VISUAL ARTS
JOURNAL
School of Visual Arts Magazine Fall/Winter 2026–27
BARBARA NESSIM 2 Rainbows Going Wild, 1968, pen and ink and watercolor. Nessim, an artist, designer, and illustrator, was an early adopter of digital technology and instrumental in establishing the MFA Computer Arts program at SVA. From the Barbara Nessim Collection, Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives. For more information, visit archives.sva.edu.
VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
CONTENTS Fall/Winter 2026–27
FROM THE PRESIDENT PAGE 2
SVA CLOSE UP News and events from around the College
03 04
FROM TOP: SHINYEON MOON; WENJIA WANG; CASSIDY ARAIZA, COURTESY OF JONO MELAMED; FATHOM ENTERTAINMENT; TODD RADOM/SPORTS PUBLISHING; PAUL SAHRE/THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS; ERIC HAZE; JIMMY CHOO/ERIC HAZE; MATTHEW SANDAGER/CHEESEBURGER RARE ENTERTAINMENT; SVA ARCHIVES.
22 26
SCREEN TIME New movies directed or featuring work by SVA alumni
MY SVA An SVA-inspired artwork by artist, alumnus, and faculty member ShinYeon Moon
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ALUMNI AFFAIRS | PAGE 58 Alumni Notes and Exhibitions For Your Benefit In Memoriam Donors Alumni Scholarship Awards
SHELF LINERS Recent publications by SVA community members
PORTFOLIO: JOCELYN TSAIH Expressive and organic art and illustrations by the artist and SVA alumnus
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BIG TIME SVA faculty member Paul Sahre’s decade-plus collaboration with They Might Be Giants
Q+A: MURRAY HILL The performer and SVA alumnus on his new memoir and groundbreaking “showbiz” career
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WHAT’S IN STORE Products and projects by SVA alumni
TO THE LETTER Artist and SVA alumnus Eric Haze on making his mark in graffiti, graphic design, and more
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50
SHIRLEY GLASER (1930 – 2026) Remembering the founding director of SVA’s exhibitions program
FROM THE PRESIDENT // MY SVA VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
Fall/Winter 2026–27 Volume 34, Number 2 EDITORIAL STAFF
Angie Wojak, executive director
Greg Herbowy, editor Tricia Tisak, copy editor VISUAL ARTS PRESS, LTD.
Gail Anderson, creative director Alli Truch, design director Mark Maltais, art director Anthony Carhuayo, senior designer Jennifer Liang, assistant director CONTRIBUTORS
Maeri Ferguson Michelle Gigante Lawrence Giffin Beth Kleber Eleanor Leung Diana McClure Kylie Mitchell ShinYeon Moon Caleb Neelon Jane Nuzzo Miranda Pierce Shachi Shrivastava © 2026, Visual Arts Press, Ltd. Visual Arts Journal is published twice a year by the School of Visual Arts. SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS
209 East 23rd Street New York, NY 10010-3994
facebook.com/schoolofvisualarts instagram.com/svanyc linkedin.com/school/svanyc tiktok.com/@svanyc x.com/sva_news youtube.com/@svanyc sva.edu/journal
Greetings. For the many of you who do not recognize the face in the photo above, my name is Christopher Cyphers, and it has been my honor to work for the School of Visual Arts for nearly 20 years. I first joined the College in 1999 and became its first provost three years later. After serving as president of the New York School of Interior Design and provost and executive vice president at LIM College, I returned in 2017, resuming my work as SVA provost in 2018. This past May, SVA’s longtime president, David Rhodes, stepped down after nearly 50 years of service in the role, and the College’s Board of Trustees appointed me to the position of president, effective June 1. Taking SVA into its 80th year and beyond is an incredible responsibility, and the Board and I are committed to honoring our remarkable history while leading the College through one of its most challenging times. Colleges and universities throughout the country are grappling with a drop in the traditional college-age population, families’ economic concerns, declines in international enrollment, and fierce competition for the same shrinking pool of applicants. As a tuition-dependent school, SVA has been especially hard hit by these conditions. Thanks to our newly acquired not-for-profit status, we will soon launch the Campaign for SVA, an appeal to our alumni and friends for financial support through tax-deductible contributions. Please keep an eye out for communications about the campaign, and please consider donating. If ever there was a time to support the institution we all love, it is now. I hope you enjoy this issue of the Visual Arts Journal.
PRESIDENT School of Visual Arts
COVERS
MY SVA
Front: Jocelyn For this issue’s My SVA, artist and BFA Illustration faculty member ShinYeon Moon (MFA 2017 Illustration as Visual Tsaih (BFA Essay) created a graphite drawing inspired, she says, by 2015 Design) inspiration—“the moment when there is more excitement with one of her than dread when you see that blank sheet of paper staring sculptures for UNICE, Suzhou, back at you.” China, 2025. Moon’s clients include The New York Times, Oprah Daily, Back: Jocelyn and WFMU; she has illustrated several picture books, most Tsaih, Thermal recently Once Upon a Friend (2024); and she publishes Energy, 2024, her own zines. Last year, she designed a bag for PinPaint, acrylic on canvas. the accessories company of Joyce (Xinyue) Wu (MFA (See page 26.) 2023 Products of Design). (See page 16.) To see more of Moon’s work, visit shinyeon-moon.com or @shinnyoni.
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PHOTO BY NIR ARIELI (BFA 2012 PHOTOGRAPHY).
Joyce Rutter Kaye, editorial director
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VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
News and events from around the College
F A L L E X H I B I T I O N S
“Brad Holland: Making It Personal,” on view at the SVA Gramercy Gallery in September, presented a survey of work by the late American artist and onetime SVA faculty member, a long under-recognized influence in illustration.
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Bound to Inspire
IN ADDITION TO “A Vivid Blur,” the group show of light-based artworks curated by Kacie Lees (MFA 2011 Fine Arts)—featured in the spring/summer 2026 Visual Arts Journal and on view in the SVA Chelsea Gallery through Friday, October 30—the School of Visual Arts hosted two collaborative exhibitions in its Flatiron and Gramercy gallery spaces in September. SVA Galleries and MFA Illustration as Visual Essay, in partnership with Corraini Edizioni, the Italian art gallery and publishing house founded in 1973, presented “Building Books” in the SVA Flatiron Gallery and Windows and the adjacent SVA Flatiron Project Space. The two-part exhibition and complementary series of talks and workshops celebrated 50-plus years of Corraini’s experimental and inventive work. “Corraini Edizioni: Children, Art, Design, and Everything Else” offered an overview of the publisher’s catalog—which includes titles by such current and former SVA faculty as Louise Fili and Steven Heller—and its consideration and con-
struction of books as visual, tactile, and conceptual objects of art. The immersive “Bruno Munari’s The Circus in the Mist” re-created the designer’s 1968 picture book—which uses translucent and perforated papers, overlapping imagery, and other effects to bring its story to life—in three-dimensional space. Meanwhile, in the SVA Gramercy Gallery, SVA Galleries and BFA Comics and BFA Illustration, in partnership with the Norman Rockwell Museum, presented “Brad Holland: Making It Personal,” a survey of work by the late American illustrator and onetime SVA faculty member. The exhibition—a tribute to Holland’s vast, diverse, and stubbornly original practice— was curated by BFA Illustration faculty member Jonathan Twingley (MFA 1998 Illustration as Visual Essay) with advisement from Stephanie Plunkett (MFA 1990 Illustration as Visual Essay), the Rockwell Museum’s chief curator, and Steven Heller, MFA Design co-chair emeritus.
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“Building Books,” a two-part exhibition on view at the SVA Flatiron Gallery and Windows and SVA Flatiron Project Space in September, celebrated 50-plus years of innovative books produced by Corraini Edizioni, the Italian art gallery and publishing house. Images courtesy of Corraini Edizioni.
CLOSE UP
C A M P U S N E W S
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CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE
Honorees for this year’s 3x3 Show competition include Carol Jiang (BFA 2025 Illustration), MFA Illustration as Visual Essay student Jodie Chiou, Ada Z. Shen (BFA 2025 Illustration), and Wenjia Wang (BFA 2018 Illustration).
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Each year, 3x3, a publication dedicated to contemporary illustration, holds its 3x3 Show, an international illustration competition across multiple categories, which generates thousands of submissions from around the world and artists in all stages of their careers. In 2026, For a full list of the 3x3 Show SVA SVA alumni and students collectively gathered honorees, visit sva.edu/features. more than 80 distinctions, including two Best in Show, two Gold, one Silver, two Distinguished Merit, and dozens of Merit and Honorable Mention awards. 7 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
CLOSE UP
C A M P U S N E W S
Another Amazin’ Internship BFA Photography and Video senior Lindsey Sarria spent this past summer photographing New York Mets games at Citi Field in Queens as the second Marc Levine Mets Photography Intern. The internship was established last year—with Kobe Ligon (BFA 2026 Photography and Video) as its first recipient—in honor of the late Marc Levine (BFA 1980 Photography), the team’s chief photographer for 35 years. The 10-week paid
summer position, for a junior or senior BFA Photography and Video student, is generously supported by a grant from the Amazin’ Mets Foundation and arranged with the Visual Arts Foundation, the nonprofit that administers and manages some of the College’s scholarship funds. “I never imagined I’d photograph professional sports, and didn’t have any expectations of what that might even look like,” Sarria says of her experience. “In some ways, that raw approach allowed for my curiosity and presence to make the ordinary feel sublime.” The Mets additionally honored Levine this past season with a posthumous Mets Hall of Fame Achievement Award at an onfield, pregame ceremony in May. On hand to accept the award were Levine’s wife, Stephanie (BFA 1991 Photography), and daughter, Samantha.
Summer 2026 scenes from Citi Field in Queens, home of the New York Mets, as captured by 2026 Marc Levine Mets Photography Intern Lindsey Sarria. Images courtesy of Lindsey Sarria.
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SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS
First-Class Designs Forever Stamps: 250 Years of United States History Writ Small Clarkson Potter Hardcover/e-book, $28/$12.99
A NEW BOOK celebrating the long, illustrious history of U.S. Postal Service stamps, published by Clarkson Potter in time for the U.S.’s Semiquincentennial this past summer, was written by and features the work of several SVA alumni and faculty. Forever Stamps: 250 Years of United States History Writ Small, by BFA Advertising and BFA Design Chair Gail Anderson (BFA 1984 Media Arts) and Brian E. Smith (MFA 2006 Design), documents all the ways in which U.S. postage stamps have commemorated and reflected the country’s culture, diversity, natural beauty, and most notable citizens. Anderson—who is also creative director of the Visual Arts
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Press, SVA’s in-house design studio—is an authority on the subject. She designed a 2013 stamp for the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and served on the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, the group that evaluates proposals for the 20 or so new commemorative stamps issued each year, for 12 years. Smith, who worked for many years as a Visual Arts Press director, has also taught at SVA. Among the many stamp artists spotlighted in the book are Ryan Feerer (MFA 2007 Design), Kam Mak (BFA 1984 Media Arts), and Louise Fili, who has taught at the College. And Helen Spyropoulos, a former BFA Advertising and BFA Design staff member, assisted Anderson and Smith on the project.
CLOSE UP
An AAAAHMazing Effort
C A M P U S N E W S
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Since its 2023 founding, the AAAAH nonprofit has organized more than a dozen cultural events in and around New York City, drawing thousands. Images courtesy of AAAAH.
S V A
THREE YEARS AGO , a group of New York City artists and designers formed the Asian Art and Activities Hub (AAAAH), a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the work of Asian creative professionals in the area. Their first event, a pop-up market in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, drew 4,000 people. Since then, AAAAH has hosted pop-ups, festivals, and other gatherings; launched initiatives like Asian Art Map NYC, a comprehensive directory of Asian cultural organizations and creative spaces in the city; and collaborated with nearly 600 brands, as well as cultural institutions like the Asia Society and High Line. AAAAH began at SVA, where founder Mouhui Sun (MFA 2023 Design for Social Innovation) launched the organization while she was still a student, as a class
project. Five of her six co-founders are also SVA graduates: MFA Design for Social Innovation alumni Jiayi Dong (2019) and Effy (Xiaoming) Tan (2023), Yiran Sun (BFA 2023 Design), Weiyu Tian (BFA 2025 Fine Arts), and Michelle (Zichun) Wang (BFA 2025 Photography and Video). (Ye Tian, another co-founder, attended Parsons School of Design.) In September, AAAAH produced The Big Bag, an Asian brand showcase at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and a cultural festival in Manhattan’s Chinatown, in partnership with the neighborhood’s Business Improvement District. For more information on upcoming events and how to get involved, visit aaaahculture.org.
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U P D A T E S
Dispatches from SVA’s campus
Where Your Passion for Art Becomes a Profession
209 East 23rd Street New York City
SVA.EDU
Illustration by KOREN SHADMI
• • • • • •
organized by Society of Illustrators and Unclaimed Baggage, a retailer that donates reclaimed luggage to children in New York City’s foster care system through its Love Luggage initiative.
• • • •
“SVA + NASA: The Artemis II/Earthrise Poster Project,” This past spring, SVA completed its latest Middle States Commission on Higher Education accreditation process, a multiyear evaluation of every aspect of the College and its operations, which affirmed that the College meets all seven of MSCHE’s accreditation standards.
NASPA, a studentaffairs professional association, honored
Dru Alvez, assistant provost of SVA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, with the NASPA Region II Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award earlier this year. Alvez also earned a spot on the organization’s Stellar 50 list, selected by NASPA’s Black Diaspora Knowledge Committee.
a collaboration between BFA Design and BFA Illustration and NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, featured in the fall/winter 2025–26 Visual Arts Journal, was exhibited at the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan from April through June.
©2026, Visual Arts Press, LTD.
BFA Illustration seniors customized suitcases at a campus event in April,
Designer and edu-
cator Liz Danzico, former and founding
chair of MFA Interaction Design, has established the ixD Civic Imagination Award Fund at SVA, dedicated to supporting MFA Interaction Design students whose thesis explores design’s role in shaping civic life through storytelling, policy, urbanism, journalism, or new public technologies. The award, intended to encourage interdisciplinary thinking and deep responsibility in design practices, will be offered for the first time in spring 2027.
Four SVA employees recently earned curriculum development
grants from the Partnership of Academic Leadership in Sustainability, with support from the Association of Independent Art and Design Colleges, for efforts to promote sustainability in their academic programs. MFA Design for Social Innovation faculty member Mari Nakano was awarded for her project, Rooted in Place: Expanding Ecological and Civic Frameworks in Design for Social Innovation. MFA Design
Chair Randy Hunt (MFA 2007 Design), Senior Systems Administrator and faculty member Todd Carroll (MPS 2009 Digital Photography), and Director of Operations Peter Martin were awarded for their project, Designing Responsibly: Integrating Environmental Literacy into AI-Assisted Design Practice.
In June, SVA received a $100,000 Frankenthaler Climate Initiative
Grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, which was established and endowed by the late artist Helen Frankenthaler to promote greater public interest in and understanding of the visual arts. The grant will be used to upgrade the heating and lighting systems of the College’s 132 and 136 West 21st Street spaces, reducing their energy consumption by 20 percent.
