Heather Lenz made her first experimental and nonfiction films in 1991 on super 8 and 16mm while earning her BA in Art History and her BFA in Sculpture from Kent State University. In 1996 she received a scholarship from the Ohio Valley Regional Media Arts Coalition to attend the Robert Flaherty International Documentary Film Festival. It was there, while watching documentaries of many styles from dawn to dusk, that Lenz fell in love with the genre and made a decision to become a documentary filmmaker. In 2000 she moved to Los Angeles to begin work on her MFA in Film Production at the University of Southern California school of Cinema & Television.

 

Lenz has been interested in artist Yayoi Kusama for the last fifteen years. Lenz hopes her documentary feature, KUSAMA: Princess of Polka Dots will help Kusama receive proper credit for her contributions to the American Art world. The film is the marriage of Lenz’ interests in documentary film, art history, and fine arts. An article about the in-progress film was published in issue 53 of Giant Robot magazine.

Lenz worked as an editor on a documentary feature about American-Korean graffiti artist David Choe titled: DIRTY HANDS: The Art and Crimes of David Choe. The film is scheduled to premiere at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival.

 

While at USC Lenz directed, produced, wrote and edited the documentary short film, Back to Back. The film was a finalist for a student Academy Award and has been included in numerous festivals including Cinequest. As part of the 2007 Bicycle Film Festival Back to Back screened at cities including New York, London, Paris and Tokyo. Lenz also directed, produced, and wrote the documentary short film Intertwined Lives.  

 
Prior to USC film school, Lenz worked on a pictorial documentary project about quilting, supported by the Ohio Arts Council.  Lenz photographed over 200 of hand-made quilt and wrote an essay comparing traditional quilts to contemporary works of art by women. It was published by the American Quilt Study Group in Uncoverings 1998.

 

Lenz also created “The Interview Game”, an art card game that pokes fun at the exclusive lingo of contemporary artists and critics.  The game was included in Small Works International at the Amos Eno Gallery in SoHo which was juried by Clare Bell, then an associate curator at the Guggenheim. From 1996-1998 it sold at various locations including the SoHo Guggenheim, The Whitney Museum of Art, and the L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art. An article Lenz wrote about the game was published in the Dutch design magazine Dot, Dot, Dot in 2000.