These students have spent the Spring semester diving into the depths of their creativity and expanding their concepts of visual language. From abstract to figurative works, they each explore various themes of identity, culture, and time. The 18 students are showcasing their hard work and you are invited to view them.

Featured Students: Deborah Akingbala, Thomas Brockman, Jay Cadavid, Amber Concepcion, Philip Esquite, Amneylin Familia, Dakota Ferdon, Clara Ford, Dynasty Houser, Alyssa Lorenzo, Molly Mateus, Jack Mault, Bianca Oropallo, Claire Patacao, Georgia Penaloza, Jillian Scheef, Nova Velez, Maria Fernanda Validivia

ART IN THE HEART OF CAMPUS

• Integrative Studio II Student Work
• On view: May 3, 2023 – May 9, 2023
• Closing Reception: Tuesday, May 9, 2023, 2:00-4:00 pm
• Location: Susan A. Cole Hall Atrium, 3rd Floor Lounge

The Individual Artist Fellowship Awards are highly competitive awards to New Jersey artists in 12 different arts disciplines, awards solely on independent peer panel assessment of work samples submitted. The anonymous process is focused on artistic quality, and awards may be used to help artists produce new work and advance their careers. This program is carried out in partnership with the .

Ruth Borgenicht received an undergraduate degree at Rutgers University in math, but the discovery that she could be far more creative with clay than with math came to her during the last year of undergraduate schooling. She completed her MFA at ����vlog, which launched her in a new direction of socially engaged and participatory projects. This opened up a broader context for both her role as an artist and my artwork. Her residencies include: Hunter College in NYC, Anderson Ranch in CO, Greenwich House Pottery in NYC, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in ME, William Paterson University in NJ, Chester Spring Studio in PA, and University of the Arts in PA.

Wendy Letven is a multidisciplinary artist working in sculpture, installation, and painting in the New York area. Her paintings and sculptures are in many private collections across the US, in Europe and in China and she has created installations for Riverside Park, Brookfield Properties in NY, the Flatiron Prow Artspace, Art on Paper Fair, Market Art and Design, and The Sheila R. Johnson Gallery at the New School, among many others. Wendy is a MacDowell Colony Fellow and a recipient of a Workspace Grant from Dieu Donne Papermill in New York. Raised in Philadelphia, she received a BFA from Tyler School of Art and an MFA from Hunter College. She teaches Art and Design at Parsons School of Design and at ����vlog.

While his initial research plan was hindered by travel restrictions and schedule adjustments due to the global pandemic, Dr. Bhowmik adapted and has contributed greatly to the campus community, providing many opportunities for valuable cultural exchanges. From a film series that he hosted featuring a curated selection of movies centered on different geographic areas and cinematic approaches, to countless individual conversations with students, faculty, and staff, he has brought an open and generous space for interaction and discussion.

In addition to his personal contributions to the expansion of an international understanding of art and culture in the community, Dr. Bhowmik also undertook an investigation of a new branch of artistic research during his time in the United States. This took the form of multiple paintings and drawings, and a series of thirty-six experimental sculptural “gifts” that were placed at significant cultural and geographic sites around the region. Each of these gifts took the form of a unique glass bottle containing a hand painted paper folded into the form of an origami boat. These gifts were positioned and documented at each site, and then left to become a part of the geography and narrative of that space, the people in it, and their interactions.

The Department of Art and Design was honored to have shared this new work with the community through the exhibition Message in a Bottle, and an artist talk featuring Dr. Bhowmik’s research in the Finley Gallery earlier in December.

The artists present Reverberations of Reawakenings as a reflection on community appreciation and hope for more vibrant days. After living through a pandemic that has resulted in islands of loss and isolation, these artists offer a tribute to those lost due to the pandemic, including Jordan Tassy, who became a Montclairian local hero by pitching in when sanitation workers were hit with a COVID outbreak. Using their vibrant tools of creativity, they have crafted an uplifting vision for this next chapter of Upper Montclair’s history.

