August. Foresight principals Hector Borges and Jeff Fleetwood have been hard at work on this amazing 3D immersive environment. Video of the bands was filmed on location at Turner Hall on October 1st. Artists created all of their work digitally, and captured it using recording software. Video and music were edited together and imported into the game environment to create the virtual Colors & Chords experience.

Gratitude Island also afforded us the opportunity to showcase both student work and student voice in a way we have not been able to do in the past. Yes, we miss the entry of students onstage at Turner Hall. But the inclusion of the immense amount of creative work, as well as personal stories added through audio and video presentations from workshops fills that void.

Whether you’re in the game environment, or watching the 90 minute show on YouTube, Colors and Chords Gratitude Island is one of our most ambitious projects to date. It is important because it highlights Islands of Brilliance’s organizational commitment to innovation and resiliency in the face of a challenging environment. We are committed to staying connected and engaged with our community, so that we can celebrate the good we create together in the world.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Mission: By using creativity, technology, and one-on-one guidance, we are positively changing personal perceptions of self and promoting broader community views of those on the autism spectrum from people with disabilities to people with capabilities.

Islands of Brilliance is an education and early workforce development model for youth and young adults living with autism. Our mission is to use creativity, technology, and 1:1 guidance to positively change personal perceptions of self and promote broader community views of those on the spectrum from people with disabilities to people with capabilities.

Our neurodiverse talent incubator provides early intervention beginning at age 8—a full 6 years earlier than state mandated transition planning in a majority of U.S. states/territories. Workshops target critical social/emotional and vocational skills that prepare students to succeed in post-secondary and workplace opportunities.

COVID-19 halted in-person workshops, causing our staff of 10 and more than 150 volunteers to transition online to continue serving our community who, because of their special needs, require enrichment and consistency now more than ever. The distance learning model allows us to offer workshops with increased frequency and access. Since March, we’ve led 434 sessions with 3,792 instructional hours for 2,768 participants, serving more in the first 6 months of online learning than we did in-person since our inception in 2012.

islandsofbrilliance.org

About Islands of Brilliance

Board of DirectorsKelly Scott Board Chair

Katie Crawford-Madlung Vice Chair

Margaret Fairbanks Treasurer

Nydia Mauras-Jones Secretary

Dan Depies

Steve Farr

Dave Hanneken

Maggie Kuhn

Jim Locatelli

LaKesha Pettigrew

Nicole Powley

Maria Lopez Vento

StaffMark Fairbanks Cofounder, Chief Innovation Officer

Margaret Fairbanks Cofounder, Chief Education Officer

Courtney Rogaczewski Director of Operations

Amy Mason Director of Integrated Learning

Christina DeCheck Director of Programs

Matt Juzenas Director of Educational Content

Michelle Pape Director of Development

Stephanie Phillips Special Education Coordinator

Charlie Fairbanks Creative/Technology Support

Kim Gerdes Marketing Coordinator

Islands of Brilliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

The Heil Family Foundation is proud to support the creativity, diversity, and innovation on display in Colors & Chords Gratitude Island.

Congratulations to the Islands of Brilliance community!

Anthony’s StoryAnthony’s fascination with aircrafts and flight began when he was just a young boy. While a part of Goodwill’s Project SEARCH internship program for young adults with disabilities, he found a way to overcome barriers and excel in a job that allows his passion for planes to soar to new heights.

Through Project SEARCH, Anthony worked at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport unloading cargo from trucks and loading it onto planes. He also served as a wing walker and helped guide in airplanes with a lighted baton. “I’ve always been in love with airplanes and traveling and dreamed of working at the airport,” he says.

Goodwill is a proud sponsor of Islands of Brilliance and the amazing

work they do for our community.

Shayne Mack with Jonny T-Bird and the MPs Dynamic Color Solutions Stage Shayne Mack has been an IOB student for over two years and has grown with every program he’s taken. From sketching to 3D modeling to 1:1 mentoring, he finds joy, connection, and meaning in his work and loves the challenge and support IOB provides. As a Digital Academy student, Shayne has started to develop new vocational skills. This experience also inspired him to enroll in technical college.