In conjunction with MFA Visual Narrative’s summer
open studios event, the department’s RisoLAB—a Risograph printing studio available to students and artists in residence—held its 25th Print Slam, exhibiting and selling books, zines, and ephemera created in the space.
BFA Animation faculty member Jan Stebbins won an
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Educators Forum’s Faculty Grant in July for The Journey, her 15-minute film about refugee experiences, based on the picture book by Frenci Sanna.
BFA Illustration faculty member Eugenia Mello
(MFA 2017 Illustration as Visual Essay) created the poster for this year’s U.S. Open tennis tournament, held each August and September in Queens.
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT
Eugenia Mello’s 2026 U.S. Open poster; Koren Shadmi’s fall 2026 SVA poster; 2026 Love Luggage event at SVA; concept art for Jan Stebbins’s The Journey; RisoLAB’s summer 2026 PrintSlam.
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Cartoonist and illustrator Koren Shadmi (BFA 2006
Illustration), who has also taught at SVA, illustrated the College’s latest poster, When Your Passion for Art Becomes a Profession, now on display in subway stations throughout New York City.
MILLIONS OF PASSENGERS on the
C A M P U S N E W S
subways, commuter trains, and buses that connect New York City’s greater metropolitan area this year have encountered the work of SVA alumni Violeta Encarnación (BFA 2022 Illustration), Amrita Marino (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), and Shadra Strickland (MFA 2005 Illustration as Visual Essay) on their trips. The three artists were among the five chosen for the 2026 MTA Arts & Design Poster Program, organized by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the transit network, the largest in North America. MTA Arts & Design posters are also sold as prints
Making Tracks and cards in the New York Transit Museum gift shop. Past SVA community members who have created work for the program include Lily Padula (BFA 2013 Illus-
tration) and Feifei Ruan (MFA 2015 Visual Narrative), as well as BFA Illustration faculty Marcos Chin and Yuko Shimizu (MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay).
CLOCKWISE FROM BELOW LEFT
2026 MTA Arts & Design transit posters: Botanical Vibes © Amrita Marino; Going Green © Violeta Encarnación; Portals © Shadra Strickland. Images courtesy of MTA Arts & Design.
CLOSE UP
Chair Changes SVA announced the appointment of four new department chairs this year. Artist ANGEL ABREU, a member of the K.O.S. art collective, founded by the late artist and faculty member Tim Rollins (BFA 1977 Fine Arts), will chair MFA Art Practice through its conclusion in summer 2027. Abreu, an eight-year veteran of the MFA Art Practice faculty, has also taught in BFA Fine Arts. His work is in more than 120 institutional collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Whitney Museum of American Art.
TOM P. ASHE , chair of MPS Digital Photography from 2019 through the program’s conclusion this year, is now chair of BFA Photography and Video. Ashe has taught at SVA for 23 years and worked in photography and education for nearly 40 years, holding positions at such companies as Polaroid and Eastman Kodak. He is the author of Color Management & Quality Output: Working With Color From Camera to Display to Print (2014). Cinematographer and director DÉJAN GEORGEVICH is now chair of BFA Film. Georgevich, an officer of the American Society of Cinematographers Board of Gov-
ernors and former vice president of the International Cinematographers Guild, has taught at SVA for over 30 years. His many film and TV credits include The Blacklist (2013–23) and Gossip Girl (2007–12). Artist and educator JOSÉ H. VARGAS (MFA 2013 Computer Arts) is now acting chair of MFA Computer Arts. Vargas has worked for Thinc Design and presented at Ars Electronica, Games for Change, and Siggraph conferences and festivals. He was on the MFA Computer Arts staff from 2008 through 2019, rejoining in 2023, and has taught several courses in the program.
TOP, FROM LEFT MFA Art
Practice Chair Angel Abreu, BFA Photography and Video Chair Tom P. Ashe, BFA Film Chair Déjan Georgevich, MFA Computer Arts Acting Chair José H. Vargas. Photos by Nir Arieli (BFA 2012 Photography).
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VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
Products, services, and more by SVA alumni
S V A E N T R E P R E N E U R S
SVA alumni who have photographed for PinPaint include Mengyao Xu (MFA 2025 Photography, Video, and Related Media), on this page and opposite top and lower right, and Cassie Zeng (MPS 2022 Fashion Photography), opposite center left.
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Brand New Bag PinPaint—the accessories brand Joyce (Xinyue) Wu (MFA 2023 Products of Design) founded in 2024— offers bags, enamel pins, and plushies that can be combined in endless ways to create customized, changeable, wearable works of art. Xu collaborates with artists on each item; contributors include
BFA Illustration faculty member ShinYeon Moon (MFA 2017 Illustration as Visual Essay; see page 2), and has launched a rolling open call for people to develop original stories using the line’s Subway Story Bag as setting and inspiration. PinPaint bags range in price from $38 to $75, and pins and plushies range from $7 to $19.90. pinpaint.com 17 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
W H AT ’S I N ST O R E
Go Fish
Adly Elewa (BFA 2011 Graphic Design) has enjoyed a multifaceted career since graduating from SVA. He has created book covers for authors like Jeffrey Eugenides and Ottessa Moshfegh; designed merchandise for the New York Islanders hockey team; developed brands and visual identities for apps, investment platforms, and high-end hospitality and real-estate projects; and works as a creative director at Universal Music Group, one of the world’s largest record labels. He also loves to fly-fish, so much so that he’s produced a free Webby Award–nominated app, S.I.F.T. (Should I Fish Today?), that offers catch diaries, East Coast hatch calendars, and real-time conditions for 178 U.S. rivers and counting. shouldifishtoday.com
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S.I.F.T., a Webby Award– nominated app by Adly Elewa, offers catch diaries, hatch calendars, and real-time river conditions for flyfish enthusiasts.
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W H AT ’S I N S T O R E
Tin Man
In 2023, artist, writer, and photographer Jono Melamed (BFA 2013 Photography) established Yoneland, his tintype photo studio in Tucson, Arizona. Working in his studio and on location, Melamed creates one-of-a-kind portraits and landscapes using the wet-collodion method, a 19th-century process in which the image is recorded on a chemical-coated metal plate and developed immediately, resulting in a painterly, monochromatic print. Booking information and past work are available online. yoneland.com
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Tintype portrait and landscape photography by Jono Melamed. Photo of Melamed in his Tucson, Arizona, studio by Cassidy Araiza.
S V A E N T R E P R E N E U R S
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Screen Time
Movies and TV with SVA alumni and faculty
Resident Evil (BFA 2004 Computer Art), whose last film, Weapons (2025), featured an Academy Award–winning performance by Amy Madigan.
Backside: The Unseen Hands of Horse Racing Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana (MFA 2012 Social Documentary Film) directed this documentary on the hardworking grooms, most of whom are Latino immigrants, at Churchill Downs, home of the
Kentucky Derby. Backside is available to stream in full on various online platforms, and in an hourlong version for PBS’s Independent Lens series on pbs.org.
RESIDENT EVIL STILL COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES; BACKSIDE STILL COURTESY OF RAÚL O. PAZ-PASTRANA; THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS STILL COURTESY OF FATHOM ENTERTAINMENT; NIÑAS ESCARLATA STILL COURTESY OF PAULA CURY.
The long-running Resident Evil action–horror franchise returned to theaters in September with a reboot directed and co-written by Zach Cregger
The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act Rachel Lee (BFA 2023 Computer Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects) served as an effects and lighting artist on this feature-length
conclusion to The Amazing Digital Circus, a comedic animated series about people stuck in a circus-themed virtual reality, available on Netflix.
Niñas Escarlata In March, this documentary—the directorial debut of Paula Cury (BFA 2018 Film)—premiered at the CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen, followed by screenings at the FIFDH festival in Geneva
and SXSW in Austin. Niñas Escarlata follows young women who are dealing with unwanted pregnancies in the Dominican Republic, where abortion is outlawed.
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SHELF LINERS
BOOKS by
SVA alumni and faculty
G O O D
TEN MINUTES OF MIRTH: ALLEN CURTIS AND HIS JOKER COMEDIES, 1913 – 1917
R E A D S
THE MAGNIFICENT BANYAN AND THE GREEN TONG LAU
Stephanie Ellen Sy; illustrated by Ishita Jain (faculty, BFA Illustration; MFA 2020 Illustration as Visual Essay) Kokila Hardcover/e-book, $18.99/$5.99 MEET THE SMUSHKINS
Art/Photography BELOVÈD: PHOTO-TANKA MEDITATIONS
Poetry by Gabriel Rosenstock; photographs by Margaret McCarthy (BFA 1975 Fine Arts) Broadstone Books Paperback, $35
Children’s/Picture B IS FOR BIBLIOPHILE
O.E. Zelmanovich; illustrated by Lauren Simkin Berke (faculty, BFA Illustration; MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay) Enchanted Lion Books Hardcover, $19.99 GIFTS FROM CROWS
Gideon Sterer; illustrated by Shadra Strickland (MFA 2005 Illustration as Visual Essay) Clarion Books Hardcover, $19.99 HAVEN AND THE FALLEN GIANTS
Jen Xu (BFA 2010 Animation) and Kate Rhodes (BFA 2010 Cartooning) Viking Books for Young Readers Hardcover/paperback/e-book, $24.99/$13.99/$8.99
Claudia Rueda (faculty, SVA Continuing Education) Candlewick Hardcover, $17.99 MR. CHOW’S NIGHT MARKET
Emily Sun Li; illustrated by Yu Ting Cheng (MFA 2016 Computer Art) Penguin Workshop Hardcover/e-book, $19.99/$5.99
SHAPED BY LOVE: AN ODE TO MOM BODS
Nikki Powers; illustrated by Amanda Calatzis (MFA 2015 Illustration as Visual Essay) Walker Books U.S. Hardcover, $18.99
Nonfiction THE BALLPARK AND BEYOND: AN ILLUSTRATED CELEBRATION OF BASEBALL’S RICH HISTORY
Todd Radom (chair, SVA Board of Trustees; BFA 1986 Media Arts); foreword by Buster Olney Sports Publishing Hardcover/e-book, $29.99/$19.99
REIMAGINING WOMEN’S SELFDEFENSE: PROTECTIVE OFFENSE
Tèja VanWicklen (BFA 1989 Film and Video) YMAA Publication Center Hardcover/paperback/e-book, $37/$25.95/$12.99
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Thomas Reeder (BFA 1976 Film and Video) Split Reel Hardcover/paperback, $55/$45 ZINE MAKING AND BOOK BINDING: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE IN 25 PROJECTS
Lauren Simkin Berke (faculty, BFA Illustration; MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay) Chronicle Books Paperback, $19.95
Young Adult GO THE F**K TO COLLEGE
Adam Mansbach; illustrated by Owen Brozman (MFA 2007 Illustration as Visual Essay) Akashic Books Hardcover, $16.95 QUEER AND HOW WE GOT HERE: A (PERSONAL) HISTORY
Hazel Newlevant (BFA 2014 Cartooning) Little, Brown Ink Hardcover/paperback/e-book, $25.99/$18.99/$10.99
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P ORTFOL IO // JO C ELY N TSAI H
InJocelyn the Tsaih work of artist (BFA 2015 Design), elegantly executed
organic forms explore complex questions
of identity, being, and belonging.
Her paintings, sculptures, and ceramics move
beyond entrenched positions on identity to speak from a place
of multiplicity.
Tsaih, who lives in New York City, had an international upbringing. Born in Taiwan and raised in Shanghai, she regularly visited family in California throughout her childhood. After graduating from SVA, she moved to Oakland for five years, during which she transitioned from working almost exclusively in black-and-white. “I was surrounded by nature, so that’s when I really started to explore color,” she says. It was also during this period—in 2019, after her freelance illustration career had picked up to the point where she could step away from her full-time design job— that Tsaih began pursuing her fine-art practice.
To date, Tsaih’s creative output spans corporate commissions, entrepreneurial sales, gallery exhibitions, public art, and more. Illustrations and designs featuring Tsaih’s signature figure—a minimalist, soft-edged, universal human form—have appeared in publications like The Atlantic and The New York Times, and on websites, murals, and more for clients ranging from Apple to SFMOMA. “In the commercial space, I have established my style. I think it’s important to have that distinction, so clients know what they’re signing up for,” she says. Thanks to her commercial success, Tsaih has been able to let her personal practice grow at its own
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Jocelyn Tsaih in her Brooklyn studio with some of her recent, architecturally inspired work. Image courtesy of Jocelyn Tsaih.
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P ORT FOLIO // JOCELYN TSAIH
ABOVE Tsaih’s environmental visuals for SFMOMA
in San Francisco, 2022. Photo by Andria Lo.
pace. “If I get to show the work, amazing,” she says. “If I don’t, that’s also okay.” Residencies have been vital for the development of Tsaih’s art practice. “Having time away and being able to focus only on the fine-art making part of what I do is really rare,” she says. “Even though I have a studio in Greenpoint, I’m still very distracted by everything else that I have to do.” In 2019, she attended Almost Perfect, a two-week residency in Tokyo, where she developed work focused on the concept of belonging. Afterward, she produced a zine that included the sketches and drawings from her time in Japan. In 2023, at As Slow As Possible, a fourday residency in upstate New York, Tsaih and a small group of fellow artists took the time to “do nothing,” commune, and lead workshops for one another. Tsaih led an hour-long meditative drawing workshop, in which the group made a collaborative drawing. And at a 2021 residency at Pocoapoco in Oaxaca, Mexico, Tsaih made mixed-media paper paintings and ceramics.
“Being in a different environment, being inspired by a different culture or a different city plays a big part in finding inspiration and being able to completely zone in on a specific topic or theme that I then make a body of work out of,” she says. After Oaxaca, Tsaih started taking ceramic hand-building classes. Her earliest sculptures have a tender, organic informality and interiority; as she has continued to work in the medium, more recent pieces—such as 2025’s floral-patterned Landscaper and Windspinner—have expressed increasing confidence and formal intentionality. And although she continues to branch out into new materials—a series of wooden sculptures with canvas centers, in particular, marked the beginning of her current explorations of interiority versus exteriority—ceramics, she says, has become one of her primary modes. “I always go back to ceramics,” she says. “It’s a nice break. Sometimes I work on a whole series of paintings, and I feel like I need relief from that. So I will start to make ceramics and vice versa.”
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IMAGES COURTESY OF JOCELYN TSAIH.
BELOW Jocelyn Tsaih, Mei Hua (Plum Blossom), 2025, wood, oil on canvas.
ABOVE Tsaih’s After the Rain mural for Collision Project in
Industry City, Brooklyn, 2021. Photo by Haoran Chen.
BELOW Jocelyn Tsaih, Aura, 2025, wood, latex paint, oil on canvas.