The mural is an interactive gift to the public as the community is encouraged to write the names of those lost due to Covid-19 in the clouds of the mural with pens provided by the artists. Norma Tassy, the mother of Jordan Tassy, was the first to write her son’s name on the mural at the opening ceremony; followed by Jordan Tassy’s best friend, Imran Khawaja, adding Jordan’s nickname: Polo. Now months later, dozens have utilized the safe space to write the names of loved ones they lost to Covid-19.

Vroegindewey, Kaufer, and Nuzzolo studied under Professor Julie Heffernan who initiated and proposed the project to the artists through the College of the Arts and Department of Art and Design as a community partnership. The artists conceptualized separate renditions of bright abstract shapes, pop figurations, and romantic landscapes. With further collaboration, the contrasting styles were merged together through the lens of the pandemic; telling the narrative of isolation while offering tribute to those lost due to the pandemic.

The pen remains on the wall of the mural as the public continues to add the names of their loved ones.

Artist Bios:

Lauren Vroegindewey, multimedia artist and humanitarian born in Sonora, California is a video and performance artist, sculptor, and painter exploring notions of sustainability and vulnerability in art, often using her body as a tool. Exhibiting locally and internationally, Vroegindewey is the recipient of a number of awards, including Best Sound Design and Experimental Short for My Bed, Crane Wife, and Achromatic, Stream of Consciousness, which premiered at L.I. MoCA. Her film Cleansing premiered at Costa Rica’s La NoBienal, and a performance art piece entitled My Bed exhibited at Ethan Cohen’s KuBe in Beacon, NY.

Marguerite Kaufer’s work explores the relationship between art and the emotional experience. As abstractions, they are open to interpretation by the viewer; however the work is a physical representation of the emotions Kaufer was feeling at the time she created each artwork. Her work was exhibited in the Rockland County Virtual Arts Festival in 2021. Marguerite’s senior thesis series Visions was exhibited through Fresh Air Montclair at Lackawanna Station, Montclair NJ.

Nicole Nuzzolo‘s creative mind gravitates to a kind of art that explores concepts of identity, complicating our ideas of what constitutes an individual within a society. Founder of Carpe Art for Fresh Air Montclair, Nicole’s artistic education at MSU has expanded to include exploring the entrepreneurial side of teaching art in high schools. As much as Nicole is passionate about making art, she is equally passionate about educating others in the arts.

The Product Design Senior Show presents the innovative works of our talented students completing their undergraduate degree in Product Design. The senior project is the execution of a fully-formed, human-centered product aimed at satisfying a specific, identified market need.

The exhibition featured pieces from the following student designers:

See more of the final works below:

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�ճ����Department of Art and Design is pleased to present the 2016 BFA Thesis Exhibition at the George Segal Gallery.

The show opens on Thursday, May 12th and will be on display through May 27th. The BFA Thesis Exhibition features works from students in the Studio Art, Graphic Design, Animation and Illustration, and Filmmaking programs.

A reception including the Department of Art and Design awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m. will be held on Tuesday, May 24th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. before the scheduled College of the Arts Convocation.

The exhibition features the following student artists:

