2019-2020 G R A D U AT E PROGRAMS
2D / 3D FINE ARTS
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
2D / 3D MASTER OF FINE ARTS MassArt’s 2D and 3D MFA programs provide students with a deep dive into their chosen medium, while offering the opportunity for cross-pollination with other disciplines. Our full-time, two-year (60-credit) MFA programs encourage students to experiment and explore, while refining the technical and conceptual strategies in their work. The foundation of our Fine Arts 2D and 3D programs is an individualized education that helps each student develop artistic vision and voice. Students are encouraged and challenged, and through rigorous study, creative exploration, and critical discourse, each artist’s body of work deepens and evolves, along with the student’s ability to place their work in the context of
Above: Image of Jeffrey N. Nowlin (MFA ‘18 / 3D) by Jorg Meyer Left: Jessica Tawczynski. Matter in Motion (Field), 2017, oil paint and etching ink on canvas, diptych (detail), 74” x 97” Below: Bashezo (MFA ‘17 / 3D), On Whose Backs?, durational performance still from 2017 MassArt MFA Thesis Exhibition, black sand, tea light, black nylon fabric, white latex paint
contemporary practice. Dialogue and critique are key components of an education in the studio arts, and at MassArt critique is viewed as a creative act. The rich dialogue between students, faculty, visiting artists, and critics takes place in the framework of core classes, electives, presentations, and excursions off campus. Our approach illuminates new pathways for each artist’s work, helping students to build a sustainable practice, and to develop perspective and empathy as artist citizens of the world.
Cover Image: Samantha Bates (MFA ’17 / 2D)
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2D / 3D FINE ARTS FACULTY
FINE ART LECTURE SERIES EACH SEMESTER, THE MFA PROGRAM WELCOMES A SERIES OF VISITING
JAMES CAMBRONNE, PROFESSOR, 2D CHAIR, AND MFA PROGRAM COORDINATOR James Cambronne is a printmaker, painter, sculptor and draftsman. He works in an investigative way, exploring the synaptic interplay between conception and perception. Jim has taught drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking to graduates and undergraduates over the past thirty years at MassArt, San Francisco Art Institute, Portland State University, Maine College of Art and Yale University School of Art. He has exhibited widely, including solo shows at Alexandre Gallery and Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New York and installations at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado and the Frick Gallery in Maine.
ARTISTS AND CRITICS, WHO PRESENT PUBLIC LECTURES AND CONDUCT INDIVIDUAL STUDIO VISITS AND CRITIQUES.
James Cambronne
JESSICA TAM, PROFESSOR Jessica Tam creates situation-specific paintings that stem from popular sport and entertainment, and evolve into immersive fictional environments. She has exhibited nationally and received grants from the Clowes Fund at the Vermont Studio Center, the NEA at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Al Held Foundation at the American Academy in Rome. She received a BA from Dartmouth College, a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA from the Yale School of Art.
Jessica Tam
RECENT VISITING ARTISTS
ROGER TIBBETTS, PROFESSOR Roger Tibbetts’ studio practice in sculpture and painting is a formal exploration that seeks to explore patterns of shape, and to examine the essence of the picture and its making. Exhibitions include the Bernard Toale Gallery in Boston, the Ruggiero Gallery in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Selected awards include two NEA Individual Artist Grants and a Guggenheim Foundation Grant. His work is in the collections of the Yale Art Museum, and the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, among many others.
Laylah Ali Carol Diehl
Roger Tibbetts
CHARLES STIGLIANO, PROFESSOR Over the past three decades, Charles Stigliano has taught a range of sculpture courses with a focus on figurative approaches, including Portraiture, Puppetry, and Anatomical Structure, among others. He communicates his passion for ancient and classical works both through his own sculptures and as a mentor to his students. He is often motivated by the wish to convey humor or irony. His work is in private collections nationally, and has been exhibited at a range of venues including Taiwan International Wood Art Exhibition, Taipei. 3
Charles Stigliano
Top Image: Guest critic Daniel Bozhkov with Jeffrey N. Nowlin (MFA ’19 / 3D) Bottom Image: Guest critic Susanna Coffey with Huiquan Jiang (MFA ’20 / 2D)
Angela Dufresne Jarrett Earnest Ariel Basson Freiberg Josephine Halvorson Anne Harris Andrea Heimer Lavaughn Jenkins Vera Iliatova Byron Kim Aaron McIntosh Claire Sherman Edgar Serrano Sumakshi Singh Leslie Smith III Mimi Smith 4
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES 2D and 3D graduate students have access to our first-rate facilities, including a printmaking studio, woodshops, weaving and papermaking studios, dye kitchen, kiln room, glass “hot shop” and coldworking room, small and large metal shops, and laser cutters. Students who incorporate new media and digital technology into their practice may also make use of our digital design labs, large-format printers, fully-equipped professional sound studio, electronic projects lab, and black box studios for both installation and documentation. In addition, all MFA students have the use of personal studio spaces for the duration of their program of study.
