In 2014, the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired two works—a painting and a collection of works on paper—by artist Peter Hristoff (BFA 1981 Fine Arts). This led to his being considered, and ultimately chosen, for the institution’s new 15-month artist-in-residence program, which he began last September. This position at the museum, the first of its kind for a visual artist, allows Hristoff access to the Met’s entire collection and archives as both a source of personal inspiration and as a jumping-off point to develop educational programs involving the general public, young adults and college students.

Born in Istanbul to Bulgarian parents in 1958, Hristoff was raised in a family of artists. In 1963, he and his family immigrated to New York, where he still lives today. His heritage, as well as near-Eastern history, has long influenced his art, which mixes classical, contemporary and personal iconography and includes not only painting and drawing, but also the ancient craft of rug-making. His combinations of original and traditional motifs are brought to life by Turkish weavers, all of whom are women. With the goal of providing an economic reward to the weavers and to nurture an endangered craft, Hristoff founded the Priene Hali Project, a workshop in rural Turkey.

Hristoff’s commitment to the arts of his native region and his passion for teaching, which he has done for a number of years in SVA’s BFA Fine Arts and Visual & Critical Studies programs, is what led the Met’s Islamic Art and Education departments to choose him for the residency—the purpose of which, as the museum describes it, is to “use the Met’s historic collection as a touchstone to celebrate the robust living traditions of the Islamic world.”

Hristoff took some time not long ago to talk with me, a former student of his, about the residency, the impact it has had on his teaching and art and the role of the Met in his life.

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Q+A: Peter Hristoff