SVA Alumni Affairs and Development presents a panel discussion with five SVA alumni, who will discuss their experiences creating work with the intention of inspiring social or political change and the role visual art and design play in solving some of the world’s toughest problems. The panel will be moderated by Jamie Keesling (MA 2013 Critical Theory and the Arts). A reception for SVA alumni and students will follow the discussion in the theater lobby. Drinks and refreshments will be served. Free and open to the public.
Please RSVP here.
Marlena Buczek Smith (BFA 2002 Graphic Design) moved to the US from Poland in the early 1990’s to study graphic design at SVA. Her body of work includes posters, commercial graphic design and paintings. Her posters have been printed in various publications including No Words Posters by Armando Milani, Design for Obama by Taschen (Steven Heller, Aaron Perry-Zucker and Spike Lee), Graphis and Print. Marlena’s posters have been exhibited globally in countries including the US, Germany, China, Poland and Russia.
Cat Del Buono (MFA 2008 Photography, Video and Related Media) creates video installations and public happenings that focus on social issues. Her works have shown in the US and abroad, including Bronx Museum, Vetlanda Museum Sweden, Fonlad Digtial Arts Festival Portugal, Fountain Art Fair, Chashama NYC and MoCA Miami. Awards include the Bronx Museum AIM Program, ISE Cultural Foundation Grant, Baang & Burne New Works Grant, Awesome Foundation Grant, NYFA Strategic Stipend and an SVA Alumni Association award. She has lectured on the topic of women in the media and has been a mentor and advisor for art students. She was also an artist in residence at ArtCenter/South Florida and Gallery La Pan in Barcelona.
Delano Dunn (MFA 2016 Fine Arts) was born in Los Angeles, California, and currently lives and works in New York. Through painting, mixed media and collage, Dunn explores the questions of racial identity and perception through various contexts, ranging from the personal to the political, and drawing from his experience growing up in South Central LA. He has had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York and Buffalo, and most recently at The 2016 Affordable Art Fair in New York City. Group exhibitions include “I Like The Sound of That” at Artspace in New Haven, “Liberty and (in)Justice for All” at Project for Empty Space in Newark, NJ, PULSE New York, PULSE Miami with Project for Empty Space and The Long Gallery Harlem, The Delaware Contemporary and more. His work has been featured in VICE Media’s The Creators Project, PrintbyPrint, Artbean, and Black Artist News. He was the recipient of the College Art Association’s prestigious Visual Arts Graduate Fellowship in 2016, the Delaware Contemporary’s Curator’s Choice Award and SVA’s Edward Zutrau Memorial Award and Alumni Thesis Scholarship Award. He is currently an invited Artist in Residence at Project for Empty Space in Newark, NJ. A solo exhibition of his new work will open at Long Gallery Harlem in New York in February.
Bruno Silva (BFA 2007 Graphic Design and MFA 2016 Design for Social Innovation) is a lead experience and product designer at the Arnold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai Health System where he researches user needs, design services and product innovations that are user-centric for the improvement of population health and health systems design. Silva is passionate about technology and the role it can play to affect social change. His goal is to ensure that innovation benefits the entire society, not only a privileged few.
Katie Yamasaki (MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay) is a muralist, children’s book author/illustrator and teaching artist. Yamasaki’s mural work has enabled her to travel widely, creating visual dialogues among diverse communities. From schools to prisons, housing occupations to hospitals, Yamasaki sees her art as a vehicle for dialogue, a tool for building platforms for expression and communication. Yamasaki has painted over 80 murals around the world. She is currently working on her fifth published book for children. Yamasaki is a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.