Otherwise | No. 1

Official Publication of the MFA in Visual Art Program S A M F O X S C H O O L O F D E S I G N & V I S U A L A R T S | W A S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

H

ello out there…

I welcome you into the pages of Otherwise. You just might belong here! Read on and find out.

Otherwise stands for quite a few new things around here at the Sam Fox School. First there’s our brand-new, drop-dead gorgeous building, Weil Hall, where your future studio may well await you. We’re launching a brand-new graduate curriculum, one that privileges making, thinking, camaraderie, competition, and the thrill of divining the world through artist’s eyes. To top it off, we’ve got a new chair for the program, Lisa Bulawsky, a beloved faculty member who also happens to direct Island Press, our printmaking residency program.

Take a meander through these pages and check in on what our faculty are thinking and making, on what our students are working on, and how you, too, might fit in. We’ve got a killer visiting lecture program: Mika Rottenberg, Vanessa German, and Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch, to name a few. We share our digs with the College of Architecture who’ve got all kinds of interesting people roaming in and out including guest lecturers Beatriz Colomina and Walter Hood. And we’re right next door to the Kemper Art Museum, whose recent Ai Weiwei show was a scene stealer.

St. Louis is a profoundly interesting city for artists. It’s funky, affordable, complicated, and has good eats and a ridiculous amount of culture per square foot. Of course we’ve got the literally awesome Arch (did you know that 630-foot high engineering marvel was designed in 1947)? We’ve got the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. But we’ve also got the Miniature Museum, not to mention the weirdo OSHA-defying City Museum. We’ve got the Mississippi River as our way of telling east from west and the Cahokia Mounds as our portal into the past. St. Louis is a complex and compelling place from which to launch a career. And, oh yes: affordable.

So take a look. Let us know if we can answer any questions.

Amy Hauft Director, College of Art Jane Reuter Hitzeman and Herbert F. Hitzeman, Jr. Professor of Art Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Washington University in St. Louis

Oth·er·wise | ˈə-t͟hər-ˌwīz A new approach. A new way of thinking. In a different state or situation. Existing elsewhere.

Under different circumstances. In other respects. In contrast to. Of the opposite. From a different vantage.

On the other hand. If not. If then.

An alternative. A way in. A way out. An other way of knowing.

IN THIS ISSUE...

2 4 8 9 10 20 24 26 28 30 31 32

Curriculum Studios & Facilities Kemper Art Museum Island Press Student Work Spotlight Faculty Q&A with Lisa Bulawsky Visiting Lecturers & Critics Alumni An Illustrated Guide to St. Louis STL’s Gallery Scene FAQ

NEW STUDIOS, NEW CURRICULUM, OUR MFA IN VISUAL ART

Chaired by professor Lisa Bulawsky, our new curriculum instills students with the agency and resiliency essential to the next generation of artists.

As part of a tier-one research university, our MFA in Visual Art program is an inclusive, close-knit community of renegade makers and thinkers. We offer students a site of rigorous inquiry, humanity, and intellectual generosity.

1

C U RRI CUL A R E L E MENTS

In the Graduate Studio, students work independently with the guidance of a primary faculty mentor as well as a broad range of other faculty and visitors.

Group Critique is the heart of the curriculum. A mix of first- and second-year students meets for rigorous weekly critiques to share new work and engage in lively, constructive discussion.

A sequence of required Graduate Seminars engages students in research methodologies and prepares them for professional careers in the arts.

MFA-VA students can enroll in Electives across the School and the University that build upon their research interests. Students also participate in Workshops to build essential technical and professional skills.

Interested in teaching and research assistantships? See p. 32.

1ST Y E A R FALL SEM ESTER

1ST Y E A R SP R I N G SEM EST E R

4 credits

4 credits

4 credits

4 credits

3 credits

3 credits

3 credits

3 credits

1 credit

1 credit

Graduate Studio Graduate Group Critique Graduate Seminar: First-Year Colloquium Elective

Workshops

Graduate Seminar: Professional Practice in Art

Workshops GR A D U ATE STU D E N T T R I P

EX H I BI TI ON

EX H I BI TI O N

Hit-the-GroundRunning Exhibition

First-Year Candidacy Exhibition

Seek out connections

Experiment

WHAT DO THE UNIVERSITY’S RESOURCES MEAN FOR YOU?

Fox Fridays

Students at a Fox Fridays workshop learn to use technology in the Caleres Fabrication Studio to scan objects (or people) and create digital models to print to 3D printers in the lab. Jerry Naunheim / WUSTL Photos.

Graduate Group Critique

Elective

W O RKSH OPS

Students can learn about under-known tools, processes, and technologies through Fox Fridays, a weekly, low-stress workshop series. Recent sessions: Intro to Machine Learning; Sound Design; Alternative Processes in Silkscreening; Arduino Motors & Sensors; and Intro to Game Development, VR, and AR.

Graduate Studio

A good artwork is meandering and inefficient, while a good graduate curriculum is clear and concise. The MFA curriculum holds both things in balance. In the two-year timeline, it is possible to both get lost inside of your work and bring lucid introspection to your practice.”

–Jack Risley, Professor

2

The Sam Fox School is an integral part of Washington University’s diverse academic community, which is home to some of the world’s leading experts in the humanities and the sciences. You’ll have access to the University’s system of 12 libraries, a professional media production center, two observatories, an environmental field station, and much more.

Immersed in this rich research environment, our students are ideally equipped to develop ideas and artworks of consequence and significance.

S U M M E R SE M E ST ER

2N D YEA R FALL SEM ESTER

2N D YEA R SP R I N G SEM EST E R

4 credits

4 credits

4 credits

4 credits

3 credits

4 credits

3 credits

Summer Independent Project During the summer following the first year of study, MFA-VA students create projects supported by independent research. These can be accomplished in the Sam Fox School studios, or by engaging in partnerships or residencies with arts organizations.

In alternating years, students have the opportunity to participate in our Sommerakademie in Germany. Students develop a project proposal in spring of their first year, and exhibit their work in the fall.

Graduate Studio Graduate Group Critique Graduate Seminar: Research for Practice

Graduate Group Critique Graduate Seminar: Thesis & Exhibition Prep Total degree credits: 60

3 credits

Elective 1 credit

Workshops GR A D U ATE STU D EN T TR I P

The College of Art subscribes to the standards for the MFA degree set forth by the College Art Association (CAA) and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

EX H I BI TI ON

EX H I BI TI ON

I Love Summer Exhibition

MFA Thesis Exhibition

Practice-led research

Thesis development

C O N NE CT I NG WI T H YO UR PE E RS ACROSS D I S C I PL I NE S

Within the School, you’ll be able to engage with students and faculty— and their work—in our graduate programs in Illustration & Visual Culture, Architecture, Urban Design, and Landscape Architecture.

The University also has top graduate programs in creative writing, social work, business, and the sciences.

Your incidental encounters with individuals from different disciplines can have an enormous influence on what you make and how and why you make it. You’ll find most people to be generous with their time and eager to share with you.

Graduate Studio

Students from the MFA in Visual Art and the MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture programs gather for a discussion session with visiting artist Pablo Helguera, facilitated by professor emeritus Buzz Spector in February 2020.

Photo: Stephanie Schlaifer.

3

WEI L HA L L

Weil Hall offers ready connections to the facilities and maker spaces in the School’s six-building complex. The Jordan Charitable Foundation Central Plaza provides outdoor space for gathering and joins Weil to the library, museum, and Steinberg Hall (designed by Fumihiko Maki), whose distinc­ tive roofline is seen here.

Peter Aaron / OTTO.

OUR HOME IN WEIL HALL

O

pened in fall 2019, Anabeth and John Weil Hall is a hub for our graduate programs in Visual Art, Illustration & Visual Culture, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design. Designed by the firm KieranTimberlake, the 82,000-square-foot facility includes studio spaces across graduate programs; exhibition and project spaces; communal spaces for socializing and working; and numerous resources for making, including an experimental studio for video, film, and time-based media. The building achieved LEED Platinum status—the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest certification.

M FA-VA STU D I OS

MFA-VA studios are located across the south side of Weil Hall’s second and third floors, providing abundant natural light. Each student gets their own, 180-square-foot, loft-style studio space.