Last year, Tsaih returned to Mexico for a residency at Casa Lü Sur, in a former colonial town in the Tlalpan area of Mexico City, where she had another revelation. “I was surrounded by all these unique architectural elements that I don’t typically see,” she says. “They really spoke to me. It revealed how I instinctually navigate the world. How, because I’m from different cultures and I grew up between the East and West, I always looked to different cues as ways of understanding barriers, cultures, and identities.” With this in mind, Tsaih began an ongoing series of oil paintings rooted in the urban landscape, situating architecture, light, texture, and materials as extensions of personhood—the ways in which the various aspects of a built environment shape one’s sense of being. Tsaih’s painting process begins with color and an appreciation of its emotive power. “I like to have a general plan for the palette before I start the painting,” she says, “although it does sometimes change
or shift throughout the process.” Titles like Sunburn (2025) or Thermal Energy (2024) often echo the picture’s energetic colorplay, with vibrant oranges and pinks offset by tranquil purples, blues, or greens. Looking ahead, Tsaih is thinking of experimenting with other media, and looking for more opportunities for her work in China and Taiwan, where her parents still live. Last year, she designed her first large-scale public sculptures— produced in fiberglass and inflatable formats—for the UNICE art center in Suzhou, China. In September, her work was in group shows at the BLANC and Collective Z galleries, in New York City, and she attended her latest residency, at PADA in Lisbon. For more, visit jocelyntsaih.com. ◆ Diana McClure is a writer and photographer based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Gagosian Quarterly, Art Basel magazine, Art21, Cultured, catalogs, monographs, and other publications.
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P ORT FOLIO // JOCELYN TSAIH
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IMAGES COURTESY OF JOCELYN TSAIH.
P ORT FOLIO // JOCELYN TSAIH
1
2
5 4
3
OPPOSITE Sculptures by Jocelyn Tsaih from 2021 (3), 2022 (1, 2), 2024 (4), and 2025 (3). “I always go back to ceramics,” she says. “It’s a nice break [from painting].”
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PREVIOUS Jocelyn Tsaih, Two Halves of a Whole, 2023, acrylic and gouache on canvas. BELOW Jocelyn Tsaih, Thermal Energy, 2024, acrylic on canvas.
P ORT FOLIO // JOCELYN TSAIH
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OPPOSITE Jocelyn Tsaih, Horizon Ballad, 2026, oil on canvas. ABOVE Jocelyn Tsaih, Diver, 2024, oil on canvas. LEFT Jocelyn Tsaih, A Tumble in the Moss, 2024, oil on canvas.
IMAGES COURTESY OF JOCELYN TSAIH.
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In 2025, Tsaih made her first large-scale sculptures— done in fiberglass and inflatable formats—for the UNICE art center in Suzhou, China. Image courtesy of Jocelyn Tsaih.
Big Time
An SVA faculty
member and his students collaborate with the indie band
They Might Be Giants BY MAERI FERGUSON
38 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
C
ollaborating closely with an all-time favorite band sounds like a fantasy. But for BFA Design faculty member Paul Sahre, it became reality in 2011, when his work in The New York Times caught the eye of John Flansburgh, one-half of indie rock stalwarts They Might Be Giants, or TMBG, to the faithful.
Sahre was already an established graphic designer who had worked with a slew of editorial clients, designed book covers, and written a book on the history of Leisurama, a brand of prefabricated midcentury modern houses sold at Macy’s. What began as a digital-art commission for the band’s Join Us album has evolved into an ongoing collaboration that has yielded music videos, posters, merchandise, ads—even the band’s eponymous app, released in 2013. “It’s still hard to believe that I get to work with my favorite band,” he says. Since the earliest days of his collaborations with TMBG, Sahre has shared the creative
The cardboard monster-truck hearse built by SVA faculty member Paul Sahre and students for They Might Be Giants’ “When Will You Die?” video.
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PAU L SA H RE // T H EY M IGHT BE G IANTS
opportunities with his students at SVA. In 2011, then-students Santiago Carrasquilla, Joe Hollier, and Alex Stikeleather (all BFA 2012 Graphic Design), along with faculty member Adam Wahler, helped Sahre build a 15-foot-long monster-truck hearse out of cardboard panels overlaid with Epson prints for the band’s “When Will You Die?” video. For the single “Tesla,” off the band’s 2013 release, Nanobots, students came up with enough ideas for nine videos— one for each of its remixes. And last spring, they brainstormed for and helped to storyboard, film, and rotoscope (a technique for tracing over live-action footage to create animations and cutouts) the video for “Get Down,” off this year’s The World Is to Dig. The bombastic, horn-laden “Get Down” plays on its double meaning: take cover, but also hit the dance floor. The song, which John Linnell, the other half of TMBG, described as “a reverse
Voyager record meets KC and the Sunshine Band meets War of the Worlds,” offers a darkly humorous take on end-times anxiety, chronicling an alien invasion and urging citizens to action. Sahre and his Senior Portfolio students Joyner Chen, Ivy Curry, Alice Li, Theresa Perez, Arjun Rachkar, Takumi Segi, Hanliang Yu, and Jochi Yu (all BFA 2026 Design) envisioned a video that plays with bold text and contrasts regime imagery— stomping boots, pointing fingers, shouting mouths—with disco balls bopping around the galaxy in collage-style animation, rendered in what Flansburgh later praised as “cornea-burning colors.” As with Sahre’s past TMBG videos, the work started with simple sketches, and the final product was shot on eight-millimeter film with vintage cameras bought off eBay. “The ‘Get Down’ project gave me a peek at what a real-world design project feels like,” Jochi Yu says. “Communication and
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teamwork matter just as much as creativity.” Curry’s history with the band long predates SVA. “From ideation to the final product, it was really cool to see everything come together,” she says. “Especially as TMBG was a staple in my childhood with their album Here Come the 123s [2008].” Segi, who co-directed the video with Sahre and Anastasia Kharchenko, a senior graphic designer at Pentagram, was particularly excited by the opportunity, having known about Sahre’s involvement with the band before attending SVA. “Listening to the track for the first time, the phrase ‘get down’ was so catchy, and I immediately had the falling type animation in the back of my head,” he says, describing the creative process as loose and fun. “It was an honor to work alongside Paul and Anastasia. To be able to be part of a music video for They Might Be Giants still feels like a fever dream.” ◆
Storyboards and motion studies created by BFA Design seniors last spring for They Might Be Giants’ “Get Down” video. “From ideation to the final product, it was really cool to see everything come together,” says Ivy Curry (BFA 2026 Design), now a junior designer with Crown Publishing.
Screenshots from the They Might Be Giants app, designed by SVA faculty member Paul Sahre. The band reached out to Sahre after seeing his work in The New York Times 15 years ago, beginning an ongoing creative collaboration. “I still can’t believe I get to work with my favorite band,” he says.
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Artist and SVA alumnus Eric Haze goes from “naked in the middle of the playing field” to designing the uniform By Caleb Neelon
TO THE LETTER ✖
✖
ERIC HAZE
Eric Haze (BFA 1985 Media Arts) was standing at center court of the Barclays Center on November 1, 2019, as the Brooklyn Nets debuted the jersey that he designed. The Nets’ president at the time asked him, “Did you ever think it”—meaning, Haze’s improbable career— “would all amount to this?” // 43
Fall/Winter 2026-27
BELOW, FROM LEFT Eric Haze in the studio; Haze graffitiing in 1997 for an album project with DJ Premier.
“Absolutely,” Haze replied. “This was no accident.” ✖ It wasn’t the first time that Haze had been in the middle of an arena, at least as he saw it. In terms of graffiti’s evolution, culture writers of Haze’s generation had a sense of its possibilities.
Eric Haze’s NBA Statement Edition jersey for the Brooklyn Nets, introduced for the team’s 2019–20 season.
✖ By 1973, around the time that Haze, then 12 years old, began to write on walls and trains, groups like UGA (United Graffiti Artists) had had a rush of media attention from publications like New York, as well as sanctioned opportunities from galleries and the Joffrey Ballet, but the future of graffiti wasn’t clear. By the early 1980s, when Haze and peers like Futura, Crash, Daze, Pink, and Lee were on the rise—along with figures like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring (1979 Fine Arts)—graffiti’s relevance was undeniable. ✖ “By the time I was 21,” Haze says, “my generation had come aboveground.” It was a period that Haze now describes as “bouncing around in the fine-art world.” He and his friends made the cover of The Village Voice when they were still teenagers. Graffiti art was shown at era-defining galleries like Fun and Tony Shafrazi. Haze remembers the first time he was stopped on the street by someone who had seen him on television the night before.
// 44
ERIC HAZE
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT An early Haze painting, shown at P.S. 1 (now MoMA PS1) in 1981; album work for LL Cool J (1987) and the Beastie Boys (1992); Haze’s art in “Beyond the Streets” shows in London (2023) and Southampton, New York (2024), and his “RE-HAZE” retrospective in Tokyo (2024).
Haze kept a foot in both worlds: bringing cans and markers, he and graffiti writer Quik would meet every Friday at 12:30pm
Fall/Winter 2026-27
✖ “We were pretty squarely focused on the prize,” he says, though that didn’t mean that there was a path to follow. “I describe our generation as the one that had no blueprint. The lights went on, and we were there, sort of naked in the middle of a playing field. All the questions were looming in front of us. We’re on a playing field—what’s the game? What uniform do we wear? How do you score a goal? What do you get when you score a goal? Who’s the audience? Who’s in the stands?” ✖ Juggling all these questions, Haze enrolled at SVA, which he describes as “an unexpected, radical left turn from where I was, and where our community was.” The choice puzzled his friend Haring, who was three years Haze’s senior. “I remember stopping by Keith’s studio after school one day on my way downtown,” Haze recalls. “He asked me what I was doing at school, and I said I was really jazzed about this corporate identity class I was taking. Keith gave me this perplexed look, like I was an alien—isn’t that exactly what we’ve all worked to get away from?”
ERIC HAZE
✖
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Subway car graffiti by Haze, c.1983; Beastie Boys work by Haze in “Beyond the Streets London”; 2022 Winter Olympics uniforms for the U.S. alpine and moguls teams; loafers from the 2021 Jimmy Choo/Eric Haze Curated by Poggy capsule collection; installation shot from the “RE-HAZE” 30-year retrospective in Tokyo, 2024; Choo/Haze tote; Choo/Haze pop-up event, 2021; works in progress from Haze’s 2020 residency at the Elaine de Kooning House, East Hampton, New York; logo for EPMD, 1988. Images courtesy of Eric Haze.
// 46
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Fall/Winter 2026-27
ERIC HAZE
during a mutual break between classes at the spectacular tiled and chandeliered City Hall subway station. In a quirk of New York City transit, the station had been closed to the public since the 1940s and thereafter used as a place
ABOVE A Haze–graffitied 1 train in New York City’s subway system, c.1982. BELOW, FROM LEFT Eric Haze portrait by
Pak Chung; Love Not Hate mural in Manhattan, 2020; painting from Haze’s 2020 Elaine de Kooning House residency; installation shot, “RE-HAZE” retrospective in Tokyo, 2024. Images courtesy of Eric Haze.
to store out-of-service trains, making it one of the more storied—and architecturally pleasing—locales for graffiti writers to operate. “We would bomb for two hours in between classes,” Haze says. “I bombed harder and wrote more graffiti in 1983 while going to school than maybe any other year in my career.” ✖ By the time Haze graduated, he was carrying what he came for. “The entire mission at that point was to create a portfolio, a body of work in a book that you could drag around, and prove to people who had opportunities to offer that you were up to the task.” That preparation, along with a background thoroughly understood by equally New York-centric hip-hop musicians and labels, led to logo and album design projects with artists like EPMD, LL Cool J, and Public Enemy, and labels like Cold Chillin’ and Tommy Boy Records. But while his graffiti-artist reputation surely helped Haze earn those assignments, his early graphic-design work didn’t look like graffiti or refer back to it—that would wait until the cover for the Beastie Boys’ 1992 album Check Your Head, which featured Haze’s signature handwriting, endlessly copied by young people worldwide, this writer included.
“We would bomb for two hours in between classes.”
ERIC HAZE
✖ Clear, powerful, and deceptively simple handwriting has been the through line of Haze’s career. It was also the closest parallel to his old friend and supporter Haring, whose strong, intensely personal hand-drawn line blew down barriers between fine art and graphic design—as did his populist approach. Haze made his first T-shirts and stickers, which Haring sold in his Pop Shop, a store in SoHo stocked with merchandise designed by the artist and his peers, in the mid- to late 1980s. “That was proto-streetwear,” Haze says. “Keith was an important bridge, for me personally, but also culturally.” ✖ That “proto-streetwear” would lead to Haze’s still-running, eponymous clothing line, and to collaborations with brands including Jimmy Choo, Sakai, HUF, New Era, as well as the Brooklyn Nets and 2022 U.S. Olympic ski team. In the early ’90s, Haze moved to Los Angeles, where he spent the better part of two decades building his clothing brand. “I had three stores in Tokyo,” he says. “We were doing eight collections a season.” ✖ In 2005, Haze moved back to his hometown of New York, motivated in part by his strong desire to get back to painting, a love that even predates his graffiti work. Haze grew up near Columbia University, where his father taught psychology. Among the family friends was poet and art critic David Shapiro, who introduced them to painter Elaine de Kooning. Eric and his sister, Dana, sat for multiple portrait sessions at de Kooning’s Union Square loft, where she provided the kids a painting setup of their own, allowing them all to work simultaneously. Decades later, Haze’s painting primarily employs his signature handwriting and graphic flourishes, but a 2020 residency at the Elaine de Kooning House in East Hampton, New York, afforded him the chance to delve into portraiture and urban landscape to a depth he hadn’t before. ✖ It’s been a 40-plus-year career thus far for Haze—50-plus if one counts (and one should) his graffiti beginnings. In 2024, a 30-year, touring retrospective of his work opened in Japan; earlier this year, it was shown in Hong Kong. He is currently working on shows in the U.S. and Asia, and last year, he spent several months working with a co-author on his autobiography, starting with the most American, and New York, of beginnings: “My grandfather coming to Ellis Island in 1906,” he says. “In a perfect world, my goal is for the book to launch when the retrospective comes back to America.”
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Fall/Winter 2026-27
✖
✖ Caleb Neelon is an artist, writer, and co-author of The History of American Graffiti (2010), Wall Writers: Graffiti in Its Innocence (2016), and other books. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
MURRAY HILL
By Greg Herbowy
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PHOTOS BY ROBERT PORTILLO, COURTESY OF CHEESEBURGER RARE ENTERTAINMENT.
Q+A:
PORTFOLIO
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Q+A:
More recently, Hill has been making his mark on television, hosting the reality shows Drag Me to Dinner (2023) and King of Drag (2025); appearing in series like Life & Beth (2022–24) and Elsbeth (2024 – ); and, most notably, playing the warmhearted Fred Rococo on HBO’s Somebody Somewhere (2022–24), the acclaimed series starring and co-written by Bridget Everett, a friend and fellow nightlife veteran. When Hill enrolled at the School of Visual Arts, he did not have an entertainment career in mind. After growing up in small-town Connecticut, he went to art school in Boston, where he fell in love with photography and immersed himself in the local drag scene, taking pictures of its performers, an experience that encouraged him to embrace and express his own identity. Moving to New York for SVA, Hill says, is when “my life truly started.” Instructors like Carole Kismaric and Shelley Rice introduced him to politically minded performance art and theory, and through his friends in Manhattan nightlife, he became a regular performer at DIY events in straight and queer clubs. Adopting his name from a neighborhood bordering SVA’s eastern campus buildings, he created campy, sly skits and routines that lampooned gender norms and subverted drag traditions, soon becoming a staple at downtown venues and in media like The Village Voice. Today, Hill’s public profile is bigger than ever. Last December, the 25th-anniversary staging
of his annual Christmas show, typically held at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan, took place at Lincoln Center. (Hill surprised the crowd by marrying his girlfriend, Michelle Cathey-Casino, on stage.) This fall, Hill launched an interview podcast, The Murray Hill Show. Moviegoers can see him this holiday season in The Man With the Bag, a new Christmas movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. And on October 6, Simon & Schuster published his memoir, Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-Aged Man. Hill’s book tour kicked off that same day at SVA Theatre, where he appeared for a conversation with his Somebody Somewhere co-stars Everett and Jeff Hiller. For more information about Hill’s memoir and tour, visit mistershowbiz.com. Earlier this year, Hill spoke with the Visual Arts Journal about his SVA experience, why he likes opening for bands, and the artistic and political ambitions that underpin his work. Can you talk a bit about what drew you to photography, first as a Boston University undergraduate and then at SVA?
