News
Fall 2026
MFA Photography student Minh Lê receives Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Award
Minh Lê, an MFA Photography student at SJSU, was selected for the 2026 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition, presented by SOMArts Cultural Center and the San Francisco Foundation. Now in its 40th year, the awards recognize exceptional emerging artists pursuing MFA degrees at leading Bay Area universities. The exhibition will be on view October 17–November 15, 2026, with an opening reception and awards ceremony on October 16.
Andrew Blanton, Associate Professor: “Patterns & Politics” Book Launch and Panel at Ars Electronica
Andrew Blanton joined Claudia Hart and Anika Meier for Patterns & Politics: Book Launch and Panel at Ars Electronica, moderated by curator Julia Staudach. Centered on Hart’s artistic practice and first museum retrospective, the discussion drew on the exhibition and publication Patterns and Politics to explore technology, visual culture, and power, connecting Hart’s decades of work in virtual image production with contemporary debates about AI art.
Sarah Buckius, Lecturer, Digital Media Art: “Motherboards” at the San José Museum of Art
Digital Media Art Lecturer Sarah Buckius has work featured in Motherboards at the San José Museum of Art, curated by Juan Omar Rodriguez and on view through January 2027. The exhibition includes Buckius’s The Kitchen Computer Plushy, a soft sculpture made from digital fabrics she designed using patents by women inventors, as well as five digital prints. She also presented two performances in conjunction with the exhibition, If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute and The Mother of All Demos. Her work examines technology, gender, labor, and overlooked histories of women in computing and textile invention.
Three Art & Art History Faculty interviewed on PBS News Hour at the San José Museum of Art
Special correspondent Mike Cerre interviews Art & Art History Department Chair Rhonda Holberton and Professors Sarah Buckius (Digital Media Art) and Sarah Mills (Art History & Visual Culture).
This PBS New Hour’s special highlights women’s role in building the technologies that shape modern life. While these contributions have at times been overlooked, minimized or left out of the historical record Motherboards, an art exhibition at SJMA and Woven Pixel at SJMQT both seek to tell a fuller story.
Rhonda Holberton and Miguel Novelo receive 2026 Knight Arts + Tech Fellowships
Digital Media Art professors Rhonda Holberton and Miguel Novelo were named 2026 Knight Arts + Tech Fellows by United States Artists. The national fellowship, supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, provides five artists with unrestricted $50,000 awards to advance innovative work in technology and new media. The program recognizes artists expanding creative practice through emerging technologies including augmented and virtual reality, immersive installation, sound, textiles, digital fabrication, and software-based work.
Art & Art History students collaborate with the City of San José on 100 Sharks mural and AR wayfinding
Professor Rhonda Holberton leads a team of SJSU students and faculty in 100 Sharks – Stitching Districts, a major public art and augmented reality project developed in collaboration with the City of San José. The project transforms the pedestrian corridor between San Pedro Square and the SAP Center into a connected visual experience known as “Sharks Way,” combining public art, wayfinding, and AR to strengthen connections across downtown San José.
Rhonda Holberton profiled in the Mercury News
Associate Professor of Digital Media Art Rhonda Holberton was profiled in the Mercury News for her work in Motherboards at the San José Museum of Art and her selection as a 2026 Knight Arts + Tech Fellow. The article highlights Holberton’s installation Collateral Influences, which connects Ada Lovelace’s early computer algorithm with Silicon Valley’s transformation from agricultural land to a center of technological innovation. It also examines her ongoing efforts to preserve and reauthor digital artworks by women whose contributions risk being lost from both art history and the history of technology.
Jennifer Cannon, Lecturer, Spatial Art: “A Bloom of Resilience” at the Art Kiosk
Jennifer Cannon’s A Bloom of Resilience uses the bouquet as a metaphor for women’s strength, resilience, and mutual support during turbulent times. The Art Kiosk installation includes smaller individual blooms that will be given away during a public event, connecting visitors with organizations supporting women in Redwood City and the Bay Area. Participating organizations include CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse), BAWSI (Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative), and the Redwood City Woman’s Club.
Elizabeth Carroll, Senior Lecturer, Art History & Visual Culture: “Surface and Illusion” at Pratt Institute’s Interior Provocations
Elizabeth Carroll will present recent research on lacquer at Pratt Institute’s Interior Provocations symposium on November 6, 2026. Responding to this year’s theme, “Synthetic,” Carroll’s presentation, “Surface and Illusion: Simulated Lacquer, Process, and Taste in Early Modern Venice,” examines simulated lacquered surfaces in objects ranging from globes and movable furnishings to architectural built-ins. Her research considers how Venetian adaptations of techniques pioneered in Asia involved questions of authenticity, risk, transmission, chemistry, and materiality. The event will also be livestreamed.
Lynn Dau, Lecturer, Spatial Arts: Axis Gallery 21st National Juried Exhibition
Lynn Dau is participating in the Axis Gallery 21st National Juried Exhibition, a national group exhibition in Sacramento, California, on view August 7–30, 2026.
Lynn Dau, Lecturer, Spatial Arts: Women’s Vision Exhibition
Lynn Dau has four new works on view in the Women’s Vision Exhibition at the John O’Lague Galleria in Hayward. The exhibition features work by members of the Peninsula chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art and runs through September 2.
Ashley Elieff, Gallery Coordinator: “Matter in Flux: The Art of Unlikely Materials” at Costume College 2026
Ashley Elieff organized and curated Matter in Flux: The Art of Unlikely Materials for Costume College 2026 in Los Angeles. The exhibition invited participants to create clothing and accessories from unconventional materials, including bottle caps, recycled plastic bags, adhesive bandages, champagne corks, receipts, and cereal boxes. Works on view included a purse made from cantaloupe seeds, a bubble-wrap go-go dancer costume, a dress made from tissue pattern paper, and a chest plate constructed from license plates.
