About Spark

Produced by KQED Public Television, Spark is about Bay Area artists and arts organizations -- it is a weekly television show, an educational outreach program and a Web site. More than a showcase for art objects and the artists who make them, Spark takes the audience inside the creative process to witness the challenges, opportunities and rewards of making art.

Spark TV

Spark airs on Wednesdays at 7:30pm on KQED-TV 9 and KQET-TV 25 and on Saturdays on KTEH-TV 54. Repeat broadcasts can also be seen on KQED's digital channels. The series profiles Bay Area artists and performers and is narrated by actor Charles Shaw Robinson. Additional narration is done by Pamela Z, David Dower and Keith Knight. Many of the segments are produced by well-known, local independent producers. The Spark crew began shooting in HD in 2007.

Spark Education

SparkEd is the education and outreach program of Spark, offering media resources, educational materials and professional development training, including comprehensive Educator Guides and arts education tools to help K-12 and post-secondary educators use Spark in the classroom. SparkEd professional development provides presentations, hands-on workshops, training institutes and continuing education courses to help educators extend and deepen their capacity to teach in and through the arts.

Spark Web

This 2003 EMMY award-winning Web site takes visitors even deeper into the arts community by supplementing the television series, supporting the educational outreach program and providing unique content. The site provides a digital library of hundreds of video and audio clips of Bay Area artists, one of the largest collections of its kind available online.

More About KQED

KQED operates KQED Public Television 9, the nation's most-watched public television station; Digital Television 9, Northern California's first public television digital signal; KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM, the most-listened-to public radio station in the nation; KQED.org, which harnesses the power of the Internet to bring KQED to communities across the Web; and KQED Education Network, which brings the impact of KQED to thousands of teachers, students, parents and media professionals through workshops, seminars and resources.

Awards

• Northern California Area EMMY, Arts/Entertainment - Feature/Segment - Feature Segment, Henry Wessel, The Physical Presence of Light, 2007

• Northern California Area EMMY, Historical/Cultural - Program Feature/Segment, Shuji Ikeda, Ceramics, 2007

• Northern California Area EMMY, Historical/Cultural - Feature/Segment, Binh Danh: New Memories of an Old War, 2006

• SF Weekly's Best of San Francisco © 2006: Best Art TV Show

• The 9th Annual Webby Awards, Webby Worthy

• Northern California Area EMMY, Entertainment Program, Spark episode "Fusion," 2004

• Superfest International Disability Film Festival, Merit Award, 2005 for Spark's story on Youth Speaks

• Bay Area Celebrates National Dance Week, Contribution To The Field, 2003-2004

• Business Arts Council, New and Emerging Cultural Organization, 2003

• Northern California Area EMMY, Interactivity, Spark Web Site, 2003

• SF Weekly's Best of San Francisco © 2003, Best Reason Not to Kill Your TV

Credits

Producer
Marie K Lee
Web Systems Developers
Catherine Huang
Ken Murphy
Contributing Writers
Gina Basso
Elena Delgado
Gabe Edwards
Maxine Einhorn
Carlton Evans
Kristin Farr
Eliana Fiore
Kristin Hocevar
Joseph Hren
Melissa Hung
Mary Ellen Hunt
Todd Inoue
Elisa Jacobs
Gregg Johnson
Maria Luna
Joan Mankin
Kerry Mehling
Leena Prasad
Lorraine Sanders
Alex Shapiro
Deborah Slater
Aimee Ts'ao
Nicholas C. Wang
Sabra Weber
Danaa Zellers

Education Project Supervisor
Kristin Farr

Series Producer
Rachel Raney
Coordinating Producer
Adrienne Calo
Associate Producer
June Mesina Ouellette
Series Editor
Linda Peckham
Narrator
Charles Shaw Robinson
Title Design
Core Studio
Theme Music Composed by
Music Orange
Michael Lande
Blaise Smith
Alex Theory
Additional Music by
Joshua Redman
courtesy of Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
Matthew Clark
Matthew Pierce
John Shifflet
Jason Lewis
Pickpocket Ensemble
Skrunchface
Zoe Keating
Theme Music Performed by
The Kronos Quartet
courtesy of Nonesuch Records
Unit Manager
Dan Ogawa
Operations Manager
Frank Carfi
Operations Coordinator
Kim McCalla
Communications
Meredith Gandy
Yoonhyung Lee
Scott Walton
Development
Jayme Burke
Kate Doidge Engler
Interns
Alison Chenowith
Derek Fernandez
Executive Producer
Louise Lo
Executive-in-Charge of KQED TV Productions
Michael Isip

A KQED Production.