I came from the suburbs in New England. I played sports and was always illustrating, painting, making sculptures—anything creative. I knew I had to get out of the suburbs. So I used my artwork for a portfolio to get to BU, and get out! I started off as a painting major, but there was so much going on with me personally that being cooped up in the studio, alone, breathing in
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SHOWBIZ! COVER COURTESY OF SIMON & SCHUSTER; CITI FIELD PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW YORK METS; ALL OTHER IMAGES COURTESY OF CHEESEBURGER RARE ENTERTAINMENT.
Over the past 30 years, MURRAY HILL (MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media) has built a noted CAREER as a comedian and emcee, drawing AUDIENCES with his old-school style, a WINKING THROWBACK to the riffing, crowdworking routines of stand-ups like JOAN RIVERS and DON RICKLES.
OPPOSITE Murray Hill’s memoir, out now. Cover design
by Rodrigo Corral (1995 Graphic Design).
THIS PAGE Hill and Penny Tuesdae photo by Manuel
Toscano (MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media); Hill throws the ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field, 2024; all other photos by Matthew Sandager (MFA 1998 Photography and Related Media).
Q+A:
PORTFOLIO
Murray Hill campaigning for New York City mayor, 1997. Photo by Manuel Toscano (MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media), courtesy of Cheeseburger Rare Entertainment.
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turpentine all day long, was excruciating. It was just a very isolating experience, and I was busting at the seams. I had a teacher, Stephen Frank, and he introduced me to the works of Nan Goldin, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Lisette Model, Diane Arbus. I became obsessed, and started taking photographs of drag queens in Boston nightclubs. What I saw in those clubs in Boston cracked my head open to a world I have never seen before. I used those photos to get to SVA. And it wasn’t until I got to New York, for SVA, that my life truly started. The excerpt of your book that I read covers the origins of the Murray Hill persona, which came out of the two halves of your early years in New York— your time at SVA and your immersion in the city’s nightlife. You write about helping a friend who was hosting a weekly party in Alphabet City, and how a sort of proto-Murray emerged there.
I would do skits and characters, like Murray-as-John-Travolta, Murray-as-Elvis, Murray-as-Béla Károlyi. My SVA instructors Charles Traub, Carole Kismaric, and Sarah Charlesworth came to this hole-inthe-wall club at 1:00am one Sunday to see my Elvis performance, which was wild. [Laughs.] I don’t think that would happen unless you were at SVA! They were the proud parents I never had. In the book, you credit Carole Kismaric with encouraging you to develop the Murray Hill character as your thesis project?
Yes. Yes. She had a tremendous impact on me and my work.
For that project, you ran a write-in campaign for the 1997 New York City mayoral race, protesting Rudy Giuliani’s aggressive use of the anti-nightlife Cabaret Law. Were you presenting yourself as a serious candidate? Or did you view the campaign as an extension of your comedic performances?
It wasn’t until I got My friend asked me to to New be a cigarette girl at this club night in the York, for East Village and take Polaroids of the patrons. SVA, that Remember, this was the my life ’90s, so he also asked me to sell cigarettes truly and gum. And I was not started. feeling that. A week later, he got me a suit. I put the camera down and started becoming this persona, while other people would take photographs of me. It seems like pretty soon after that, you were putting on performances, both with the DJ and singer Penny Tuesdae (later Jill Janus) and on your own. But it sounds like the Murray Hill that today’s audiences know was not yet fully formed. Is that accurate?
My early vibe back then was as a Vegas lounge lizard, at this East Village party called the 999999s. On the same night, Penny and I would go to Club Casanova, the only weekly drag king party at the time, at 2:00am at a place called Cake, on Avenue B, and we would do a club act there.
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The campaign was comedic, but underneath it was an act of resistance. Behind the scenes, my professor Shelley Rice had us read The Pink Glass Swan [1995], by Lucy Lippard, about feminist performance artists in the ’70s. The main principle of the book was that the personal is political, and I just ate it up. Shelley introduced me to Martha Wilson, who ran Franklin Furnace, a performance art organization, and through her, I met feminist performance artists, like the Guerrilla Girls. I deeply connected with these artists. At first, I saw Murray Hill as a feminist performance art project. I immersed myself in the character completely, but I wasn’t a comedian. I was an artist. Murray was a combination of all of that studying of Arbus, Goldin, Model, and all the ’70s performance artists. And it was the manifestation of what I wanted to talk about, which was the lack of
Q+A:
visibility for underrepresented identities, both within and outside of the queer community. In a New York Times profile of you from a couple of years ago, the academic and writer Jack Halberstam called you “an absolute treasure.” At what point did you realize that your work was being taken seriously as art?
When I ran for mayor—[laughs] doesn’t that sound crazy to say?—C. Carr, an art critic for The Village Voice, wrote a full-page article about me, and being inspired by feminist performance art. She was the first person to write about me from an academic standpoint. The second person who wrote about me was [nightlife columnist] Michael Musto. It’s interesting now that I’m saying it out loud. They represented my two sides in a way—Michael is full-on gay camp, irreverent, sassy, and C. Carr is a serious intellectual, lesbian art critic. I appealed to both of them. “Murray for Mayor” is what started getting the most press, in Time Out New York and The Face, in the UK. The project and persona were really taking off. I remember reading about you in The Village Voice in the early 2000s. That downtown world seemed forbiddingly cool, with all these performers and artists and up-and-coming bands. I didn’t realize that you opened for some bands in those years.
Yeah, a lot of bands, and I toured with [burlesque performer] Dita Von Teese. I have a kinship with musicians because the way that I work is very similar to jazz musicians and other musicians who improv. Is opening for a band tough? It seems like it’d be kind of thankless.
Everything I do is tough and thankless! [Laughs.] But through repetition and working on my craft,
and writing, and getting on stage all the time, I work overtime to make it look easy. I really like to host, and I have a special skill for it. Some comedians, they just want to land a joke. That’s all they care about, and it doesn’t matter who’s in front of them. They just need to get their material out. My approach is reading the room, knowing the audience I’m in front of, setting the tone, and getting everyone all jacked up. To me, it’s about uniting an audience, rather than testing out my material. When I emceed or toured with bands, that was my sweet spot. I found it incredibly liberating working with bands like Le Tigre* and Gossip, who were queer-friendly acts, and their music was a call to action with a dance beat. When I hosted Le Tigre concerts, I was in front of so many queer people, including trans folks, nonbinary, gay men, lesbians, masc. Everyone was mixed together, dancing, joyous, free, and just getting along. I only experienced that at their shows. It poured gasoline on a fire for me— I wanted to create this energy and acceptance in all of my shows. You were appreciated by your mentors and peers early on, but it’s only within the past five years that you’ve reached a new level of recognition, particularly with your work on Somebody Somewhere. At the same time, we’ve experienced a rise in anti-trans legislation and
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KING OF DRAG PHOTOS BY B SHARP FOR REVRY; SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE PHOTOS BY SANDY MORRIS/HBO, COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY.
THIS PAGE Murray Hill hosting Revry’s King of Drag (2025). OPPOSITE Hill (with co-stars Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller, top) in HBO’s Somebody Somewhere (2022–24).
sentiment from politicians, as well as other public figures.
I was cast on the HBO show as a trans man, but the role wasn’t centered around Fred being trans. And my act is like that, too. I don’t go around saying, “I’m a drag king, I’m trans, I’m this, or that.” I’m just like, “Hey, everybody. I’m Murray. Just me.” We’re much more alike than we are different. I think a lot of people didn’t realize that Fred was trans, and he meant a lot of things to a lot of different people. When I have parents come up and say that their trans kid saw themselves in me, or thank me for being a positive role model on that show, that’s the reason why I keep going and keep fighting for representation. When I was growing up, my personality and sense of humor allowed me to connect with all
One of the best things for artists who are just starting out is learning from those who have sustained their practice over time. You’ve been performing for something like 30 years. Do you attribute your career longevity to that sense of purpose you just spoke of?
A lot of the kids ask me that, and I attribute my longevity to two things, SVA and New York City, because they made me do something original and not be like everyone else. To be an artist with something to say, I had to tell my story. My whole ethos was to have a voice and use it, because this demographic was and is so underrepresented and silenced. I never lip-synced at the clubs. I talked on the microphone and kept at it, even though I sucked for a long time. I think people have been excited about me because I’m a breath of fresh air and something they haven’t seen before. And the more mainstream I get, the more I hear, “What’s this? I’m not sure, but I like it. And I’m laughing.” Murray is very disarming. My thesis statement was about raising the visibility of people like me. And it has been an uphill climb every step of the way. People know what drag queens are. They know what gay men are. So, half of my career has been trying to explain to people that I exist and that we exist. My mission is not complete. There is not equal representation within the queer community, or society—it’s apples and oranges. It’s changed, but I’m still an anomaly, and there is still work to be done. Fred Rococo seemed like the most contented and solid character on Somebody Somewhere. He’d built a career and a home he loves, and his friends turned to him for help and affirmation. You’ve said elsewhere that the part of Fred was written for you. Do you ever feel that you’ve reached a level of success or experience where you can fill that kind of role among your friends or peers?
kinds of people, and part of that was a need, a defense mechanism to not be discriminated against. So I’ve always had a foot in the mainstream, so to speak, and a foot with the gays and the “others.” I’ve always straddled—no pun intended [laughs]— that binary. That has continued my whole career. I can play in a dingy club one minute, then the next night, I’m hosting a gala for the one-percenters, who have never seen anything like me before. Representation needs to happen on both sides. Flash forward to now, and trans people, drag people, gay people, anyone who’s not a straight white man is under attack. So now my work carries even more weight, and I must keep going.
I’ll tell you something funny. I hosted this drag king show, King of Drag, last year. The contestants were in their 20s and 30s, and they came up with a nickname for me: “G-Pops.” As in, “Grandpa”! I still think of myself as just starting out, but I’m the elder statesman, and it’s been very important to me to mentor and be available to these kings, because I didn’t have that. There wasn’t somebody for me to talk to, or the internet, or other drag king shows. I am the grandfather at this point, and I’m always trying to help them out, take their calls, and talk to them about shows and the business side. So yeah, the answer is, yes. I’m G-Pops. ◆ This interview has been condensed and edited. * Le Tigre’s members include Johanna Fateman (BFA 1997 Fine Arts).
57 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
SVA ALUMNI
Notes + Exhibitions: Group Efforts SVA alumni achievements from December 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026
Notes + Exhibitions
To share your recent career news, write to alumni@sva.edu. Due to the volume of information we receive, not all submissions may be included.
SVA alumni participated in Miami Art Week, 12/1 – 12/7/25: Asya Geisberg (MFA 1999 Fine Arts) organized a booth at and Johanna Fateman (BFA 1997 Fine Arts), Essye Klempner (BFA 2006 Fine Arts), Kenny Rivero (BFA 2010 Fine Arts), and Julie Schenkelberg (MFA 2011 Fine Arts) had work in NADA Miami; Katelyn Kopenhaver (BFA 2016 Photography and Video) had work in SaveArtSpace x Fountainhead; Chris Cortez (BFA 2022 Fine Arts) had work in and Artem Mirolevich (BFA 1999 Illustration) organized a booth and had work in Scope Art Show; Storm Ascher (BFA 2018 Visual and Critical Studies) organized a booth at and Michael De Feo (BFA 1995 Graphic Design) and John Rivas (BFA 2019 Fine Arts) had work in Untitled Art Miami. MPS 2025 Branding alumni Piyush Bhagat, Micah Jones, AJ Nielsen, Ashley O’Connor, Srushti Pokerna, Lynne Rennie, Dyna Rivera, Julia Taylor-Brown, and Zach White were featured in the “100 Days” series, Print, 12/1 – 12/29/26. Deanna Donegan (BFA 2012 Illustration) and Tala Safie (MFA 2018 Design) produced and Pablo Delcan (BFA 2012 Graphic Design) and Xiao Hua Yang (MFA 2018 Illustration as Visual Essay) were featured in “The 40 Best Illustrations of 2025,” The New York Times, 12/26/25. Julian Adon Alexander (BFA 2020 Illustration); Shiqing Chen (BFA 2021 Design);
Xinyue Chen (MFA 2023 Illustration as Visual Essay); Carmel Gatchalian (BFA 2016 Design); Yukyung Lee (BFA 2020 Design); LOBOS, the directorial duo of Andrew Garcia (BFA 2018 Film) and Carmelo Varela (BFA 2016 Film); Morgan Light (BFA 2018 Advertising); Darius Dazhi Wang (BFA 2019 Design); Weston Wei (MFA 2023 Illustration as Visual Essay); and Jo Zixuan (BFA 2019 Illustration) were finalists in The Young Guns 23, One Club for Creativity, NYC, 1/14/26. David Abrevaya (BFA 2015 Cartooning), Koby Clarke (BFA 2023 Comics), Eli Hernandez (BFA 2024 Illustration), Emmanuel Jaquez (BFA 2009 Animation), and Gwenevere Vargo (BFA 2025 Comics) participated in the group exhibition “Illustration & Animation Showcase,” SUNY Westchester Peekskill Center for the Digital Arts, Peekskill, NY, 1/16 – 4/23/26. Jordan Corine Cruz (MFA 2019 Photography, Video, and Related Media; BFA 2015 Photography), Bryan Fernandez (BFA 2022 Fine Arts), Delvin Lugo (BFA 2001 Film and Video), kiarita (BFA 2023 Visual and Critical Studies), and Cyle Warner (BFA 2023 Photography and Video) had work in the group exhibition “The Seventh AIM Biennial: Forms of Connection,” The Bronx Museum, NYC, 1/23 – 6/29/26. SVA alumni worked on films that were screened and won awards at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Salt Lake City, UT, 1/22 – 2/1/26: Zackary Drucker (BFA 2005
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Photography) was consulting producer of Barbara Forever (2026), which won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary; Jenni Morello (MFA 2011 Social Documentary Film) was director of cinematography of The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (2026), and Chad Sikora (BFA 2007 Computer Art) was an animator for Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie (2026), which both screened in the Premieres category; Bao Nguyen (MFA 2011 Social Documentary Film) was a juror for the World Cinema Documentary Competition; Minos Papas (BFA 2004 Film and Video) co-produced Take Me Home (2026), which won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic and the Sundance Institute Producers Award for Fiction; Humpday (2009), directed by the late Lynn Shelton (MFA 1995 Photography and Related Media), screened as part of the Park City Legacy program; and Greta Zozula (BFA 2010 Film and Video) was cinematographer of
Notes + Exhibitions Josephine (2026), which won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic. Michael Halsband (BFA 1980 Photography), the late Marcus Leatherdale (1978 Media Arts), Dustin Pittman (1974 Film and Video), and Chris Stein (1973 Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Downtown Lens: A Landmark Collection of Works by 20 Legendary New York City Photographers,” The Gallery at Soho Grand, NYC, 2/4 – 5/3/26. SVA alumni won awards in the Illustrators 68 Annual Exhibition, Society of Illustrators, NYC, 2/4 – 5/2/26: Gold medalists: Jeremiah Dickey (BFA 2001 Animation), Animation; Sakshi Jain (MFA 2019 Computer Arts), Animation; Suejee Lee (BFA 2018 Computer Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects), Animation; and Matthew Rota (MFA 2008 Illustration as Visual Essay), Book. Silver
medalists: Johnny Dombrowski (BFA 2010 Illustration), Advertising; Eugenia Mello (MFA 2017 Illustration as Visual Essay), Surface/ Product; Cecilia Ruiz (MFA 2012 Illustration as Visual Essay), Surface/Product; and Yuko Shimizu (MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay), Advertising. BFA 2025 Fine Arts alumni Hoai, a.k.a. Alina Nguyen, and Sadie Withers organized and Olympe Gautier, Isabella Mendoza, Joel Murff, Paola Pomarico, and Rawnak Rahman, as well as Prince Kobe (BFA 2024 Photography and Video), had work in the group exhibition “Exquisite Corpse,” Not That Deep Gallery, NYC, 2/6 – 2/27/26. Brian Britigan (MFA 2017 Illustration as Visual Essay), Hyesu Lee (MFA 2011 Illustration as Visual Essay), Alice Meichi Li (BFA 2006 Illustration), Min Liu (MFA 2013 Computer Art), ShinYeon Moon (MFA 2017 Illustration
59 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
Karl Hartman (MFA 1989 Fine Arts), Black Birds in Leaves, 2024, oil on aluminum panel. On view in “The Nature of Nature,” Garvey|Simon at DFN Projects, NYC, 1/21 – 2/27/26. Courtesy of the artist and Garvey| Simon Gallery.