Installation spaces throughout the studio areas allow students to convene for critiques, student-curated exhibitions, and impromptu gatherings. Whitney Curtis / WUSTL Photos.

Want to see more of our facilities and maker spaces without leaving the comfort of your couch? Take our 360º tour. >> samfoxschool.wustl.edu/admissions

4

W EI L H A LL C O M M O N S

Located on the building’s main floor, the Commons includes the Weil Project Wall, which features newly commissioned works by alumni.

The inaugural installation, it comes and it goes, is a 12-panel mural by Anne Schaefer, BFA01.

James Byard / WUSTL Photos.

KU E HN ER C OURT

Adjacent to studios, Kuehner Court in Weil Hall offers a welcoming space to relax and work, and includes a lush, two-story living green wall.

James Ewing / JBSA.

5

Joshua White / JWpictures.com

C A LER ES FA BR I C ATI ON STU D I O

The Caleres Fabrication Studio supports complex projects and digital fabrication, featuring industry-grade tools such as laser cutters, 3D printers, a large-format CNC milling machine, vacuum and thermoforming, and a knife plotter.

Special workshops, including Fox Fridays (see p. 2), provide students opportunities to learn to use these tools. Joshua White / JWPictures.com.

W O O D A N D M E TA L SH OP S

The School’s wood and metal shops are staffed by expert teaching technicians. Walker Hall houses wood and metal shops, plaster and mold-making, foundry, and ceramics facilities, including several ironworkers and kilns. Interior courtyards in Walker and Weil, along with numerous exterior spaces, provide opportunities for large-scale investigations. James Byard / WUSTL Photos.

P R I N TM A K I N G+B O O K ST U D I O

The School has a new, integrated printmaking atelier for letterpress, etching, lithography, and illustrated books. The space includes the Dubinsky Printmaking Studio, which features very large, electrically powered etching presses, and Island Press, our collaborative printmaking workshop (see p. 9). A collaboration with University Libraries, the Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Studio for the Illustrated Book is a working book and print production facility that includes equipment for letterpress, intaglio, photopolymer plate, and silkscreen processes.

Joshua White / JWPictures.com.

6

SC U LPTU R E GA R D EN

The reinstalled Florence Steinberg Weil Sculpture Garden extends the Kemper Art Museum’s reach into the surrounding park-like setting of campus. Situated just north of Weil Hall, the sculpture garden features iconic works such as Auguste Rodin’s The Shade and Alexander Calder’s Five Rudders.

Bisected Circle, a new commission by Dan Graham, is featured in the foreground of this photo. The piece was created as part of the University’s Art on Campus public art program. Joshua White / JWPictures.com.

DES L EE GA L L E RY

K R A N ZBERG LI BR A RY

MFA-VA students are provided numerous opportunities to exhibit their work, both on and off campus. Located in downtown St. Louis, the Des Lee Gallery is one of the School’s many exhibition spaces. Throughout the year, it presents work by students, faculty, and alumni, as well as other leading artists and designers.

The University’s library system features 12 distinct sites, including the Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library, which holds more than 105,000 volumes in various media, and subscribes to the foremost electronic article indexes, e-book reference works, and digital image databases. The D.B. Dowd Modern Graphic History Library is the most comprehensive archival collection of periodical illustration held by any academic institution. Joe Angeles / WUSTL Photos.

Whitney Curtis / WUSTL Photos.

7

Ai Weiwei poses for selfies with Kemper Art Museum patrons at the opening of the fall 2019 exhibition, Ai Weiwei: Bare Life. Photo: Virginia Harold.

KEMPER ART MUSEUM

D

irectly across from Weil Hall, the School’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum is a significant resource for students and faculty across campus. After a major expansion in 2019, the Museum now offers three floors of gallery space to showcase its world-class collection and exhibitions of leading modern and contemporary art.

The new James M. Kemper Gallery presents postwar and contemporary art, while the reconfigured Gertrude Bernoudy Gallery features major 19th- and early 20th-century European and American works. The redesigned Teaching Gallery, which is dedicated to exhibiting works from the Museum’s collection with direct connections to University courses, can now accommodate larger classes. Other new galleries are dedicated to works on paper, video art, and seldom-seen historical objects from the collection.

P ERM A NE NT C OL LECTION

The Kemper Art Museum has one of the finest university collections in the United States, comprising some 8,700 objects. It includes strong holdings of 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century European and American paintings, sculpture, prints, installations, and photographs. Represented artists include Franz Ackermann, John Baldessari, Alberto Burri, Willem de Kooning, Nicole Eisenman, Olafur Eliasson, Isa Genzken, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Tim Rollins, Ed Ruscha, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, Pierre Soulages, Wolfgang Tillmans, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, and Pae White.

8

M FA T H E S I S E X H I B I T I O N At the culmination of their studies, MFA-VA candidates work directly with the Kemper Art Museum’s curators, preparators, and installers to produce their thesis show. The annual MFA in Visual Art Thesis Exhibition, typically held at the Museum, attracts a broad audience and includes public lectures about the featured works.

(TOP AND MIDDLE) Opening reception, 2018 MFA Thesis Exhibition. Whitney Curtis / WUSTL Photos. (BOTTOM) Opening reception, 2017 MFA Thesis Exhibition. Stan Strembicki / Sam Fox School.

ISLAND PRESS

I

sland Press is a research-based printmaking workshop that creates and publishes innovative prints and multiples. In the context of intensive visiting artist residencies, Island Press explores the expansive theoretical and material terrain of the print. The Press is projectdriven, tapping into the place where the artist’s creative activity intersects with the philosophical underpinnings of printmaking. Experimentation with new modes and technologies is a natural part of this pursuit, resulting in the creation of ambitious editions in a range of media.

Visiting artists work in collaboration with the master printer, faculty, and students, who gain access to the technical and conceptual challenges of a variety of projects. Past visiting artists include Dario Robleto, Nina Katchadourian, Beverly Semmes, Michael Joo, and Radcliffe Bailey.

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) Beverly Semmes. Golden G: Flowers, 2016. Intaglio on polar fleece chine collĂŠ with archival inkjet and collagraph collage insert; ed. of 12.

Lisa Anne Auerbach. Detail of Ten Truths Self Evident, 2018. Ten relief prints from Shina plywood on bleached muslin strung with cotton cord. 9 x 12" each, overall dimensions variable; ed. of 20.

Trenton Doyle Hancock. From 548 First St NE., 2013. Etching, relief, silkscreen, and collage on Magnani Pescia. 19 x 24", ed. of 14.

Nina Katchadourian. Window Seat Suprematism 1, 2014. Etching and aquatint.

13 x 16" paper size, 11 x 14" plate size.

Radcliffe Bailey. Tricky 3, 2011. Pigment print, collagraph, collage, glitter.

41 x 64", ed. of 8.

9

Never Been a Time, 2017. Film still.

Zola (toy poodle), Muzzette (cat my daughter gave me), Buddy (adopted stray cat who hunts squirrels, rabbits, mice—eats the whole body and tail).

ANY PETS?

The book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

Beloved by Toni Morrison.

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

Make quick/alla prima work every day alongside the long-term work.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

Adobe Premiere.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

FILM, VIDEO, & SCULPTURE b. Yeadon, PA | Member since: 1991

DEN I SE WAR D-B ROW N

The Cabinet of Ordinary Affairs, 2018.

Collab. multimedia installation with Stephanie Schlaifer. Photo: R. Sprengeler.

Organize my tools.

HOW DO YOU PROCRASTINATE?

Deadlines.

HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED?

T-shirt with about a gallon of dried glue on the front.

STUDIO UNIFORM

Brownies.

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

Ability to weed vinyl with mini tweezers.

BEST STUDIO HACK

Try it, then decide.

The Mutable Archive (Shimon Attie), 2020. Video still.

My last pet was a chinchilla named Mephisto.

ANY PETS?

Seek to live in “a big here and a long now.”