Ashley Elieff, Gallery Coordinator: Opening Reception for “Texturescape” at Hammer2 Gallery
Ashley Elieff helped launch Texturescape, a new exhibition at Hammer2 Gallery. The gallery features a continuously rotating selection of work by local artists and San José State University alumni. Texturescape brings together nine artists—Meghna Sharma, Nikhil Dev, Dee Mostofi, Irman Arcibal, Craig Scoffone, Michelle Frey, Jen Clarke, Lisa Heikka-Huber, and Leila Ensaniat—whose work across a variety of media invites viewers into an environment of color, pattern, texture, and thought.
Erik Friedman, Senior Lecturer, Pictorial Arts: “Momentum” at Gearbox Gallery
Erik Friedman will participate in Momentum, a group exhibition at Gearbox Gallery in Oakland, on view August 20–September 19, 2026. An opening reception will be held Saturday, August 22, from 1–4 p.m.
Esteban Garcia Bravo, Assistant Professor: SJ26 Public Art Project
Esteban Garcia Bravo collaborated with students in ART 193, Digital Materials, during Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 to fabricate sculptures commissioned by the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs for the SJ26 program. The works were installed on San Pedro Street during the World Cup and at the SAP Center and City Hall.
Esteban Garcia Bravo, Assistant Professor: “Pearl of the Wabash” in Public Art Dialogue
Esteban Garcia Bravo’s collaborative research article “Pearl of the Wabash,” co-authored with Yifan Fan, is featured on the cover of the current issue of Public Art Dialogue, published by Taylor & Francis.
Esteban Garcia Bravo, Assistant Professor: “Amore Mio” at Montalvo Arts Center
Esteban Garcia Bravo’s installation and performance Amore Mio was featured in the Enter if You Dare summer event at Montalvo Arts Center. The work combines four-channel, audio-reactive animation with light that activates the architecture in response to musical frequencies. Designed as an immersive and participatory environment, the installation also featured two costumed “love entities” that added a performative dimension to the experience.
Lance Fung, Lecturer, Interdisciplinary: Private Viewing of “Constellations” for MoMA International Council and Curatorial Team
Lance Fung curated a special edition of Constellations at Kura Kura Bali for a private visit by the Museum of Modern Art’s International Council and curatorial team. The event included an evening program and a tree-planting ceremony for Jay Levenson. Site-specific works by artists including Xu Bing, Minerva Cuevas, Paola Pivi, Kiki Smith, Thomas Ruff, and Yinka Shonibare CBE were presented throughout the island. Fung also led a discussion on Indigenous artists and introduced Arts Kura, including an international artist residency program and plans for a new 30,000-square-foot contemporary art museum in Bali.
Jonathan Fung, Senior Lecturer, Photography & Interdisciplinary Art: SJSU Photo 125 Featured in Content Magazine
Six students from Jonathan Fung’s PHOT 125 Fashion Photography course were selected for publication in Content Magazine, Issue 18.2, Sight and Sound, Spring 2026. Their fashion editorial images appeared in a five-page spread, and Fung also wrote the accompanying editorial story description.
Valerie Mendoza, Associate Professor, Photography: “Parallel Challenges, Unified Goals” at the International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities
Valerie Mendoza presented “Parallel Challenges, Unified Goals: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Lack of Affordable Housing in the United States and Portugal” as part of Beyond Borders: The Role of the Humanities in Reimagining Communities, the Twenty-Fourth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities. Held at the NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities in Lisbon, Portugal, the conference brought together international scholars. Mendoza’s panel included speakers from Russia, Slovenia, and the United States, and her presentation drew on more than a decade of research into housing insecurity in the U.S. and beyond.
Valerie Mendoza, Associate Professor, Photography: “Under the Same Roof / Bajo el Mismo Techo” at Works/San José
Valerie Mendoza will exhibit three bodies of work addressing housing affordability, including new pieces, in Under the Same Roof / Bajo el Mismo Techo, a three-person exhibition with recent SJSU MFA graduates Samantha Saldaña and Oscar Lopez at Works/San José from November through December 2026. Through diverse media and storytelling, the three artists examine basic-needs insecurity in California and the systemic failures that contribute to domestic instability, challenging assumptions about security and the American Dream.
Valerie Mendoza, Associate Professor: “From Nazaré With Love” Video Project
Valerie Mendoza is developing From Nazaré With Love, a new single-channel video expanding on her visual research in Portugal. Approaching the subject from a personal perspective, the project explores sorrow, grief, loss, and the unexpected beauty of discovery while engaging with the history and culture of Nazaré, now internationally known for big-wave surfing. Mendoza began filming in Nazaré in July 2025 and returned July 14–17, 2026, to film and scout additional locations. She plans to return with additional equipment to complete the project.
Timna Naim, Adjunct Lecturer, Spatial Art: “Lifted” at the Redwood City Art Kiosk
Timna Naim’s Lifted brings together nine sculptures in an installation that creates a world in upward motion. Through an interplay of materiality, performativity, and play, the exhibition invites viewers to engage with transformation through curiosity and experimentation.
Timna Naim, Adjunct Lecturer, Spatial Art: “Thrown, Stamped, Stacked, and Poured” at the Palo Alto Art Center
Timna Naim is included in Thrown, Stamped, Stacked, and Poured: Ceramic Installation and Performance, on view at the Palo Alto Art Center from June 20–August 23, 2026. Guest curated by ceramic artist and educator John Toki, the exhibition showcases contemporary approaches to ceramic art through performance and installation. Participating artists use clay’s malleable and expressive qualities to address themes of identity, history, and environment.
Timna Naim, Adjunct Lecturer, Spatial Art: “Creation Playground” at SubZERO Festival
Timna Naim presented Creation Playground, a social-practice sculpture and installation, at the SubZERO Festival in San José in June 2026.
Timna Naim, Adjunct Lecturer, Spatial Art: “Summer 2026” at Harlem Art House
Timna Naim is participating in Summer 2026, a group exhibition at Harlem Art House presented by Ilon Art Gallery. Featuring 2D and 3D artists from around the world, the exhibition runs June 26–September 20, 2026.
Carla Fisher Schwartz, Assistant Professor, Pictorial Arts: Vermont Studio Center Fellowship
Carla Fisher Schwartz was selected for a full fellowship in printmaking at the Vermont Studio Center. She completed a four-week residency in Johnson, Vermont, in July 2026, where she developed a new body of work that includes a series of monotypes and cast-plaster sculptures.
