Ronald Chase

Born

1934-12-29

Died

2025-12-20

Biography

Ronald Chase (born December 29, 1934) is an American artist, photographer, educator, independent film maker and opera designer. In 1963, Chase began making short experimental films with Fragments, written by Mary Lee Settle and filmed in the Hudson Valley. In 1964, he began experimenting with using film projections in theatre and dance performances. These experiments produced the films The Covenant, Chameleon and Clown, as well as Parade, a short documentary of the first Gay & Lesbian Pride Parade in San Francisco. Chase produced and directed two features in the 1970s. Bruges-La-Morte premiered at the 1978 Rotterdam Film Festival and was awarded the Critics Prize at the International Film Festival Ghent in 1980. LULU, adapted from the play by Frank Wedekind, screened at a number of festivals and was chosen as one of the three best films of 1978 by Pariscope, but could not be released because of a copyright conflict with the estate of Alban Berg. In 1993, Chase created the San Francisco Art & Film Program for Teenagers, a non-profit devoted to making the arts accessible to young people. SF Art & Film has been cited as one of the most comprehensive art education programs in the United States.