MUSE/IQUE Announces New Board Members

MUSEI/IQUE, Pasadena’s pioneering live music organization, is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to its Board of Directors: Barbara Franks Bice, Christine Swanson, and Jonathan Weedman.

The Board, chaired by philanthropist LeeAnn Havner, provides leadership in carrying out MUSE/IQUE’s mission of making music accessible to all through adventurous and meaningful programming, an effort continued throughout the pandemic with drive-in concerts, lawn serenades, and MUSE/IQUE’s In A Minute! (…or Two!) video series, which just surpassed 100 episodes.

“To serve as Chair of MUSE/IQUE’s Board of Directors, is to be part of an inspiring and passionate team,” said Havner. “With much enthusiasm, we welcome to the Board our newest members, Barbara Franks Bice, Chirstine Swanson, and Jonathan Weedman, all of whom bring a breadth of experience and expertise that will help bring to fruition MUSE/IQUE’s adventurous plans for the future.”

A resident of Pasadena, Barbara Franks Bice is the president of the Bice Passavant Foundation, Vice President of Five B Investment Company, LLC, and a philanthropist interested in the arts, scouting, and social-emotional learning. Barbara is a former educator with the San Marino Unified School District, having spent 20 years in the district as an AP English teacher, founding director of the Career Education Program and the Career Center at San Marino High School, and founding executive director of the San Marino Schools Foundation. Barbara worked at Huntington Hospital as director of major gifts prior to becoming director of volunteer services for World Cup 1994 where her team of 2,000 volunteers served the needs of attendees from around the world for the seven soccer games held at the Rose Bowl. In higher education, Barbara served on the Scripps College board for 13 years and has served on the boards of the Sycamores, L.A. Family Housing, and Queens Care Health Alliance. Additionally, she served on the board of the Western Justice Center in Pasadena, and currently serves on their Leadership Council. She also served as an advisor to the Public Interest Law Foundation of the Gould School of Law which is now named after her. Barbara’s husband, Scott Bice, is an alumnus of the Gould School of Law where he has taught for more than 50 years and served as dean from 1980-2000. Barbara was also the first woman member of the Rotary Club of San Marino and served as a founding board chair of True Connection, which promotes social awareness and provides emotional intelligence education to children and adults.

Christine Swanson earned her MFA in Film from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and was selected by its faculty as the Willard T.C. Johnson Fellow, the most prestigious fellowship given to the student who has achieved high standards in his or her work. CNN identified Christine as one of the most promising filmmakers to emerge from NYU’s graduate film program since Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Oliver Stone and Spike Lee (Christine’s NYU directing teacher). Christine earned a BA degree in Communications and Japanese from the University of Notre Dame. Christine has developed, written and/or directed movie projects for HBO Films, Magnolia Pictures, State Street Pictures, TV One and Faith Filmworks. Christine received a 2015 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Television Motion Picture for For the Love of Ruth. She also directed three original cable movie premieres for TV One entitled, To Hell and Back, For the Love of Ruth and the TV One record breaking biopic Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story. Other award-winning projects Christine has written and/or directed in her career include: Two Seasons (winner HBO Short Film Competition, Sundance selection), All About You (winner Audience Choice Award Chicago International Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize Hollywood Black Film Festival, Festival Award at the Pan African Film Festival and the Film of the Year Award at The Santa Barbara African Heritage Film Series); All About Us (invited to the prestigious Heartland Film Festival, The Chicago International Film Festival and the Cannes Festival du Film Panafricain); and Woman Thou Art Loosed (Santa Barbara International Film Festival and Blockbuster Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the American Black Film Festival). Christine is also a professor for the University of Georgia’s MFA Screenwriting Program and an advisor to the Film and Television program at the University of Notre Dame. Christine resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Michael, and their children.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jonathan Weedman has enjoyed over 30 years of extensive professional experience working in the corporate, non-profit and community sectors. This includes currently as a consultant for several non-profit organizations in the areas of fundraising, project development and management, board recruitment, and building strategic partnerships to further strengthen the organization. Prior to that, Weedman served as the 6th Executive Director for Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, a nationally recognized performing arts organization where Weedman made significant contributions to strengthen the organization’s infrastructure, fundraising performance and advance GMCLA’s artistic achievements. For over 20 years, Weedman served as Senior Vice President for the Wells Fargo Foundation and directed the company’s philanthropic, volunteer and community engagement programs for the Southern California Region and the State of Arizona, with an annual contributions budget of over $20 million. He also served as Cultural Affairs Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and was Founding Chair of the Grand Park Foundation appointed by Supervisor Gloria Molina. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Colburn School, Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and is Chair Emeritus of the Young Musicians Foundation. A third generation Californian, Weedman attended USC and UCLA, and is the grandson of former California Governor Goodwin Knight. He and his husband reside in Altadena.

Please visit http://www.muse-ique.com/ for more information.