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10
David Jobin
Age 38 | Managing director, City Theatre
David Jobin
has found a spot on more than one list in Pittsburgh. Besides this
year's "40 Under 40," Jobin also found himself No. 31
on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's list of the region's top-50 cultural
forces. And he managed it all from behind the scenes -- literally.
Three years
ago, Jobin became the first managing director the City Theatre has
ever had. The Aurora, Ohio, native handles the business aspects
of the $2.5 million nonprofit company, including personnel, fundraising,
marketing and finance.
About a year
later, the theater's producing director, Marc Masterson, left for
a job at the larger Actors Theatre in Louisville, Ky. Jobin found
himself stepping into the leadership roll, holding the staff together
during the transitional year.
And the City
Theatre had a strong season artistically and financially. The company,
which mainly stages new and recent American plays on the cutting
edge, mounted seven productions (with 10 planned for this season).
Subscription revenue increased by 35 percent.
The City's
small Hamburg Studio and its main stage are used by the City or
rented to smaller local companies for most of the year. "It
was a great year," says Jobin.
Jobin led the
search for the City's new artistic director, Tracy Brigden. Together,
he and Brigden form a two-person leadership team, and each reports
to the theater's board of directors.
"I'm really
excited about it [Brigden's arrival]," says Jobin. "We're
really lucky." Pittsburgh's pretty lucky, too, he says.
"We're
[the City Theatre] one of the resources that people point to in
attracting [young] people," he says. "The City Theatre
really distinguishes the Pittsburgh theater community."
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13
Jeffrey Dorsey
Age 29 | Arts district manager, Penn Avenue Arts Initiative
"I'm an
artist, and one day I would like to be a stone's throw from the
coolest place on the East Coast," says Jeffrey Dorsey.
The Maryland
native is working toward that goal with the Penn Avenue Arts Initiative,
an organization working to use the arts to revitalize the Penn Avenue
corridor from Mathilda Street in Bloomfield to Negley Avenue in
East Liberty.
"It's
more of a spirit," says Dorsey of the Initiative. "It's
the idea that arts can revitalize the community." As the only
full-time staff member, Dorsey has full -- and often bizarre --
days. He coordinates PAAI's eight committees (comprising about 50
people), works with artists interested in buying property on Penn
Avenue, makes connections with other organizations and coordinates
events on Penn Avenue.
"I'm
a connector," says Dorsey. "I act as a bridge."
Dorsey, a painter,
came to Pittsburgh in 1990 to attend Carnegie Mellon University
and study art. "When
I stepped foot on campus, I knew that Pittsburgh was a place I would
be for a long time."
Dorsey volunteered
for the PAAI long before he started working for it. In fact, he
turned the job down three times before finally signing up. Now he
spends his day working on fundraising or event planning, then running
out to show a building to an artist, which is often his favorite
part of his job.
"Artists
always see the potential in things," even buildings with no
heat or windows, he says.
The East End
resident is fixing up an old house in Friendship with his wife,
Holly, and looks with pride toward the day when Penn Avenue is the
coolest place around. "I
helped create this place."
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11
Doug Kreps
Age 32 | Co-founder, chief operating officer and
portfolio manager, Fort Pitt Capital Group
Got a lot of
money you don't know what to do with? Doug Kreps can help you out.
The Ross Township native is co-founder, COO and portfolio manager
of Fort Pitt Capital Group, a money-management firm he and five
co-workers started in 1995 after leaving Bill Few Associates.
He and his
partners felt Pittsburgh was underserved by independent money managers
relative to other regions of its size.
"We ended up deciding maybe we could do this on our own,"
says Kreps.
So far, they've
been right. The 12-employee firm manages more than $300 million
and is expanding its Green Tree headquarters this fall. Clients
include high-net-worth individuals, foundations, corporations and
municipalities.
Kreps says
the firm's success stems from a "unique" corporate structure
-- the six founders are equal partners, each handling his or her
particular specialty (client relationships, individual portfolio
management, etc.).
"It's
not a one-man show," says Kreps. "We're all active and
involved."
Besides his
work at Fort Pitt Capital Group, Kreps is involved with both the
Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project and Hearth, a nonprofit organization
that provides transitional housing to women and children.
Last year,
Kreps was appointed to serve on Allegheny County chief executive
Jim Roddey's New Idea Factory. Kreps and his wife, Connie, spend
a lot of time on their new home, a 72-year-old house in Ross Township.
