Summer 2025: Faculty and Staff Accomplishments

A close-up image of David Lozano's Edgewater Mélange at the Berwyn red line stop. Photo courtesy of Chicago Transit Authority.  Photo Credit: DOCUMENT

Lecturer Cecilia Beaven, Lecturer FÁTIMA, and Lecturer bex ya yolk were featured in the three-person exhibition Sacred Containers: Capsules, Conduits, and Other Stories, on view through October 9 at the Chicago Artists Coalition. 

Now through May 2026, you can view the work of many SAIC faculty as part of the MCA’s exhibition City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago, including Stephanie and Bill Sick Professor of Fashion Design Nick Cave, Lecturer Paul Heyer, Professor Frédéric Moffet, Professor Bill O’Brien, 2012 Bill and Stephanie Sick Visiting Professor Catherine Opie, Professor Emerit Mary Patten, and Professor Emerit John Ploof (as part of the collective HAHA).

Professor and founder of the Black Arts Movement School Modality and the New Art School Modality Romi Crawford has been appointed to Documenta’s first all-female curatorial team.

On Loss and Absence: Textiles of Mourning and Survival, an exhibition co-curated by Senior Lecturer and Associate Conservator at The Art Institute of Chicago Isaac Facio, Associate Professor L Vinebaum, and Professor Emerit Anne Wilson, opened at the Art Institute of Chicago on September 5.

At Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Lecturer Lora Fosberg’s solo exhibition I Love it Here, Let's Leave; in Search of the Hill opened on September 5.

Associate Professor Maria Gaspar’s work is included in the exhibition, No One Knows What It Takes, on view now through December 20 at Marquette University’s Haggerty Museum of Art.

Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Nic Hall and Graduate Dean Delinda Collier co-run the Arts, Science, and Culture initiative at the Gray Center, which announced their 2024–25 grant recipients.

Assistant Professor Beth Hetland’s graphic novel Tender won the 2025 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, sponsored by Penn State University Libraries.

Professor, Adj. William Harper’s animation Three Dreams won a Berlin Shorts Award for Best Experimental Film.

Associate Professor Salvador Jiménez-Flores was featured by BOMB Magazine and Revista Exclama. 

Assistant Professor Whitney Johnson and sound artist Lia Kohl released the album Translucence, available now from independent record label Drag City.

Full-time Visiting Artist Mehreen (Lali) Khalid held a fundraiser and community gathering in promotion of her upcoming book, Letters to Azan.

On September 6, Shakkei: Work by Mayumi Lake and Bob Faust, an exhibition featuring works by Senior Lecturer Mayumi Lake, opened at the Elmhurst Art Museum.

Associate Professor Jennifer Lee received a grant from the Taiwan government’s Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation to work on a new book, Diasporic Longing: Stories of Music and Migration from the Family of Yo-Yo Ma.  

Professor, Adj. Eric Leonardson and Professor Lou Mallozzi co-wrote the chapter “Opening the Ether: Radio Art at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago” in the book Listen Up! Radio Art in the USA.

Professor Sara Levine appeared on the podcast Reading around the Margins to discuss Toni Morrison's novel Sula. Her novel The Hitch was featured by Publishers Weekly in the article “Big Indie Books of Fall 2025.” The Hitch comes out in January 2026. 

Associate Professor, Adj. David Lozano’s public art project Edgewater Mélange is on view at the Berwyn red line stop. 

Director of Enrollment Marketing Mary-Jo Mostowy and the Admissions/Enrollment team recieved top honors from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education for their work on the SAIC viewbooks. The Undergraduate Viewbook was awarded gold and the Graduate Viewbook received bronze. 

Professor William J. O’Brien had a Tiny Love Story published in the New York Times about his friendship with alum Josh Faught (MFA 2006).

Instructional Facility Manager Mac Pierce’s solo show DEATHMATCH is on view at Bert Green Fine Art through October 18. The show was also reviewed by Newcity.

Presidential Professor Jefferson Pinder received the Philip Guston Rome Prize for his performance piece, Spazzino.

The Hyde Park Art Center was recently awarded a grant from the Graham Foundation to launch The Paradox of Inaction, a solo exhibition by Associate Professor Alison Ruttan, opening in the spring of 2026.

Assistant Professor, Adj. Mindy Rose Schwartz had the solo exhibition Rude Awakening at the Sophie Tappeineir Gallery in Austria. 

Through his work with Preservation Futures, Professor Jonathan Solomon helped organize Yes And as part of Exhibit Columbus in Columbus, Indiana. The opening weekend marked the debut of 13 new outdoor, site-responsive installations created by leading architects, artists, and designers in collaboration with community partners.

At the Hyde Park Art Center, you can view Lecturer Yasmin Spiro’s installation, Cornerstone, through November 2 and Lecturer Emily Winter’s series, Apparent Paths, through November 16.