GROUP EFFORTS
Notes + Exhibitions
Installation view of “10 Summers and 250 Years: Advocating for Our Public Lands Through 30 Artist Residencies,” an exhibition featuring artwork from the book of the same name by Heather Heckel (MAT 2012 Art Education), self-published on 4/8/26. Photo by Heather Heckel.
as Visual Essay), Jennifer Nguyen (BFA 2015 Fine Arts), Kelsey Short (MFA 2020 Illustration as Visual Essay), Jen Tong (BFA 2006 Cartooning), Taili Wu (MFA 2009 Computer Art), Yao Xiao (BFA 2013 Illustration), and Jesse Zhang (BFA 2012 Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Red Envelope Show,” Pearl River Mart Gallery, NYC, 2/7 – 3/29/26. Lily Hyon (MFA 2025 Fine Arts) and Lamar Robillard (MFA 2021 Art Practice) were selected as 2026 AIM Fellows, The Bronx Museum, NYC, 2/11/26. MFA Fine Arts alumni Orange Li (2024) curated and Jieun Cheon (2025), Erin Hayde (2024), Nivia Hernandez (2025), Ailyn Lee (2022; BFA 2017 Illustration), Xinyu Liu (2025), Nathalie Marti (2025), Silvia Muleo (2023), and Tianshu Zhang (2023) had work in the group exhibition “The Nurturer & the Hunter in a Room of One’s Own,” Jersey City Free Public Library Creative Arts Center, Jersey City, NJ, 2/21 – 4/17/26. SVA alumni were nominated for and received awards at the Annie Awards, Los Angeles,
2/21/26: Joseph Bennett (BFA 2008 Fine Arts) won Best Writing–TV/Media for Common Side Effects (2025 – ), “Pilot”; David Bleich (BFA 1992 Illustration) won Best Production Design–Feature for KPop Demon Hunters (2025); Joie Lim (BFA 2021 Animation) won Best Editorial–TV/Media for Common Side Effects, “Raid”; Michael Giacchino (BFA 1990 Film and Video) was nominated for Best Music–Feature for Zootopia 2 (2025); and BFA Animation alumni Ian Jones-Quartey (2006) and Rebecca Sugar (2009) were nominated for Best Writing–TV/Media for Adult Swim’s The Elephant (2025). Marco Burbano (BFA 2009 Computer Art) and Patrick Yu Wang (MFA 2020 Computer Arts) were nominated for Outstanding Character in an Animated Feature for their work on Elio (2025), 24th Annual VES Awards, Visual Effects Society, 2/25/26. Jai Lennard (BFA 2008 Photography) and Alelli Tanghal (BFA 2010 Illustration) were featured in “Their Favorite Projects? Inventing Cocktails and Card Games,” The New York Times, 3/6/26.
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Janine Brown (MFA 2023 Art Practice) and Katelyn Kopenhaver (BFA 2016 Photography and Video) had work in the group exhibition “Every Woman Biennial,” Pen + Brush, NYC, 3/8 – 4/11/26. Gary “Doodles” DiRaffaele (BFA 2005 Animation) and Joe Sulsenti (BFA 2017 Animation) launched the independent kids’ show Boogie Birds (2026 – ), YouTube, 3/9/26. MFA 2025 Fine Arts alumni Jarvis Ruoxi Hua curated and Jieun Cheon, Aleksy Cisowski, Hao Shen, and Austin Clay Willis, as well as Yena Seo-Yeon Park (MFA 2026 Fine Arts), had work in the group exhibition “Everlasting Gaze,” Helm Contemporary, NYC, 3/25 – 3/31/26. Andrew Alexander (MFA 2022 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 2016 Cartooning), Olivia Fields (BFA 2019 Illustration), and Paradise Systems, for which Xinmei Liu (MFA 2020 Illustration as Visual Essay) is publishing assistant, were recipients of the Award of Excellence, MoCCA Arts Festival 2026, 3/28/26.
GROUP EFFORTS
MFA 2004 Fine Arts alumni Kira Nam Greene and Kurt Lightner, and Daina Higgins (BFA 2001 Fine Arts), had work in the group
exhibition “Hands On,” Long Island City Studio Collective, NYC, 4/24 – 4/26/26. Kaitlyn Danielson (BFA 2018 Photography and Video) and Wendy Small (BFA 1984 Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Residual Light,” The Arts Center at Duck Creek, East Hampton, NY, 5/9 – 6/14/26. Scott Montgomery (BFA 1989 Photography) screened ISHues (2026) and Patricia Silva (BFA 1999 Photography) screened Bright Vignettes: How Astoria Got Its Pride (2025), Big Apple Film Festival (Spring Edition), NYC, 5/11 – 5/15/26. MFA 2026 Products of Design alumni Lauren Palazzi, Jessie Wang (BFA 2024 Interior Design), and Tong Zhao won for their product Please Teapot, 2026 NYCxDesign Awards, 5/15/26. Giancarlo Cipri (MFA 2023 Products of Design) curated and Andrew Castrucci (MFA 2009 Fine Arts; BFA 1984 Media Arts) and Peter Hristoff (BFA 1981 Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Alchemy,” Atelier Jolie, NYC, 5/20 – 8/1/26.
BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects alumni Tim Doolen (2009) and Ben Meyer (2022) worked on the video game People of Note (2026) as art director and 3D facial animator, respectively. The following SVA alumni received 2026 Guggenheim Fellowships, Guggenheim Foundation, 4/14/26: Collier Schorr (BFA 1985 Communication Arts), Photography; MFA 2006 Photography, Video, and Related Media alumni Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, Film– Video; BFA Fine Arts alumni Francis Ruyter (1992) and Alina Tenser (2003) and MFA Fine Arts alumni Kate Shepherd (1992) and Juana Valdes (1993), Fine Arts. Rama Duwaji (MFA 2024 Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “In the Studio with Rama Duwaji,” by Hakim Bishara (MFA 2017 Art Writing), Hyperallergic, 4/15/26. Marc Kokopeli (BFA 2009 Fine Arts) and Poyen Wang (MFA 2017 Computer Art) had work in the group exhibition “Greater New York 2026,” MoMA PS1, NYC, 4/16 – 8/17/26.
Arantxa Ximena (MFA 2019 Fine Arts) at her solo exhibition, “Echoes of Peace,” United Nations, NYC, 4/23 – 5/15/26. Photo by Dave Zuluaga.
61 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
Notes + Exhibitions
MFA Illustration as Visual Essay alumni Ceili Ayoung (2025), Bernardo Baguhlo (2026), You Jung Byun (2009), Lauren Castillo (2005), Sun Kyung Cho (1993), Rachael Cole (2003), André da Loba (2009), K. Downs (2026; BFA 2012 Animation), Jialu Du (2025), Emma Fisher (2025), Jonathan Frost (1995), Edward Hemingway (2002), Aram Kim (2014; BFA 2009 Illustration), Hyesu Lee (2011), Yuke Li (2020), ShinYeon Moon (2017), Keith Negley (2013), Tao Nyeu (2007), Lydia Pinkhassik (2025), Mary Quinlan (2025), Anna Raff (2009), Andy Rash (1996), Doug Salati (2014), Laura Sandoval Herrera (2025), Stephen Savage (1996), Yuko Shimizu (2003), Alex Smith (2026), Dasha Tolstikova (2012), Sara Varon (2002), Reena Wu (2025), Xinyi Yang (2025), Taeeun Yoo (2005), and Dan Zhou (2026) had work in the group exhibition “Once Upon a Page,” Brooklyn Public Library, NYC, 11/24/25 – 4/23/26.
SVA ALUMNI
Individual Notes
Jorge Luis Rodríguez (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Orisha / Santos—An Artistic Interpretation of the Seven African Powers,” Taller Puertorriqueño, Philadelphia, 2/13 – 4/4/26.
1977
Dawoud Bey (Photography) curated “Gordon Parks: The South in Color,” Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, 4/2 – 7/11/26. Charles Fazzino (BFA Media Arts) was featured in “ ‘I want them to feel the emotion’: the pop artist capturing the excitement of the Super Bowl,” The Guardian, 1/25/26. Denise Halpin (BFA Media Arts) had a solo exhibition, “The Gift of Flowers,” Almondine Bakery, NYC, 2/11/26 – May 2026.
1978
Richard Deon (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Lincoln’s Campaign to Defeat The Hudson River School,” The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY, 2/14 – 7/26/26.
1979
Notes + Exhibitions
David Lubarsky (BFA Photography) had work in the group exhibition “The Power of Love,” Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT, 2/14 – 3/12/26. John Michael Pelech (BFA Media Arts) had work in the group exhibition “142nd Annual Members’ Exhibition,” Salmagundi, NYC, 2/3 – 3/13/26. Amy Sillman (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Amy Sillman (with Marina Rosenfeld, sound),” Capitain Petzel, Berlin, 10/31 – 12/20/25. Karen Starrett (Media Arts) had work in the group exhibition “A Time Within a Time: 46th Annual Juried Exhibition,” Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ, 3/15 – 5/10/26.
1980 1967
Carole Feuerman (Fine Arts) was a 2026 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, International Sculpture Center, NYC, 5/1/26. The late Christine Kozlov (Illustration) was featured in “Christine Kozlov gives us food for thought,” Apollo Magazine, 3/12/26.
1969
Adrian Piper (Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Art as Consciousness,” Thomas Erben Gallery, NYC, 1/15 – 2/28/26.
1972
Luke Ryan (Illustration) had a solo exhibition, “Phenomenal Women,” Alacrity Frame Workshop, Albany, NY, 4/3 – 4/30/26.
Linda Stillman (Graphic Design) had work in the group exhibition “Breathe,” Westbeth Gallery, NYC, 2/6 – 2/22/26.
1974
Louise Sloane (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “250 Years of Art on Long Island,” Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY, 3/21 – 7/12/26.
1975
Margaret McCarthy (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the LIC Arts Open, 13th Edition, NYC, 5/13 – 5/17/26.
1976
Theresa DeSalvio (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “55 x 2: Line,” Edward Hopper House Museum and Study Center, Nyack, NY, 2/20 – 3/22/26.
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The late Marc Levine (BFA Photography) was a recipient of the New York Mets Hall of Fame Achievement Award, Citi Field, NYC, 5/30/26.
1981
Renee Folzenlogen (Fine Arts) had work in the online exhibition “2026 NJATA Juried Art Show," NJ Art Therapy Association, 1/1/26. Peter Hristoff (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Under the Same Sky,” C.A.M. Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey, 1/10 – 3/1/26. Rita Maas (BFA Photography) had work in the group exhibition “Boundaries,” The Gallery at Yellow Studio, Cross River, NY, 1/10 – 2/8/26.
1982
Lorna Simpson (BFA Photography) was the 2026 recipient of the Meraki Artist Award,
INDIVIDUAL NOTES Datrianna Green-Meeks (MFA 2016 Interaction Design), Kangol Gworl, 2025, acrylic on paper. On view in “Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition 2026,” Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, 1/19 – 4/19/26.
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 12/10/25. Joey Skaggs (BFA Media Arts) was featured in “New York City’s greatest pranks, from fantastical parades to a phony Mets star,” Gothamist, 4/1/26.
1983
Stephanie Pfriender Stylander (BFA Photography) had a solo exhibition, “Ceci n’est pas une sérigraphie,” Galerie Sophie Scheidecker, Paris, 5/29 – 7/25/26.
1984
Lydia Panas (BFA Photography) had a solo exhibition, “Letters to My Mother,” Soft Machine Gallery, Allentown, PA, 2/7 – 3/7/26.
1985
Emily Thompson (BFA Media Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Double Feature: Emily Thompson and George Thompson,” Stover Mill Gallery, Tinicum Civic Association, Erwinna, PA, 4/11 – 5/3/26.
1986
Dawn Ennis (BFA Communication Arts) was named multimedia executive producer, Graham Media’s WSLS-TV, Roanoke, VA, 2025. Annie Sprinkle (BFA Photography) had work in the group exhibition “A Certain Age,” Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts, Union College, Schenectady, NY, 1/5 – 3/13/26.
1987
Aleathia Brown (BFA Media Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Beyond Werdz,” Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts, NYC, 3/17 – 6/30/26.
1988
Michael Aceves (Illustration) had work in the group exhibition “Symbiosis or Schism? The AI–Human Odyssey,” The Community Arts Workshop, Santa Barbara, CA, 10/2 – 10/12/25. Kelynn Z. Alder (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) had a solo exhibition, “Mexico; Past & Present,” Museum of Contemporary Art Long Island, Patchogue, NY, 12/13/25 – 2/15/26. Alyce Gottesman (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Material Matters,” Carter Burden Gallery, NYC, 4/23 – 5/19/26. Kathy Shorr (BFA Photography) had a solo exhibition, “Limousine,” Magazzini Fotografici, Naples, Italy, 12/5/25.
