Jump to content

Laura Duke Condominas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 135.180.4.65 (talk) at 18:48, 10 September 2019 (Added 2017-2018 updates.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.


Laura Duke Condominas (also known as Laura Duke, born in Boston April 1951) is the daughter of French artist and film-maker Niki de Saint-Phalle and American novelist Harry Mathews. As an actress she is most notable for her portrayal of Guinevere in Robert Bresson's film Lancelot du lac (1974).

She grew up in France in the artistic and film-making milieu of her mother, and married Laurent Condominas, a model and photographer. A daughter, Bloum, was born to them in 1971 in Bali, Indonesia. Laurent was linked to the "Zanzibar Films" group of avant garde French film-makers, known as the "Dandies of May 1968" financed by Sylvina Boissonnas (1968–70). He appeared in Patrick Deval's film Acéphale. Apart from Bresson's film Laura Duke also appeared in her mother's film Un rêve plus long que la nuit (1976).

In 2008-2009, Laura hosted several key production meetings for the full-dome film Maya Skies. During this time, she began to develop The Curved Blackboard, a STEAM arts immersion outreach program, intended to benefit at-risk youth in the San Francisco Bay Area.

During 2015-2017, The Curved Blackboard held its first two years of classes as part of the Berkeley Unified School District, under Laura's direction. The project was funded by the UC Berkeley Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund and the Berkeley Unified School District BALSA APEX program. The Curved Blackboard was included in the BALSA APEX showcase May 9, 2016.

In the 2017-2018 school year, The Curved Blackboard received funding from the BUSD Strategic Impact Grants for a series of after-school programs combining art, science and practical making.

Ms. Duke currently works as a "cultural designer" in Oakland, California.