MassArt Senior Wins National Merit Award for Industrial Design

On Saturday, April 5, the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) presented its Student Merit Award to Paul Sukphisit, a senior at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. The presentation was the highlight of the 2008 IDSA Northeast District Conference, which was held in Philadelphia.

One of Sukphisit’s projects is a fully reconceived tea infuser. His prototype addresses a number of problems with infusers currently on the market, such as water dripping from the infuser onto the counter and surrounding surfaces; the infuser falling into the cup while brewing; and multiple parts that require regular cleaning.

“My final direction is ultimately an enhancement on the current infuser, which blends a coherent aesthetic and functional appeal” Sukphisit says. “The drip-catching clip functions as a stand and graphic brand identifier. The overall form is marriage of functionality and elegance.”

Originally from Bangkok, Thailand, Paul Sukphisit grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he attended school at Nova High School. After graduating, he took a break from school and moved to Massachusetts to work full time. He eventually enrolled at Bunker Hill Community College, where he received an associate’s degree in graphic design. He will graduate from MassArt in May with a bachelor of fine arts degree in industrial design.

Sukphisit was selected on March 20 by a jury of professional designers—members of the Boston chapter of IDSA—to represent MassArt at the district conference. Students from Rhode Island School of Design, Pratt Institute, the University of the Arts, the Art Institute of Philadelphia, Carleton University, Kean University, Philadelphia University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, the University of Bridgeport, and Wentworth Institute of Technology also attended the conference and competed for the award.

Sukphisit, along with national award winners from four other districts, will present his work at the IDSA’s national conference this September in Phoenix.

FA2D Student Showing at Cannes

Shaun MacLean Marrow's (FA2D) short documentary segment will be screened at Cannes International Film Festival, Short Film Corner in Cannes, France, May 14-25, 2008.

'Hearts of Darkness: A Painter's Apocalypse' is the short documentary chronicling the development of the art installation, 'Apocalypse Still,' a 100 meter painting using Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now,' as subject, installation as evidence, and movement as dialogue. The installation will be "screened" in July, this short contains interviews and actions showing the intensity and intent of the project, as well as the impetus behind such a piece, and the trials and tribulations of such an endeavor.

Directed by: Shaun MacLean Marrow
Starring: Shaun MacLean Marrow
France, 2008, 14 min

http://audience.withoutabox.com/films/HeartOfDarkness
film support site

http://apocalypsestill.blogspot.com
project blog

MassArt Students Participating in Boston Immersion Alternative Spring Break

The Colleges of the Fenway (COF), through the collaborative COF Civic Engagement Committee, are poised to begin their second annual Boston Immersion Alternative Spring Break, March 9 – March 14, 2008. In answer to Mayor Menino’s call for increased involvement among institutions of higher education in the city, our students are spending their spring vacation, including several pre-spring break learning sessions, exploring questions that affect our local communities, including how to connect high school students to opportunities in post-secondary education.

This program offers students from participating institutions an opportunity to spend their spring breaks staying in Boston to learn about, connect with, and take positive action in the community. Eleven students from Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Simmons College, and Wentworth Institute of Technology have been working to prepare for the immersion week. Read more...

Whitney Biennial Includes MassArt Faculty and Alumni

Massachusetts College of Art and Design is pleased to announce that two members of the MassArt family are included in the Whitney Biennial 2008 from March 6 - June 1, 2008, in New York. Heather Rowe '93 and Assistant Professor of Film/Video Gretchen Skogerson follow a long tradition of MassArt alumni in the Biennial such as Jack Pierson '84, Christian Marclay '80, William Wegman '65, Sam Durant '86, Glen Seator '83, Richard Phillips '84, and others as well as faculty such as Taylor Davis (Studio Foundation). Congratulations!

