Acknowledgements

The 2023 MFA Thesis exhibition is a manifestation of collective will, supported by many individuals from across The New School. We wish to acknowledge the heroic efforts of our Interim Executive Dean of Parsons School of Design, Yvonne Watson, AMT School Dean Shana Agid and Associate Dean Nadia Williams, as well as our Fine Arts Program Administrator Jasmine Graham, all of whom worked overtime while maintaining their good humor during a year full of unforeseen challenges. Our thanks also go to Director of Events and Special Projects Anthony Curry. Kudos and gratitude to our Making Center staff including Mick Hondlik, Abby Mechanic, Lacie Garnes, Damien Vera, Leah Wolff and Hashem Eaddy, and the entire AMT/Parsons operations team–especially PTF Manager Brendan Wright, Course Planning Manager Maya Valladares, Vice Dean, Academic Affairs and Planning

Kelly Grossi, Associate Director of Operations, Jesus Reyes Velardo, and our invaluable Academic Advisor Dr. Angy Estrada. Each of these individuals help students and faculty alike navigate through a complex and sometimes daunting institutional infrastructure, transforming it into a truly inspiring learning environment. 

Amidst the flurry of creative activity made possible through these collaborative efforts, we also value those who help keep our studio spaces safe and clean, including 25 East 13th St. Facilities Manager Ramon Mussenden and Studio Monitors Shay Salehi, Fahmy Shahin, Anahita Bagheri and Parisa Mah Malihipour. Thank you all for your energy, care and expertise in the lead-up to the Thesis exhibition.

On the pedagogical front, we are honored to work alongside an extraordinary teaching team. We applaud all of our talented part-time faculty colleagues who taught in the MFA program this past year, offering their dedication and care: Yasi Alipour, American Artist, Amber Braverman, Sonya Blesofsky, Ben Thorpe Brown, Sammy Cucher, Shoshana Dentz, Thom Donovan, Camilo Godoy, Ariel Goldberg, Neil Goldberg, Kris Grey, Jonah Groeneboer, Sara Jimenez, Rania Lee Khalil, Sowon Kwon, Le’Andra LeSeur, Christopher Lin, Jill Magid, zave martohardjo, Sana Musasama, Jessica Rankin, Sharmistha Ray, Eliot Reed,  LJ Roberts, Amina Ross, Peter Rostovsky, Mira Schor, Shane Aslan Selzer, Stefanos Tsivopoulos, Cullen Washington Jr., Kiyan Williams, Ezra Wube, Xin Xin, and Carrie Yamaoka. We admire your impressive artistic accomplishments and continue to learn from you all on a daily basis! 

Of course, it is our full-time faculty colleagues in Fine Arts who have guided the daily workings of the program every step of the way: Anthony Aziz, Andrea Geyer, Catherine Telford Keogh, Selena Kimball, and Rit Premnath. Their indefatigable labor and camaraderie are rare and invaluable. Special acknowledgement to Lydia Matthews for her leadership and vision as co-director of the MFA Program. We also benefit from the wisdom of Parsons Fine Arts Professor Emeritus Don Porcaro, who have generously mentored our MFA students through internships. We celebrate all of these outstanding faculty members’ deep commitment to keeping our collective pedagogy critical, creative and evolving.

The exhibition, Matter as Fallen Light – shines because of the exceptional know-how, patience and dedication of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center’s Assistant Director of the Galleries Daisy Wong, Manager Daniel Chou, faculty support from Jesse Harding, Catherine Telford Keogh and the documentary skills of photographer Martin Seck. Also, a shout out to Xianfan Zhu, who assisted with preparing our online catalog, as well as the students who comprised the various MFA Thesis committees: Printed Matter: Summer McCroskey, Luke McCusker and Boya Ye; Outreach: Nat Peterson and Gino Romero; Press: Aliya Al-Adwani, Bel Andrade, Henrik Nordahl, Michelle Silva, Chelsea Steinberg-Gay and Noah Zhou; Website: Fiel Guhit, Yifei Wang, Shining Zhu and Xianfan Zhu; Exhibition Support: Molly Bliss Kiefer, Hali Nelson, Evelina Nolin, Lisa Hennig-Olsen, Shay Salehi and Richard Valentín; Thesis Panel: Ash Moniz, Fahmy Shahin and Libby Paloma; Internal Communication: Katie Chin, Nat Peterson and Pauline Rossignol. Special acknowledgement goes to Molly Kiefer, Nat Paterson, Steinberg-Gay, Michelle Silva, Zoe Smith and Noah Zhou Class of 2023 Representatives, whose gifted leadership qualities have been treasured over these two years. 

Finally, we are deeply grateful for the vision, grace and impeccable professionalism of our 2023 Thesis Show curator, Kaegan Sparks and Thesis Exhibition Coordinator Andrea Geyer. They have thoughtfully guided the students and assembled an outstanding exhibition that stands as the culmination of the semester-long engagement with 27 talented international artists. 

Together we have helped one another thrive despite another pandemic year–one characterized by uncertainty and increasing hopefulness.

 A deep bow to all members of our Parsons community!

H Lan Thao Lam
Director, MFA Fine Arts