A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.

Class Notes

2010s

Chris Bradley (MFA 2010) is one of four recipients of this year’s Meier Achievement Award.

Rashayla Marie Brown (BFA 2015) received the 2017 Chicago Artadia Award.

Ruth Buentello (BFA 2011), Ana Fernandez (BFA 2000, MFA 2005), Jonathan Paul Gillette (Post-Bac 2003, MFA 2005), and Riva Lehrer (SAIC 1993–95) received 2017 Painters & Sculptors Grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation.

Robert Burnier’s (MFA 2016) installation, Of No Particular King, is on view at the Arts Club of Chicago through March.

Assaf Evron (MFA 2013) and Martine Syms (BFA 2007) received 2017 grants from the Graham Foundation.

Vanessa Dion Fletcher (MFA 2016) was awarded the 2017 Melissa Levin Emerging Artist Award from the Textile Museum of Canada. The award is in memory of Melissa Levin (MFA 1998).

Allison Glenn (MA 2012) will guest curate the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, 2018 open-call exhibition.

Shruti Kirti (BFA 2010) was featured in Chicago Woman among “The New Guard of Chicago Fashion.”

Hee Ran Lee (MFA 2012) and Keijuan Thomas (MFA 2014) were awarded Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art grants.

Meredith Leich (MFA 2017) won second prize at the Deutsche Bank Macht Kunst competition in Berlin, and was artist-in-residence at the Wrangell Mountain Center.

The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University named Tony Lewis (MFA 2012) its 2017–18 Ruth Ann and Nathan Perlmutter Artist-in-Residence.

Yvette Mayorga (MFA 2016), Cheryl Pope (BFA 2003, MDes 2010), and Dread Scott (BFA 1989) were featured in Teen Vogue for their group show Bold Disobedience.

Ann Meisinger (Dual MA 2016) was appointed Assistant Educator of Public Programs and Creative Practice at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Jeffly Gabriela Molina (BFA 2013) and Matthew Schlagbaum (MFA 2011) were two of four artists in the exhibition Wasteland Dream at LVL3 Gallery.

Milad Mozari’s (MFA 2013) short film Standing Nymph and Man was screened as part of the Chicago International Film Festival’s program Shorts 8—These Walls Talk: Architecture.

Zuqiang Peng (MFA 2017) and Felipe Steinberg (MFA 2016) were announced as two of seven fellows with the Core Residency Program at the Glassell School of Art in Houston.

Ricardo Phillips (BFA 2013, MA 2015) was selected for the program Connecting Collections: Integrating Modern and Contemporary Art into the Classroom at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Pearl Salas (MFA 2016) screened her film Susto at imagineNATIVE, where it received a special mention from the Kent Monkman Best Experimental Award, and performed a new work at [in]SITES in Canada.

Aram Han Sifuentes’ (MFA 2013) Protest Banner Lending Library was featured in the Chicago Tribune.

Elisabeth Smith (Dual MA 2015) has been named collections coordinator at the Seattle Art Museum.

Claire Sullivan (BFA 2016) and her New York-based collective Vaquera are finalists for the 2017 Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund.

Linda Tegg (MFA 2016) is co-curator for the Australian pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale.

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Darryl Terrell (MFA 2017), "#Project20," collection of 11 × 14 Cyanotype portraits, toned or stoned with black tea or coffee, 2017

Darryl Terrell’s (MFA 2017) Brotha: Rehumanizing the Dehumanized was reviewed by KT Hawbaker (MA 2017) for the Chicago Tribune.

Darryl Terrell (MFA 2017) was profiled in an article for i-D magazine that details four of his latest photo series, #Project20.

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Yuge Zhou (Post-Bac 2013, MFA 2015) curates the 150 Media Stream at the 150 North Riverside building in Chicago.

Olivia Valentine’s (MFA 2010) collaborative performance Between Systems and Grounds was shown at ACRE Projects.

Maya Vardaraj (MDes 2017) was featured in We Make Money Not Art.

