SVA Alumni Affairs presents a discussion with four SVA alumni women about the nuances of being a woman in art, design and tech and the current state of gender equality in their fields. A reception for SVA alumni and current students will follow the discussion. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served. RSVP here.

Panelists include Annaliisa Ariosa-Benston (MFA 2016 Fine Arts), Nadia DeLane (MFA 2015 Visual Narrative), Aura Lewis (MFA 2017 Illustration as Visual Essay) and Jessica Perilla (BFA 2004 Graphic Design). Moderated by Kate Styer, Alumni Affairs Manager.

AnnaLiisa Ariosa-Benston (MFA 2016 Fine Arts) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Prior to studying at SVA, she earned a BFA in Painting from Pratt Institute in 2014. She is a fine artist, curator and director who makes interactive installations that feature traditional artwork, wearable art objects, and typically live tattooing with a strong focus on feminism, inclusiveness, and social codification. Her ongoing project and installation, Famousonmars, lives primarily online through social media. AnnaLiisa has shown work at Miami Art Basel since 2013 and ar Satellite Art Show since 2016. In addition to showing with Satellite she will take on a new role with the fair as Partnership and Sponsorship Liaison in 2018. Her work has been seen in galleries such as The Hole, Kunsthalle Galapagos, Head Too Heavy, Gateway Projects, and The New Women's Space. Publications include Posture magazine, Arte Fuse, Lady Gunn magazine, Social Decay, Miami News, Artnet, Hyperallergic and Bushwick Daily.

Nadia DeLane's (MFA 2015 Visual Narrative) visual storytelling spans film, installation, narrative painting and fiction; her independent creative projects include "Coif City," an ongoing visual story of women’s hair journeys through hand typography and ink illustration. "Coif City Vol. 1" is currently available at Printed Matter and Bluestockings in NYC, as well as Gosh! London. DeLane's stop-motion films Spilt Milk and Utica were featured in film festivals and immersive art experiences including Enter the Flask, Unlock House's inaugural show and Twisted Oyster Film Festivals at Zhou Gallery, both in Chicago. Recently, DeLane was a 2017 Artist-in-Residence at the Arte Studio Ginstrelle in Assisi, Italy, where she created a series of poems and illustrations on marginalized motherhoods, which will be published as a limited-edition artist’s book later this year. DeLane is a proud digital media mentor with the NYC-based organization Girls Write Now. Her work can be found on permanent display in Penn State University’s Africana Research Center and the Heart and Kidney Transplant Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey. In addition to SVA, Delane holds an MA in English Literature from Penn State, and a BA in English from Rutgers University. She lives and works in New York City.

Aura Lewis (MFA 2017 Illustration as Visual Essay) is an author and illustrator who illustrates for different platforms, including online and print publications, books and branding projects. She has two books coming out which she wrote and illustrated: Gloria’s Voice, a picture book about Gloria Steinem coming out in March 2018, and The Illustrated Feminist, an illustrated feminist history handbook for adults, to be published with Abrams in 2020. Aura is based in New York City, and is the mother of two young daughters.

Jessica Perilla (BFA 2004 Graphic Design) is an award-winning multidisciplinary entrepreneur and designer in New York City. With a background in both programming and design, Jessica has worked in the field of web design for the past 17 years. In addition to making her clients' visions come alive, Jessica serves on the Advisory Board at The College of Westchester, where she helps guide digital media curriculum for the school.

In 2007, Jessica founded JPD Studio, an NYC certified minority and women owned business and all women run full service branding and web development/design firm. Some clients include publishing house Simon and Schuster, non-profit organizations such as She's The First and the New York Council for the Humanities to one of the top feminists and activists, Madame Gandhi.

Talk

Let's Talk: Women in the Creative Industries

SVA Theatre