Jon Neuberger–aka Jonny T-Bird– first picked up a guitar at thirteen. What makes this artist so special to IOB is that he was diagnosed at an early age with aspergers, a form of autism. He didn’t let that stop him from learning, embracing and sharing his talent and love for music. Over the years, he honed his skills with various local groups before starting his own blues and jazz band, The MPs. 10+ years, three albums and many live performances later, the band just released their fourth album this past Spring to rave reviews.

Casey Hoaglund with SistaStrings Northwestern Mutual Stage Over the last three years, Casey Hoaglund has volunteered her time, talents, and support to our program as a Mentor to several students. She’s an incredible illustrator, digital painter, recent MIAD graduate, and a nationally-recognized animator. Her work can be seen in Rolling Stone, Billboard Magazine, and Trapper Schoepp’s music video–Drive Thru Divorce to name a few.

Milwaukee-based SistaStrings–violinist Chauntee Ross and cellist Monique Ross–use their musical gifts to both entertain audiences and educate new generations. This sister duo has a unique sound that combines their classical education with R&B and gospel and has performed on some of music’s most well-known venues such as Carnegie Hall. Not only do they write and arrange their own music, they also seek to inspire students by going into schools where they encourage them to pursue the arts.

Romke de Hahn with Klassik Xerox Stage Innovative technology leader by day...DJ and artist by night, Romke de Haan seamlessly blends technology, design, and music. From developing digital campaign strategies for the Obama Administration to creating bold, expressive ideas and statements through graffiti, he can do it all. Awesomely. These elements are what Colors & Chords is all about.

Storyteller, producer, singer, rapper, songwriter, collaborator, mentor...and he’s been called “a force” within the local and national music scene. Klassik got his start playing and studying saxophone at age 10 and evolved into a multi-instrumentalist modernist performer. An award-winning and critically-acclaimed musician, Klassik has had the opportunity to open for established artists, including Kendrik Lamar, Ludacris, and Talib Kweli. Today, he works to stir the souls of listeners into action with empathy, passion, and purpose in his music.

Cynthia Short with Marielle Allschwang and the Visitations Heil Family Foundation Stage

Cynthia Short graced the Colors & Chords stage back in 2015 so she’s no stranger to the IOB scene. Whether it’s painting, sketching, drawing–art has always played a large role in her life. While painting initially felt too technical and out of reach, she took on that challenge and granted herself permission to forget the rules and simply explore. Along the way, she’s also forced herself to put her work out there and share for others to enjoy.

Marielle Allschwang last mesmerized the Colors & Chords audience in 2018 as a member of Collection of Colony of Bees. Her voice has been described as a “timeless instrument” (Shepherd Express) and she has received critical-acclaim and many “Best of” local awards. But her influence expands beyond Milwaukee and audiences. Marielle has also exhibited work in both video and print media in Boston, Wellesley (MA), and created/mentored/taught as a Resident Artist at RedLine MKE.

Digital Academy Exhibit Hall

The exhibit hall features a wide variety of 3D models that were created during development sprints for Islands of Brilliance: Builder’s Paradise. The year long product development cycle will wrap up in December with the release of an island-builder video game imagined, designed, and programmed by 17 of our Digital Academy students.

Our Gratitude Island YouTube special also includes video segments of our Digital Academy students discussing their learning experience, and how it has put them on track to reach personal and professional goals.

Digital Academy is made possible through funding provided by Autism Speaks and Game Stop.

Goodwill Gallery

We are proud to exhibit the work of over 50 Islands of Brilliance students! The range of imagination and creativity on display is expansive. Art and design projects were created using professional-level software including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as traditional methods. The gallery also features two full-length student presentations recorded during the past year. Students from our Summer Foundational Photoshop and Illustrator workshop and Monster Mash Workshop present their final projects. Listen to students describe their creative process and skills they were able to learn and build on!

2020 Colors & Chords Team

Executive Producer: Mark Fairbanks

Game Environment: Hector Borges, Jeff Fleetwood–Foresight Studios

Music Booking: Damian Strigens; Marc Solheim–Pabst Riverside

Technical Director: Tom Sanders

Onstage Video: Brian Artka–Size 43

Sponsorships: Michelle Pape

Marketing: Kim Gerdes

Event Coordinators: Courtney Rogaczewski, Christina DeCheck

Content Curation: Matt Juzenas, Amy Mason, Stephanie Phillips

Special Effects/Capture: Charlie Fairbanks

Real stories that move people to take action.

size43.com