5 minute read
Mitra Fabian
Mitra Fabian
Born in Iran and raised in Boston, Mitra Fabian’s passion for art began at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. It was there that she took a sculpture class, which she describes as a turning point in her life. “That’s when everything clicked, and I realized, ‘Oh! This is what I can’t live without doing!’ ” she recalls. That spark pushed her into the world of art for good. She graduated with an art degree and moved to Los Angeles to try to start a career. “I quickly realized how difficult it is to maintain a studio practice and get anywhere in the art world. That’s when I decided to go back to school,” Fabian explains. She went on to earn her MFA at California State University, Northridge, where she also discovered a love for teaching.
Today, Fabian’s career is dedicated to both passions. She has had success as a sculptor and installation artist, including shows at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose and the Centre d’Art Marnay in France, has shown in galleries and museums across the country, and has been featured in several magazines. In 2021, she was commissioned to create five pieces for Google—large resistor “drawings” that now reside in one of their campus buildings.
“It was an incredibly challenging but exciting job,” she says of the Google project. “I felt it was a significant milestone because it required serious focus, dedication, and professionalism. It also felt great to earn that chunk of money.”
In addition to her art, Fabian is an experienced sculpture and ceramics teacher. She began her educational career at Sacramento City College before moving to the Bay Area to teach at West Valley College in Saratoga. Currently, she serves as the chair of the art department. “I think I got really lucky with my teaching career,” she says with earnest modesty. “A year out of grad school I got a full-time, tenure-track position at Sacramento City College and was there for seven years. Then I got the position at West Valley and have been here ever since.”
Fabian’s teaching philosophy leans into the idea of artists as outsiders. She encourages them to embrace their creativity and find new ways to envision the world. “I really try to tap into their weird,” she says.
“I’m pretty strict about foundational things, but then I really encourage them to take chances and forge their own ways.”
Fabian believes that there are many opportunities for artists in unexpected places, particularly in the Bay Area, and that art plays a critical role in many different professions, from engineering to business and beyond. “Art makes people more dynamic thinkers and problem-solvers in whatever career field they choose,” she says.
“I believe the biggest opportunities might be in the arena of 3D printing and other digital tech - nologies: we are already seeing how this technology is being put to incredible uses in the medical and architectural fields.”
The shift in learning styles and expectations post-COVID has been one of the biggest challenges of her educational career.
“My goal as chair has been [to ensure] good and fair communication with my colleagues, as well as looking out for the best interest of our department and students,” she says. “This was especially tough during COVID.
I think the greatest hurdles we face revolve around a postCOVID world in which many students are trying to regain a sense of normalcy. The ripple effects of mental and financial difficulties, as well as a gen - eral decline in enrollment, are still reverberating, and for who knows how long?”
Despite the challenges, the college and her department have exciting opportunities ahead, including a new visual arts building for the Cilker School of Art and Design. “It’s been a project long in the making!” Fabian exclaims. “We will have new ceramics, sculpture, painting, digital, animation, and drawing classrooms, as well as a new gallery. The new building is a beautiful state-of-the art facility. Students will experience bright, clean rooms with new technology and equipment and great instructors. Our goal with this new facility is a private art school experience at an afford - able community college.”
And while her role at West Valley is significant, she continues to find time to devote to her own art. Currently, she’s working on new pieces that will be featured at New Museum Los Gatos next fall. Staying creative herself mirrors the approach she takes to fostering artistic inspiration within the students in her classrooms. “In a world where we are constantly being asked to conform to certain standards and students are spoon-fed answers, I find that they discover genius when they can let go, get curious, fill their brains with wonderful stuff, experiment, make mistakes, and then make something good.”
