To celebrate the inspirational artistic achievements and contributions as performing or visual artists of its alumni and former faculty, Blair created the Arts Guild in 2022. The Guild’s selection committee is proud to announce this year’s class of alumni inductees: Don Jay Smith ’65, Timothy Sullivan ’95, known professionally as Tim Fite, Cristina Marie Vivenzio ’00 and Lukas Dong ’15. These artists have left their mark through music, film, stage and fine art, inspiring future Blair alumni to follow in their footsteps.

To be considered for the Arts Guild, nominees are evaluated on their involvement and achievements in the arts while at Blair, as well as accomplishments in the visual or performing arts that occurred after graduation. Nominees must have been outstanding members of the School community in the areas of scholastic achievement, citizenship, integrity and moral character. Finally, alumni nominees are Arts Guild eligible in the fifth year following their graduation, while former faculty become eligible after their retirement from Blair. The annual selection is overseen by Kate Sykes, fine arts department chair, and Jennifer Pagotto, performing arts department chair and Director of Instrumental Music, with a steering committee to aid in the process, including Director of Alumni Relations Courtnay (Brennan) Stanford ’95. 

“Blair’s always had a strong and rich history in the arts,” Mrs. Pagotto shares, “and we are committed to continuing in that tradition and building upon it.”

Don Jay Smith ’65

Don Jay Smith ’65 has many years of public relations and marketing communications experience. He has worked in the arts and entertainment field for much of that time, with a roster of clients including the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, the New Jersey Hall of Fame, New Jersey City University, the Whole Theatre, the Madison (NJ) Arts and Culture Alliance, the Community Theatre in Morristown, the New Jersey Jazz Society, First Night, the Bickford Theatre and Carolyn Dorfman Dance, among others. A founder and producer for the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Don is a regular contributor to Hot House Jazz Magazine. Don holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and has completed graduate work at Princeton University and the University of Virginia, where he received a master’s. During college, Don and his classmates at the University of Virginia formed one of the first real “jam bands,” the Slithy Toves. He brought his jazz influence to the drums, and the band performed in the Virginia and North Carolina area. A later incarnation of the group, Childhood’s End, played widely in the New York area, including gigs at The Bitter End and The Half Note.

Don has committed much of his life to preserving, honoring and protecting the arts in his community. He currently serves as board chair for Carolyn Dorfman Dance, on the Thomas Edison Film Festival Board and on the Historic Speedwell Museum Board of Advisors. He served as president and chairman of the Community Theatre Board of Trustees, which he co-founded in 1994, when he helped revitalize the local landmark known today as the Mayo Performing Arts Center. Don also served as executive director of the New Jersey Hall of Fame, bringing to life an organization that honors New Jerseyans who have made contributions locally and beyond. Don has remained loyal to his alma mater, carrying on his senior year class presidency by serving as a class representative, former Board of Trustees member and former president of the Blair Board of Governors. Don was instrumental in establishing a program to bring performing artists to the Blair community to grace the stage in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts.

Timothy Sullivan ’95

Timothy Sullivan ’95, also known as Tim Fite, is a multimedia and print artist, musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His past releases have run the gamut from indie and alternative to country and hip-hop. Tim is known for using samples from long-forgotten records to amplify his mixed-genre approach to music. During the early 2000s, he formed half of the hip-hop duo Little-T and One Track Mike, which gained popularity on music channels such as MTV. In 2006, while signed as a solo artist to Anti- Records, Tim released the free hip-hop record Over the Counter Culture, a full-length, web-only critique of modern consumerism and greed. The album earned critical praise, with outlets like the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune naming it in their top 10 albums of 2007. Over the span of his music career, Tim has released 16 full-length albums and a handful of EPs. 

In recent years, Tim has focused on visual arts, showing work at Gallery Tom Blaess in Bern, Switzerland. He enjoys creating large-scale, compositionally-complex, allegorical, black-and-white drawings that occasionally have a musical or performative component. In addition to his work in arts and music, Tim is currently writing and illustrating books for children. His debut picture book, A Bucket of Questions, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2024, and he is currently working on A Book for Everyone—slated for release in 2026. With his induction into the Arts Guild, Tim joins his mother, longtime Blair arts department chair and Romano Gallery curator Rita Baragona P’92 ’95, who is a member of the inaugural class, building on the family’s legacy of contribution to the arts at Blair.  

Cristina Marie Vivenzio ’00

Cristina Marie Vivenzio ’00 is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and currently the senior vice president of production and development at The Araca Group. Prior to her time at Araca, Cristina started her producing career at National Artists Management Company during the opening of their Tony Award-winning revival of Pippin, which was a full circle moment from her most cherished days at Blair Academy, wherein she played the role of the “Leading Player” with the Blair Academy Players, directed by veteran English and theatre teacher Craig Evans.

Cristina then joined Jujamcyn Theaters as the executive department director, working directly with all senior leadership and the creative operations department. During Cristina’s tenure, the company produced new shows and revivals including Springsteen on Broadway, Moulin Rouge!, Hadestown, Mean Girls, Angels in America, Frozen, Groundhog Day, Present Laughter, Amelie, Falsettos, The Crucible, Something Rotten and Side Show. Cristina was also the production coordinator for the annual August Wilson Monologue Competition, a nationwide high school event that culminates on the Broadway stage and was filmed for Netflix in the documentary Giving Voice. 

With The Araca Group, Cristina has developed from inception the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s iconic novel, The Outsiders, and is currently working on mounting the first national tour and international rollout of the show. In addition to being on the producing team of the Broadway production of Diana: The Musical, Cristina was an associate producer on the Netflix capture, filmed during the height of the pandemic while maintaining strict COVID-19 production protocols. 

Cristina is a proud member of the Broadway League and a graduate of New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. 

Lukas Dong ’15

Growing up in Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York City, Lukas Dong ’15 first fell in love with filmmaking by observing architectural spaces and finding ways to bring the subtle details to life. As his career developed, he felt naturally pulled toward design-oriented content and telling the stories of those who go above and beyond in pursuit of perfection. At Blair, Lukas saw his love for filmmaking grow into a career. In 2014, at just 17 years old, Lukas became the youngest director to receive the “Best American Short Documentary” award from the American Documentary Film Festival. During his time on the hilltop, Lukas earned dozens of awards before deciding to pursue his passion at the University of Southern California. In 2019, he founded Lukas Dong Films.

Lukas has directed films and interviews with a variety of industry leaders around the world, including Bjarke Ingels, Björn Ulvaeus (ABBA), Devin Booker, Kengo Kuma and many more. He has a growing list of credits as director, producer, cinematographer and editor on a variety of short films, including editor of the Oscar-nominated short, A Concerto Is a Conversation. Currently based in Los Angeles, Lukas directs narrative and documentary content for leading brands.