1989
James Gallagher (BFA Media Arts) was featured on the podcast A Life Creative, 4/28/26. Karl Hartman (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, ”The Nature of Nature,” Garvey|Simon at DFN Projects, NYC, 1/21 – 2/27/26.
1992
David Bleich (BFA Illustration) was a recipient of the Animated Feature Film Award as production designer of KPop Demon Hunters (2025), 29th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards, Los Angeles, 2/15/26. Christine Romanell (BFA Graphic Design) created the digital art project “Cosmic Crossing, an Augmented Reality Art Experience,” for the Out of Bounds residency in collaboration with the Red Mill Museum Village, Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ, 10/11/25 – 8/31/26.
63 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
1993
Guy Aroch (BFA Photography) photographed the cover story “Conan O’Brien Just Can’t Help Himself,” The Hollywood Reporter, 3/9/26. Anne Checler (BFA Film and Video) was a recipient of a News Emmy, Outstanding Light News Feature: Short Form, for editing work on the Retro Report documentary What Japan’s Atom Bomb Survivors Have Taught Us About the Dangers of Nuclear War (2025), 47th News & Documentary Emmy Awards, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, NYC, 5/27 – 5/28/26. Rance Jones (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) had a solo exhibition, “Rance Jones: Watercolors,” Forum Gallery, NYC, 3/5 – 4/18/26. Miles Ladin (MFA Photography and Related Media) had a solo exhibition, “Hurts Whole Lot,” Hudson Guild Gallery, NYC, 2/12 – 4/8/26. Karen Ocker (BFA Graphic Design) had work in the group exhibition “Louisiana Contemporary,” Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA, 8/2/25 – 1/4/26.
1994
The late Nona Faustine (BFA Photography) had a solo exhibition, “What My Mother Gave Me,” CPW, Kingston, NY, 1/31 – 5/10/26. Leemour Pelli (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, ”Crowa and God in Upheaval,” Leonovich Gallery, NYC, 5/1 – 5/28/26.
Notes + Exhibitions
Installation view of work by Barbara Owen (MFA 2020 Art Practice) in the group exhibition “Slip,” Overlap, Newport, RI, 1/24 – 3/7/26. Photo by Elizabeth Ellenwood Photography.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES Shannon Prynoski (BFA Film and Video) was featured in “The Simpsons, Metalocalypse, and Koyaanisqatsi: The Work That Made Shannon Prynoski,” Little Black Book, 3/5/26.
Alison Ward (MFA Fine Arts) was featured in “How a Texas Town Became an Art Project,” Hyperallergic, 3/9/26.
1995
Naomi Katz Plotkin (MFA Fine Arts; BFA 1996 Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Bannerman Island and the Mighty Hudson River,” Howland Cultural Center, Beacon, NY, 1/10 – 4/12/26.
Michael De Feo (BFA Graphic Design) had work in the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC, 5/17 – 5/19/26. Lori Earley (BFA Illustration) was featured on the podcast Art Affairs with Michael Faith, 4/20/26.
1996
Corinne Jones (BFA Fine Arts) had work in
1998
1999
Hema Bharadwaj (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) had a solo exhibition, ”The Cosmic in the Domestic,” The Hutchins Galleries, The Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, NJ, 3/27 – 4/24/26.
2000
Gonzalo Fuenmayor (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “A Certain Slant of Light,” Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, 5/7 – 5/30/26. Jai Hart (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “The Wall Wanted to Play Too: The Architecture of Tenderness,” Overlap, Newport, RI, 1/24 – 3/7/26. Allison J. Puff (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was named provost, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, 4/30/26. Eric Rhein (MFA Fine Arts; BFA 1985 Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Open
Notes + Exhibitions the Situations Gallery booth, NADA New York, NYC, 5/13 – 5/17/26. Marianne Vitale (BFA Film and Video) had a solo exhibition, “On Liberty: A Summoning,” Space Gallery, Pittsburgh, 5/1 – 10/11/26.
1997
Jennifer DiZefalo (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “The Geometry of Undoing,” Siren Arts Exhibition Space, Asbury Park, NJ, 12/13/25 – 1/24/26. Stephen Sollins (MFA Photography and Related Media) had work in the group exhibition “Speaking in Paris,” Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Gallery, Hunter College, NYC, 2/5 – 4/19/26.
Alina Bliumis (BFA Computer Art) had work in the Situations Gallery booth, Art Brussels, Belgium, 4/23 – 4/26/26.
Book(s): Observations,” Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ, 4/3 – 9/1/26.
Eileen Ferara (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) had work in the group exhibition “From Vision to Reality: The Embankment Now,” IMUR Gallery, Jersey City, NJ, 4/11 – 4/26/26.
Mika Rottenberg (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “New Humans: Memories of the Future,” New Museum, NYC, 3/21/26 – ongoing.
2001
Ketta Ioannidou (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) had a solo exhibition, “After Nature: New Paintings by Ketta Ioannidou,” IFAC Arts, NYC, 3/12 – 5/9/26.
Maayan Zilberman (BFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Maayan,” Edible Manhattan, 12/16/25.
Anna Zaderman (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the online group exhibition “Women’s History Month Artists,” Broadview Public Library District, Broadview, IL, March 2026.
Marlena Buczek Smith (BFA Graphic Design) participated in a talk, “National Parks Posters: Then and Now,” Poster House, NYC, 2/20/26.
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2002
INDIVIDUAL NOTES Federico Muelas Romero (MFA Computer Art) was shortlisted in the Short Form category for his comic BOLD Buddies Stories (2025 – ), 2026 Graphic Medicine International Collective Awards, 4/29/26.
2006
2007
2004
Joe Ellis (BFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Joe Ellis: Graffiti expert, collections consultant and overall cool guy,” High Plains Reader, Fargo, ND, 2/23/26.
Raheem Nelson (BFA Cartooning) had work in a group exhibition at the Main Street Gallery, Whitney Center, Hamden, CT, 1/23 – 5/15/26.
Matt Kaye (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in “Owner of The Bends and Wild Child to open Easy Tiger, a hi-fi listening lounge and cocktail bar in the EDGE District,” St. Pete Rising, St. Petersburg, FL, 3/16/26.
Ashley Garrett (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “C L O S E R,” The Empty Circle, NYC, 1/16 – 2/21/26.
Nora Krug (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) had a solo exhibition, “Belonging,” David Owsley Museum of Art, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 2/19 – 6/13/26. Minos Papas (BFA Film and Video) premiered his film Motherwitch (2026), International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1/29 – 2/8/26.
Kathleen Callahan (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition,” New York Studio School, NYC, 5/14 – 5/27/26.
Amy Elkins (BFA Photography) had a solo exhibition, “Mourning Songs of Salt and Silt,” Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2/20 – 6/13/26.
2008
Jesse Kirsch (BFA Graphic Design) created a mural, Escape the Ordinary, for Little Sesame’s new production facility, Capitol Heights, MD, 2/19/26.
Michael Marsicano (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) had a solo exhibition, “A Brighter Black,” Church of the Redeemer, Sarasota, FL, 3/6/26.
2009
Pedro Arieta (BFA Photography) had a solo exhibition, “Suspensão,” Galeria Caribé, São Paulo, 12/2/25 – 1/2/26.
FROM LEFT
Installation view of work by Poyen Wang (MFA 2017 Computer Art) at “Greater New York” at MoMA PS1, NYC, 4/16 – 8/17/26. Photos by Kris Graves; courtesy of MoMA PS1.
2005
Andrea Burgay (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Pieces Too Short to Save: A Survey of Contemporary Collage,” SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art, Chicago, 4/8 – 5/30/26. Domingo Milella (BFA Photography) had work in the group exhibition “Lanterne Magiche,” Museo Carlo Bilotti Aranciera di Villa Borghese, Rome, 2/14 – 9/6/26. Michael Straub (BFA Animation) published Leonardo on Innovation (Renaissance Studio Press, 2026).
Christine Sun Kim (MFA Fine Arts) was featured in “‘I see everything in 3D’: Christine Sun Kim on echo chambers, sign language and Deaf life,” Financial Times, 3/17/26. Adam Krueger (MFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Bringing Tattooing to Academia: Adam Krueger Makes History at RISD,” Tattd, 12/1/25. Charles Sabba (BFA Fine Arts) was featured in Season 3, Episode 7, “Mysterious Endings,” Expedition Files (2024 – ), Discovery Channel, 1/14/26.
65 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
Jasmine Gregory (BFA Photography) had work in the group exhibition “Genuine Fake Premium Economy,” Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 5/1 – 7/5/26. Sarah von Sydow (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Märklighet!” (“Strangeness!”), SKF/Konstnärshuset, Stockholm, 3/19 – 4/18/26.
2010
Dina Litovsky (MFA Photography, Video, and Related Media) was featured in “The Year in Pictures 2025: Reflections of Turbulent Times,” The New York Times, 12/16/25. C. Bay Milin (MPS Digital Photography) had work in the group exhibition “Flee Market,” Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation & the Arts, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, 4/1 – 4/29/26. Kenny Rivero (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Ash on Everything,” Charles Moffett, NYC, 12/11/25 – 1/24/26. Pablo Velez (BFA Advertising) opened a cannabis dispensary, Flower Daddy, NYC, January 2026. Devin Oktar Yalkin (BFA Photography) photographed the cover story, “Christopher Nolan Has Been Dreaming of The Odyssey for More Than 20 Years,” Time, 5/12/26.
Notes + Exhibitions
Jai Lennard (BFA Photography) had a photo chosen for American Photography 42, AI-AP, April 2026.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
2011
Daniel Fishel (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) illustrated the poem “Aunt Sue’s Stories” for Melodies of the Weary Blues (HarperCollins, 2026), a compilation of Langston Hughes’s works for children, 1/20/26.
Notes + Exhibitions
Jessie McGuire (MPS Branding) was the recipient of a Communication Design Award as co-founder of Thought Matter, 2026 Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards, NYC, 2/25/26. Bao Nguyen (MFA Social Documentary Film) received a grant from the Displacement Film Fund, an initiative started by actor Cate Blanchett and supported in part by International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund, Cannes Film Festival, 5/18/26. David Osit (MFA Social Documentary Film) was featured in “Best Movies of 2025,” The New York Times, for his documentary Predators (2025), 12/3/25. Julie Schenkelberg (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Looking Glass,” Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC, 2/20 – 3/28/26. Emily Weiner (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Lunacy” König Galerie, Berlin, 4/17 – 5/24/26.
2012
Joana Avillez (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) illustrated a new edition of Joseph Mitchell’s The Bottom of the Harbor (Penguin Random House, 2026). Mike Gerbino (BFA Film and Video) wrote the original screenplay for Kaishaku (2025), which had its East Coast premiere at Dances With Films Festival, NYC, 1/18/26. Doron Gild (MPS Fashion Photography; BFA 2005 Photography) was a winner of and had work in the group exhibition, 7th Chelsea International Photography Competition, Agora Gallery, NYC, 2/19 – 2/25/26. Heather Heckel (MAT Art Education) self-published 10 Summers and 250 Years: Advocating for Our Public Lands Through 30 Artist Residencies, 4/8/26. Sara Khaki (MFA Social Documentary Film) co-directed Cutting Through Rocks (2025), which was nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film , 98th Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles, 3/15/26. Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana (MFA Social Documentary Film) was featured in “Working-Class Gaze,” Documentary Magazine, 4/28/26.
FOR YOUR
Marsha Wilcox (MPS Digital Photography) had a solo exhibition, “Ancient Light,” The Umbrella Arts Center, Concord, MA, 1/12 – 3/22/26.
2013
Chemin Hsiao (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 2011 Animation) had work in the group exhibition “Red Horizon: Art. Heritage. New Energy,” Flushing Town Hall, NYC, 1/23 – 3/1/26. Justin Melillo (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects) self-published Coffee Shops of New York: 100 Hand-Drawn Cafes in One Book, 12/10/25.
2014
Ja’Tovia Gary (MFA Social Documentary Film) had work in the group exhibition “Freedom Dreams,” The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, 4/12 – 8/9/26. Rachel Kim (BFA Fine Arts) was the designer of The Economist’s “Election Campaign 2024” and “The World Ahead 2025,” which won Gold in Advertising & Design/Advertising Campaign Design, and Silver in Advertising & Design/ Digital Ad Design, respectively, NYX Awards, 5/8/26. Molly Matalon (BFA Photography) did the visuals for “How Miss Piggy Went From Minor
FOR YOUR
BENE BENEFIT SVA Alumni
SVA ALUMNI RECEIVE
➔ Continued access to SVA MyID and @sva.edu email ➔ Subscriptions to the monthly alumni newsletter and the Visual Arts Journal ➔ Access to the SVA Library and its on-site resources ➔ 20% tuition discount on in-person and online SVA Continuing Education courses ➔ Invitations to Career Development workshops and access to the online job board
And more!
Visit sva.edu/alumni for complete details and to update your contact information.
Photo by M.J. O’Toole (MPS 2020 Digital Photography)
Questions? Contact SVA Alumni Affairs at 212.592.2300 or alumni@sva.edu.
Photo by M.J. O'Toole (MPS 2020 Digital Photography)
@svanycalumni
@svanycalumni
School of Visual Arts Alumni group
BENEFITS • Invitations to alumni events
INDIVIDUAL NOTES Installation views of “Tesoro de Indias,” a solo exhibition of work by Isabel Llaguno (MFA 2018 Fine Arts), Museo de la Ciudad, Quito, Ecuador, 9/25/25 – 1/18/26. Photos by Alexander Alcocer.
June Park (BFA Illustration) was featured in “The Best Book Covers of 2025,” The New York Times, 12/14/25. Feifei Ruan (MFA Visual Narrative) had work in the group exhibition “Magic: The Gathering in Miniature III,” Gallery Nucleus, Alhambra, CA, 1/31 – 2/15/26. Datrianna Green-Meeks (MFA Interaction Design) had work in the group exhibition “Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition 2026,” Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, 1/19 – 4/19/26. Katelyn Kopenhaver (BFA Photography and Video) had work in the group exhibition “F*ck Art: Nature and Artifice,” Museum of Sex, Miami, 1/30/26 – 1/31/27. Georgia Lale (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Ameinokleia,” Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Kallithea, Greece, 3/27 – 4/5/26. Muppet to TV’s Top Hog,” The New York Times, 2/4/26. Anne Quito (MFA Design Criticism) was the recipient of the award for Excellence in Creative Journalism for her CNN article, “Design for Women, by Women: Pivotal Objects That Challenge the Inherent Gender Bias in Product Design,” Créateurs Design Awards, Paris, 1/17/26. Caroline Tompkins (BFA Photography) did the visuals for “In Love Story, Sarah Pidgeon Has Big Stilettos to Fill,” The New York Times, 2/10/26.
2015
Christina Arza (MFA Photography, Video, and Related Media) hosted a book signing for slowly, tenderly (self-published, 2024), Do Not Feed the Alligators, NYC, 4/23/26. Michael Bailey-Gates (BFA Photography) photographed “ ‘I want women to feel that they are worthy of shining, at every stage and phase
of their lives, no matter what happens.’— Ariana Grande’s gentle, genuine self, resonating with love.” Vogue Japan, 1/26/26.
Bat-Ami Rivlin (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Untitled (radiators, zip ties),” Management, NYC, 3/11 – 4/19/26.
