May 5–June 2, 2019
Mills College Art Museum (MCAM) and Mills College Department of Art and Visual Culture are pleased to announce Shelf Life: 2019 Mills College MFA Exhibition, on view from May 5–June 2, 2019. The annual MFA exhibition presents the work of graduating MFA candidates from Mills College’s esteemed Studio Art program. This year’s featured artists are Wyatt Hall, Lacey Johnson, Daniel Lulu, Harlee Mollenkopf, Michael Pedersen, Sarah Player Morrison, Claire Rabkin, Lindsay Rothwell, Zack Sumner Schomp, Katie Swan, Tashi Wangdhu, and Rebekah Wilson Smith.
Presented as a group exhibition in the MCAM’s historic main gallery, Shelf Life showcases a final body of work from each graduate, curated by museum director Stephanie Hanor and Mills College’s distinguished studio art faculty. Commanding a range of strategies—photography, sculpture, installation, performance, video and more—these emerging artists venture into fresh conceptual and material terrain, confronting critical subjects such as spirituality, identity, memory, technology, and power.
Public Programs
Katie Swan—Steel Benders: We move into the present: Wednesday, May 8, 15, 22, 29, 4–5pm
Graduate Studios: Ceramics 175
Lacey Johnson—Oracle Karaoke: May 8, 6–8pm
Lisser 201
Claire Rabkin—Marching Toward Paradise: May 8, 8–9pm
Mills College Art Museum
Michael Pedersen—Studio Space: A Virtual Reality Experience: May 11, 1–4pm
Graduate Studios: Hive 104
Daniel Lulu—My Face Hurt from the Dust and the Wind: May 15, 7–8pm
Lisser Hall
About Mills College Studio Art MFA
Mills College’s MFA program in Studio Art provides artists with both a formal and a conceptual foundation in contemporary art. Mills’ interdisciplinary community of artists provides the perfect setting for the development of a personal practice and professional engagement in contemporary art dialogue.
In the context of a small liberal arts college, students receive individual attention from Mills’ distinguished professors and visiting artists. Admission into this two-year graduate program is competitive and designed to facilitate personal, artistic growth and meet the demanding standards of the profession.
Students are encouraged to work across disciplines, but select a focus among painting, sculpture, installation, photography, intermedia, sound, new genres, video, and electronic arts. Mills College houses excellent studios for all of these disciplines. Other resources include the Mills College Art Museum, sculpture labs, digital computer lab, video suites, and both dark room and state of the art digital printing labs.
Graduate students in studio art also enjoy spacious, private studios during the entire two years of their program. Students are required to work in these on-campus studios to facilitate interaction with fellow artists, faculty, and both visiting artists and scholars.
Substantial Graduate Fellowships in the first year and Teaching Assistantships in the second year are offered.
The MFA program culminates in a thesis exhibition of student work in the Mills College Art Museum, which draws substantial interest from the Bay Area arts community including local gallerists, curators and critics.
Studio Art and Art History Faculty: Meryl Bailey, Sarah Miller, James Fei, Stephanie Hanor (Director, Mills College Art Museum), Yulia Pinkusevich, Chris Sollars, and Catherine Wagner.
Studio Art Adjunct Faculty: Samara Halperin, Jennifer Brandon, Chris Fraser, Glen Helfand, Sandra Ono, Will Rogan, and Genevieve Quick.
More information: MFA program / MFA blog / Mills College Art Museum
Contact: T +1 510 430 3309 / grad-admission [at] mills.edu
About Mills College
Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity in approximately 950 undergraduate women and more than 600 graduate women and men. The College ranks as one of the Best 377 Colleges in the country and one of the greenest colleges in the nation by The Princeton Review. U.S. News & World Report ranked Mills one of the top-tier regional universities in the country and lists it among the top colleges and universities in the West in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category. For more information, visit www.mills.edu.