Vermont Studio Center Fellowship Recipients
Susan Trimingham, Lecturer, Art Education: Summer 2026 FLP to Japan: Exploring Japan Through Art
Susan Trimingham led Exploring Japan Through Art, a Summer 2026 Faculty-Led Program examining Japanese art as a framework for understanding relationships among artistic practice, aesthetics, society, culture, and history. Organized around Wabi-Sabi, Kintsugi, Ukiyo-e, and Manga, the course combined contextual study with on-site, participatory experiences in Japanese art-making traditions. Students engaged with artists, cultural sites, and technical processes while developing introductory field-research and visual-documentation methods. Inquiry-based photo journals served as both research tools and reflective assignments, encouraging students to consider how their own cultural positioning shaped their interpretations.
Susan Trimingham, Lecturer, Art Education: The Taiwan Way
The Taiwan Way is a digital exhibition documenting Susan Trimingham’s research in Taiwan. The website includes two sections, The Taiwan Way: What I Learned in Art Class 2024 and The Taiwan Way: Take Your Time 2025. During each five-week visit, Trimingham collaborated with faculty at National Changhua University of Education. Her research explores how visual art education can reveal cultural values and biases while contributing to a deeper understanding of subjective culture and what it means to be human.
Nura Wedell, Lecturer, Art and Art History: Semiotext(e) Reading and Talk
Nura Wedell joined an eclectic, international group of writers for a reading and talk celebrating Semiotext(e). Co-editors and stewards Hedi El Kholti and Chris Kraus were joined by Constance Debré, Jane DeLynn, Jennifer Doyle, William E. Jones, Jarett Kobek, Veronica Gonzalez Peña, John Tottenham, Nura Wedell, and others to read excerpts from the independent press’s backlist of more than 200 titles published over the past fifty years. The event accompanied Desert Islands—Semiotext(e)’s Bookshelf Residency at ICA LA, highlighting the influential work of the Los Angeles-based press.
Nura Wedell, Lecturer: “Becoming an Archive of Oneself: Growing Up in the Éditions de Minuit” in BOMB Magazine
Nura Wedell interviewed French author Mathieu Lindon for BOMB Magazine. The interview, “Becoming an Archive of Oneself: Growing Up in the Éditions de Minuit,” accompanies the English-language translation of Lindon’s book An Archive, published by Semiotext(e), and is scheduled for publication on September 1, 2026.
View the interview on Semiotext(e)’s website.
Michelle Wilson, Senior Lecturer: (IN)visibles: Mapeo Afectivo de la Censura
Michelle Wilson participated in (IN)visibles: Mapeo Afectivo de la Censura at the Museo de Jaén in Jaén, Spain. The exhibition brings together a network of artists from Spain, Chile, Mexico, Cuba, China, and the United States responding to themes of immigration, censorship, and the connections that unite us.
(IN)visibles Exhibition Website
Michelle Wilson, Senior Lecturer: ALMANAC at the Collective Futures Festival, Philadelphia
ALMANAC, a collaborative artist book published with support from BYO Printmaking Collaborative, will be featured in the Collective Futures exhibition in Philadelphia. The project brings together socially engaged works addressing community, queer liberation, immigration, and related issues. Drawing on Philadelphia’s history of almanac publishing and printmaking, participating artists reinterpret the almanac as a contemporary, community-sourced resource responding to challenges facing women, undocumented individuals, and queer communities while invoking traditions of collective action and resistance to authoritarianism.
Collective Future Exhibition Website
Shannon Wright, Professor, Spatial Art: Health and Safety in the Arts Training
Shannon Wright completed an intensive 40-hour Health and Safety in the Arts course with renowned industrial hygienist and artist Monona Rossol. The training focused on hazardous-materials education for artists, conservators, and professionals working in theater and film.
Esteban Garcia Bravo and SJSU students create interactive light sculptures for SJ26
Assistant Professor of Digital Media Art Esteban Garcia Bravo collaborated with SJSU and CADRE students to create Portable Interactive Light Sculptures (PILS) for the SJ26 festivities at San José City Hall Plaza. The large-scale illuminated works celebrate the cultural dimensions of sports through symbols of teamwork, collective effort, and competition. Championship Ring and Soccerman / Quarterback were developed through a collaborative studio-to-site process combining metal fabrication, digital modeling, rapid prototyping, and programmable LED systems.
CADRE/Digital Media Art celebrates 40 years at the San José Museum of Art
The Department of Art & Art History celebrated the 40th anniversary of CADRE (Computers in Art, Design, Research, and Education) with a public symposium at the San José Museum of Art and performances at SJSU’s Morris Dailey Auditorium. Held in conjunction with the opening weekend of Motherboards, the event brought together artists, designers, scholars, alumni, and students to reflect on four decades of digital media art and its evolving cultural impact.
Andy Nguyen featured in SJSU Magazine and recognized with Murphy Cadogan Fellowship
Andy Nguyen (MFA Photography, 2026) was featured in SJSU Magazine for his photographic practice centered on migration, memory, and community. Nguyen, who received the Murphy Cadogan Fellowship and exhibited at SOMArts, collects images and stories from Vietnamese American immigrants and other communities, using photography to explore how people understand their journeys, histories, and sense of belonging.
SJSU MFA Thesis Exhibition: Boundaries of the Self at Works/San José
Boundaries of the Self, on view June 6–27 at Works/San José, examines how identity is constructed in relation to social norms, family histories, politics, geography, and community. Featuring the work of Elisabeth Koss, Jeevan Andrew Kracht, Zoey Mubiru, Andy Nguyen, Peter Schreiber, and Roger Smith, the exhibition brings together six emerging artists whose practices explore the tension between individual and collective identity while drawing on lineages of craft and tradition.
Phuong-Trang Maria Vu named Digital Humanities Fellow
Phuong-Trang Maria Vu (’27 BFA Pictorial Art) was named a Digital Humanities Fellow after presenting her research at the SJSU Research Competition. Vu was selected as a finalist and advanced to the CSU Student Research Competition, where she competed alongside top student researchers from across the 22-campus California State University system. Her work was developed with support and feedback from SJSU’s Division of Research and Innovation.