Vincent Yu (MDes 2017) was one of 16 contestants for the new season of Project Runway.

Yuge Zhou (Post-Bac 2013, MFA 2015) is curating 150 Media Stream, a video wall located in the lobby of the 150 North Riverside building in Chicago.

2000s

Halle Butler (BFA 2008) was announced as a 2017 National Book Award Honoree and made Granta’s Best of Young American Novelists List, which is published every 10 years.

Erin Chlaghmo (Post-Bac 2009, MFA 2012) launched a wallpaper collection inspired by the travel ban.

Nia Easley (BFA 2006, MFA 2018) was selected for the Research and Development Lab artist program by Threewalls gallery.

Kristin Hayter (BFA 2008) who performs as Lingua Ignota released a new EP, ALL BITCHES DIE.

Ruba Katrib (BA 2004) was named curator at MoMA PS1.

Judith Leemann’s (MFA 2004) exhibition arvensis (of the field) opened at Proof Gallery in Boston.

John McKinnon (MA 2008) was appointed executive director of the Elmhurst Art Museum.

Angel Otero (BFA 2007, MFA 2009) exhibited a series of new paintings at the Bronx Museum of the Arts titled Angel Otero: Elegies.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named Trevor Paglen (MFA 2002) a recipient of the 2017 MacArthur “genius” grant.

Ingrid Parker (MA 2004) was appointed director of corporate and foundation relations at Adler University.

Quilts from LaShawnda Crowe Storm’s (MFA 2004) Lynch Quilts Project are on display at Ivy Tech Fine Art & Design Faculty Exhibition at Gallery 924, Keeper of My Mother’s Dreams at Tube Factory, Meet the Artists XXX at the Central Library in Indianapolis, and Thread and a Story at the Bradley Museum in Mississauga, Ontario.

Nato Thompson (MA 2004) was announced as artistic director at Philadelphia Contemporary.

Carolina Gonzalez Valencia (BFA 2009, MFA 2016) was appointed assistant professor of Art and Visual Culture at Bates College, following her first year as a Mellon Diversity and Faculty Renewal.

Molly Zuckerman-Hartung (MFA 2007) has her solo exhibition Learning Artist at Rachel Uffner Gallery in New York City.

1990s

Founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Mosaic School Karen Ami (MFA 1995) was featured as the Artist Spotlight in October’s Chicago Woman.

Petra Bachmaier (BFA 1999) and Sean Gallero (SAIC 1993–98), collectively known as Luftwerk, recently displayed their work White Wanderer at Riverside Plaza, which involved data collected from seismic recordings of glaciers in Antarctica.

Sanford Biggers (MFA 1999), Elizabeth Catlett (SAIC 1941), Theaster Gates (HON 2014), Rashid Johnson (SAIC 2003–04), and Dread Scott (BFA 1989) are among the artists shown in the Brooklyn Museum’s show The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America.

D.H. Chang (MFA 1991) served as chief director of the Gwangju Design Biennale 2017.

Justin Dauer (BFA 1998) released his new book Cultivating a Creative Culture.

Zurich Esposito (MS 1998) and Brian John McCormick were married August 10 at the Arts Club of Chicago.

Thomas C. Gaunt’s (BFA 1999) short film Red Maze recently aired on the El Rey Network on YouTube.

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Suzanne Horwitz (BFA 1995), "Nautilus," aluminum 7 × 3 ½ × 5 feet
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David Standifer (BFA 1990, MFA 1994) pictured with his sculpture of Donald E. Hurst

Suzanne Horwitz’s (BFA 1995) sculpture Nautilus was displayed at its seventh venue, in front of the Tourist and Convention Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin

Riva Lehrer (SAIC 1993–95) was a guest columnist for the New York Times’ weekly “Disability” series.

Claudia Navas-Courbon’s (BFA 1997) exhibition Orchidées de Colombie at the Galerie Botanique in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris runs through March 5.

David Standifer (BFA 1990, MFA 1994) was commissioned to sculpt a World War II statue of Donald E. Hurst.