Fátima González (MA Critical Theory and the Arts) was featured in “Fátima González Welcomes Questions at Her Gallery,” The Cut, 5/14/26.
Dana Stirling (MFA Photography, Video, and Related Media) gave a lecture, “Art in Context Artist Lecture: Dana Stirling,” Sordoni Art Gallery, Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA, 3/26/26.
Kathie Halfin (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Florals for Spring, Groundbreaking!” Agora Gallery, NYC, 4/2 – 5/21/26.
Dáreece Walker (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Unboxed: Black Fathers Art Present,” Gallery Particulier, NYC, 5/1 – 6/30/26.
Carlos Jaramillo (BFA Photography) photographed “The Film Clika Is Bringing Corridos— and Singer JayDee—to Hollywood,” Rolling Stone, 1/19/26.
2017
Kathryn Mussallem (MPS Digital Photography) had work in the group exhibition “Personal Structures: Confluences,” European Cultural Centre, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy, 5/9 – 11/22/26.
67 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
Rosa Chang (MFA Visual Narrative) had work in the group exhibition “Ouroboros,” Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, 2/2 – 3/8/26. Adebunmi Gbadebo (BFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “In Minor Keys,” 61st International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, 5/9 – 11/22/26.
Notes + Exhibitions
2016
INDIVIDUAL NOTES Aya Rodriguez-Izumi (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Recreation and Violence,” Turley, Hudson, NY, 11/15 – 12/21/25. Thomas Slattery (MFA Visual Narrative; BFA 2010 Cartooning) was the production designer of Trauma or, Monsters All (2026), 4/10/26.
2018
Paula Cury (BFA Film) was featured in “SXSW 2026 Review: Scarlet Girls Creatively Illuminates a War on Women’s Rights,” The Moveable Fest, 3/17/26. jiwoong (BFA Photography and Video) was featured in “The Night Shift: An Interview with jiwoong—New York City,” Whitehot Magazine, 2/25/26.
Emma Rose Milligan (MFA Photography, Video, and Related Media; BFA 2015 Photography) photographed “Hanging out with Oh, Mary! stars John Cameron Mitchell, Simu Liu,” USA Today, 3/8/26.
2019
Roemello Agjmurati (BFA Design) had work in the group exhibition “Here You Are: Staten Island Triennial,” Staten Island Museum, NYC, 1/24 – 10/18/26. Monica Nelson (MA Design Research, Writing, and Criticism) published These Long Shadows: Women's House Museums in the American South (Atelier Éditions, 2026).
Time, and the Cinematic Body,” Our Culture, 4/10/26. Edward Gia (BFA Photography and Video) had work in the group exhibition “Lost and Found,” MASS Gallery, Austin, TX, 1/17 – 2/14/26. Amina Gingold (BFA Photography and Video) had work in the group exhibition “Eros Rising,” CLAMP, NYC, 5/9 – 7/2/26. Natalie V. Grant (BFA Photography and Video) participated in “Black Girl Art Show Brooklyn,” NYC, 3/28/26. Barbara Owen (MFA Art Practice) had work in the group exhibition “Slip,” Overlap, Newport, RI, 1/24 – 3/7/26.
Notes + Exhibitions Still from ISHues, a documentary directed by Scott Montgomery (BFA 1989 Photography), which screened at the Big Apple Film Festival (Spring Edition), NYC, 5/11 – 5/15/26.
Benjamin Sunkyong Kim (BFA Photography and Video) was featured in “Photographer’s Stunning Abstract Fireworks Pictures Defy Convention,” PetaPixel, 12/31/25. Isabel Llaguno (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Tesoro de Indias,” Museo de la Ciudad, Quito, Ecuador, 9/25/25 – 1/18/26. Hailun Ma (MPS Fashion Photography; BFA 2016 Photography and Video) was featured in “Hailun Ma Is Reframing Central Asia Through Photography,” models.com, 5/6/26. Todd Midler (BFA Photography and Video) photographed “A Simple Way to Stop N.B.A. Teams From Losing on Purpose,” The New York Times, 5/9/26.
John Rivas (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Rise Above It,” François Ghebaly, NYC, 2/7 – 3/7/26. Dana Robinson (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the Kates Ferri Projects booth, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, NYC, 5/13 – 5/17/26. Arantxa Ximena (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Echoes of Peace,” United Nations, NYC, 4/23 – 5/15/26.
2020
Yu Ai (MPS Directing) was featured in “When the Alchemy of Celestial Divinity Meets the Somniloquence Crawling Over the Earth: Yu Ai’s Chronos & Red Veil (Fù Miàn): Identity,
68 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
Carlos Rosales-Silva (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Ecstatic Personas,” UK Art Museum, University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts, Lexington, KY, 2/3 – 6/27/26.
2021
Tony Chao (MFA Visual Narrative) published Metabo Issue 2: The Outlands, April 2026. Aynsley Leonardis (BFA Fine Arts) organized the Brooklyn Independent Comics Showcase, NYC, 4/18 – 4/19/26. Xianglong Li (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Embodiment,” VillageOneArt, NYC, 12/11/25 – 1/24/26.
Notes + Exhibitions
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
FROM TOP
Jennifer DiZefalo (BFA 1997 Fine Arts), AscendDescend, 2025, acrylic, and Fractured Star, 2025, acrylic. On view in “The Geometry of Undoing,” Siren Arts Exhibition Space, Asbury Park, NJ, 12/13/25 – 1/24/26. Photos by Sara Stadtmiller.
69 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
GROUP EFFORTS
Notes + Exhibitions 70 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
GROUP EFFORTS James Meyer (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Memory Landscape,” The Warren Family Gallery, Berkshire School, Sheffield, MA, 1/16 – 3/5/26.
Cyle Warner (BFA Photography and Video) co-curated and had work in the group exhibition “Empire Is Not Forever,” Welancora Gallery and Ivy’s Projects, NYC, 5/9 – 6/27/26.
Timothy Schutsky (BFA Photography and Video) photographed “The Bible, iPhones and hardware manuals inspired Mindy Seu’s book about sex on the internet,” It’s Nice That, 1/21/26.
2024
Lulu Luyao Chang (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Breaking the Mold,” Chicago Sculpture International, Chicago, 3/6 – 3/27/26.
2025
Law Artis (MPS Film Directing) screened his short film Law’s World: Lipstick Bandit (2025), American Black Film Festival, Miami Beach, FL, 5/27 – 5/31/26. Joshua Evans (MFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Hypeart Visits: Joshua Evans,” Hypebeast, 1/14/26.
Sao Tanaka (MPS Digital Photography) had work in the group exhibition “Beyond the Archetype,” GOCA by Garde, NYC, 3/5 – 4/25/26. Millie von Platen (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) illustrated “The Things All New Yorkers Should Know (But Most Don’t),” New York, 3/4/26. Elise Warfield (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Your Sun Forever,” Tutu Gallery, NYC, 3/27 – 5/3/26. Dylan Rose Rheingold (MFA Fine Arts) was featured in “Between Dreamland with Dylan Rose Rheingold,” Elephant, 2/8/26. Morgan Sawyer (MFA Visual Narrative) designed the official poster for Comic Arts Richmond, Richmond, VA, 3/21/26. Claudia Shaldervan (BFA Photography and Video) had work in the group exhibition “Loading, Please Wait,” Galeria Azur, NYC, 1/16 – 2/17/26.
Marsha Wilcox (MPS 2012 Digital Photography), Christmas Tree Nebula, 2023, print on metal. On view in “Ancient Light,” The Umbrella Arts Center, Concord, MA, 1/12 – 3/22/26.
Jillian Sobrino (MPS Directing) directed the narrative short film This Land Is Cursed (2025).
2023
Yuli Aloni Primor (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Fractured,” ZAZ10TS Gallery, and had work featured on the ZAZ Corner billboard, Times Square, NYC, 3/26 – 6/21/26.
Shenuka Corea (MFA Visual Narrative) released her film Treasure Tree (2026), Countdown: 1 Minute Film Night, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2/7/26.
Janine Brown (MFA Art Practice) had work in the group exhibition “Set the Table: The Art of Nourishment,” Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, CO, 5/15 – 8/2/26.
Rama Duwaji (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “The Artist in Gracie Mansion,” The Cut, 12/23/25.
Davina Hsu (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “A Waking Dream,” Fou Gallery, NYC, 5/7 – 6/24/26.
Kun Kyung Sok (MFA Fine Arts; BFA 2021 Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Living Sideways: Mother, Daughter, New York,” Our Yellow Wall, LOT-EK, NYC, 12/3/25.
Silvia Muleo (MFA Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “A Year From Genesis,” Frisson, NYC, 4/16 – 5/16/26.
Al Svoboda (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “LOT paintings,” april april, Pittsburgh, 1/10 – 2/28/26.
Yiran Sun (BFA Design) was featured in “Fast-growing arts nonprofit AAAAH plans newspaper purchase, interactive map of Asian culture in NYC,” Urgent Matter, 1/30/26.
Jesse Zuo (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 2022 Illustration) was featured in “5 Artists on Our Radar in December 2025,” Artsy, 12/2/25.
71 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
Jordan Corine Cruz (MFA 2019 Photography, Video, and Related Media; BFA 2015 Photography), Opportunity for Stillness, 2025, red votive wax. On view in the group exhibition “The Seventh AIM Biennial: Forms of Connection,” The Bronx Museum, NYC, 1/23 – 6/29/26.
Olympe Gautier (BFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “I Am Sophie’s Wife,” Not That Deep Gallery, NYC, 3/13 – 4/3/26. Anqi Gu (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Sediment and Sensibility—Anqi Gu’s Inner Darkroom” Inside Gallery, Suzhou, China, 12/31/25 – 2/22/26. Xinyu Liu (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “Fool’s Hour,” Art Cake, NYC, 4/17 – 5/10/26. Kutay Tufekci (MFA Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition, “C0LL3C70R 613,” High Noon, NYC, 1/9 – 2/21/26. Connie Wing (BFA 3D Animation and Visual Effects) began working as a terrain modeler, Wētā FX, Wellington, New Zealand, February 2026.
Notes + Exhibitions
2022
In Memoriam
The School of Visual Arts mourns the recent loss of the following alumni and faculty. To share news of an alumnus’s passing, please write to alumni@sva.edu.
SVA Legacies JOHN GRAFENECKER (1977)
died in October 2025 at the age of 84. Grafenacker, a lifelong New Yorker and West Village resident, made his living running fashion boutiques in his neighborhood. BARRY CALDWELL (BFA 1979
Animation) died in March at the age of 68. Caldwell was born in New York City and worked as an animation director, writer, and storyboard artist on series like Animaniacs (1993–98) and films like Osmosis Jones (2001). JERRY MORIARTY (faculty)
died on March 25 at the age of 88. Moriarty, a self-described “paintoonist,” was born and raised in Binghamton, New
York. He joined the SVA faculty in the 1960s, taught in various departments for 50 years, and, in addition to his private practice, illustrated for publications like Esquire and The New Yorker. SUSANNA HARWOOD RUBIN
(MFA 1993 Fine Arts) died on March 28 at the age of 59. Rubin was born in Summit, New Jersey, and worked as an artist, educator, writer, and yoga instructor. Her art is in the collections of such institutions as the Hammer Museum of UCLA.
FRANCES WILSON (1984 Fine
Arts) died on May 13 at the age of 90. Wilson was born in Hamden, Connecticut; lived in New York City, New Jersey, and New Hampshire; worked
72 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
in politics and as a psychiatric nurse; and was active in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. ELAINE BREIGER (faculty) died on May 24. Breiger was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1938, and taught printmaking at SVA for several decades. Her art is in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum and Library of Congress, among other institutions. DARREN LEWIS (1984 Media
Arts) died on May 29 at the age of 60. A lifelong resident of New York’s Dutchess County, he worked as a sculptor and metalworker and taught at the Art Students League of New York.
ELIZABETH McCULLOUGH
(MFA 1991 Photography and Related Media) died on May 30 at the age of 67. McCullough grew up in Vero Beach, Florida, and was a photographer, poet, and musician who performed as Alpha Cat and released four records, most recently Venus Smile (2024).
BARBARA RUSH (1969 Illustra-
tion) died on June 2 at the age of 77. Rush was born and grew up in New Rochelle, New York; worked for 15 years at the Garrison Art Center in Garrison, New York; and was a lifelong artist.
MORIARTY AND MICHALS IMAGES COURTESY OF THE SVA ARCHIVES; BREIGER PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SVA PRINTSHOP.
on June 9 at the age of 94. Michals—a photographer known for his innovative use of text, multiple exposures, and sequential imagery—was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. He taught at SVA in the 1980s and ’90s and received the College’s Masters Series Award in 2000.
THOMAS VITANZA
(BFA 2005 Advertising) died on June 17 at the age of 46. Vitanza was born in the Bronx; lived in Monroe, New York; and worked as an art director for healthcare and related companies, most recently Ogilvy Health. MEGGIN COX (BFA 1987 Media
Arts) died on June 27 at the age of 62. Cox grew up in Saugerties, New York; moved to New York City to attend SVA; and returned to upstate New York in 2010, where she worked in health care for many years.
SEAN MERRIAM (1993 Film
and Video) died on June 28 at the age of 58. Merriam grew up in Patchogue, New York, and was an Emmy Award– winning video editor who worked with TV networks and brands like Mercedes and Ralph Lauren.
GUIDO (GUY) CORRIERO, JR.
(MFA 1989 Fine Arts; BFA 1985 Media Arts), died on July 17 at the age of 90. Corriero served in the U.S. Marine Corps and illustrated for its Marine Corps
73 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE
1986 and 1989 SVA posters by Jerry Moriarty; Duane Michals at SVA in 1980; undated photo of Elaine Breiger in the studio.
Gazette before embarking on a career as a commercial artist and educator, most notably at SUNY’s Herkimer County Community College. SIMONE FORTI (faculty) died on July 29 at the age of 91. Forti, a choreographer, writer, performer, and visual artist, was born in Florence, Italy, and taught at SVA in the 1970s and ’80s. Her many distinctions include a 2023 Venice Biennale Golden Lion award. MARY HEILMANN (faculty) died on August 14 at the age of 86. Heilmann, an abstract painter, grew up in San Francisco and Southern California. She joined SVA’s faculty in 1979 and taught through 2010. She achieved wide acclaim in her 60s, with her first museum retrospective, “Mary Heilmann: To Be Someone.”
SVA Legacies
DUANE MICHALS (faculty) died
SCHOLARSHIPS
STUDENT RECOGNITION
SVA Alumni Society Awards
Honoring Excellence IN ADDITION TO its Alumni
Scholarship Awards program to fund thesis projects, each fiscal year the SVA Alumni Society distributes awards to support undergraduate students at all stages of their SVA education. Thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends of the College, this year’s awards include the Alumni Society Housing Scholarship, funding up to four years of SVA housing for incoming foundation-year students; Alumni Society Merit
Award, for a senior student who demonstrated community building and leadership excellence while at SVA; Brian Weil Memorial Award, for a BFA Photography and Video senior; Jack Potter Memorial Award, for two foundation-year students who have demonstrated exceptional drawing skills; Lila Eva Lewental Memorial Award and Rodman Family Scholarship Award, merit-based awards for SVA sophomores or juniors; Richard Wilde Award and Thomas J. Carnevali, Jr., Memorial Award, for BFA Advertising and BFA
78 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
Design juniors; Russell J. Efros Memorial Award, for BFA Film seniors; Silas H. Rhodes Memorial Award, established in memory of SVA’s founder and given to BFA Visual and Critical Studies juniors who demonstrate excellence in writing; and the Will Eisner Sequential Art Scholarship, for rising BFA Comics juniors or seniors.