TELL US SOMETHING WE FORGOT TO ASK

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

The history of science and visual phenomena, cybernetics, and Jakob von Uexküll’s concepts of the Umwelt.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

Repetition is a form of change.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED ABOUT YOUR WORK

St. Augustine’s compound, a former church I bought a few years ago.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

PAT RI C I A O LYN Y K

MEDIA ARTS, INSTALL ATION, & CRITICAL STUDIES b. Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Member since: 2007

“just steps away”, 2020. Archival pigment print, 58 x 43.25".

Learning to solve tech problems on my own.

SKILL YOU’D BE MOST LOST WITHOUT

Feeling relieved.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Deep-dish pizza, tiramisu, or tres leches cake.

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

20th-century African American fiction, like Invisible Man and Native Son, in which the protagonist’s exploration of a landscape becomes an exploration of the self.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

NPR, Netflix and the like, podcasts on politics.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

Making lists.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

A drill, fully charged.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

T I M P OR T LO CK

DIGITAL PRINTS & ANIMATION b. Chicago, IL | Member since: 2016

Broadcast, 2001. Fabric, metal, broom handle.

One time I was late to my opening because I was working out at the gym.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

All of the above. Bring it on.

EPOXY, MINERAL SPIRITS, OR COMMAND-Z?

A really well-made cup of coffee—smooth, a hint of cacao, a bit of crema, and the viscosity of a root beer float.

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

Music on WFMU, an artist-run station out of Jersey City, NJ. One day Cindy Sherman called in to make a pledge.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

My 35yo Bernina sewing machine.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

PAINTING, SCULPTURE, DESIGN, & INSTALL ATION b. Grand Rapids, MI | Member since: 2001

CH E RY L WA SSE N AAR

Anamnesis III, 2019. Still from digital film, color, sound, 11:53 min.

I don’t think I ever felt not motivated.

Sometimes I feel scared that there is not enough time in my life to make all the work that is waiting to be “released.”

HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED?

I’ve been known to desperately look for an available piano to improvise on, in solitude, which always calms my nerves and cleanses the space in me and around me.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

When I perform, I often wear one of my black, long dresses and a black scarf.

STUDIO UNIFORM

Time—it is my material, my canvas, and my content.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

J AC K R ISL EY

L ARGE-SCALE SCULPTURE b. Middletown, CT | Member since: 2019

STUDENT WORK

MON I KA W EI SS

VIDEO, SOUND, PERFORMANCE, & PUBLIC PROJECTS b. Warsaw, Poland | Member since: 2011

Too much NPR.

A student once baked a cookie in my likeness to get off the waitlist. Kinda creepy, but it worked.

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

You can use stretch plastic wrap, cable ties, and bungee cords for pretty much everything.

BEST STUDIO HACK

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

A converted salon in UCity.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

SCULPTURE b. Chicago, IL | Member since: 1997

A RNY NA DLER

Cul-du-Sac, Chalmette, Louisiana, 2018.

Silver gelatin print, 20 x 16".

This Q wasn’t written for photographers…

EPOXY, MINERAL SPIRITS, OR COMMAND-Z?

Mouth noises? Any annoying sniffles or other noises in quiet spaces. And the font Calibri.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

Podcasts! Mostly mystery, true crime, running, and interviews with writers. If I listen to music, it’s usually bro-country. Like the really horrible commercial country about trucks and red dirt roads.

WHAT’S YOUR TOP STUDIO JAM?

All over. I do a lot of travel for my photography projects and then work on them either on the computer at home or in studio.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

Long days photographing in the field and working in the darkroom.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

PHOTOGRAPHY b. Amherst, MA | Member since: 2019

MEG HA N KI RKWOOD

Image: Manuscript, in progress.

My favorite director is Terrence Malick, especially Days of Heaven.

TELL US SOMETHING WE FORGOT TO ASK

Excessive exclamation points and italics.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

As a Weasel Sucks Eggs: An Essay on Melancholy and Cannibalism by Daniel Birnbaum and Anders Olsson.

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

Hiding.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Silence is key, but I do listen to Erik Satie, sometimes Arvo Pärt, or Goldmund.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

My writing desk.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

ART, WRITING, & CURATION b. Kenosha, WI | Member since: 2000

RI CHA RD KRUEG ER

Firstling No. 8, 2017. Painted ceramic, 19 x 31.25 x 15.5". Photo: R. Sprengeler.

Tardiness.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

Fear of failure.

HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED?

Living Materials by Oliver Andrews.

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

Holly McGraw (TOP) Detail of Shady Lady St. Louis II, 2016.

(BOTTOM) Shady Lady Green Bay, 2016; Shady Lady Washington, DC, 2016; Shady Lady St. Louis II, 2016. Inkjet prints, 36 x 48" each.

Bad movies and silence.

Lamp & Coins, 2020. Collage image on aluminum, 48 x 36".

Glue stick.

Shop coat and glasses on a lead.

EPOXY, MINERAL SPIRITS, OR COMMAND-Z?

STUDIO UNIFORM

Kurt Schwitters/Ree Morton... Francis Picabia/Rosemarie Trockel… Alice Neel/Philip Guston… Dieter Roth/Mika Rottenberg.

BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

In dreams and any available space, borrowed or rented.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

Get comfortable with failure. It tends to be the invisible path to success.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

PAINTING & COLL AGE b. Providence, RI | Member since: 1994

MI C H AEL BY RO N

Piling Up, 2020. Watercolor on handmade Italian paper, book spread 21 x 14.5".

Luis Cruz Azaceta.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

Relaxing and starting new work.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Drawing.

SKILL YOU’D BE MOST LOST WITHOUT?

Neil Young, Tom Waits, Wilco… Dylan’s It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

Make art that is joyful.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

Nice watercolor color brushes and a large digital printer.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

C ARMO N CO L AN GELO

PRINTMAKING & WATERCOLOR b. Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Member since: 2006

Period Room, 1998. Spruance Gallery, Arcadia University. Photo: Aaron Eigler.

Architecture and movies.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

I have some kind of innate ability to put things together so they look good. I am the kind of person who walks into someone’s house and can immediately see that the couch would look way better over there.

SKILL YOU’D BE MOST LOST WITHOUT

“That will totally work!”

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

“That will never work.”

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED ABOUT YOUR WORK

Because of the scale of my work, I am pretty sure I cannot make art without a laser level.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

AMY H AUF T

SCULPTURE & INSTALL ATION b. Cincinnati, OH | Member since: 2019

Niagaradown, 2013. Oil on linen, 96 x 84".

The Poetics of Space (Gaston Bachelard), Anatomy for the Artist (Jeno Barcsay), Courbet (Linda Nochlin), Tradition and Desire: From David to Delacroix (Norman Bryson).

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

Hopper, Courbet, Delacroix, Guston, Michelangelo.

BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK

Anything with paint already on it, which is most everything…

STUDIO UNIFORM

Everything from film score composers like Ennio Morricone to the Indigo Girls and the Bee Gees.

Drawing with a ballpoint pen.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

PAINTING & DRAWING b. Pittsburgh, PA | Member since: 2003

J AMI E ADAMS

Soft Spot Collection (detail) from The Doubt of Being, 2020. Papier mâché and handprinted paper, dimensions variable.

Richard Dreyfuss. And paper towel dispensers that are mounted high on the wall so the water drips down your arm and inside your sleeve when you’re reaching for a towel to dry off.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

I have a summer apron and a winter apron.

Arugula and chocolate chip cookies.

STUDIO UNIFORM

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

Going down rabbit holes with absolutely no plan. I’d be lost without the impulse to improvise.

SKILL YOU’D BE MOST LOST WITHOUT

Repurposing things to make other things.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

PRINTMAKING & PUBLIC ART b. Sunnyvale, CA | Member since: 1996

L I SA B UL AWSK Y

Want the full scoop?

You’ll find the faculty’s full responses to our 20 Questions interview, plus their bios, and additional images of their work on the MFA in Visual Art faculty page of our website.

Joseph Canizales (Small Impression of home), 2020.

Sand, projector, and two videos from Key Biscayne, Florida; 54 x 36 x 5".

The favorite jams of MFA in Visual Art students, faculty, and staff.