MassArt Visionaries Honored by US Art Critics Association

MassArt is pleased to announce that the college’s president, Dr. Katherine Sloan, and its director of public art and former director of exhibitions, Jeffrey Keough, have each been awarded Distinguished Service to the Art Community awards by the New England Chapter of the United States Section of the International Association of Art Critics. They were honored at the 2008 AICA New England awards ceremony, which was held on Wednesday, February 27, 2008, at the Rose Art Museum of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Each year the United States Section of the International Association of Art Critics invites its nearly 400 members to vote for the best exhibitions created during that season as a way to acknowledge the exceptional work contributed by artists, curators, and dealers in the field of the visual arts. These prestigious annual awards are the art-world’s equivalent to those given each year by the New York Film Critics Society, the Drama Desk and the Academy of Motion Pictures. Additionally, for the past six years, the New England chapter of AICA has initiated its own awards ceremony to honor local efforts, which are also announced at the National AICA/USA awards ceremony to be held on March 17, 2008, 6:00pm, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Dr. Katherine Sloan was honored by AICA New England for her leadership and vision in expanding MassArt’s influence by strengthening the college’s commitment to the community, expanding its role in shaping visual art and design education on the local, regional and national levels, and becoming a tireless champion of New England’s creative economy and its critical role in the state. Dr. Sloan has been president of Massachusetts College of Art and Design since 1996, when she was appointed the tenth president of the college and the first woman to hold the position in the institution’s 135-year history.

Jeffrey Keough was honored for his achievements during the two decades he was director of exhibitions at the college. During that time, Keough curated and directed many regional, national, and international exhibitions touching on a wide variety of subjects and themes such as Australian Aboriginal prints, international photojournalism, Russian graphic design, Dutch ceramics, art in reaction to AIDS, drawings and artifacts from the Holocaust, murals from Hiroshima, Mexican photography, and new art from Cuba, to name a few. He has curated one person shows by artists Polly Apfelbaum, Xu Bing, Abelardo Morell, George Nick, Nicholas Nixon, Kiki Smith, William Wegman, Sam Durant, Richard Yarde, and group shows have included artists Tony Oursler, Janine Antoni, Vik Muniz, Petah Coyne, James Casabere, and Barbara Bosworth. Many of these exhibitions have garnered critical acclaim and have traveled nationally. He has served on a number of prestigious juries and has selected artworks for public display in the city of Cambridge, in the city of Boston, and at Logan International Airport. He also directed Boston’s Cavalcade of Cod, part of the city’s millennium celebration.

Two Faculty Members Receive Creative Capital Grants

MassArt is pleased to announce that faculty members Kianga Ford (SIM) and Cauleen Smith (Film/Video) are among fifty-two artists, representing forty-one projects in film/video and the visual arts, to receive this year’s prestigious Creative Capital 2008 Grants. They were selected from among 2,535 applicants seeking funding from Creative Capital, the premier national artist support organization committed to funding projects by individual artists and providing them with professional advisory services. Kianga Ford received a Visual Arts 2008 award in the Interdisciplinary category for Walking Home and Cauleen Smith received a Film/Video 2008 award in the Narrative category for Rebecca. For a complete list of grantees, profiles of funded projects, and up-to-date grant cycle information, visit www.creative-capital.org.

MassArt to Award Master of Architecture

The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education has unanimously approved the application of Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) to award the Master of Architecture (M. Arch.). After three years of intensive program development, including a review and site visit by the National Architecture Accrediting Board, the college is now poised to offer a 60-credit graduate degree designed to provide rigorous, accessible, and affordable professional preparation for a variety of architecture-centered careers, including those which address global challenges. The program expands the college’s graduate offerings; while enhancing its stature as a leader in art and design education. The first cohort of ten students will begin the program during the summer of 2008.

“This truly is an exciting time for MassArt, and we are pleased the Board of Higher Education has joined us in recognizing the richness and value of this new program and the complementary role it provides to our other offerings.” -Kay Sloan, President, Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Read the entire press release.