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Chris Wink (born 1961 in New York City, New York) is an American theater performer and director. He is one of the founding members of the Blue Man Group, as well as co-founder of Blue School. He has won numerous awards as a writer and performer, including a Grammy nomination, and is a frequent guest speaker on the topic of creativity.

Early life

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Wink was influenced early in his education when he attended an experimental elementary school located in the Teachers College at Columbia University. The school focused on creative writing and scientific exploration, rather than a rigid adherence to a standard curriculum. This helped shape what would become Wink's lifelong commitment to creativity, following his passion for artistic exploration. After attending high school at the Fieldston School, Wink majored in American Studies at Wesleyan University with a concentration in art history and pop culture. It was at Wesleyan that Wink started drumming. After graduation, Wink played drums by night with post-punk bands. A full-time job as a cater-waiter at Glorious Foods followed, where he worked with longtime friend Phil Stanton.

Funeral for the '80s

Together with Wink's childhood friend Matt Goldman, Stanton and Wink began performing as Blue Men in small downtown venues such as LaMaMa E.T.C. and P.S. 122. In 1988, Wink and his friends planned the very first Blue Man Group event, "Funeral for the '80s," a procession through Central Park. There they set fire to what they considered the worst aspects of the decade, including a Rambo doll and a piece of the Berlin Wall. The event captured the interest of MTV, thrusting the character into the public consciousness.

Blue Man Group

In 1991, Wink, Stanton, and Goldman opened Blue Man Group: Tubes at the Astor Place Theater. They expected the early shows would appeal only to the downtown scene, but soon they were adding performances and playing to sold-out crowds. Wink performed in over 1,200 shows without an understudy before they started to expand, training other performers in the qualities, humanity, and talents of the Blue Man. It was at this point that Wink and his co-founders started to consider other venues for their character.

The company's careful expansion, starting in 1995 in Boston at the Charles Playhouse and 1997 in Chicago's Briar Street Theatre, now extends internationally, with additional productions in Las Vegas, Orlando, and Berlin, as well as National and International Tours.

Wink ended his involvement with the Blue Man Group in 2017, feeling that he had become too corporate and less artistic.

Other projects

The Blue School

In 2009, Wink, Stanton, and Goldman along with their wives Jen Wink Hays, Jennifer Stanton, and Renee Rolleri founded the Blue School. The Blue School was a progressive independent school in New York City's South Street Seaport. The school began as an informal playgroup before expanding to include programs for children from the pre-primary through middle school levels, closing in 2023.

Wink World

In 2021, Wink announced a collaboration with the Las Vegas arts space Area15, serving as the organization's Director of Content and Cool Sh*t. He opened "Wink World: Portals Into the Infinite", a series of immersive psychedelic mirrored play rooms. The project has some similarities to the infinity rooms of Yayoi Kusama, though an important difference is that Wink uses two way mirrors, to decrease the self-consciousness of the visitor when they see their own reflection.

References

1. Clayton, Peter (23 November 2008). "Podcast w Chris Wink". Total Picture Radio. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
2. Zinoman, Jason (28 July 2005). "Music and Marshmallows, in Sync". New York Times. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
3. Walker, Rob (1 March 2003). "Brand Blue". CNN - Money. Fortune. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
4. Welch, Liz (1 August 2008). "How We Did It: The Blue Man Group". Inc. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
5. ^ "BLUE MAN GROUP CO-FOUNDER CHRIS WINK COLLABORATES WITH AREA15—AND THE POSSIBILITIES ARE INFINITE". Las Vegas. Mar 11, 2021. Retrieved Mar 11, 2022.
6. Goldman, Matt. "Letter From Our Founder". Blue School. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
7. Puglise, Nicole (November 13, 2014). "Charter School: The Blue Man Group Will Open a Middle School Downtown". Observer. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
8. Hollander, Sophia (July 6, 2015). "The Blue Man Group Tries Out Middle School". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
9. "Blue School will close after completing the 2022-2023 school year; LREI will offer admission to Blue School students for the 2023-2024 school year". Blue School - Independent Private School in Manhattan. Blue School and LREI. Archived from the original on 3 Nov 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

• American theatre directors
• Wesleyan College alumni
• American performance artists
• 1961 births
• Artists from New York City
• Living people