SIDE A 1

Can You Get to That — Funkadelic

2

-Vesoul — Jacques Brel

3

-Metamorfose Ambulante — Raul Seixas

4

-Baila Me — Gipsy Kings

5

-Disco Devil — Lee “Scratch” Perry

6

-Come On Eileen — Dexys Midnight Runners

ADRIAN GONZALEZ

JACK RISLEY

AMELIA JONES

JON NAVY

NOAH GREENE-LOWE

JOSEPH CANIZALES

7

-Life As A Rehearsal — Minutemen

8

-This Is the Picture (Excellent Birds) — Peter Gabriel

TIM PORTLOCK

STEPHANIE SCHLAIFER

9

-Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow — Joni Mitchell BRANDON ANSCHULTZ

10

-Last Kind Words Blues — Geeshie Wiley

11

-Under Pressure — Queen & David Bowie

12

-Dive Bar Saints — Home Free

13

-Put Your Records On — Corinne Bailey Rae

RICHARD KRUEGER

MELISSA WHITWAM-WATSON

MEGHAN KIRKWOOD

SAM MODDER

14

-Tiny Dancer — Elton John

15

-Maiden Voyage / Everything In Its Right Place — Robert Glasper

MADDIE GROTEWIEL

Bryan Page (ABOVE) Jesse (Writhing), 2019; Pax (Writhing), 2019. Digital animation with motion-activated triggers, 5 min. each.

TAKURA SUZUKI

16

-Irene — Caribou

17

-Anodyne — Angel Mowgli

18

-Journey In Satchidananda — Alice Coltrane

Adrian Gonzales (LEFT) Small Pin-up (In Memory of the Evening), 2019. Acrylic, crayon, push pin without a pin, two sheets of printed newsprint, inkjet print on Mylar, clear gesso, wood frame, and canvas; 42 x 52 ½".

MATTHEW BRANHAM

MICHAEL BYRON

JESSICA BREMEHR

>> Listen at bit.ly/studiomix2020 11

SIDE B 19

Harmony Hall — Vampire Weekend

20

-It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue — Bob Dylan

CRIS BALDWIN

CARMON COLANGELO

21

-Brilliant Mistake — Elvis Costello

22

-Blue Moon — Beck

23

-Tired of Being Alone — Al Green

24

-That Heat — Sérgio Mendes ft. Erykah Badu & will.i.am

ARNY NADLER

CHERYL WASSENAAR

AMY HAUFT

JAMIE ADAMS

STUDENT WORK

Holly McGraw (TOP) Detail of Shady Lady St. Louis II, 2016.

(BOTTOM) Shady Lady Green Bay, 2016; Shady Lady Washington, DC, 2016; Shady Lady St. Louis II, 2016. Inkjet prints, 36 x 48" each.

25

-Guyliner Pt. 2 — Dorian Electra

26

-Genius of Love — Tom Tom Club

27

-Vardavar — Tigran Hamasyan

28

-I Am Free — The Dandy Warhols

29

-I’m So Bored With the U.S.A. — The Clash

MARTIN LAMMERT

TAYLOR YOCOM

CARLOS SALAZAR-LERMONT

AUDREY WESTCOTT

HEATHER BENNETT

30

-Margaritas at the Mall — Purple Mountains TOM REED

31

-Spiracle — Soap&Skin

32

-Gold Dust Woman — Fleetwood Mac

33

-Reckoner — Radiohead

34

-A Stream With Bright Fish — Harold Budd & Brian Eno

LISA BULAWSKY

JEN MEYER

BRYCE ROBINSON

ALEXA VELEZ

35

-Taki pejzaż — Ewa Demarczyk

36

-The Big Ship — Brian Eno

MONIKA WEISS

PATRICIA OLYNYK

>> Listen at bit.ly/studiomix2020

Joseph Canizales (Small Impression of home), 2020.

Sand, projector, and two videos from Key Biscayne, Florida; 54 x 36 x 5".

Bryan Page (ABOVE) Jesse (Writhing), 2019; Pax (Writhing), 2019. Digital animation with motion-activated triggers, 5 min. each.

Adrian Gonzales (LEFT) Small Pin-up (In Memory of the Evening), 2019. Acrylic, crayon, push pin without a pin, two sheets of printed newsprint, inkjet print on Mylar, clear gesso, wood frame, and canvas; 42 x 52 ½".

13

Addoley Dzegede Foundations (detail), 2015.

Mixed media, 33 ½ x 33 x 17".

Takura Suzuki (LEFT) Stolen Memories #1, 2020. Inkjet print, 23.3 x 14.6".

Takura Suzuki (RIGHT) Fukushima Flowers (English), 2020. Inkjet print, 24 x 14".

Addoley Dzegede Foundations, 2015. Mixed media, 33 ½ x 33 x 17".

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Harley Lafarrah Eaves (LEFT) Untitled, 2018. Flocked corn brooms on painted wood, 33 ½ x 56 x 11 Ÿ" (overall).

Vita Eruhimovitz The Chatting Room, 2015. 5 Wobbly-bots: polystyrene, metal, fiberglass, Hydrocal, modified PVC, epoxy enamel, single-board computers, speakers, microphones, and sensors; 48 x 69 x 48" each.

Rachel Kalman (ABOVE) The Bee and Jupiter, 2018. Oil on canvas, 28 x 32".

Yvonne Osei Chiefs of a Dead (trickery) Liberty, 2015. Performance.

Quinn Briceño (TOP RIGHT) Chinelas, 2020.

Acrylic, lotto tickets, packing stickers, and bean stained paper on canvas; 12 x 18".

Rachel Lebo (ABOVE) I’ve forgotten the rest of the story., 2019. Oil on canvas, 27 ½ x 23 ½".

Sara Ghazi Asadollahi Crevice, 2019; Niche, 2019. Oil on canvas, 26 x 20" each.

Silence, 2019. Cement, Plexiglas, and LED light; 36 x 24 x 24".

Chris Scott sadboyfuck1, 2019. Video (22:47 min.), monitor on buckets, tape; dimensions variable.

Carlos Salazar-Lermont Retablos, 2020. Mylar emergency blanket, gold leaf, and plastic Harina P.A.N. package on plywood.

17

Nicole Fry Drifting / Dreaming, 2016.

Bleached cotton cloth and audio, 2 min.; cloth: 216 x 102".

Sam Modder (BELOW) Planning My Escape, 2020. Ballpoint pen, digital collage; 56 x 75".

Garrett Clough (ABOVE) The Artwork Will Be Silent (detail), 2016.

5 speaker boxes: plywood, pine, chalk, latex paint, and spray paint, with audio; 23 ¾ x 25 x 3", 22 ¾ x 24 x 6", 28 ½ x 29 ⅞ x 5", 22 ¾ x 24 x 9 ¾", and 22 ¾ x 24 x 4".

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Ryan Erickson (BOTTOM LEFT) And?, 2020.

Charcoal on wall, 37 x 34 x 12".

Danica Radoshevich (BOTTOM RIGHT) Breakaway Type Adherent to NCHRP Report 350, 2016.

Plywood, MDF, acrylic, mirror, and digital print; overall dimensions variable.

Placard (Public Deluxe), 2016.

Plywood, MDF, acrylic, and recycled plastic; 40 x 72 x 26".

U-Channel Type (Frontage), 2016.

Found objects, 60 x 20".

19

STUDENT WORK

Jessica Bremehr Warped Identity, 2020. Acrylic and gouache on wood panel, 9 x 12".

FACULTY Men·tor | ˈmen-ˌtôr An experienced and trusted adviser. From the root men- or mon-: to remember, think, or counsel. The identity assumed by Athena—the goddess of intelligence, war, and the arts—to guide Telemachus in his arduous quest. Someone whose wisdom can be depended upon on a journey.

O

ur faculty are nationally and internationally recognized for their diverse practices, which engage complex territories on the environment, race, politics, material culture, science, and the human condition.

Thwarting conventional silos, many work across disciplines and collaborate with practitioners in other fields. Several Sam Fox School faculty have joint appointments in other departments—including Film & Media Studies; American Culture Studies; Performing Arts; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and African and African-American Studies—so they are poised to connect you with other research areas at the University.

