HERITAGE FILM PROJECT

by Eduardo Montes-Bradley

Sonata Mulattica echoes Rita Dove's landmark collection Sonata, and her effort to reclaim the place of mulatto violinist George Bridgetower in a cultural context that extends well beyond classical music to address issues of artistic collaboration, addressing issues of morality and racial difference.

Today, we celebrate Julian Bond’s 75th birthday, and to honor his legacy,
we are sharing the documentary film we made together nearly a decade ago, paired with a short trailer from Rita Dove’s film produced shortly afterward, as a small tribute to his enduring voice and example.

Watch the final version of The Art of Joy Brown on our site and prepare to step into the world of a remarkable American ceramicist and sculptor—an artist whose hands, imagination, and discipline transform clay into works of enduring beauty and meaning.

The Clay of American Music: A 19th-Century Journey

Eight months chasing George Frederick Bristow taught me: American music wasn't forged—it's molded clay, shaped by many hands. Bristow brought European order: symphonies, hymns. Gottschalk added New Orleans fire: habanera, Congo Square echoes. Amid Civil War scars, westward expansion, Native voices silenced or absorbed, and immigrant tunes flooding in—no one won. The clay just kept every fingerprint. My film, nearly done, isn't only Bristow's story. It's the restless 19th cent

22 hours ago2 min read

From Hesitation to Horizon: Kinderman Unpacks Beethoven’s Ninth at the Barnes

A reflection on William Kinderman’s illuminating talk at the Barnes Foundation, exploring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony not as a triumphant monument, but as a fragile process of searching—where joy emerges slowly, through doubt, revision, and an upward gaze toward something larger than ourselves.

4 days ago3 min read

The Piccirilli Factor moves beyond the remarkable success of an
Italian family of sculptors from Massa-Carrara to illuminate
the broader artisan culture of the United States, with a particular
focus on New York in the nineteenth century, a formative
moment in the shaping of American cultural identity.

Over the years, we have engaged with multiple stories connected
to the University of Virginia—from its early history to contemporary
scientific and scholarly achievement.
Together, these films honor UVA’s foundations while
highlighting the work shaping its future.

In an era shaped by Enlightenment ideals and growing abolitionist arguments about universal human capacity, Bridgetower’s Cambridge degree stands as evidence not only of his personal discipline and artistic seriousness, but of a cultural moment in which Black intellectual achievement could be recognized—if still precariously—within Europe’s most established institutions.

arte France presents a mini-documentary on The Piccirilli Factor, with comments by John Belardo, Thayer Tolles, and director Eduardo Montes-Bradley.

$Rosa Berland\$

Rosa Berland is our new Director of Project Development! She previously served as an Assistant Curator at MoMA and has held positions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and The Frick Collection in New York.

Nous recherchons actuellement des partenaires européens pour la production d’un film documentaire consacré à la vie du pionnier de l’aviation Eduardo Bradley et à l’extraordinaire traversée de la cordillère des Andes en ballon à hydrogène. Ce projet explore une aventure humaine et technologique sans précédent, à la croisée de l’histoire, du courage et de l’imaginaire aéronautique, et vise à faire revivre un chapitre méconnu de l’aviation mondiale.