Save the Date!

SVA's After School Special, the College's annual alumni film and animation festival will return the week of September 20 with live screenings at the SVA Theatre. Featuring some of SVA's most accomplished film, television, animation and visual effects alumni, multiple NYC cinematic premieres will be included. Save the date and stay tuned for complete details. In case you missed it, check out SVA Theatre's YouTube channel to watch last year's festival!

Viktor Koen Named Chair of BFA Cartooning and BFA Illustration

Congratulations to award-winning artist, illustrator and educator Viktor Koen (MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay), who is the new chair of SVA's BFA Cartooning and BFA Illustration departments. Read more here.

Image credit: Andy Davies

Upcoming Workshop

Advocating for Your Career in the U.S.: Workplace Communication for International Students

Thursday, August 12, 10:00am ET
Register here

This workshop for international students and recent alumni explores the communication style used in the U.S. with a focus on the U.S. work environment.

Learn how you can effectively communicate with employers when conducting a job or internship search, negotiating and getting credit for your work. Being assertive and advocating for oneself is an important aspect of building a satisfying and sustainable career in the U.S. Techniques for documenting your creative contributions on the job and as individual artists will be shared. Presenters include Yoko Anderson from SVA's International Student Office, Patricia Romeu from Career Development, and Teresa Woods Peña, immigration attorney, who specializes in the O-1B artist visa and can provide tips on how to communicate with your employers when seeking a visa sponsorship.**

You will leave this workshop feeling more confident with your English communication in U.S. work settings!

**This is NOT an O-1B visa application workshop.

SVA Current Events

As the summer begins to wind down, things are ramping up at SVA! In just one month, SVA will welcome everyone back to campus, but until then, August is filled with exhibitions and events. Check them out here.

Image: Stephanie Zhong (BFA 2021 Illustration). Entrances, 2021, digital illustration from “Partitions,” on view at galleries.sva.edu through Monday, August 9.

Alumni Projects and Press

July Hot Five
Click here to see the five most-discussed projects from July 2021 on SVA Portfolios.

Cheerful Art for New Yorkers
Forbes talks with Keiko Nabila Yamazaki (BFA 2017 Illustration), a Japanese-Indonesian artist based in New York City, about her "cute and comical" illustrations.

Lauren Redniss' Oak Flat
The New Yorker discusses Lauren Redniss' (MFA 2000 Illustration as Visual Essay) latest illustrated book Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West, in which "she confronts her trickiest subject yet: the sanctity of Apache land that, for decades, has been under threat."

Disney's First Nonbinary Character
Dana Terrace's (BFA 2013 Animation) animated Disney Channel TV show The Owl House has introduced Disney's first-ever nonbinary character. Via Bustle.

Spotlight on BFA Interior Design
Dezeen spotlights thesis projects by 10 BFA Interior Design: Built Environments 2021 graduates.

Nona Faustine's Family Album
Hyperallergic on how Nona Faustine's (BFA 1994 Photography) "depiction of a household shared by three generations of Black women presents matriarchy as a source of power."

Painting Soho
Read about Michelle Duncan's (MA 2021 Design Research, Writing and Criticism) thesis project “Painting SoHo: A Study on the Appropriation of Urban Space," which tells a story of a community's motivation to come together and uplift each other in a time of great need.

Textile and Garment Maker Kirsten Aune
Perfect Duluth Day interviews Kirsten Aune (BFA 1992 Fine Arts), who owns a textile gift shop in Duluth, Minnesota. Click here to read our article about Aune's shop and two other community-minded stores owned by SVA alumni, from the spring/summer 2021 Visual Arts Journal.

The Body Becomes a Vessel
The New York Times on Keioui Keijaun Thomas' (BFA 2012 Fine Arts) multimedia installations, which "showcase her arduous journey from tokenism to transcendence."

SVA Alumni NYFA Finalists
The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has announced the recipients and finalists of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program, including interdisciplinary work fellow Katelyn Kopenhaver (BFA 2016 Photography and Video) and video/film finalist James Bascara (BFA 2011 Illustration).