MFA-VA P RO GR A M C O R E FAC U LT Y

Jamie Adams Lisa Bulawsky Michael Byron Carmon Colangelo Amy Hauft Meghan Kirkwood Richard Krueger Arny Nadler Patricia Olynyk Tim Portlock Jack Risley Denise Ward-Brown Cheryl Wassenaar Monika Weiss SELECT EX H I BI TI ON S

• The New Museum • Museum of Modern Art

S EL E CT FE L LOW SHIPS & AWARDS

• New York Foundation for the Arts Grant • Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant • Fulbright Fellowship • National Endowment for the Arts Grant • Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award • Yaddo Residency • UCLA Design Media Arts Center Residency • Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship (Italy) • International Artists Residency Fellowship (Poland) • Pew Fellowship • Howard Foundation Fellowship

• American Academy in Rome • PS1 • Whitney Biennial • Crystal Bridges Museum • Corcoran Museum of Art • MASS MoCA • Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago • San Francisco Black Film Festival • Marianne Boesky Gallery • Postmasters Gallery • Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

20

Studio visits play a critical role within our program, facilitating an open exchange of ideas that can expand the context of work and elevate its content. Associate professor Monika Weiss reflects on the spirit of these interactions and the opportunities they present.

~~~~~~

L

REFLECTING ON THE STUDIO VISIT

et’s think about what takes place during a well-prepared studio visit: an artist and visitor come together to discuss (sometimes over coffee or tea) the work on view. Of the many aspects of this essential (and also vulnerable) exchange, the most important of all is the willingness of both parties to make an effort to truly understand the work on its terms and communicate with each other— on intellectual, visceral, and emotional levels. The generosity of spirit must come from both sides. In that sense, a studio visit is a perfect ground for a “non-power” place, where the only thing that matters is the work on view, and its possible symbolic, aesthetic, affective, conceptual, social, or political meanings. At its best, a studio visit is a deep conversation about the work, but also about the world, and about what passions and concerns drive the artist. It’s worth remembering, too, that many artists are shy, as are those who visit the studios of other artists. Mutual space, respect, and listening are necessary to create conditions for sharing. In the context of an MFA program, a studio visit also nods to Emmnauel Levinas’ philosophy of ethical reciprocity, placing accent on the “other.” In this way, the studio visit isn’t merely free of power dynamics, as much as possible, but marks a reversal of the expected power dynamic, where the accent is on the student as the artist, not on the visitor.

—Monika Weiss

BYO Bubble Gum

MEET YOUR 14 CORE PROGRAM FACULTY!

JAMIE ADA MS

MICH AEL BY RO N

CAR MO N COLA NG ELO

Co th l l e al e m c l! t

Your faculty mentors are important players on your most important crew: TEAM YOU. Each one has an extraordinary set of skills, knowledge, and expertise.

On these cards, you’ll get to know their strengths, their quirks, and their secret weapons. All their essential stats. They will do their best to get you to do your best. Even if it hurts.

Go team!

KENNETH E. HUDSON PROFESSOR OF ART

MEG HAN K I R KWO O D

PATRICIA OLYNYK

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

FLORENCE AND FRANK BUSH PROFESSOR OF ART

D ENI SE WAR D - B ROW N

PROFESSOR

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

R ICH AR D KRUEG ER

T IM PO R TLOCK

RALPH J. NAGEL DEAN

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

PROFESSOR & CHAIR, UNDERGRADUATE ART

CH E RYL WA SSENA A R

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

LI SA B ULAWSKY

A MY HA UF T

DIRECTOR, COLLEGE OF ART

A RNY NA DLER

JACK RI SLEY

PROFESSOR & CHAIR, MFA IN VISUAL ART

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

PROFESSOR

MONI KA WEI SS

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

MON I KA W EI SS

Never Been a Time, 2017. Film still.

Zola (toy poodle), Muzzette (cat my daughter gave me), Buddy (adopted stray cat who hunts squirrels, rabbits, mice—eats the whole body and tail).

ANY PETS?

The book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

Beloved by Toni Morrison.

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

Make quick/alla prima work every day alongside the long-term work.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

Adobe Premiere.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

FILM, VIDEO, & SCULPTURE b. Yeadon, PA | Member since: 1991

DEN I SE WAR D-B ROW N

The Cabinet of Ordinary Affairs, 2018.

Collab. multimedia installation with Stephanie Schlaifer. Photo: R. Sprengeler.

Organize my tools.

HOW DO YOU PROCRASTINATE?

Deadlines.

HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED?

T-shirt with about a gallon of dried glue on the front.

STUDIO UNIFORM

Brownies.

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

Ability to weed vinyl with mini tweezers.

BEST STUDIO HACK

Try it, then decide.

The Mutable Archive (Shimon Attie), 2020. Video still.

My last pet was a chinchilla named Mephisto.

ANY PETS?

Seek to live in “a big here and a long now.”

TELL US SOMETHING WE FORGOT TO ASK

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

The history of science and visual phenomena, cybernetics, and Jakob von Uexküll’s concepts of the Umwelt.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

Repetition is a form of change.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED ABOUT YOUR WORK

St. Augustine’s compound, a former church I bought a few years ago.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

PAT RI C I A O LYN Y K

MEDIA ARTS, INSTALL ATION, & CRITICAL STUDIES b. Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Member since: 2007

“just steps away”, 2020. Archival pigment print, 58 x 43.25".

Learning to solve tech problems on my own.

SKILL YOU’D BE MOST LOST WITHOUT

Feeling relieved.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Deep-dish pizza, tiramisu, or tres leches cake.

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

20th-century African American fiction, like Invisible Man and Native Son, in which the protagonist’s exploration of a landscape becomes an exploration of the self.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

NPR, Netflix and the like, podcasts on politics.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

Making lists.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

A drill, fully charged.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

T I M P OR T LO CK

DIGITAL PRINTS & ANIMATION b. Chicago, IL | Member since: 2016

Broadcast, 2001. Fabric, metal, broom handle.

One time I was late to my opening because I was working out at the gym.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

All of the above. Bring it on.

EPOXY, MINERAL SPIRITS, OR COMMAND-Z?

A really well-made cup of coffee—smooth, a hint of cacao, a bit of crema, and the viscosity of a root beer float.

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

Music on WFMU, an artist-run station out of Jersey City, NJ. One day Cindy Sherman called in to make a pledge.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

My 35yo Bernina sewing machine.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

J AC K R ISL EY

L ARGE-SCALE SCULPTURE b. Middletown, CT | Member since: 2019

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

PAINTING, SCULPTURE, DESIGN, & INSTALL ATION b. Grand Rapids, MI | Member since: 2001

CH E RY L WA SSE N AAR

Anamnesis III, 2019. Still from digital film, color, sound, 11:53 min.

I don’t think I ever felt not motivated.

Sometimes I feel scared that there is not enough time in my life to make all the work that is waiting to be “released.”

HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED?

I’ve been known to desperately look for an available piano to improvise on, in solitude, which always calms my nerves and cleanses the space in me and around me.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

When I perform, I often wear one of my black, long dresses and a black scarf.

STUDIO UNIFORM

Time—it is my material, my canvas, and my content.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

VIDEO, SOUND, PERFORMANCE, & PUBLIC PROJECTS b. Warsaw, Poland | Member since: 2011

Too much NPR.

Cul-du-Sac, Chalmette, Louisiana, 2018.

Silver gelatin print, 20 x 16".

This Q wasn’t written for photographers…

EPOXY, MINERAL SPIRITS, OR COMMAND-Z?

Mouth noises? Any annoying sniffles or other noises in quiet spaces. And the font Calibri.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

Podcasts! Mostly mystery, true crime, running, and interviews with writers. If I listen to music, it’s usually bro-country. Like the really horrible commercial country about trucks and red dirt roads.

WHAT’S YOUR TOP STUDIO JAM?