Craig Hobbs and Digital Media Art students launch Free Throw! at SAP Center
Professor G. Craig Hobbs collaborated with students from the CADRE Lab and Digital Media Art program to present Free Throw!, a large-scale interactive projection mapping activation at SAP Center. Visitors used internally illuminated basketballs to take free throws at an LED-lit hoop, triggering dynamic visuals inspired by iconic basketball moments and the spirit of San José across the arena façade.
Peter Schreiber included in MFA5: What Hands Remember
Peter Schreiber (MFA Spatial Art, 2026) was included in MFA5: What Hands Remember at Doug Adams Gallery, on view July 16–August 13, 2026. The exhibition explores how artists maintain connections to lineage and the earth through handicraft, medicine, and ritual.
SJSU students perform at the San José Museum of Art for First Fridays
SJSU students Henry Stein, Noe Naranjo Arias, Phin Nguyen, and Aaron Pelaez presented an immersive performance at the San José Museum of Art’s May First Friday event. Inspired by the astrological concept of a Saturn return, Mild Monk and n@p_t1m:3 combined animated projection mapping, spatial installation, and original music to explore change, accountability, reflection, and deepening relationships during a pivotal stage of life.
Spring 2025
Shannon Wright: Encoding Empathy
Shannon Wright’s (Professor, Spatial Art) work is featured in the Encoding Empathy exhibition. The exhibition explores the intersection of technology and human issues through innovative artistic media.
Noura Wedell: Honoring the Work of Pierre Guyotat
Noura Wedell (Lecturer) was featured in a catalog honoring French Artist Pierre Guyotat, among others (Paul McCarthy, Philippe Pareno, Daniel Buren, Ariana Reines) which was published conjointly with two exhibitions: Clic-Clac by Patrick Bouchain at the Musée National d'Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou (Paris), and Leçons sur la langue française (Lessons on the French language) at Le the Cité internationale de la langue française – château Villers-Cotterêts.
SJSU ARTH190A FLP Winter 2025
Josine Smits (Lecturer) and SJSU students participating in the France Faculty-Led Program (FLP) experienced an intensive cultural immersion, exploring historic monuments, museums, and libraries, culminating in a croissant-baking class.
Recent Exhibitions: Ema Harris Sintamarian
Ema Harris Sintamarian’s (Lecturer, Pictorial Arts) recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition at the International Museum of America in San Francisco and group shows in Romania, the UK, and California.
Lexygius Sanchez Calip: Collective Exhibition, Solo Exhibition, Artist in Residence
Lexygius Sanchez Calip (Lecturer, Digital Media Arts) represents the Philippines at the 10th Nakanojo Biennale in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. His contributions include a solo exhibition, artist book, and participation in a collective journal during a residency leading up to the event.
Roots of Cool: Postcards to a Cooler Future
Robin Lasser (Professor, Photography) created Postcards to a Cooler Future, a large-scale public art installation at Descanso Gardens. The installation, part of Roots of Cool, features oversized postcards with digitally created hand-written messages and accompanying video and sound, including recordings of bird and tree “songs.”
Artist in Residence: Muigel Novelo
Miguel Novelo (Lecturer) has been selected for Recology San Francisco’s Artist in Residence program. Over four months, Novelo will develop his practice through sustainable materials and community engagement initiatives.
Article & Chapter: Sarah Mills
Sarah Mills (Assistant Professor, Art History) has authored “Thread Control: The Future of Digital Weaving” for The Journal of Modern Craft and contributed a chapter titled “The Post-Rational Body: Kate Hartman’s Wearables” to the forthcoming book Post-Visuality.
We Value Your Business: Valerie Mendoza's 8 Panel Wall Included in 2 Exhibitions
Valerie Mendoza’s piece We Value Your Business was exhibited in two juried shows in
fall 2024: Democracy Under Siege at Hera Gallery in Rhode Island and R3SI$T! at Old
Walls Gallery in New Mexico.
Democracy Under Siege
10/12 - 11/16/24
Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI - juried by international curator Lorenzo Fusi
R3SI$T!
11/1 - 12/17/24
Old Walls Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
An exhibition exploring and celebrating the possibilities for art within the political
arena
Group Exhibition: San Fransisco Advocacy for the National Museum of Women in the Arts
Rhonda Holberton (Associate Professor, Digital Media Art) has been selected to participate
in REUNITED, an exhibition that will feature all 12 "women to watch" candidate artists
who have been featured in the program since 2017.
Exhibition dates: April 2 - May 2, 2024
Craig Hobbs: International Residency and Guest Professorship
Craig Hobbs (Professor, Digital Media Arts) served as a guest professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú during his fall 2024 sabbatical. His residency culminated in a large-scale video projection mapping installation on the Inka Trail archaeological site, created in collaboration with students and faculty.
Content Magazine Features Jonathan Fung Photo 125 Students
Jonathan Fung’s (Senior Lecturer) Photo 125 students had their fashion editorial images featured in Content Magazine, Fall 2024 Profiles 16.4 issue, in a seven-page spread.
Irene Carvajal: Back to Square One
Irene Carvajal (Lecturer), in collaboration with MFA Alumni Pantea Karimi, investigates
the historic and cultural narratives carried by decorative tile-work, exploring themes
of appropriation, ownership, and labor.
Works San Jose
Exhibition: January 26 to February 16, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 25, 5pm-7pm
Artists talk during the reception at 6pm
SJSU MFA Exhibition, Who ‘Am’ I Without You?, ICA San José
In addition to their solo thesis exhibitions, San José State University’s (SJSU) MFA Candidates participate in a group exhibition and collaborate with MA Candidates in Art History and Visual Culture to create the annual, Lift Off Catalogue. Hosted this year at the ICA San José, the twelve students showcase a wide range of mediums including painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, photography, digital art, and multidisciplinary installation. In the context of the Anthropocene and the sixth extinction—a time defined by both devastation and interconnection, the MFA graduates all explore and grapple with their understanding of being artists during a time of technological advancements and socio-political turmoil.
These twelve artists seamlessly blend their personal experiences and identities into their work while connecting to a rich and nuanced range of social, cultural, and political issues of a global community in the 21st century.
