May 2023: Faculty and Staff Accomplishments

A sculpture from Lecturer Sonya Bogdanova’s A Dream We Dream Together is Reality.

A sculpture from Lecturer Sonya Bogdanova’s A Dream We Dream Together is Reality.

Associate Professor, Adj. Marzena Abrahamik received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in Photography for 2023–2024. 

Lecturer Sonya Bogdanova’s A Dream We Dream Together is Reality is on view at Chicago’s Ignition Projects from May 5–27. The ongoing project uses sculpted effigies of clouds to address the allure of dreaming.

Professor, Adj. Beth Hetland’s graphic novel Tender will be published by Fantagraphics in 2024. In this psychological thriller with body horror elements, a young woman is consumed by her hunger for a picture-perfect life. 

In December 2022, Lecturer Garrett Laroy Johnson received his PhD in Media Arts and Sciences from the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering at Arizona State University. He was awarded the distinction of "outstanding graduate" among all Herberger Institute for Design and Arts students. 

Assistant Professor Benjamin Larose is producer, director, performer, and costume maker for the show Not American, which will be staged at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater on June 16, 17, and 18.

Associate Professor, Adj. Monika Niwelinska was one of five artists in the exhibition Ghosts of War at the East Hawaii Cultural Center. Her featured work Gamma Trace was created in New Mexico at the site of the first-ever atomic tests.

Professor William J. O’Brien’s ceramic sculptures are on display as part of the exhibition Clayja Vu at the Ki Smith Gallery in New York City. The two-person show also includes alum Sasha Feldman (BFA 2012). 

Professor Katrin Schnabl’s site-specific project EWNS showed at Facility Chicago during EXPO Chicago Art Week. The project repurposes pieces from her PORTAL and VOLUTION series. Additionally, the exhibition Everso puts Schnabl’s sculptures in conversation with paintings by Jodi Hays. It will be on view through May 15 at Chicago’s Devening Projects.