All over. I do a lot of travel for my photography projects and then work on them either on the computer at home or in studio.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

Long days photographing in the field and working in the darkroom.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

PHOTOGRAPHY b. Amherst, MA | Member since: 2019

MEG HA N KI RKWOOD

Image: Manuscript, in progress.

My favorite director is Terrence Malick, especially Days of Heaven.

TELL US SOMETHING WE FORGOT TO ASK

Excessive exclamation points and italics.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

As a Weasel Sucks Eggs: An Essay on Melancholy and Cannibalism by Daniel Birnbaum and Anders Olsson.

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

Hiding.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Silence is key, but I do listen to Erik Satie, sometimes Arvo Pärt, or Goldmund.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

My writing desk.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

ART, WRITING, & CURATION b. Kenosha, WI | Member since: 2000

RI CHA RD KRUEG ER

Firstling No. 8, 2017. Painted ceramic, 19 x 31.25 x 15.5". Photo: R. Sprengeler.

Tardiness.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

Fear of failure.

HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED?

Living Materials by Oliver Andrews.

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

A student once baked a cookie in my likeness to get off the waitlist. Kinda creepy, but it worked.

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

You can use stretch plastic wrap, cable ties, and bungee cords for pretty much everything.

BEST STUDIO HACK

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

A converted salon in UCity.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

SCULPTURE b. Chicago, IL | Member since: 1997

A RNY NA DLER

Bad movies and silence.

Lamp & Coins, 2020. Collage image on aluminum, 48 x 36".

Glue stick.

Shop coat and glasses on a lead.

EPOXY, MINERAL SPIRITS, OR COMMAND-Z?

STUDIO UNIFORM

Kurt Schwitters/Ree Morton... Francis Picabia/Rosemarie Trockel… Alice Neel/Philip Guston… Dieter Roth/Mika Rottenberg.

BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

In dreams and any available space, borrowed or rented.

WHERE DO YOU MAKE WORK?

Get comfortable with failure. It tends to be the invisible path to success.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

PAINTING & COLL AGE b. Providence, RI | Member since: 1994

MI C H AEL BY RO N

Piling Up, 2020. Watercolor on handmade Italian paper, book spread 21 x 14.5".

Luis Cruz Azaceta.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

Relaxing and starting new work.

IT’S THE 11TH HOUR BEFORE YOUR OPENING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Drawing.

SKILL YOU’D BE MOST LOST WITHOUT?

Neil Young, Tom Waits, Wilco… Dylan’s It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

Make art that is joyful.

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

Nice watercolor color brushes and a large digital printer.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

C ARMO N CO L AN GELO

PRINTMAKING & WATERCOLOR b. Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Member since: 2006

Period Room, 1998. Spruance Gallery, Arcadia University. Photo: Aaron Eigler.

Architecture and movies.

WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK?

I have some kind of innate ability to put things together so they look good. I am the kind of person who walks into someone’s house and can immediately see that the couch would look way better over there.

SKILL YOU’D BE MOST LOST WITHOUT

“That will totally work!”

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GIVEN TO SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR WORK

“That will never work.”

BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED ABOUT YOUR WORK

Because of the scale of my work, I am pretty sure I cannot make art without a laser level.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

AMY H AUF T

SCULPTURE & INSTALL ATION b. Cincinnati, OH | Member since: 2019

Niagaradown, 2013. Oil on linen, 96 x 84".

The Poetics of Space (Gaston Bachelard), Anatomy for the Artist (Jeno Barcsay), Courbet (Linda Nochlin), Tradition and Desire: From David to Delacroix (Norman Bryson).

A BOOK YOU’VE READ MORE THAN TWICE

Hopper, Courbet, Delacroix, Guston, Michelangelo.

BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK

Anything with paint already on it, which is most everything…

STUDIO UNIFORM

Everything from film score composers like Ennio Morricone to the Indigo Girls and the Bee Gees.

Drawing with a ballpoint pen.

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

PAINTING & DRAWING b. Pittsburgh, PA | Member since: 2003

J AMI E ADAMS

Soft Spot Collection (detail) from The Doubt of Being, 2020. Papier mâché and handprinted paper, dimensions variable.

Richard Dreyfuss. And paper towel dispensers that are mounted high on the wall so the water drips down your arm and inside your sleeve when you’re reaching for a towel to dry off.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

I have a summer apron and a winter apron.

Arugula and chocolate chip cookies.

STUDIO UNIFORM

WHAT FOOD CAN BE USED TO BRIBE YOU?

Going down rabbit holes with absolutely no plan. I’d be lost without the impulse to improvise.

SKILL YOU’D BE MOST LOST WITHOUT

Repurposing things to make other things.

FAVORITE TOOL/PROCESS/MATERIAL

PRINTMAKING & PUBLIC ART b. Sunnyvale, CA | Member since: 1996

L I SA B UL AWSK Y

Want the full scoop?

You’ll find the faculty’s full responses to our 20 Questions interview, plus their bios, and additional images of their work on the MFA in Visual Art faculty page of our website.

YO

UL

IKE

ST

ICK

Re qu cu est r a Em ate fre y e wi ail u our pri t ad h y s a ow nt c dr ou t m n s op to ess, r n fa- tick y of se an am va er OT nd d e @ ex HE on we and wu hib R W e y ’ll b m stl iti ISE ou e ail .ed on to r w hap ing u . ay py !

DO

ER S?

EXIT

THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

Choose works by MFA in Visual Art faculty from the inserted sticker sheets to place around the gallery and curate your own exhibition.

Q & A W I T H L I S A B U L AW S K Y Chair of the MFA in Visual Art Program & Director of Island Press

Professor Lisa Bulawsky is known for her works on paper and temporary public projects. Her work explores the reciprocal influence of culture on the individual, especially as shaped by history and memory. She is a founding member of the art collective Fifty-Fifty, working to negotiate cultural tensions through socially engaged art practices.

A S THE NEW C HAIR OF T H E MFA IN VISUAL ART PROGR AM, WHAT ARE YOU R HOPES FOR THIS C OMMUNIT Y OF ARTISTS W I THIN THE UNIVERSIT Y?

So many hopes! Where to start? Actually, I’d like to start with the idea of hope—especially as we live through this very uncertain time. Václav Havel, the writer and dissident, said that hope is not

prophecy, it’s an outlook.

And, it’s the ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. So what I hope for this community of artists is that we learn from, lean on, and push each other.

And, that we feel our agency and power as artists contributing to global culture in meaningful, impactful ways.

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YOU O F TEN D I SC U SS P R I N TM A K I N G A S A F U N DA M EN TA LLY D EM O C R ATI C P ROC ESS. TELL U S A BI T M O R E A BOU T TH AT.

Yes, that’s right. Because of their multiplicity, prints are considered to be accessible to people in ways that other artforms are not. And, like a democracy, printmaking is participatory. It’s mostly

done in communal spaces that require cooperation and collaboration. Print shops tend to be nonhierarchical spaces and sites of citizenship with a special kind of synergistic energy and industry. I thrive in those spaces.

YO UR W ORK TA KE S M U LT I PL E FORM S: W O RKS ON PA PE R, C O LL A BOR AT I V E P UBLIC I N T E RV E NT I ONS, AND E V E N SCUL PT URE. HOW D O E S T H I S I NFLUENC E YO UR T E ACH I NG?

Teaching is a mix of mentorship and dialogue that depends on a similar sense of generosity and discipline as the studio practice. There’s this class that I love to teach called Feedback Loop. It’s all about reciprocity between hands and materials, eyes and process, intuition and intellect, about finding that balanced give-andtake that comes alive in the best moments of making.

W H AT ’S ON YOUR W ORK TA BL E RI GH T NOW IN T H E ST UDI O?

My work table is the bed of the large intaglio press in my studio. On one side are all the zinc plates I dug out of the ground where they were “etching” in the soil—a pandemic project I’m calling Life as We Knew It. On the other side are scraps of old prints on Japanese paper that I’m collaging onto small papier mâché “mini-monuments.”

There’s other stuff on the press bed, too—two pairs

of scissors, a gallon of Elmer’s glue, a plastic cup with a couple of brushes and a small amount of water, a glue-encrusted rag, my Bluetooth speaker, my sketchbook, and a mysterious bolt that I suspect might belong to my wobbly office chair.