Two Presentations: Valerie Mendoza
Valerie Mendoza (Associate Professor, Photography Program Coordinator) presented at the West/Southwest SPE Conference in Ogden, UT, delivering Finding Our Way Home: How Lack of Affordable Housing Impacts Individuals and Communities.
At the PAMLA Conference in Palm Springs, CA, Mendoza presented Promoting Social Change Through a Text/Image Practice and read selections from The Cost Of Living during the PAMLA Poetry Salon.
Robin Lasser: Wearable Utopias
Robin Lasser (Professor, Photography) alongside Adrienne Pao was featured in “Wearable Utopias”, a collection of thought provoking interviews with cutting-edge designers who transform ordinary wearables into extraordinary sites of personal expression, public engagement, and radical political action.
Andrew Blanton: Three Presentations of Work
Andrew Blanton (Associate Professor Digital Media Art) presented An Insensible of Deep Space at the Leonardo House in Paris, Summer 2024, a performance of sound works and meditations based on star data from the James Webb Space Telescope.
The US premiere performance, I Was Listening to the Other Side of the Universe, will take place at the Wu Concert Hall on March 14.
The Days, a collaborative work with Claudia Hart, will open at Bitforms Gallery in New York in May. The piece explores medicinal healing flowers of the Middle East.
Noura Wedell (Lecturer) Reader in “To Change Everything” by A.L. Steiner
Noura Wedell (Lecturer) performs readings of ecofeminist Françoise d'Eaubonne’s texts in A.L. Steiner’s acclaimed film To Change Everything. The event is help in conjunction with Life on Earth: Art & Ecofeminism at The Brick, Los Angeles.
Fall 2024
Lynn Dau (Lecturer Spatial) in Group Exhibition: Politically Charged at Blue Line Arts
Lynn Dau (Lecturer Spatial) had two works in the exhibition. Blue Line Arts presents Politically Charged every four years to coincide with the US presidential election.
New Work by David Bayus (Lecturer DMA MFA)
Telematic Media Arts presents: Performance Anxiety, Painting, Sculpture, and Film by David Bayus (Lecturer DMA MFA). Featuring a new animated film, which tells a playful personal story of insecurity, anger, and the difficulties in love, while speaking to generational changes in romantic relationships, the politics of domestic labor, and contemporary uncertainties about the role of men in a post-feminist world.
Un Puente Sobre El Río San Juan: A Story of Borders
Featuring San José-based artists, Irene Carvajal (Lecturer, Pictorial Art) and Imara Osorno (SJSU Alum - BA in Studio Practice), this exhibition examines the overlooked conflict between Nicaragua and Costa Rica’s border along the San Juan River. Their collaborative work transcends divisions through painting, video, and site-specific installation.
Under One Moon Immersive Video Mapping Exhibition
Illuminate SJ Now!!! features 3 SJSU Faculty, Staff & Alumni: Cynthia Cao (former SJSU Thompson Gallery Coordinator), Sabrina Kwong (Alum, BFA Digital Media Art), Robin Lasser (Photography Faculty), with an original score by Troy Truong. Chopsticks Alley Art is pleased to present Under One Moon, an immersive experience celebrating the traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival. This unique blend of contemporary visuals, poetry, and music highlights the moon's significance among various cultures and histories.
Chelsea Stewart Awarded the Murphy & Cadogan Scholarship
Chelsea Stewart, Graduate Teaching Associate, will be awarded the Murphy & Cadogan Scholarship on Friday, November 1st.
The Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy Award and the Edwin Anthony and Adalaine Boudreaux Cadogan Scholarship help fuel the forward-thinking visual arts movement that makes the Bay Area unique. Established in 1986, these awards further the development of Bay Area MFA students and foster the exploration of their artisitic potenial. The winners of the Murphy Award and Cadogan Scholarships receive financial awards (awards amounts to be determined when applications reopen) and display thier work in a professionally curated group exhibition at SOMArts Cultural Center.
Exhibition: Timna Naim, Spatial Art MFA, included in Introductions at Root Division, SF
Exhibition Dates: August 14 - September 21, 2024
Second Saturday Reception: September 14th | 7-9PM
Established in 2007, Introductions is one of the Root Division's signature exhibition, showcasing the talents of twelve emerging Bay Area artists without gallery representation. Artists are selected through a rigorous review process by a panel of threee prominent arts professionals based on the conceptual and formal strength of their work. The resulting exhibition provides a snapshot of the Bay Area's artistic landscape featuring a diverse range of media and subject matter.
Binh Danh Awarded the William Collins Smith Auburn Award for Advancing American Art
Binh Danh, Associate Professor of Photography, is the inaugural recipient of the William Collins Smith Auburn Award for Advancing American Art. The $25,000 annual award, presented by the The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, honors an American artist or scholar-practitioner who has significantly impacted the American art scene in the spirit of the university's modernist collection strength, grounded in creativity, innovation and experimentation
Artist-in-Residence: Carla Schwartz at Stove Works
For the month of July, Carla Fisher Schwartz (Assistant Professor, Pictorial Arts) was an Artist-in-Residence at Stove Works in Chatanooga, TN. Along with working on a new series of print-based installations and sculptures, she led a community workshop "Artifacts of the Everyday", introducing strategies for working with found objects, including 3D scanning and wax rubbing.
Public Art: Polis by David Bayus
"Polis", an animated short film commissioned by the San Fransisco Arts Commission, is now installed at the 49 South Van Ness Municipal building.
Group Exhibition: In the Manner of Paul Kos featuring Rhonda Holberton
Rhonda Holberton's (Associate Professor, Digital Media Art) animation, Siphon, will be included in a group exhibition at Anglim Trimble (San Fransisco) honoring the conceptual artist Paul Kos.
Sonic Reflections of Deep Space
Built on the research of ESA's VLT, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Hubble Space Telescope, composers Andrew Blanton (Associate Proffesor, Digital Media Arts) and Matthew Monaco presented an evening of electro-acoustic spatialized audio. Hybridizing the world's of contemporary classical music with data science and astronomy, the composers also weave in poetic interpretation, sonification, and artistic realization of datasets from James Webb Space Telescope at the Leonardo House in Paris.
