麻豆影院

David Alcantar
MFA, Drawing & Painting
/ Email /听@davidmalcantar (Insta) @DavidMAlcantar (Twitter)

A native Texan, David Alcantar received his BFA from the University of Texas at Austin in general studio art practices with an emphasis on Drawing and painting. Later, from the University of Colorado颅颅鈥撀槎褂霸�, David received his MFA in Drawing and Painting. Alcantar鈥檚 artistic philosophy is that art speaks to what is common in human experience more than to what is particular, and that it points to beauty that exists in the world. Alcantar鈥檚 current work concerns human negotiation behavior 鈥� because it is a universal human activity 鈥� and the impacts of negotiated choices on the narratives and relationships between people, environments, systems, and experiences. Specifically, his work attempts to illustrate the internalized and time-based 鈥渁ctivity鈥� of negotiation through paintings and drawings, to heighten the awareness and understanding of the power dynamics involved in negotiations. David Alcantar currently works and resides in San Antonio, TX.

Mack Sjorgren
MA, Art History
Email听/听听/听

I am an independent art history scholar. After graduating from CU (my thesis was called The Spectrum of Response: Postdemocratic Literacy at Thomas Hirschhorn's 'Gramsci Monument') I took philosophy and theory classes from GCAS for awhile. I later turned to a more direct engagement with contemporary art and with art history, with of course some theoretical influences. I'm convinced that the GCAS approach of developing a personally idiosyncratic style is what makes sense today, so it is really about being true to yourself, in the face of other pressures. I would list as theoretical influences Deleuze, Badiou, Zizek, Critchley, Hirschhorn, Gerz, Foucault, and Said, and Spivak.

Melanie Clemmons
MFA,听Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices (IMAP)
听/听听/ Social Media: @auraquartz

Melanie Clemmons is a new media artist interested in the effects of technology on society, culture, and the environment. She makes videos, net art, installations, & VR experiences and performances. In addition to her gallery and museum work, Clemmons has worked on music videos for and toured with Pussy Riot doing visuals during their first North American tour. She is an assistant professor of digital/hybrid media at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

Shokoofeh Dezfuli (Zohrehbakhshdezfuli)
MFA, Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices (IMAP)
听/听Email听/ Social media: @shokoofeh.dezfuli

Catherine Cartwright
MFA, Painting & Drawing
听/ Social Media: @catherineccartwright

Catherine Cartwright is an artist originally from the Houston, Texas area currently based in 麻豆影院, Colorado. She received her MFA (2016) from the 麻豆影院 in Art Practices, Painting & Drawing, and her BFA in Painting in 2011 from Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas. Cartwright has exhibited in Las Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Ortega y Gasset Projects, 麻豆影院 Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston at Lawndale Arts Center, Project Row Houses, and with the Texas-French Alliance鈥檚 鈥淥pen The Door鈥� public art project in partnership with the Houston Arts League. She is currently the graduate program coordinator and a lecturer at the Art and Art History department at the 麻豆影院.

Johnny Defeo
MFA, Drawing & Painting
/ Email /听蔼箩辞丑苍苍测肠补办别蝉诲别蹿别辞

Johnny is still out here, trying to make it happen, painting and whining and crying, and sometimes even succeeding. In 2018 he co-founded the mobile art residency The Guild of Adventure Painters which he continues to run with Aaron Zulpo and Andrea Heimer. He now lives in Taos, NM, painting landscapes, floating face down in the Rio Grande, and staring out into the golden void.

Jade Gutierrez
MA, Art History
Email听/听听/听听/ Social media: @jadeannegz

I am currently a professional research assistant for the Ren茅e Crown Wellness Institute and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the 麻豆影院. My current work is with the Mindful Campus Project, where we are striving to create scalable and sustainable programming using mindfulness-based interventions to support undergraduate student wellness. I am also an affiliate faculty member at Metropolitan State University where I teach art history. Previously, I worked as an art historian--both as a high school educator and as a professional curator and registrar of Latin American art. I specialize in decolonizing methodologies and artworks from First Nations and Latin America and am interested in interdisciplinary interventions and in creating equity in research studies through Community Based Research and Youth Participatory Action Research.

Melissa Scalfani
MFA, Sculpture & Post-Studio Practice
/听Email听/ @melisssclafani

Melissa Sclafani is an Assistant Professor & Gallery Director in the Department of Art & Design at Fort Lewis College. She joined the college in 2020. She received her BFA in sculpture from SUNY New Paltz in 2009 and her MFA in Sculpture and Post-Studio Practices from the University of Colorado at 麻豆影院 in 2018. Ms. Sclafani鈥檚 work manifests in sculpture, installation, and performance often integrating all three together. She uses her background in traditional sculpture techniques, journalism, and gender studies to generate a relationship between labor intensive process, interaction, and social constructions. She is interested in creating work that sparks conversation, getting herself and the viewer to think more, talk more, work together, and hopefully, do more.

Ms. Sclafani has managed arts residencies and non-profit arts organizations since 2010. She has participated in residencies and exhibitions across the country including Wayfarers in Brooklyn, NY; Franconia Sculpture Park in Franconia, MN; Salem Art Works in Salem, NY; The Contemporary Artist Center in Troy, NY; and Elsewhere Studios in Paonia, CO. She is currently getting ready for a residency at MoMAZoZo in Carrizozo, NM and a two person exhibition spanning both the Vision Gallery and the Chandler Museum in Chandler AZ next spring.

Valeria Serrano
MA, Art History
听/ Social Media: @serranva

I'm from Medell铆n, Colombia, and studied under Dr. James C贸rdova for my MA thesis. I focus on contemporary Latin American art, and have been working at art galleries and museums throughout my professional career.

Taylor Hosford
MA, Art History
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Grace Groves
BFA, Ceramics
/ Email /听@grace_groves

Grace Groves is a visual artist from 麻豆影院, Colorado. She received her BFA from the University of Colorado where she worked primarily in clay. Her knowledge in wood and metal fabrication allows her to combine mediums narratively through sculpture. Her work questions the conflicting relationship between vulnerability and co-dependence prompted by confronting childhood memories of her fathers' homicide.

Sara St. Clair
BFA, Sculpture & Post-Studio Practice
/ Email

St. Clair is an interdisciplinary artist who contemplates the nuances of communication and interpersonal connection in modern society. She has shown work at Dab Art (Los Angeles, CA), Beacon Gallery (Kansas City, MO), and Rancho La Florida (Antonito, CO). The artist has begun working with soft craft materials in an attempt to create physical ties which reflect our mental and emotional connections.

Elisabeth Gordon
BFA, Integrated Media Arts Practices (IMAP)
听/ Email /听@elisabethgordon2020

I graduated summa cum laude in the Spring of 2020 with a BFA in Art Practices and a minor in Business Entrepreneurship. I focus on digitally manipulated images and alternative photographic printing processes such as cyanotype, van dyke, gum bichromate, and screen printing. While my interest in history and tactility is what drives my process, my work is mostly used as a way of communicating ideas of memory and connection. This stems from my personal life and daily reflections and can be extended to speak on current social and political ideas. With my work I hope to start impactful conversations for a broad array of individuals both in and out of the art world.