1
2 7
3
4
6
5
Alumni Society Housing Scholarship EMILIO RODRIGUEZ , BFA Animation Alumni Society Merit Award
LIAM SHANLEY, BFA 2026 Photography and Video
Brian Weil Memorial Award KOBE LIGON , BFA 2026 Photography and Video
Jack Potter Memorial Award JULIA CHEN , BFA Illustration SABITA HUANG , BFA Illustration
Rodman Family Scholarship Award
Lila Eva Lewental Memorial Award NICO PALANCA , BFA Illustration
DESTINÉE-JOLENE MARCION , BFA 2026
Richard Wilde Award DONGHOON YI , BFA Design
GOTTFRIED REYES RETANA , BFA Design
Thomas J. Carnevali, Jr., Memorial Award ZARA MARCINKIEWICZ , MICHAEL RIZZI , BFA Animation BFA Design Russell J. Efros Memorial Award Film
Silas H. Rhodes Memorial Award
MARI FLETCHER- LEWIS,
BFA Visual and Critical Studies
79 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
Will Eisner Sequential Art Scholarship NILE ADAMS-DUMA , BFA Comics
Honoring Excellence
1. Sabita Huang, Fleshes and Flowers, 2025, colored pencil. 2. Kobe Ligon, ICW ICW ICW, 2025, ink-jet print. 3. Mari Fletcher-Lewis, War Sceptre, 2026, hair, string, nails, minerals, found objects on wood. 4. Nico Palanca, Sound Stage, 2025, digital. 5. Gottfried Reyes Retana, National Poetry Month, 2026, poster. 6. Zara Marcinkiewicz, Trick or Treat, 2025, digital painting. 7. Julia Chen, Zoning, 2025, soft pastel, oil pastel, and marker.
DONORS
The Alumni Society gratefully acknowledges these SVA alumni who gave to the society from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. Kim Ablondi
BFA 1984 Photography Arthur Ackermann
BFA 1982 Media Arts
Everett Aison
1959 Graphic Design Dawn E. Albore
With Appreciation
BFA 1981 Media Arts
Evelyn Alfaro
BFA 1985 Media Arts
Juan Alfonso
1982
Adam P. Ames
MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media
Gail Anderson
Ariel Bock
MFA 2008 Computer Art; 1979 Film and Video
1972
Lisa Brown
Anthony Chibbaro
Elizabeth Enders
BFA 1980 Media Arts
Barbara Browne
Abbie Buhr
Alice E. Meyers Corjescu
BFA 1994 Illustration
BFA 2004 Photography
1974 Fine Arts
Jeffrey Burdin
BFA 1977 Photography
Sharon Burris-Brown
BFA 1980 Film and Video
Gordon Cowan
BFA 1974 Media Arts
John Coyne
BFA 1984 Media Arts
Julia and Phil Coyne
BFA 1988 Media Arts BFA 1986 Media Arts
Brian Callaghan
Diane Cuddy
BFA 1988 Media Arts
Carol Caputo
Therese Curtin
BFA 1980 Media Arts
Donald Carboni
1960
Susan W. Cutter
Mike Carlin
BFA 1980 Media Arts
George* and Sharon Arthur
MariaBethy Pulido Cash
BFA 2017 Illustration
Carol Fabricatore
Patrick Coniconde
BFA 1986 Media Arts
David Balkan
Mary Citarella
Julianna (Ferriter) Bruce
Michael Angley
Ronald Bacsa
1986 Fine Arts
BFA 1979 Media Arts
BFA 1986 Fine Arts
BFA 1976 Fine Arts
Diane Dawson Hearn
BFA 2002 Graphic Design Paul K. Caullett
BFA 2000 Graphic Design
Jack Donnelly
1979
1970
1960 Graphic Design
1965 Advertising
MPS 2010 Digital Photography
1973 Film and Video
1972 Advertising
1967
Candace* and Jeff Dobro
Larry Chernoff
Neil Callari
Heidi Antman
MFA 1987 Illustration as Visual Essay
Cat Del Buono
MFA 2008 Photography, Video, and Related Media
MFA 2022 Visual Narrative; BFA 1986 Media Arts
Ingrid Andresen Lindfors
Anonymous (18)
Andrew Chang
Laura C. Brown
BFA 1977 Media Arts
1971 Advertising
MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media
Anney Bonney
BFA 1984 Media Arts
BFA 1987 Photography
Jeff Chabot
1972 Fine Arts
BFA 1975 Media Arts
Peter S. Deak
BFA 1990 Film and Video
Terry Cavanagh
1968 Media Arts
74 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay
Kevin J. Farley
BFA 1977 Photography
Laura Scarola Ferro
1973
John Ferry
Video, and Related Media Neil M. Gallo
BFA 1977 Media Arts
Peter A. Geffert
BFA 1990 Media Arts
Bill Giles
1968
Catherine Gilmore- Barnes
BFA 1986 Media Arts
John and Lauren* Giuffre
BFA 1986 Media Arts
Andrea Golden
1985
Frederick Grippon
1986
Catherine K. Gura
MFA 1994 Illustration as Visual Essay
BFA 1998 Illustration
Peter H. Fischman
1974
Brian Floca
BFA 1978 Photography
BFA 1976 Photography
MFA 2001 Illustration as Visual Essay
Lawrence Flood
BFA 1980 Fine Arts
Ignacio Font
MFA 1993 Fine Arts
Martin Friedman
1969
Sarah Froelich
MFA 2010 Design Criticism Tyler Furey
BFA 2018 Illustration
Carly Gaebe* and Jason Huff
MFA 2011 Photography,
David Haas Cristine Haft
Meghan Day Healey
BFA 1993 Graphic Design
Joseph Herzfeld
BFA 1991 Fine Arts
Christina Hobson
BFA 1979 Media Arts
Mrs. Joanne Honigman
1981 Graphic Design Yutong Hu
BFA 2024 Design
Lynda M. Hughes
BFA 1981 Photography
DONORS
Patricia JacobsenBrady
Pat Langer
BFA 1995 Illustration Steven Langerman
1976
1972 Photography
Walter Jansson
Michael Lehmann
1964
Nanette Mahlab Jiji
BFA 1981 Media Arts
Joanna Jimenez
BFA 1977 Film and Video
Gary J. Joaquin
BFA 1981 Media Arts
Catherine A. Jones
BFA 1979 Media Arts Mia Jung
BFA 1996 Interior Design Patrice Kaplan
BFA 1988 Media Arts
Bonnie Sue Kaplan Valentino
BFA 1983 Media Arts
Gary Leogrande
BFA 1978 Fine Arts
Beverly and Lee S. Leung
BFA 1977 Media Arts 1974 Media Arts Lisa Leventhal
BFA 1980 Media Arts
Charles Lilly
1970 Illustration
Lorenzo C. Lynch
1958 Illustration
Maria Mannino
Sardi Klein
1970 Photography Alex Knowlton
BFA 1987 Media Arts
Barbara Kolo
BFA 1981 Media Arts
Jean B. Kooi
BFA 1978 Media Arts
Abby Kreh
1962 Illustration
Barbara Laga
BFA 1977 Media Arts
BFA 1985 Film and BFA 1990 Video Media Arts
MFA 2008 Computer Art
Nelson Montalvo
BFA 1980 Photography
BFA 1982 Media Arts
Jeanne Martin
BFA 1983 Media Arts
Leith M. McLoughlin
1974 Graphic Design
Murguia
MFA 1998 Illustration as Visual Essay Robert V. Murphy
BFA 1981 Fine Arts
Brittany Neff
BFA 1984 Media Arts
Nancy Boecker Oates
1980 Media Arts Romaine Orthwein
MFA 2003 Photography and Related Media
Theo Padavano
BFA 1984 Media Arts
Patrick McDonnell* Michael Pantuso and Karen O’Connell
BFA 1978 Media Arts
John McVicker
BFA 1983 Media Arts
Greg Miller
BFA 1990 Photography
Wyatt Mills
BFA 2013 Fine Arts
Gregory Puertolas
Steven Pullara
BFA 1979 Fine Arts
Ruth Rachlin
BFA 1975 Michele Monteforte Fine Arts BFA 1995 Todd L. Radom Graphic Design BFA 1986 Media Arts Bethanie Deeney
Susan Koliadko O'Brien
Linda Kepke
MFA 2013 Art Practice
Hsiang Chin Moe, in memory of Cheryl Calhoun
Laura Maley
1971 Advertising
Noëlle King
BFA 1983 Film and BFA 1983 Video Media Arts
BFA 2012 Film and Video
BFA 2014 Design
Salvatore Petrosino Joel Scharf
MPS LCAT, LPAT, ATR-BC, MPS 2017 Art Therapy
Blas Madera
BFA 1978 Fine Arts
1973
Lisa J. Mirabile,
BFA 1978 Media Arts
Peter Papulis
BFA 1977 Fine Arts
Libby Parker
BFA 2014 Film and Video Anne Peck-Davis
1972
Gary Petrini
1979 Media Arts
Paul Rappaport
1963 Fine Arts Bob Ratynski
BFA 1984 Photography
Christopher M. Reid
BFA 1977 Media Arts
Kate N. Renner
BFA 2008 Graphic Design Lisa Rettig-Falcone
BFA 1983 Media Arts
Barbara Rietschel
BFA 1976 Media Arts
Sandro Rodorigo
BFA 1989 Media Arts
Jorge Luis Rodriguez
BFA 1976 Fine Arts
Rael Jean Schwab
Donald Shanley
BFA 1981 Fine Arts
Jerry Siegel
BFA 1975 Fine Arts
Joseph Sinnott and Moya McAllister
BFA 1988 Photography BFA 1990 Photography
Sirje B. Skerbergs
BFA 1987 Media Arts
Brian E. Smith
MFA 2006 Design Sandy SmithGarces, in honor of Carl Titolo
MFA 1990 Illustration as Visual Essay Rosemarie Sohmer Turk
BFA 1980 Media Arts
Rena Sokolow / one2tree
BFA 1986 Media Arts
Autumn Spadaro / Hey Autumn Productions
Marc Rubin
BFA 2003 Photography
Joseph M. Rutt
BFA 1985 Media Arts
BFA 1982 Media Arts BFA 1985 Media Arts
Linda Saccoccio* and Barry Winnick
MFA 1991 Fine Arts
Herb Savran
William Sponn
Art G. Stiefel
BFA 1987 Media Arts
Philip Sugden
BFA 1977 Fine Arts
BFA 1977 Film and Video *Alumnus
75 FALL/ WINTER 2026–27
With Appreciation
Gerald Hull
1968
DONORS
Retsu Takahashi
MFA 2002 Illustration as Visual Essay
Paul Terlemezian
BFA 1986 Photography
BFA 1998 Illustration
Robert Winter
1975 Media Arts
Gary Nicholas Zaccaria
Thomas Trengove
BFA 1981 Media Arts
David and Claudia Tung
Michelle Zadlock
1968
Both BFA 1985 Media Arts Sharyn Van Sant
1969
Maria L. Vicareo
BFA 1989 Media Arts
Hank A. Vitan
Paul and Sue Cryan Dr. J. Isenberg
Mark Willis
Liz Danzico
Burcin Iz
Charles Davis
Joyce Rutter Kaye
Mary Lou Dennis Deady
Caitlin Kilgallen
Joseph and Esther DeRosa The DiLillo Family Fund
BFA 1990 Media Arts
Laurence and Gail Dobosh
We also thank these parents and friends of SVA who supported the SVA Alumni Society.
Joan Dominick EP Engineering Sue Epstein Paul and Barbara Errico
With Appreciation
1975
Ace-Atlas Corporation
Constance Von Collande
Exclusive Contracting
Ainsworth, Inc.
James Farek
1966
Anonymous (9)
Fazio Family
Tom Wai-Shek
Anonymous, in memory of Jill Glover, 1974
1970 Advertising Kevin (Gig) Wailgum
Benefit Management Solutions
Noreen, Rich, and Brendan (BFA 2026 Film) Gaschke
Joni Blackburn and David Sandlin
General Plumbing Corporation
BOCA Group
Susan Ginsburg
BFA 1983 Photography
Brothers Supply Corporation
Todd Glidden
Judith* and Richard Wilde
Richard Buntzen
MFA 1991 Illustration as Visual Essay Airene Washington
BFA 2009 Graphic Design
Kenneth P. Wenzel
MFA 1994 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 1979 Fine Arts Dennis Wierl
Thomas and Georgeann Carnevali
Jing Gong Greene Family Tabatha Greene
Centennial Eleva- John G. and Helen tor Industries, Inc. E. Guglielmo
BFA 1996 Photography
Tina and Liqun Chen
Joshua Williams
Stacey Cheng
BFA 2007 Cartooning
Rochele Gloor
Ralph Colucci Gary and Deirdre Condon Kenji Corbisiero Phyllis and Kevin Crotty
Carri Richard, in memory of Anna Johnston (BFA 1987 Media Arts)
K.T.M. Electronics, Debra Richard, in Inc. memory of Anna Johnston (BFA LDI Connect 1987 Media Arts) Edward Antonio Rico Lefferman Karen and Michael Rikli Family Foundation Lefkowitz Julia Lester Lisa Lordi Major Air Service Corp Albert and Veronica Martella William McAllister
McClintock & Flag Waterproofing Associates Lynn and Jim and Restoration McNulty Phyllis Friedman
Dianne Ito Arisman
William Rednour
Paul Milbauer, in memory of my father, Lawrence Milbauer (1965) S.A. Modenstein Eric Montes de Oca Maureen Nicolazzi
Rosenwach Tank Co., LLC Safety Facility Services SAS Technologies SCS Agency Inc. Maureen and Gary Shillet Patricia E. Smith S.O.S. Locksmith Corp. Lynn Staley and Marty Linsky Victor Stryszko Deirdre Suter Taurino Management, Inc. Jamie A. Thornton TK Elevator
Elizabeth and Coleman O’Donoghue
Charles B. Unger
Oz Air Conditioning, Inc.
W.B. Mason
Mark Perry
Charles R. Vermilyea, Jr. Ms. Margaret Whitlock
Miranda Pierce Kelly Zaia Ms. Maryhelen Hendricks and Mr. Proskauer Robert Lewis Provident Bank Deborah Hussey Ned and Ellin Innovart Purdom Foundation Phyllis Ramirez, in Interior Foliage memory of Vincent Design, Inc Nicoletti (BFA 1979 Photography) *Alumnus
76 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
*Alumnus
BARBARA NESSIM Untitled, 1969, pen and ink and watercolor. Nessim, an artist, designer, and illustrator, was an early adopter of digital technology and instrumental in establishing the MFA Computer Arts program at SVA. From the Barbara Nessim Collection, Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives. For more information, visit archives.sva.edu.
External Relations · School of Visual Arts 209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010-3994 sva.edu