FLP 2024, Exploring Japan through Art
The goal of this course is to provide opportunities to develop ideas and understandings of society, culture, and history through on-site interactions with traditional Japanese artists and guided analysis of Japanese art.
Farenheit 2024: Featured Work by Adam Shiverdecker
Adam Shiverdecker (Associate Professor, Spatial Art) had work featured at the National Juried Exhibition at the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA).
Biennial Conference of the European Architectural History Network, Athens, Greece
In June, Anthony Raynsford (Associate Professor, Art History) presented his research on the history of radical community design in a paper entitled, "From Youth Conservation Corps to Urban Street Theatre Karl Linn and the Design of Teenage Public Space" at the Biennial Conference of the European Architectural History Network.
Valerie Mendoza's PAMLA Presentation: "Promoting Social Change through a Text/Image Art Practice"
Valerie Mendoza (Associate Proffesor, Photography) will be presenting her ongoing work on the affordable housing crisis at the PAMLA (Pacific, Ancient and Modern Language Association - a West Coast branch of the MLA) in Palm Springs on the 7th and 11th of November. Mendoza will be showcasing her presentation "Promoting Social Changes through a Text/Image Art Practice". She will also be reading selections from "The Cost of Living" and "We Value Your Business" at the annual poetry reading at a public venue which is part of the conference programming. This is a very large, competitive, annual gathering held in different West Coast city each year with attendance that sometimes exceeds 1000.
James Morgan's Paper / Demo: Fortunetelling as Co-Creative Model Paper
James Morgan (Lecturer) presented demo and art performances at the International Conference on Computational Creativity. Positing the position that fortune telling presents an interesting co-creative model.
Spring 2024
DMA BFA Graduate Marisa Diaz: Designing Spider-Man 2 Suits
Digital Media Arts BFA Marisa Diaz designed two new suits for the Spider-Man 2 game with help from connections with Gameheads. Check out the podcast where Marisa talks about her work, the trailer that feature her suits, her concept art, and her Gameheads interview linked below!
Cartophantasms Between The Screens Forescene
Shaun O’Dell (Assistant Professor, Pictorial Arts) has work included in the release Cartophantasms Between The Screens Forescene, a Print series with ISLAND PRESS at the Sam Fox School of Art and Design, Washington University of ST.Louis.
HALSEY/MCKAY Gallery NADA Art Fair NYC, May 2-5 2024
Shaun O’Dell (Assistant Professor, PIctorial Arts) has been invited by the HALSEY/MCKAY Gallery to exhibit work in their booth for this year's NADA Art Fair.
In my work I am drawn to locating moments in history - my own, American, the west and human - when things shifted from the mythos to the logos, the miraculous to the end of enchantment, the infinite to the reductionism of the quantifiable. In this current body of work I wanted to see that smoking iron-laden meteorite I saw fall from the Pleiades superimposed in the sky above Henry Behrman’s mercantile as it crashed amongst the wrought iron commodities of colonial Kentucky.
Contested Landscapes
Shaun O’Dell (Assistant Professor, PIctorial Arts) work is included in the exhibition Contested Landscapes which brings together works of art that reexamine the traditional genre of landscape through an ecological lens. By using diverse materials and innovative techniques, the artists reshape representations of geography, topography, and the environment to examine human interaction with the natural world.
Unveiling of Norman Minetta Sculpture at SJ Airport
Steve Davis, Lecturer in Spatial and Foundry Tech, was commissioned to sculpt a 6 foot bronze statue unveiled in January at the San Jose Mineta International Airport to honor its namesake: Norman Mineta. Mineta was the mayor of San Jose in the 1970s before serving in Congress for 20 years. He later became the U.S. transportation secretary during the George W. Bush administration.
SFMoMA SECA Finalists
Since 1967, the SECA Art Award has honored more than seventy Bay Area artists with an exhibition at SFMOMA and an accompanying publication. The 2024 SECA Art Award Exhibition will open in December 2024.
Completed Certificate in Museum Studies
Gretchen Simms completed her studies with a certificate in museum studies at Harvard Extension with new ideas on Sustainability and DEIA in museums including SJ Museum of Art and Oakland Museum of California.
What is your sTile?
A social practice collaborative mural created from 195 mono print/screen printed tiles. 195 alluding to the number of nations around the world. The public is invited to choose from several designs created by Irene Carvajal, inspired by traditional patterns from 21 nations around the world. This subset of countries were chosen to symbolically unite the world and consider how we can all participate individually and collectively in supporting each other and sharing knowledge and wealth. The countries selected are some of the richest, some of the poorest, as well as the nationalities most represented here in the Bay Area.
Butterfly Effect, Athens Greece
Curated by Kostas Prapoglou 2023
The Weight of Dreams
An installation of mirrors and porcelain bells laser cut/molded out of the same shape – a small heavy cylindrical object that was used as a doorstop in Irene Carvajal's grandparents home in Costa Rica. This object, was made by her grandfather when he worked as a mechanic in the National Distillery Factory in the 1940’s. It was used as a counterweight when measuring ingredients that would go into the creation of distilled spirits. This object becomes the focus of Carvajal's exploration of her past. A past that is splintered due to her families’ immigration from Costa Rica to the United States.
Her work was part of the Butterfly Effect exhibition organized by artefact athens.
Ecologies Of Photography: Materials, Industries, and Environment in the American West
Binh Danh (Associate Professor, Photography) will present his work at the Ecologies Of Photography: Materials, Industries, and Environment in the American West conference at the Huntington Library.
A Question of Balance: Selected Works from Pacific Rim Sculptors
January 27- May 26, 2024, Museum of Sonoma County: This exhibition showcases artists who have produced exciting and unique works exploring the varied and multiple meanings and interpretations of “balance." The exhibition will display works by Lynn Dau (lecturer, Spatial Arts).
