Adela Goldbard
Adela Goldbard was the 2017 School of the Art Institute of Chicago Awardee of the Edes Foundation Prize.
Goldbard is an artist and filmmaker with a research-based practice 
who believes in the potential of art to generate critical thinking and social transformation. With her work she questions the politics of memory by suspecting archeological preservation, official history, mass media, and popular culture. She dissents by making visible defiant events that have been forgotten or erased and by ritually and allegorically obliterating social evil. Goldbard challenges traditional cinema by re-enacting history and by collectively building, staging and importantly, destroying, always with a subtle amount of parody and dark humor. Her work includes photography, video, sculpture, text, public actions and immersive installations.
Goldbard holds an MFA as a Full Merit Fellow in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2017) and a bachelor’s degree in Hispanic Language and Literature from the National University of Mexico. Goldbard is a member of the National System of Artistic Creators of Mexico since 2015. Her work has been exhibited in Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Philippines, Russia, Argentina, Canada, USA, and widely in Mexico. She lives and works in Chicago and Mexico City.
During the Edes award year Goldbard worked on an expanded cinema project titled “The Last Judgment”, which will be based on a XVI century play written in Náhuatl by Fray Andrés de Olmos as a spiritual conquest tool during the Spanish colonization of present-day Mexico. The play was adapted to a contemporary setting, problematizing and reflecting on the current migration crisis in the US, the strengthening of border politics, the hybridization of culture and language and the cultural Reconquista of the lost territory. The stage was built with the help of immigrant workers. “The Final Judgment” was simultaneously performed live and filmed, inserting the spectators in a stage/backstage (meta)experience. The final work is presented as a multi-channel video installation.
Cali Kasten
Cali Kasten was the 2017 DePaul University Awardee of the Edes Foundation Prize.
Cali is a classically trained musician turned corporate convert with a knack for combining the artsy and the analytical. She is a co-founder of Chicago Symphonic Winds, a not-for-profit organization founded to fill the need for quality performances of wind repertoire in the Chicagoland area.
A passionate advocate for the arts, Cali’s musical background was the foundation for her work as an arts administrator. She still maintains an active performance career and has been noted for her sensitivity and versatility as a percussionist, having performed in a variety of ensembles and musical styles. Cali can be seen across the Midwest in venues ranging from storefront theaters to Orchestra Hall.
Cali graduated with honors from DePaul University where she received her B.M. in Performing Arts Management. She is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, Social Enterprise Alliance and the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network.
During the Edes Award year, Cali worked towards building a sustainable model of acquisition, maintenance and rental/redistribution of percussion equipment to help fulfill the artistic needs of Chicago’s music community.
Dado Gyure
Dado Gyure was the 2017 University of Chicago Awardee of the Edes Foundation Prize.
Dado is a visual artist and theater practitioner in the Chicagoland 
area. She was born in East Chicago, Indiana. She has two children. She is interested in value perceptions and how they inform empathic systems. Dado is an ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre, which is Chicago’s premiere theater for the best acting in the city. A lot of her work, both formal and experimental, happens at A Red Orchid. She has recently directed The Room by Harold Pinter, The Mutilated by Tennessee Williams, Simpatico by Sam Shepard, and Megacosm by Brett Neveu.
Dado is a trained actor (University of Southern California, Los Angeles Theater Academy), a director and visual artist, (UChicago DOVA), as well as an educator. She has appeared in many theaters and on tv/film.
Dado’s Edes year project, The Little Match Girl Passion, was workshopped during her time at DOVA and is being moved into a larger social platform in the Chicago area. The Little Match Girl Passion is taken from a chamber opera written by David Lang (Pulitzer 2008) and is derived from the short story by Hans Christian Anderson of the same name. The project used movement, sculpture, percussion and voice.
Dado has also been a Maggio Fellow for directing, She has received a Jeff Citation as well as an After Dark Award. In 2017 her production of Sam Shepard’s Simpatico will move to the McCarter Theater in Princeton New Jersey. She teaches often at DePaul University and UIC. Her performance collective is known as c a K e. Cake stands for Collections, Analysis, Kinesthesia, and Ensemble.
Angelo Madsen Minax
Angelo Madsen Minax was the 2017 Northwestern University Awardee of the Edes Foundation Prize.
Minax makes films, videos and multi-disciplinary projects inspired by the collective and individual politics of belonging, and considers where fantasy, desire and embodiment interfere. Hiz works have shown at Anthology Film Archives (NYC), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), REDCAT (LA), the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the British Film Institute (UK), the European Media Art Festival (Germany) and numerous film and video festivals around the world. Madsen received an MFA from Northwestern University (2012), a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2005), and has attended residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2014), The Core Program (2012-2014), Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (2015), and the Berlinale DOC Station (2016).
During the Edes award year Madsen worked on his feature film At The River, a hybrid documentary project that interweaves personal essay, reenactment, and landscape meditation to explore a convergence of themes: the American dream, religiosity, ruralness, and trans embodiment.
Kairos Dirt and the Errant Vacuum (teaser) from Madsen Minax on Vimeo.
My My Handsome Monster (excerpt) from Madsen Minax on Vimeo.