ST. LOUIS HAS A VI TA L ARTS SC ENE. WH AT H AV E YOU SEEN REC EN TLY THAT YOU’RE MOST EXC ITED ABOUT?

It is a really vibrant art city, even in a pandemic!

A group of MFA-VA students and I took a field trip this fall and hit as many spots as we could in one day. We saw great work by professors Michael Byron and Patricia Olynyk at the Bruno David Gallery.

We stopped by an eccentric sculpture garden in north St. Louis. We met professor Tim Portlock at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis for a private gallery talk

Joe Angeles / WUSTL Photos

about his work in the Great Rivers Biennial 2020.

We saw alumni work at Monaco, an artist-run space on Cherokee Street.

And we ended the day on the giant, 10-person swing across the river at the Granite City Art and Design District.

25

Check out the full STL gallery scene on p. 31

VISITING LECTURERS & CRITICS

E

ach semester the Sam Fox School engages with nationally and internationally recognized artists, designers, architects, historians, and critics, promoting new ideas in practice, theory, and technology. Invited speakers often interact with students during workshops and informal gatherings, in addition to participating in studio visits, where they conduct one-on-one reviews of work.

PA ST V I SI TI N G A RTI STS

Diana Al-Hadid Morehshin Allahyari Candy Chang Huey Copeland Coco Fusco Michelle Grabner Pablo Helguera Alfredo Jaar Michael Joo William Kentridge IĂąigo Manglano-Ovalle Wangechi Mutu Trevor Paglen Michael Rakowitz Dario Robleto Mika Rottenberg Beverly Semmes Carrie Mae Weems *

(TOP) Artist and alum Michael Joo was the Arthur L. and Sheila Prensky Island Press Visiting Artist in February 2020. Sid Hastings / WUSTL Photos.

(BOTTOM) Carrie Mae Weems poses with students and faculty in front of her piece Untitled (Colored People Grid), 2009-10, acquired by the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in 2014. Stan Strembicki / Sam Fox School.

In addition to delivering public lectures, Joo and Weems engaged with students during their time on campus, through activities such as special visits to courses and workshops.

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* Washington University alum

2019-20 Freund Teaching Fellow Dana Levy conducts a studio visit with student Liz Moore. Whitney Curtis / WUSTL Photos.

FREUND TEACHING FELLOWSHIP

T

he Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellowship centers around two core components: teaching in the Sam Fox School’s College of Art and producing work for a solo exhibition for the Saint Louis Art Museum’s Currents series. More than 20 artists have served as Freund Teaching Fellows, including Catherine Opie, Francis Cape, Ellen Gallagher, Matthew Buckingham, Sarah Oppenheimer, Claudia Schmacke, Mariam Ghani, Shimon Attie, Jennifer Bornstein, Dave Hullfish Bailey, and Dana Levy.

The 2020-21 Freund Fellow is Jess Dugan, and the 2021-22 Freund Fellow is Meleko Megosi.

2020-21 F R EU N D TEAC H I N G F ELLOW

Jess T. Dugan Artist Jess T. Dugan’s work explores issues of identity through photographic portraiture. Their work has been widely exhibited and is in the permanent collections of over 35 museums, including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery; the International Center of Photography; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among many others. As the Freund Teaching Fellow, Dugan has participated in a variety of talks, seminars, and studio critiques with MFA-VA students and has led a series of professional practice workshops. In addition, they’ve continued making new work as part of Every Breath We Drew—an ongoing series of portraits and self-portraits that explore the formation of identity, the expression of desire, and the search for intimate connections—while preparing their Currents series exhibition.

Jamie and Ann, 2016.

Collin (red room), 2020.

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ALUMNI

OPPORTUNITIES AFTER GRADUATION

ur alumni have established thriving practices in cities across the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and St. Louis, where many have found their first gallery representation.

In their careers as university faculty, gallery and museum curators, leaders of arts organizations, and creative entrepreneurs, they build upon the close relationships they formed in the program. They continually delight us with the numerous ways they have invented to build a life around artmaking. Their many accolades include grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, Joan Mitchell Foundation, Tiffany Foundation, and Andy Warhol Foundation; residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Ox-Bow, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and Mass MoCA; and inclusion in important national and international exhibitions, including the Whitney Biennial, Venice Biennale, Studio Museum in Harlem, and MoMA. We are enormously proud of who they are, what they make, and what they have gone on to achieve.

STONE & DEGUIRE C O N T E M P O R A RY A RT AWA R D

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The Stone & DeGuire Contemporary Art Award provides $25,000 in funding to each recipient to advance their studio practice. The award is exclusively for MFA and BFA alumni of the College of Art working in sculpture, painting, or expanded mixed media.

This award honors Nancy Stone DeGuire (1947-2013) and Lawrence R. DeGuire Jr. (1947-2006), who met as undergraduate art students at Washington University, got married, and forged a life-long, shared studio practice. They created this award to assist fellow alumni in advancing their own studio practices.

2018 Stone & DeGuire Recipient

EBO N Y G. PATTER SO N, M FA06

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Detail views, …a nest above, checkered shoes, beyond a green felt hat that candles no longer lit in garden in bloom…, 2019. Digital print on archival paper, 112 x 136 x 7".

MFA94 Artist and Francis Christopher Oakley Third Century Professor of Art, Williams College

MFA98 Artist

MFA01 Artist and Associate Professor & Chair of Sculpture, Kansas City Art Institute

MFA06 MFA07 Artist and Artist 2020–21 Bill and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

MFA10 MFA08 Artist Artist and Assistant Professor of Art, Saint Mary’s College

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MFA12 Artist and Director & Chief Curator, Tarble Arts Center

MFA12 Artist

MFA13 Artist and Assistant Professor of Art, Carnegie Mellon University

J I L L DOWNE N, M FA01

Artist’s rendering (approach), Meditation Place, 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Bruno David Gallery.

Big ideas take time and a supportive community. As an artist, to hold an idea inside without the opportunity to share it with others produces a suffocating immobility. The Stone & DeGuire Contemporary Art Award moved me forward along multiple pathways to articulate, visualize, shape, and share my idea for the project (dis)Mantle: A Place for Reflection. The impact of the award increased my knowledge and skill as an artist, expanded my network of collaborators, and helped me flourish as a creative director.”

MFA13 Artist

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MFA14 MFA14 Artist Artist, Filmmaker, and Assistant Professor & Head of Experimental Media Arts, University of Arkansas

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2018 Stone & DeGuire Recipient

MFA15 Artist

MFA16 Artist, Curator, and Art Educator

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PA R I S S T U D I O For more than three decades, alumni, students, and faculty have had the opportunity to work in residence at the College of Art’s Paris studio at the Cité Internationale des Arts. These residencies, which are a minimum of two months long, provide artists working in any medium a place to focus on the development of their work while broadening their international network and immersing themselves in French culture.

Alumni are always able to apply for these residencies, in response to a biennial call.

MFA students apply the year they graduate for the John T. Milliken Graduate Foreign Travel Award.

Yvonne Osei. (TOP) Breaking Seals #132. (BELOW) Breaking Seals #130, Breaking Seals #134. Part of Breaking Seals; Briser La Limite, created during Osei’s 2018 Paris Studio residency.

O U R NE XT-DO OR N EI GH B OR

GR EAT GR EEN SPAC ES

With an expanding light rail system, hundreds of city, county, and state parks, and the Great Rivers Greenway—125 miles (and counting!) of bike and pedestrian pathways—St. Louis is made to explore.

Located just across the street from campus, Forest Park is home to the Missouri History Museum, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Saint Louis Science Center and Planetarium, the World’s Fair Pavilion, and the Saint Louis Art Museum.

A N I L L U S T R AT E D G U I D E T O S T. L O U I S St. Louis is one of the most affordable, culturally exciting cities in which to launch your career. Here are a handful of highlights.

OUT-SIZED C ULTUR AL SC EN E