Vimeo Staff Pick: Centuries and Still
Congratulations to MPS Digital Photography 2020 alumni Phuong Vo (producer) and Natcha Wongchanglaw (translator) for their work on Centuries and Still, a mixed-media short film telling the history of anti-Asian racism and violence in the U.S. The film premiered recently as a Vimeo Staff Pick and is available for the public to watch here.

A Visual Account of John Lewis' Legacy
The New Yorker shares an excerpt from Run: Book One, a forthcoming graphic memoir about the late congressman John Lewis' legacy, written by Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell (BFA 2000 Cartooning) and L. Fury.

Image: Kirsten Aune (BFA 1992 Fine Arts), Kirsten Aune Textiles, courtesy of Perfect Duluth Day.

Alumni Notes and Exhibitions

Ilona Szwarc (BFA 2013 Photography) has work in a group exhibition "Mirror, Mirror," Nathalie Karg Gallery, 6/8-8/27/21, NYC.

Jose Casado (MFA 2001 Computer Art) has work in the group exhibition "Transfiguration: leaving reality behind," Postmasters, NYC, 6/24-8/14/21.

Heather Williams (MFA 2020 Art Practice) screened Safe Passage, ArtCrawl Harlem Governor's Island, NYC, 7/31/21.

Carol Fabricatore (MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay) had work in the group exhibition "(Your) Open Studios @ City Hall," Rotunda Art Gallery, Jersey City, NJ, 7/5-7/31/21.

Katherine Bernhardt (MFA 2000 Fine Arts) was featured in "David Zwirner to Represent Katherine Bernhardt," Martin Cid Magazine, 7/5/21.

John Dusko (1954 Illustration) has a solo exhibition "Untitled," Yocum Institute for Arts Education, West Lawn, PA, 7/8-8/20/21.

Chemin Hsiao (MFA 2013 Illustration as Visual Essay) has work in the group exhibition "Sentiment," SFA Project, NYC, 7/8-8/8/21.

Catherine Sarah Young (MFA 2012 Interaction Design) was the recipient of "Thirteen Artists Awards," Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP), Manila, 6/15-7/31/21.

Lee Ann Norman (MFA 2012 Art Criticism and Writing) gave a talk "Read and Write about Artist Books: Approaches to Art Book Criticism," Megan N. Liberty and Book Art Review, 7/15/21.

Sarah Sze (MFA 1997 Fine Arts) installed a permanent, site-specific sculpture Fallen Sky, Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY, 6/26/21.

Rita Maas (BFA 1981 Photography) has work in the group exhibition "Cladogram: 2nd KMA International Juried Biennial," Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY, 7/13-9/19/21.

Amanda Kopp (BFA 2011 Fine Arts) has work in the group exhibition “Atmospheres: The Pace Staff Show,” Pace Gallery, NYC, 7/16-8/20/21.

Margaret Lanzetta (MFA 1989 Fine Arts) has work in the group exhibition “Houston, We Have a Problem,” Chashama, NYC, 7/21-8/8/21.

Michael De Feo (BFA 1995 Graphic Design) has work in the group exhibition “The Flowers: Featuring Alex Katz and Michael De Feo,” Craven Contemporary, Kent, CT, 7/24-9/19/21.

Dan Halm (MFA 2001 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 1994 Illustration) has work in the group exhibition “Brainbow,” at Shelter Gallery, NYC, 7/29-8/28/21.

Saneun Hwang (BFA 2017 Fine Arts) had a solo exhibition “Concrete Utopia,” Local Project Art Space, Queens, NY, 7/23-7/31/21.

Image: Ilona Szwarc (BFA 2013 Photography) from her series Unsex me here, currently on view in the group exhibition "Mirror, Mirror" at Nathalie Karg Gallery, through August 21 in NYC. 

#SVAWESOME

It's still summer! Enjoy it! Illustration by Kim Sielbeck (BFA 2009 Illustration), via Instagram @kimsielbeck.

Share your art with us! Whether it’s an in-progress sketch, a newly completed painting, a 3D-animation still or behind-the-scenes photo of a film shoot, tag it with #SVAwesome when you share your work on social media. If your image is selected, we'll post it on the #SVAwesome section of the sva.edu homepage, in SVA Today (the College's daily newsletter to students, faculty and staff) and in an Instagram carousel. Open to students, faculty, staff and alumni. Help us show off our community's talent!