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Chad Bohren (SAIC 1986–87), "They," 2016, graphite and acrylic paint on archival paper

1980s

Chad Bohren (SAIC 1986–87) had a solo exhibition Human Conditions at the Bindery Artist Studios in Lafayette, Indiana.

Hong Sang-soo’s (MFA 1989) film On the Beach at Night Alone won the prestigious Wilf Family Foundation Award for best international film at the 34th Jerusalem Film Festival.

1970s

Ellen Sandor (MFA 1975, HON 2014) was honored by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as a Chicago innovator at its annual dinner on November 6.

Donald Sultan’s (MFA 1975) show The Disaster Paintings was reviewed by the Washington Post.

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Gladys Barker Grauer (SAIC 1941–46): Photo credit: Newark Arts Photo Documentary Project

1950s

Kay Hofmann (DIPLOMA 1955) presented her solo exhibition, Kay HofmannForever Young, at 4th Ward Project Space in Chicago.

1940s

Gladys Barker Grauer (SAIC 1941–46) had her solo exhibition, Gladys Barker Grauer Speaking Her Mind: Then and Now, at Gallery Aferro in Newark, New Jersey.

In Memoriam

Amy Dewitt (BFA 2003) worked as a senior fashion designer. She was recently employed by DeSL as a Business Development/Fashion Design Consultant. She designed women’s apparel for Land’s End, Lilly Pulitzer, Chico’s, and Kohl’s. Dewitt enjoyed traveling and spending time with her family and her two cats, Purl and Penny.

Barbara Jones-Hogu (BFA 1964) was a Chicago-based artist, educator, and filmmaker. As a member of the Visual Artists Workshop of the Organization of Black Culture, she helped paint the Wall of Respect on the city’s South Side in 1967. In 1968, she helped found AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists), a collective that focused on positive, powerful, and uplifting images of Black people. Her work has been featured in major group shows, and in January, her first-ever solo exhibition, Barbara Jones-Hogu: Resist, Relate, Unite 1968–1975 opened at the DePaul Art Museum.

Jeanette (Jay) Hinz (BFA 1968, MFA 1969) was an artist and art educator who spent her life recording the beauty of the world around and inside her for others to enjoy. She taught at the middle school, high school,and college levels in Illinois, Missouri, and Mexico, ending her teaching career at Missouri State University. She inspired generations of students with her boundless creativity and drive to achieve perfection in her work.

Susan Lindstrom (SAIC 1971–72) founded Paper Source in Chicago in 1983 and grew the business to 27 stores before selling it in 2007. It was a trip to Japan for a paper symposium that piqued her interest in fine handmade Japanese papers and led to her vision for opening Paper Source. Lindstrom also taught classes on papermaking, decorating personal note cards, and bookbinding.

Michael D. Peven (MFA 1977) was chair and professor of photography in the Department of Art in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. He was active as a photographer, book maker, and installation artist since the 1970s and began teaching at the University of Arkansas in 1977, where, with few resources and a lot of energy, he built a photography program. Peven won countless teaching awards, and in 2014 was named the Honored Educator of the Year by the Society for Photographic Education. He also won awards from the Arkansas Arts Council; the Mid-America Arts Alliance/ National Endowment for the Arts; the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; and the University of Arkansas Teaching Academy.

Ruth L. Reinel (BA 1951) was the loving daughter of the late Walter and Ruth V. Reinel and devoted friend to many. Reinel was a longtime resident of Bensenville, Illinois, and Chicago. She was a passionate educator and well known artist throughout the area and leaves behind her family of Dougal, Willow, Sam, Mandy, and Zachery.

If you would like to be included in Class Notes, send your professional or personal accomplishments such as exhibitions, publications, lectures, new additions to your family, or marriages to alumni@saic.edu. Use the hashtag #SAICalumni on public posts in your own social media channels to be featured on saic.edu/alumni.

Alumni Reunion March 1-3, 2018

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