Students Receive Mentorship From Leaders in the New York Arts Community
This article was published in 2020.
School of Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC, NY, has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for more than seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, it serves as “a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility”. Comprising 7,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 38,000 alumni in 75 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world.
In 1992 SVA established the “Mentors” program, designed “to cultivate relationships between established and emerging artists and to introduce new talent to the broader community.” This program pairs select fourth-year students from the BFA Photography and Video program with some of the best-known photographers, curators, art directors, publishers, art dealers, critics and writers in the New York arts community, “giving them objective and professional insight into their work during a culminating point in their education”.
SVA has announced “Mentors,” an exhibition of work by the BFA Photography and Video program’s students inspired by their working relationships with their mentors. Curated by department chair Joseph Maida, “Mentors” is on view March 10 through March 25 at the SVA Chelsea Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor, NYC, NY. A reception will be held on Thursday, March 12, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Inspired and guided by these working relationships, the work exhibited in “Mentors” shows a wildly diverse range of talent in photography, filmmaking, collage, drawing and more. “Mentors” is part of SVA Shows, a culmination of end-of-year and thesis projects by students that includes film screenings, talks, exhibitions and more.
2019-20 boasts some of SVA’s most impressive mentors yet, including Mia Fineman, Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Lyle Ashton Harris, Artist; Jack Pierson, Photographer; Nadia Vellam, Photo and Video Director, T: The New York Times Style Magazine; Elizabeth Renstrom, Photographer and Senior Photo Editor, The New Yorker; Legacy Russell, Associate Curator, Exhibitions, The Studio Museum in Harlem; Marina Chao, Curator, International Center of Photography (ICP) and Mickey Boardman, Editorial Director, Paper Magazine, plus many others.
The BFA Photography and Video Department at SVA is located in the heart of New York City, the epicenter of art, culture, fashion, commerce and activism. The department’s renowned faculty of over 85 professionals connects students to a remarkable network, which is extended through the Mentors program. Alumni go on to work successfully in all creative fields and often hire fellow graduates because of a shared artistic language and the program’s record of accomplishment.
The SVA Chelsea Gallery, located at 601 West 26th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues, is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Admission is free and open to the public. The gallery is accessible by wheelchair. For more information, call 212.592.2145.
For more information about the College’s 31 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and Continuing Education division, visit sva.edu.
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