She/They
Lynn Dau (lecturer, Spatial Arts) will be included in a showcase of a wide range of art by 27 contemporary sculptors from across California at the Santa Cruz Art League in Santa Cruz, CA. "She/They" focuses on celebrating women, non-binary, and transgender artists, this exhibition unveils stunning masterpieces crafted in various sculpting mediums. On view 1/19-2/24
Through the Dreamhouse
Brea Art Gallery (city of Brea) 1/27-3/22: "Through the Dreamhouse" is a group exhibition which delves into the symbolism and power of domestic spaces, using both traditional and unconventional mediums to examine intimate and introspective aspects of a household. This exhibition includes 5 of Lynn Dau's works (Lecturer, spatial arts).
6 Exhibitions
1.ICA San José and Montalvo Arts Center, March 23 - August 11. P L A C E: Reckonings by Asian American Artists Robin Lasser and Adrienne Pao
2.TNOC (The Nature of Cities) Festival June 4-7 (Berlin) Ice Ships Weep Film Trilogy, Berlin, Germany.
3.Big Basin Redwood State Park Public Art Commission, Art About, June 15-Opening Reception. Permanent Collections.
4.Plattsburgh Museum of Art, solo exhibition, August 27-December 15. Ice Ships Weep and the Theatre of Water Reclamation. Room - size immersive video projections and sculptures, series of large-scale photographs, and sound works.
New article in the January issue of the Journal of Planning History
Just published in print: "The Limits of Counterculture Urbanism: Utopian Planning and Practical Politics in Berkeley, 1969–73. Journal of Planning History".
"Salon Après Tetris (Five Seconds of Fame)"
Professor Shannon Wright was in the DeYoung Open and is slowly building the installation version of the piece. She created the digital drawing, "Salon Après Tetris (5 Seconds of Fame)" in response to the DeYoung Open call for entries. She built the scene (minus the figure) in Rhinoceros, painstakingly redrawing all the parts as well as the person in Adobe Illustrator. The piece is a vector drawing of an installation piece that she's been building on her sabbatical in addition to another project. The installation was accepted into Untitled Miami Beach but she has to change the plan given the time it will take to build all 25 tetris frames.
In a Grove
Anglim/Trimble is pleased to present In a grove, a gathering of artists utilizing abstraction to create rapturous states of vision marked by the qualities of the sensorial and perceptual. Curated by Dean Smith, the exhibition includes work by Thomas Akawie, Brad Brown, Mason Dowling, Donald Feasél, Renée Gertler, Robin McDonnell, and Nancy White.
Benefit Exhibit
Benefit Exhibit Bakewell Hall Exterior Restoration - Through the sale of 10 donated paintings, Mark P. Fisher successfully raised $3200.00 for wood and paint upgrade at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, Oakland, CA, 12/30/23 through 01/01/2024.
Libros, Arte, Oficios, Memoria, Communidad
In April 2024, Michelle Wilson will be part of a two person exhibition at Ex Convento Tiripetio Gallery in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, titled, "Libros, Arte, Oficios, Memoria, Comunidad (Books, Art, Trades, Memory, Community).
Roundtable Discussion in Grey Room 94, Winter 2024, pp. 20–49, "Roundtable on Warhol v. Goldsmith"
Liz Linden contributed to a roundtable on Fair Use and Copyright just published in Grey Room, with Amy Adler, NYU School of Law, and Noam M. Elcott, Columbia University, Lionel Bently, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, University of Cambridge, Susan Bielstein, University of Chicago Press, Johanna Burton, Director, MOCA, Los Angeles, Martha Buskirk, professor, Montserrat College of Art, Jane Ginsburg, Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law, Columbia, Branden W. Joseph, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, Columbia University, Joan Kee, professor of the history of art, University of Michigan, Liz Linden, artist, Rebecca Tushnet, Professor of the First Amendment, Harvard, Graeme Williams, photographer, Winnie Wong, professor of rhetoric, UCBerkeley.
Vienna Study Abroad success!
Dr Gretchen Simms led the Architecture, Art, and Design Study Abroad program in Vienna took place for the first time in January.
Fall 2023
SJSU Faculty Irene Carvajal participates in the The Butterfly Effect, an art exhibition inside a textile factory in Mouzakis Greece.
According to chaos theory, the Butterfly Effect is when a small change in one part of a complex system can lead to significant consequences elsewhere. The Butterfly Effect exhibition adds yet another layer of meaning to the term, since it takes place inside the fully operating textile factory “Butterfly Threads - Mouzakis.”What makes this location even more remarkable is its historical significance, given its position along the ancient procession route of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Its history and location inspired 41 artists each working across diverse artistic mediums. Their installations, pottery, and sculptures are integrated into the daily operations of the factory in a fusion of art and industry. Curated by Kostas Prapoglou & organised by artefact athens.
James Jenkins (MFA, SPATIAL '22) and his recent project, Cruz Cool, named one of the
Best Inventions of 2023 by Time Magazine
Styrofoam takes over 500 years to decompose—and yet we still use it for insulation. The Cruz Cool cooler, which can insulate frozen goods for 48 hours, is made out of chitin, a polymer that’s found in fungi, insects, and shrimp. But the real difference is how it’s produced. Typically, eco-friendly alternatives to styrofoam come in odd shapes and sizes that flummox supply chains. Parent company Cruz Foam compounds the chitin with other ingredients into large flat pellets that feed into a partner’s current processing plant. That’s how Cruz Foam is already partnering with Atlantic Packaging, an industry leader.’
Marisa Avila & Megan Huddlestun (BFA Pictorial Art) discuss the role spirituality
plays in their art with SJSU News Reporter Melany Gutierrez.
Marisa Avila (BFA Pictorial Art) says she believes this is important when she is using her art to embody her spiritual beliefs in relation to the natural world, “I have a tattoo of an eye on the back of my neck and I kind of feel like I'm being protected by it,” Avila said. “It’s like all these eyes in my art are protective entities in a way.”
Megan Huddlestun (BFA Pictorial Art) said she tends to extract fictional characters
from classic western folklore and fairy tales, aspects of natural history and living
organisms in nature as inspiration. Huddlestun said these parts of her inspiration
intricately fit together like webs to make what she likes to call a functioning and
living document of her art.
Published an essay on Anni Albers and Modern Weaving for Smarthistory; Presented a talk at Cleveland Institute of the Art on digital weaving.