STUDENTS ARE AFFORDED NUMEROUS OPPORTUNITIES TO GAIN PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE DURING THEIR COURSE OF STUDY. ALL FULL-TIME GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR A RANGE OF PAID ON-CAMPUS TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTSHIPS. OFFCAMPUS INTERNSHIPS ARE ENCOURAGED, AND 2D/3D GRAD STUDENTS MAY APPLY FOR PAID POSITIONS THAT CAN ALSO EARN CREDIT, DURING THE ACADEMIC YEAR AND THE SUMMER BREAK. GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE ALSO AFFORDED A VARIETY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO EXHIBIT THEIR WORK Above: MassArt Printmaking Studio, image by Damian Hickey Right-Top: Image of Halie Smith (MFA ‘20 / 2D) in her studio by Jorg Meyer Right-Bottom: Image of Nathan Heilman (MFA ‘20 / 2D) in his studio by Jorg Meyer
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BOTH ON AND OFF-CAMPUS, IN GROUP SHOWS AND WITH THEIR GRADUATING COHORT IN THEIR FINAL THESIS EXHIBITION.
2D / 3D MFA ALUMNI Several post-graduate residency opportunities are offered each year to recent alumni, including international teaching residencies in Beijing, China, and Bangalore, India. The Graduate Programs also coordinate and provide funding for local and regional artist residencies for alumni at MASS MoCA, The Longy School of Music of Bard College, and The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Janet Loren Hill, MFA ‘17 / 2D
Janet Loren Hill
Janet Loren Hill came to MassArt’s MFA program in 2D Fine Arts from the Pacific Northwest, where she earned a BFA at the University of Washington. Since completing her MFA in 2017, Hill has continued to make work that expands upon her thesis, using textile techniques with an empowered female voice that questions societal expectations through uncanny constructions. Since graduation, Hill has been featured in publications including New American Paintings and The Boston Globe, taught courses to youth and adults, and participated in solo and group exhibitions. She has also been selected for a succession of artist residencies, including MassArt’s Alumni Teaching Artist Residency at the Beijing Royal School, Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY, and most recently at Pratt at Munson-Williams-Proctor (MWP) in Utica, NY. Clockwise from Top: Janet Loren Hill (MFA ’17 / 2D) Thesis Installation, 2017 Molly Dressel (MFA ‘18 / 3D), Sprung, 2018 Felicia Deneane Scott (MFA ‘17 / 3D), Unkempt, 2016, human hair and stoneware
Above: Janet Loren Hill (MFA ‘17 / 2D) Lurking Behind My Teeth, 2018, installation view of When the night turns, meet me at the fireplace, lick the flame, burn your tongue, at least we stuck it out Right: Janet Loren Hill (MFA ’17 / 2D) with students from the Beijing Royal School during her Fall 2018 MassArt alumni teaching residency
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Dennis Svoronos (MFA ‘19 / 3D), Hemispheric Communication, 2018, wood, wire, steel, LEDs and light dependent resistors
Above: Christy Chow (MFA ‘15 / 3D), Come, run in me, 2015, video, audio, vinyl, acrylic, treadmill, spray paint, LED light strips, speaker, fabric, tag fasteners
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Christy Chow, MFA ‘15 Christy Chow came to MassArt with a background in theatre stage management and cultural studies, after earning a BA from The University
Christy Chow
of Hong Kong, and a BFA from RMIT University in Australia. She creates video installations and interactive sculptures that concern humanity, sustainability and social justice. Since completing her MFA at MassArt, Chow has had solo exhibitions in Boston, Hong Kong, and Cadiz, Spain. Her post-grad residencies have included MassArt’s Alumni Teaching Residency at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore, India, the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, the Museum of Capitalism in Oakland, CA, and Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus in Schwandorf, Germany. She was a 2017 recipient of the Hong Kong Human Rights Arts Prize. Barbara Ishikura (MFA ‘18 / 2D) MFA Thesis Exhibition Installation View of Hail Mary (L) and Heavenly Procession (R), mixed media on paper
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ABOUT MASSART Founded in 1873, MassArt has a unique legacy of leadership as the first freestanding, public college of art and design in the country and the nation’s first art school to grant a degree. MassArt’s mission is both lofty and grounded: to prepare students from diverse backgrounds to positively impact every society they join, and to become leaders in the creative economy as artists, designers, and educators. Since its founding, MassArt has consistently advocated for access to and equity in art, design, and education. Our alumni have long been agents of change in Boston and beyond, driven by independence, entrepreneurship, and passion.
FALL 2020 PRIORITY APPLICATION DEADLINE: January 6, 2020
CONTACT US Graduate Admissions: gradadmissions@massart.edu Facebook.com/MassArtBoston
Associate Director of Graduate Admissions: Stacy Petersen Domurat 617.879.7238
@MassArtBoston @MassArt