"There's
always a project to work on," laughs Kreps. With a new house,
a successful business, volunteer activities and a new baby, Kreps
has no plans to leave Pittsburgh. "I love the place,"
he says. "It's an honest city."
Fort
Pitt Capitol Group.
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14
Jacques Miles
Age 32 | Senior attorney, PPG Industries
"As a
young minority professional, I aspire to be a role model for young
people," says Jacques Miles. "I try to be active in building
coalitions with minorities and the majority to help build consensus."
And he's done
just that after being recruited by PPG Industries from Washington,
D.C., to lead its intellectual-property-law division. In the short
year since he's arrived, he's become actively involved with Pittsburgh
Cares, the Pittsburgh Intellectual Law Association, the Urban League
of Pittsburgh and the Emerging Leaders Council of the Multicultural
Arts Initiative.
He's particularly
interested in activities that help young people develop, and is
also on the planning committee for a corporate symposium focusing
on the advancement of minorities in local companies. Miles noted
immediately that black professionals seemed scarce here.
"I got
involved in PPG's minority-recruiting effort," says the Shadyside
resident. "I want to be the catalyst for promoting a more hospitable
place for minorities not only in the city, but [also] in my own
workplace."
The young lawyer
was skeptical about coming to Pittsburgh at first. "I thought
it was a great career opportunity, but Pittsburgh is not the most
attractive place for minority professionals. I tried to have an
open mind."
He credits
his family for his positive thinking. "They instilled some
strong religious beliefs and a high level of appreciativeness for
some of the opportunities I had," he says. "I have to
give back to others."
Miles says
he will continue to be a catalyst for improving Pittsburgh and "improving
its national image as a place to come for minorities."
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12
Tamara Moore
Age 32 | Co-curator and co-owner, Blue Ruin Gallery
How many women
can say they're a book editor by day and an erotic-art-gallery owner
by night? Tamara Moore can.
Owning an art
gallery was a lifelong dream realized when she and Amy Woodall (below)
met at their day jobs and discovered a mutual interest in bringing
erotic art into a more mainstream forum.
"Every
serious artist has to deal with the human form," Moore says.
"Erotic art crops up in every artist's portfolio."
Where does
the stuff come from? There has been no shortage of submissions,
says the South Side resident, who happily reports that the space
is booked through summer 2002.
"There
is a lot of talent in Pittsburgh. Once people knew we were here,
local artists brought pieces in."
Gallery patrons
fit no particular demographic, she says. And she's not surprised
that Pittsburgh has embraced the gallery. "Pittsburgh is a
very sophisticated city. It's much more sophisticated than people
who live here give it credit for. There's an awful lot going on."
Keeping the
prices low and donating pieces to various charitable fundraisers
around town have further enhanced the visibility of the gallery.
Moore is thrilled at the response.
"I think
it's really important for us to be here, to be a forum for this
kind of expression."
Blue
Ruin Gallery:
412/227-0999.
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Amy Woodall
Age 30 | Co-owner, Blue Ruin Gallery
Every artist
from Picasso to Man Ray has done it. Expressing the human body in
various erotic formats has been around for centuries, but Amy Woodall
and her partner, Tamara Moore (above), realized that there are few
galleries that showcase erotic art.
It mostly exists
on the Internet or is sitting in artists' portfolios, Woodall says.
"Many of the artists we've shown said they couldn't show it
publicly until now," explains the South Side resident.
Woodall chose
to house the Blue Ruin Gallery in the Strip District because of
the nightlife there, keeping primarily evening hours. The "wander-in
crowd" is limited, she admits, but she expects that word of
mouth will change that.
Both Woodall
and her partner have been pleasantly surprised by their visitors.
"Not just the funky crowd -- accountants, too." The gallery
shows a diverse range of media and both male and female artists.
Woodall says
the biggest struggle is having a full-time job as managing editor
of a nonprofit organization and running the gallery. She has recruited
her husband, Manfred Woodall, and friends to help.
"It's
great that people are approaching this topic seriously," she
says. "By having a physical gallery for erotica, we hope to
help people to become comfortable with their sexuality."
As for the
name? "It's a Tom Waits song meaning a term for gin created
during Prohibition that is blue in color and it ruins you. On the
surface, it's a name we liked and just associated it with relation
to blue movies."
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