Dr. Mills' essay for Smarthistory traced Anni Albers' pioneering work in American modern design, focusing particularly on her collaboration with Philip Johnson for the design of the Rockefeller Guest House.
At the Cleveland Institute of the Art, Mills presented a talk on structural expressionism in digital weaving, featuring contemporary artists who use Thread Controller looms.
Sarah Mills
she/her
Assistant Professor of Art History
Work on view at SFMOMA: Sea Change: Photographs from the Collection
September 2, 2023–February 19, 2024
Binh Danh's piece will be displayed in SFMOMA from September 2, 2023–February 19, 2024
Binh Danh
He/him
Associate Professor, Photography
Professor Anthony Raynsford will be published this Fall in the Journal of Planning History.
My article, “The Limits of Counterculture Urbanism: Utopia Planning and Practical Politics in Berkeley, 1969-73” will be published this fall in the Journal of Planning History.
Anthony Raynsford
He/Him/His
Associate Professor of Art History
Metropolitan Museum of Art Acquisition
Michelle Wilson's artist book ""Vueles"" was recently acquired by the artist book collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Michelle Wilson
she/her
Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Arts
Awarded Montolvo’s Lucas Arts Fellowship
Rhonda Holberton, Associate Professor of Digital Media Art, was selected for Montalvo Arts Center’s Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program (LAP) fellowship.
Fellows will receive three months of residency time which can be used at their discretion over a three-year period, beginning in October of this year and extending through 2026.
Located within Montalvo’s 175-acre public park and historic property in the heart
of the Silicon Valley, the LAP is dedicated to providing artists with a self-directed
flexible and expansive space in which to take risks, incubate, collaborate, investigate
and create.
Rhonda Holberton
(Her/hers/they/their)
Associate Professor, Digital Media Art
Political Printmaking at San Jose Museum of Art
Inspired by the political posters of Yolanda López, Irene Carvajal along with SJSU print making students will lead participants through the process of making their own prints and building their own iconic messages.
Irene Carvajal
She/her
Printmaking faculty
Content Magazine: Interview with Rhonda Holberton
In our conversation, Holberton talks about her interest in engineering and its influence on her work, what it means to be a steward of creation and the digital world, and her moral obligation to ""leave this place better than it was when she arrived."" Catch Holberton’s show at ICA San Jose until August 13th, and prepare to ponder the modern world and your role in it.
(Her/hers/they/their)
Associate Professor, Digital Media Art
Renny Pritikin reviews Rhonda Holberton’s exhibition at the San José Institute of Art in Square Cylinder & CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions
Rhonda Holberton doesn’t swoon with pantheistic ecstasy like the monks Penny refers to above. But the title of her ICA San José show, A Knotted World, comprised of works from four prior series, suggests how our lives are made of interdependent aspects: our bodies, nature, and the digital world. A concurrent show of new work, Two Handfuls of Silver Dust, at CULT Aimee Friberg in San Francisco, focuses on collaborations between the artist and various AI systems.
(Her/hers/they/their)
Associate Professor, Digital Media Art
Me in a(me)rica
ME in a(ME)rica, an exhibition at Root Division (July 8 - August 1st) is an exploration of the cultural myths and truths of collective and individual migration journeys. The exhibition aims to deconstruct the oversimplified categories and labels imposed upon those who make such journeys, creating radical new narratives that center empowerment.
Irene Carvajal
She/her
Printmaking faculty
FLP: Exploring Japan Through Art
A Faculty-Led Program that offers the opportunity to experience making art with traditional artists in Japan; learning first hand how art helps us understand the dynamic complexities of culture. It includes home stay with host families who provide a deeper understanding of Japanese culture.
Susan Trimingham
she, her, hers
Lecturer, Program Coordinator Art Education
Establishing connection with NCUE in Taiwan
Susan trimingham visited the National Changhua University of Education's Art Department and met with the International Studies Department this summer to discuss future collaborations and to gather more information in order to establish a connection between SJSU and NCUE.
Susan Trimingham
she, her, hers
Lecturer, Program Coordinator Art Education
Fulbright Visiting Scholar: Sarah Essam
Sarah will collaborate closely with faculty and students at the Arts Department to curate and install an informational, intercultural exhibit comparing diverse artists’ work through similar themes.
To develop this exhibit, she will work with SJSU faculty, students, local scholars
and artists to learn about multicultural art education. This project will benefit
SJSU and the local San Jose community by providing opportunities for discourse around
multicultural art education and building goodwill among the community.
Sarah's exhibit, and participation in Art Department courses and other SJSU activities
will help promote cultural and intellectual diversity on campus and in the wider
community.
Sarah Essam
she, her, hers
Fulbright Visiting Scholar
MFA alumni ‘21 receives Creative Work Fund Grant
Oscar Lopez, SJSU MFA '21, receives a grant from Creative Work Fund to paint a mural in San Francisco honoring migrant farmworkers.
Oscar Lopez
he/him
MFA Alumni 2021
Faculty Led Program to Venice, Italy
This Summer Session 2023 marks the fourth year Elizabeth Carroll has directed a Faculty Led Program in Art History located in Venice, Italy. This year she had a program assistant, graduate student in Art History Jillian Proa, who made a measurable difference.
Never in the time I have led this FLP have I had local Venetian local experts with whom we work, express such praise and acknowledgement for student participation. This year the insight and expressiveness of our SJSU students was noted and definitely inspiring.
Elizabeth Carroll
she/her
Lecturer in Art History & Visual Culture
Island Press Print Release
In September 2022 Shaun O'Dell was the Island Press Prensky Visiting Artist at the Sam Fox School of Art and Design at Washington University in St. Louis. He worked with faculty and students there to produce a new series of prints scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2023.
Shaun O' Dell
He/Him
Assistant Professor, Pictorial Arts
Solo Show at Halsey/McKay Gallery Brooklyn/East Hampton
In May of 2024 Pictorial Coordinator Shaun O'Dell will be presenting a new series of paintings in a solo exhibition at the Halsey/McKay Gallery in Brooklyn and East Hampton.
Shaun O'Dell
He/Him
Assistant Professor, Pictorial Arts