FO O D I E H EAV EN

St. Louis has been named a top food city by outlets ranging from Zagat to Yelp. Famous for local treats like Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (brain freeze warning!) and toasted ravioli, we’re also on the map for great tacos, dim sum, bubble tea, and gastropubs serving up farm-to-table eats.

All of the city’s art museums and most of its major cultural institutions are free. This includes the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and our very own Kemper Art Museum.

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STL’S GALLERY SCENE

D ES LEE GA LLERY +

S

t. Louis is made for artists. With four major art museums, two sculpture parks, and dozens of galleries and alternative spaces, this is a place that reveres its artists, designers, thinkers, and makers.

The city serves as both an extension of the studio and site of engagement, and our students are lively contributors to its culture. Our graduates have opened their first galleries, print shops, cooperatives, and businesses here.

Take a peek at some of our favorite haunts, which include several founded by alumni.

B A RRE T T BA RE RR A P ROJE CT S* T H E BE RM UDA PROJECT*

BRUNO DAVID GALLERY

P ELE P R I N TS*

D U A N E R EED GA LLERY

P H I LI P SLEI N GA L L E RY*

TH E GA LLERY AT TH E K R A N ZBERG

P ROJ ECTS+GAL L E RY*

R EGI ON A L A RT S C O M M I SSI O N (R AC)

H I GH LOW

ST. LOU I S C OM MU N I T Y C O LLEGE

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H O U SK A GA LLERY H U N T GA LLERY AT W EBSTER U N I V ER SI T Y I N TER SECT A RTS C EN TER* E

W I LLI A M SH EA R B U R N GA LLERY STON E SP I R A L GA L L E RY * Alumni/faculty-run space + Sam Fox School space

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M ON AC O*

B

C

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D

F

E

G

R EESE GA LLERY*

GR A N I TE C I T Y A RT A N D D ESI GN D I STR I CT (G-C A D D) C

TH E LU M I N A RY

C ENTER OF C REATI V E ARTS (C OC A) A

B

FAQ

WHAT K IND OF F IN A N C I A L A I D & SC HOL ARSHIP SU P P O RT I S AVA I L A BLE?

We offer competitive assistance, based on a combination of need and merit.

Sam Fox School awards include several full-tuition scholarships, such as the Sam Fox Ambassadors Graduate Fellowship Program (which also includes an annual travel stipend) and the Sam Fox School Director’s Full Scholarship, along with the Ernestine Betsberg and Arthur Osver Scholarship, which covers 75% of tuition.

Additional University-wide awards include the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Fellowship, and the Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship Program. Learn about the full range of opportunities on our website.

the Danforth Campus, adjacent to the McKelvey School of Engineering and the Brown School. With fountains, lounge chairs, hundreds of trees, and nearby cafés, students love relaxing in Tisch Park, located just outside Weil Hall. Learn about additional campus resources on p. 4.

I H AV E A LOT O F I N TER ESTS O U T S I D E TH E STU D I O. C A N I TA K E OTH E R C O U R SES AT TH E U N I V ER SI T Y?

You bet! You may take graduate-level courses for credit across the University— in subjects like writing, philosophy, music, art history, and the sciences. And, there are countless additional resources for you to explore areas outside your discipline (read more on p. 2).

C A N I BE A TA?

Teaching and/or technical assistantships are awarded to all second-year students in good academic standing. A select number of first-year students are awarded assistantships based on the strength and quality of their applications. Teaching assistants work with faculty in a range of courses. Technical assistants work alongside faculty and staff in areas such as the Des Lee Gallery, Island Press, and our experimental studio for time-based media.

All positions are considered biweekly, hourly paid positions.

W H AT I S LI V I N G I N ST. LO U I S L I KE?

View from Weil Hall of the Gary M. Sumers Welcome Center (foreground) and Brookings Hall.

Peter Aaron / OTTO.

WHAT DO I NEED TO I N C LU D E I N M Y PORTFOLIO? (AND, W H AT A R E YOU REALLY LO OK ING FO R?)

You’ll need to submit 20 examples of your work. These can include still images, video, and audio files. Select your strongest and best work. We are looking to see original and sophisticated pieces that you generated independently, rather than work created as part of an assignment.

WHERE ARE THE STU D I O S LOC ATED? ARE THEY C LOSE TO OTH ER PA RTS OF C AMPUS?

Graduate studios are located in Weil Hall on the picturesque East End of

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St. Louis is one of the most affordable places to live, and there are cool neighborhoods all around the University, like Tower Grove, the Central West End, and University City. And, all the city’s art museums are free. (For real!) See pp. 30-31 for more on the gallery scene and our favorite things to do around the city and the region.

SO, W H AT I S TH AT TH I N G O N T H E C OV E R O F TH I S M AGA ZI N E?

Oh, that? It’s a manual felting tool, which belonged to a recent grad who makes large, soft sculpture. For the last couple of years, we’ve documented students’ favorite studio objects. They’ve selected things as varied as a metronome, a circuit board, an ancient portable radio, books, a paintencrusted work boot, an hourglass, and a can of genuine Florida sunshine.

WHAT DOES YOUR

CASTING & MOLD-MAKING

FAV O R I T E T O O L , PROCESS, OR M AT E R I A L

Slippery | I put mold release on everything. Even my sandwiches.

BLOCK PRINTING

SAY ABOUT YOU?

Dogged | Working on the 37th view of Mt. Fuji.

NATURAL MATERIALS

DARKROOM

Wild | I killed your TV.

Chemically delicious | My favorite dessert is silver gelatin.

BLACKSMITHING

Hard-core | Thor follows me on Insta.

FOODSTUFFS

Tactilitarian | Biohazard, shmiohazard.

CLAY

Down-to-earthy | The golem is real. I made him.

TEXTILES

Crafty | I also grind my own wheat.

COLLAGE

Mixy-matchy | I run with scissors.

SCREENPRINTING

Multiplicitous | What Would Andy Do?

FOUND OBJECTS

Hoard-y | I work exclusively in Obtainium.

A DRILL, FULLY CHARGED

Honorable | If you’re not early, you’re late.

WELDING & FOUNDRY

Harder-core | Hold my beer.

PAINTING

Renaissancian | Think happy little thoughts.

TEXT

Revolutionary | Don’t tempt me.

PERFORMANCE

Radical | “You must change your life.” * VIDEO

Tormented | I dream in a 3-channel loop.

SOUND ART

Reverberant | If a tree falls in the forest, I am there recording it.

INTERVENTIONS

Subversive | I plant secret monuments in the desert.

3D PRINTING

AWOL | Plan A is Planet B. AR/VR

Lean, mean, and greenscreened | Most likely to be detained by a foreign government.

*from the poem “Archaic Torso of Apollo” by Rainer Maria Rilke.

CL A SSI F I E D S

W

The SAM FOX AMBASSADORS GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM provides exceptional graduate students with full-tuition scholarships and an annual $750 travel stipend for research. All MFA-VA program applicants will be automatically considered. samfoxschool.wustl.edu

ANTED—Sam Fox School seeks new class of amazing artists for MFA-VA program. Interests may include drawing, painting, sculpting, printmaking, photography, video, performance, sound art, ceramics, assemblage, time arts, collage, boundary-pushing, zine-ing, book arts, rainbow-rolling, found objects, installation, OOMOO™, defying the silos, VR, AR, CNC routery, lasercutting, public art, happenings, art history, curating, writing, conceptualizing, subverting convention, et al creative nerdcetera. Must be willing to relocate to bustling cosmopolis w/ good eats & EZ livin’. No curmudgeons, snoots, or malcontents need apply. Excellent qualifications req.

APPLY WITHIN! E samfoxschool.wustl.edu

OTH ERW I SE MAGAZINE Stephanie Schlaifer Creative direction & editorial Katherine Welsch Project management & editorial Audrey Westcott Creative direction, design, & illustration Photographs not specifically credited in the publication were provided by WUSTL and Sam Fox School photographers. All photography of people in this publication was captured prior to March 2020 (except pp. 24-25).

Washington University encourages and gives full consideration to all applicants for admission, financial aid, and employment.

The University does not discriminate in access to, or treatment or employment in, its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, veteran status, disability, or genetic information. Applicants with a prior criminal history will not be automatically disqualified from consideration for admission. Inquiries about compliance should be addressed to the University’s Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, Washington University, Campus Box 1184, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130.

CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MFA-VA PROGRAM! Campus Box 1213 One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130 314.935.9300

FOLLOW US

@samfoxschool @samfox_mfa_va

MFA-200701

mfa-va@wustl.edu samfoxschool.wustl.edu