���������پ��Ա���Almeda��–�����������Բ���Amarante-Reynoso – Kasandra Rose Appice – Philip Babich��–���������Bleezarde – Stephen Bodossian��–��������������Buhler – Greg Buracker��–���ٲ���������Burdzy – Gina Campo – Sarah Carney – Ali Cedeno – Anthony Coplan – Matthew John Corrales – LinaMarie Costagliola – Michael Diaz – Brianne Dougherty – Fanny Duran – Moises Estrada – Sean Fineran– Anthony Garcia – Sebastian Gomez – Kerenn Gonzalez – Rebecca Gruber–������������Gullander – Claudia Desiree Habrahamshon – Raul �����Բ��Ի�����– Kim Hill – Zoran Jauleski – Jessica Lynn Jenkins – Khari Johnson-Ricks – Filip Ilic – Swelee Joseph – Cynthia Kisch – Orrianne Kowlessar – Elizabeth R. Laccetti – Matthew Miles LaZaro – Haeun Lim Ace -Joslyn S. LiPuma – Victoria Long – Bryant Magdael – Moses Maiello – Garrett Adam Makoujy – Alex Malakhov – Keven Mallqui – Leonor �Ѳ�����ó��-�����Ի岹���� – Dyanna Martinez – Melissa Mautone – Rocio Mendieta – Maria Camila Mendoza – Tiara Montgomery – Francesca Moran – Yumi Nakayama – Demetri J. Noel-Jeune – Moses Opawumi��–�����Dz���ܲ���Ortiz – Nicole Park – Emily Perez – Yasmine Marie Perez – Sarah Ann Petrik – Joe Redl��–�����������Ի����Rodriguez – Stefan Rodriguez – Pamela Santelice – Nicole Ashley Sausville – Carmen Schultheis – Bryan Schultz – Luis Segovia – Chad Servidio��–���龱�󲹲Բ���Shah – Jake Shapiro – Rayna Smith – Alexandra Stoycheva – Stephany Sueldo – Sarah M. Tam – Eric Templeton – Louis Tomasello – Suzie Tuchman – Alexander Untoria – Melisa Vallovera – Chris Veith – Rob Woods – Gulay Yalcin

�ճ����BFA Thesis Exhibition showcases the innovative works of talented students completing their undergraduate degree in the fine arts. Throughout the year, art and design majors delve into personal themes, concepts, and various disciplines towards the goal of achieving a mature body of work.

This year’s BFA thesis show culminates in a selection of painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, graphic design, animation, illustration, and mixed media works shown in both the George Segal Gallery and Calcia Gallery 3.5.

George Segal Gallery hours are Tuesday- Saturday 11 am to 6 pm; Thursday 12:30 to 7:30 pm.

Image Gallery

Gracing the lawn of Dickson Hall, passersby may notice an eye-catching new addition to the landscape. Artist Carol Brown Goldberg has made Montclair State the new home for her scarlet, statuesque sculpture "Secret Totem."  

As it stands against the background of the Dickson Hall’s brick exterior, sitting on the rolling green lawn, the fire-engine red figure with a head that resembles a giant electric outlet, is a striking form that shows both movement and playfulness.

"Secret Totem" was created by the artist especially for Montclair State, and its inception was very much in step with Goldberg’s meditative creative process. “Its creation was intuitive, and as I conceptualized the idea of the piece, it then moved fast,” says Goldberg of her work. 

Goldberg described the work as intergenerational, where one could see the piece through the eyes of a child, as an alternative way at looking at the human condition and the human form. “I fit things that typically don’t go together, similarly to a child at play who loses sense of size and scale.”

Keeping the work of George Segal in mind, Goldberg conjured his human figures set in white. She described her piece as anthropomorphic, as “an innocent guy with his hands on his hips, his face wearing an expression of wonderment.”  

The piece is also unique as it is distinctive. Set in bronze, the figure then painted vermillion, Goldberg created the mold and had it destroyed after its production. It now exists only on the university campus as a vibrant, one-of-a-kind original piece.

“The sculpture coming to campus has been three-years in the making and we are enthusiastic for its arrival,” explained Teresa Rodriguez, the director of the George Segal Gallery, at the sculpture’s outdoor installation. In September through December of 2011, the Segal Gallery exhibited Goldberg’s paintings and the project had been underway ever since.

“The sculpture is so wonderfully integrated into the landscape. The location is sensational, and the campus is like nothing else. It’s been a wonderful association,” says Goldberg of her work with Montclair State. 

The artwork is a gift from the artist and is a collaboration between the George Segal Gallery, the College of the Arts, the Office of the President, and the ����vlog Foundation. A dedication has been planned for fall 2015 with a visit from Goldberg to fully inaugurate and celebrate the greatly welcomed and much anticipated sculpture to the distinguished Montclair State campus.

Image Gallery