New York—April 19, 2021—School of Visual Arts (SVA) is pleased to announce that Marilyn Minter, renowned visual artist and longtime MFA Fine Arts faculty member at the College, will be the keynote speaker at the 46th annual commencement exercises. The ceremony will be held virtually at 7pm ET on May 23, 2021, with streaming available on sva.edu/commencement, and on Facebook Live: facebook.com/SchoolOfVisualArts. SVA President David Rhodes will recognize some 1000 degree candidates from the College’s 31 academic programs, including BFA, MA, MAT, MFA and MPS.

New York City-based fine artist Minter has long been celebrated for her singular style of photorealistic enamel paintings on metal, inspired by the times. Provocative and sensual, Minter’s work spans the mediums of photography, videography and painting, and explores the female body and society’s relationship to it, compelling viewers to question our cultural understanding of beauty standards, sexuality and glamour. Represented by Salon 94, New York, Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, Minter has exhibited her work in galleries all over the world. She has been awarded and recognized by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts; and her work appears in the permanent collections of The Museum of Fine Art in Boston and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

In 2006, Minter was included in the Whitney Biennial and installed several billboards in Chelsea, New York City in collaboration with Creative Time. Her video Green Pink Caviar was exhibited in the lobby of MoMA, New York City from 2010-2011. It was also shown on digital billboards on Sunset Boulevard in L.A. and on the Creative Time MTV billboard in Times Square, New York City. In 2015, Minter’s retrospective Pretty/Dirty opened at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, before traveling to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, the Orange Country Museum of Art, and finally the Brooklyn Museum in November 2016.

“Marilyn Minter has long been an important and singular member of the SVA community for 33 years and we are honored to welcome her as our commencement speaker this year,” said SVA President David Rhodes. “Her dedication to young artists and her history as a fearless boundary pusher in her own art will, no doubt, inspire the more than one thousand graduating students as they bring their talents out into the world.”

As the keynote speaker for SVA’s commencement exercises, Minter will join a distinguished group of leaders in the arts, humanities and public service, including cultural icon and filmmaker John Waters, musician and poet Patti Smith, activist and author Gloria Steinem, U.S. Congressman and civil-rights hero John Lewis, cultural critic Greil Marcus, artists Laurie Anderson and Carrie Mae Weems, playwrights Edward Albee and Tony Kushner, and historian Robert A. Caro.

School of Visual Arts is a comprehensive college of art and design offering the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising, Animation, Cartooning, Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects, Design, Film, Fine Arts, Illustration, Interior Design, Photography and Video, and Visual and Critical Studies; the degree of Master of Arts in Curatorial Practice, Art Education and Design Research, Writing and Criticism; the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching in Art Education; the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art Writing, Art Practice, Computer Arts, Design, Design for Social Innovation, Fine Arts, Illustration as Visual Essay, Interaction Design, Photography, Video and Related Media, Products of Design, Social Documentary Film, and Visual Narrative; and the degree of Master of Professional Studies in Art Therapy, Branding, Digital Photography, Directing and Fashion Photography.

SVA alumni include Renée Cox, Paul Davis, Sal DeVito, Michael Giacchino, Pete Hamill, Keith Haring, Julia Hoffmann, Justine Kurland, Suzanne McClelland, Patrick McDonnell, Elizabeth Peyton, Alexis Rockman, Carlos Saldanha, Harris Savides, Kenny Scharf, Yuko Shimizu, Amy Sillman, Gary Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Rebecca Sugar and Sarah Sze.

School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprising 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 39,000 alumni in 128 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. For information about the College’s undergraduate and graduate degree programs, visit sva.edu.