M.F.A. DIAP at The City College of New York-CUNY
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I am a graduate of the M.F.A. program in Digital & Interdisciplinary Art Practice at The City College of New York-CUNY. The program allowed me to explore new media, studio art, art history, and literature while maintaining a studio space in Harlem's historic Hamilton Heights. Projects took the form of everything from films to interactive poetry books to a wall mural with a companion video—and more. I chose this program in large part because of its conceptual, research-based approach and focus on technology, which I found unique among M.F.A. curricula. The small class size, averaging 4-6 students for most of my critiques and workshops, was also quite appealing.
During my two years at CCNY, I completed coursework in everything from immersive video to ceramic sculpture. I even took a course outside of the Art Department called "Feminist Literature in Post-Civil War Spain" (Spanish Department, graduate level.) The summer between my first and second year, I was awarded the Art Department's travel grant to complete research at a residency and archive in El Salvador. My thesis performance/exhibition/residency took place at the campus library archives gallery and is available for viewing here.
During my two years at CCNY, I completed coursework in everything from immersive video to ceramic sculpture. I even took a course outside of the Art Department called "Feminist Literature in Post-Civil War Spain" (Spanish Department, graduate level.) The summer between my first and second year, I was awarded the Art Department's travel grant to complete research at a residency and archive in El Salvador. My thesis performance/exhibition/residency took place at the campus library archives gallery and is available for viewing here.
The following awards and scholarships allowed me to cover the full cost of my program and graduate debt-free:
• DIAP Fellow Tuition Award (CCNY)
• Nyman Family Award (CCNY)
• Graduate Research Symposium Award - 1st Place (Arts & Humanities Division for "Working Women: Unseen Labor in the Library of Congress"; after graduation, this piece published in Rejoinder, a journal by Rutgers University-New Brunswick's Institute for Research on Women)
• Connor Art Department Travel Award (CCNY)
• Blanche Mason Starkweather Award (CCNY)
• Reclaimed Lands Conference Planning Fellowship (The Graduate Center, CUNY)
• Support Creativity Award
• DIAP Fellow Tuition Award (CCNY)
• Nyman Family Award (CCNY)
• Graduate Research Symposium Award - 1st Place (Arts & Humanities Division for "Working Women: Unseen Labor in the Library of Congress"; after graduation, this piece published in Rejoinder, a journal by Rutgers University-New Brunswick's Institute for Research on Women)
• Connor Art Department Travel Award (CCNY)
• Blanche Mason Starkweather Award (CCNY)
• Reclaimed Lands Conference Planning Fellowship (The Graduate Center, CUNY)
• Support Creativity Award
I also won the Jacoff Scholarship upon graduation. This scholarship is awarded to just three graduating students from across the university every year and meant to further their graduate studies. I am very grateful to CCNY and consider my education there crucial to my creative practice. As of Fall 2024, I will be an M.S. Documentary candidate at the Columbia School of Journalism. To anyone considering applying for M.F.A. programs, I encourage you to read this U.S. News & World Report story on fellowships. (Yes, I'm quoted in it!)
Screenshot from one of my M.F.A. projects
Upon my M.F.A. graduation, three of my pieces were included into CCNY's permanent art collection. One of them, a large-scale found object painting called "Marine Encounters," is now installed in Shepard Hall, the main building on campus. As of Summer 2022, Lin Dan Zheng, a graduate Art History student working under professor Ellen Handy, has been assigned to interview me about my art practice for the CCNY Art Collection.
