Exhibition

School of Visual Arts presents “Threshold,” an exhibition of work by graduating MAT Art Education students. Curated by department chair Rose Viggiano, the exhibition is on view June 21 through July 12 at the SVA Flatiron Gallery, 133/141 West 21st Street, New York City. Admission is free.

Participating artists include Rachel Aisenson, Stacie Baek, Alexander Barille, Melissa DeJesus, Christina Gaffney, Ji Eun Kim, Pauline Kim, Ann Lewis, Amanda Mahon, Ida Mun, Natalia Solis-Pages, Glenn Rhodes, Jennifer Salerno and Allison Schwartz.

"As our graduates embark on their new lives as artist and teachers, they face their fears, excitement and concerns as they pass through an unknown threshold,” Vigggiano says, “This metaphorical space is where one pauses for a moment before stepping into a new journey. Dealing with the often complex and conflicting emotions that come along with change can be difficult, but change can also be elating and energizing, propelling us forward to embrace growth and engage with new perspectives. This exhibition offers the viewer a variety of personal and varying images about possibilities, events and outcomes." 

“Threshold” is on view in conjunction with “I Dream of Green,” a display of works curated by BFA Animation faculty member Deborah Ross made by her students at the Il Polei Primary School in Kenya. “I gave the children paint, brushes and paper and encouraged them to explore their personal vision of the world around them,” Ross explains, adding, “At first, they practiced painting portraits of each other in class. Outside of school they painted portraits of their elders, extended families, homes and the animals that are so central to their pastoralist lives. The ‘painting club’ as the children referred to it became a way of connecting generations, as the elders told their stories and the children interpreted them through art.”

MAT Art Education at SVA provides a hands-on learning environment where student teachers research and explore educational issues and topics while continuing to make art. Course work relates directly to fieldwork and student teaching through discussion of course development, classroom management, and age-appropriate application of educational theory.