Judith Lungen

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Judith grew up in Sullivan County in the heart of New York State's 'Borsht Belt.' From the age of eight she began an intense education in the world of music, art and theater, studying with Kenny Graham, band leader and orchestrator at the Nevele Hotel and water color artist Robert Longo. In her teens, Judith was invited to join the Mountaindale Playhouse - a professional summer stock repertory musical theatre-in-the-round. Ten shows in ten weeks, Judith performed in several productions but her true passion was working 'behind the scenes.' She quickly moved into lighting, prop and set design and stage management. Her greatest and most joyful experience came as Assistant to Director/Producers, Bernie Barr and Jim McEvers. With Bernie as her mentor, Judy was able to observe and learn first hand the art of bringing a musical production 'together' in all it's amazing aspects. During the seemingly never ending Vietnam War, Judith went to Israel and served as a volunteer on Kibbutz Hulda. Before receiving her B.A. from the American College of Jerusalem, the kibbutz commissioned Judith to design and paint a series of murals. During this time Judith exhibited her watercolors in "Galleria Ha'Ya'air.". Receiving citizenship while a member of a newly established kibbutz in the Arava Desert along the border of Jordan, Judith fulfilled the mandatory army service in the NAHAL branch of the IDF. After the army, she packed up her paint box and water color portfolio and set off on extensive travels where she exhibited and sold her work in Amsterdam, Brighton& Hove, Paris, Montreal and New York. She landed solo exhibitions in London's Women Art Alliance and New York's Catskill Art Society's Sullivan County Museum, Beck Gallery. Subsequently her work was invited to participate in the "British Royal Society of Women Artists Exhibition" at The Mall Galleries, The Mall, London. Settling in London and residing on her narrowboat in Little Venice, Judith received an invitation to work at a newly established children's book publishing company - Walker Books. She worked alongside Sebastian Walker in his Islington home. Moving into Graphic Design and Art Direction, Judith credits the award-winning Amelia Edwards, founding Art Director as one of her greatest mentors. The impressive list of Walker Books illustrators and authors included: Margaret Lane, Marina Warner, Iris Murdoch, Barbara Firth, Bamber & Christina Gasgoigne, Lady Selina Hastings, Emanuel Schongut, David Knockels, Russell Hoban and Helen Oxenbury. After eight years in London, Judith sold her boat and once again packed her bags. She traveled, exhibited and worked in Paris, Montreal, Martinique, Las Vegas, New York eventually settling in Key West for the next several years. Sous chef at Marvin Paige's Claire Restaurant, she joined the local radio station FM107 as a broadcast news reporter. As the late Mayor of Key West Richard Heyman remarked, "you just jumped from the frying pan into the fire." Then there was AIDS. The disease without a cure ravaged Key West. At one point Key West had the most AIDS and HIV related deaths per capita in the United States. Close to 20% of the island's population died of AIDS. Upon losing dozens and dozens of friends, colleagues and acquaintances, Judith left Key West. And in St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City, at the bedside of her dear friend Louis who would soon die of AIDS - Judith met Armondo Linus Acosta, aMaster of Meditation, award winning designer, motion picture director, producer and cinematographer. Armondo Acosta invited Judith to attend the Venice Film Festival World Premiere screening of his independently produced full length motion picture, "Romeo.Juliet." Created as a film-in-concert experience featuring Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet Ballet" score, the film stars Sir John Hurt as the only human character and the Award-Winning British voice-over cast of Dame Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Powell, Sir Ben Kingsley, Victor Spinetti, Francesca Annis, Quentin Crisp, and Dame Maggie Smith. Joining Armondo Acosta's public relations and marketing team, Judith moved to Hollywood to participate in the film's Academy Award Qualification and Nomination procedures. Judith subsequently represented Armondo Acosta in negotiations with Jeff Berg, Ed Limato, Gary Concoff, Paula Wagner, Jonathan Weisgal, Barry Hirsch, representatives from ICM, CAA, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, The Hollywood Bowl, The Kirov Orchestra, Lincoln Center, Disney Studios executives, plus ballet icon, Rudolf Nureyev, and Maestros Valery Gergiev and Lalo Schifrin. With her 'hands on' experience in Hollywood when Judith returned to Israel she was quickly hired to serve as Festival & Hospitality Coordinator and English language spokesperson for the Jerusalem Film Festival, Jerusalem Film Center and Israel Film Archives (Member of FIAF). Alongside Lia van Leer, Judith was instrumental in bringing prominent motion picture industry professionals to Jerusalem including Roberto Benigni, Christopher Hampton, Kathleen Turner, Ettore Scola, Elia Suleiman, Bertrand Tavernier, Seymour Cassels, Bob Hoskins, Guiglielmo Biraghi, Jacques Dubrelle, Alan Rickman, Jeroen Krabbe and Ang Lee. And as English Language Spokesperson she expanded international press coverage in the US and UK print and online media plus European radio and television. Judith was responsible for producing the first Arabic Press Kit plus discreetly arranging public screenings of Jordanian short films during the Film Festival. Reuniting with Armondo Acosta, Judith moved to Ghent, Belgium to teach Hollywood Film History at his newly established private Arts Academy. While in Ghent she created and produced "AIDS IN AFRICA" a live musical & theatrical review staged at the Medici Steps Restaurant during the city's Gentsefest summer celebrations. Judith returned to her love of live performance and wrote an original musical production entitled "Chapeau Noir" which is inspired by the 1930s Parisian Jazz Clubs and the famous Cotton Club. Workshop rehearsals choreographed by Chris Houston with fellow dancers from the Las Vegas based Celine Dion's "A New Day" and Cirque du Soleil productions were filmed. Clips of the rehearsals were the inspiration for a series of short videos Judith created and edited. Two of the videos were invited to be screened at annual "The Academy of Film and The ArtsBy Invitation Only Exhibitions" in 2016 and 2017. Most recently, upon her latest return to Israel, Judith wrote an original motion picture film script entitled "Father Giri's Diary." Parallel to the script she created digitally rendered diary artwork. These digital paintings evolved into a 'stand-alone' project. To differentiate between the script, the art collection is referred to as "Father Giri's Diary, A Pilgrim's Journey." Encouraged by artists, colleagues and curators, Judith submitted a selection of her digital artwork to international juried competitions. Between March 2021 through June 2022 her digital paintings participated in 55 exhibitions and publications, recipient of 34 awards and citations. Her artwork is featured at several galleries and publications including Modern Renaissance Magazine (April 2022); Artmagazineium (May 2022); Monograph Art Journal (2022); Femina (2022) and Tubes Art Magazine (Oct/Nov 2021).