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Graduate Program Assistants Spring 2022!

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Graduate Program Assistants
Meet Your Graduate Program Assistants (GPAs)!

Graduate Program Assistants (GPAs) support their Program Director and fellow students to ensure the effective operation of their program. GPAs serve as graduate student leaders and work collaboratively with each other and the Office of Graduate Studies to help build community by promoting dialogue, the exchange of information, and timely communications between students, directors, and the Office of Graduate Studies.

 

Graduate Program Assistants

Alexa Oliveira (She/Her), Community Arts, MFA

Alexa is an interdisciplinary artist who moved to Baltimore from the Bay Area. Her primary medium at the moment is digital collage, however, she has a background in installation, photography, and painting. Alexa has a BA in art history, as well as focus in art criticism. Her work experience outside of her art practice includes: gallery assistant, curation, assistant art handler, creative writer, and program coordinating. For the past six years she has worked as a community artist, teaching and program coordinating at art centers and community art galleries.

Vonne Napper (They/Them), Community Arts, MFA

Vonne Napper is a Washington, D.C. bred and Baltimore-based second year graduate student at MICA in the MFA Community Arts program. As an interdisciplinary artist their focus lies in healing and innovation. The goal of their art practice is to preserve the black queer experience, while emphasizing the connections we share through our adversities. That process of preservation often looks like capturing oral stories or events through audio and video formats; but can take the form of visual art such as a painting, graphic design, illustration, and printmaking as well. Along with beautifying spaces and environments using various mediums, Vonne is aiming to create platforms based in community-driven initiatives and wellness.

Sandy Cheng (She/Her), Curatorial Practice, MFA

Sandy Cheng is originally from Taiwan but grew up in Shanghai, China. She got her BFA in Visual Arts and Design from the National University of Tainan in 2021. She was an oil painter/ graphic designer/ printmaker, loved playing different roles, and now integrating her passion for various artistic materials into curatorial practices.

Yéjidé Washington (She/Her), Curatorial Practice, MFA

Baltimore native, emerging curator, artist and travel enthusiast. She earned her B.A in history from University of Maryland Global Campus. Yéjidé's research and professional goals are to develop new tools for treating mental health through engagement with fiber arts.

Rachel Hawkins (She/Her), Filmmaking MFA

Rachel Hawkins is a MFA Filmmaking student that specializes in sound design, editing, and color grading. She is also a recent graduate from Towson University where she enjoyed collaborating with her peers on projects while also exploring topics pertaining to Experimental Film, Aesthetics, and Film Theory. Now as a newly-hired GPA for MICA’s MFA Filmmaking program, she hopes to inspire other filmmakers through her knowledge, expertise, and her own art. She also aspires to become an Associate Professor in Film/Media Studies.

Gillian Goodwin (She/Her), Filmmaking MFA

Goodwin uses her work to promote thought, conversation and ultimately change; focusing on socio-political issues within our communities, especially those which disproportionately affect minorities. Storytelling is an important feature of her approach whether that be within narrative or documentary formats. She seeks to reach a broad audience through clear communication of ideas, going deeply into her subject matter to ensure that the most challenging aspects are given space within the finished work.

Bhoomi Mistry (She/Her), Graphic Design MA

I’m a 23 year old from Mumbai, India. I have previously worked as an Art Director and Storyboard Artist with a production house. I’m very excited about moving to Baltimore and am looking forward to a wonderful experience at MICA.

Hannah Abele (She/Her), Graphic Design, MFA

Hannah is a 2nd year Graphic Design MFA student who enjoys typography, motion graphics, and publication design. She is working as a full-time designer while attending MICA. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and going on adventures with her running club. She lives in Columbia, MD with her cat Honeybee.

Jeff Glendenning (He/Him), Graphic Design, MFA

Jeff Glendenning is a design and educator, currently based in Baltimore. The majority of his career has been focused on publishing and visual storytelling, most notably at The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine. Other design experience includes branding and identity at agencies such as Mother Design, Pentagram and at the in-house studio of the MoMA. A separate track from Jeff’s industry work is the many years as an educator of design. He has taught classes at SVA and MICA and was an assistant professor in the Communications Design program at Syracuse University.

Shuang Wu (She/Her), Graphic Design MFA

Hello! I am Shuang (Luna) from GDMFA. I am originally from southern China and have been living in multiple cities from China to US in the past few years. I am a huge animal & plant lover, and I have an adorable, crazy family pup who looks like a snowball. In my spare time, I love to play console games, travel & hiking, and watch horror movies.

Alejandro Rovira (He/Him), Graphic Design, MFA

Alejandro Rovira holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing from Florida International University in Miami, BA 2020. He explored the integration of visual design with business thinking as an FIU Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator fellow, where he collaborated with diverse and innovative art-based business thinkers. His role as program coordinator of MICA’s 2021 UP/Start Competition for student and alumni entrepreneurs gave him further motivation to develop a more impactful, and profound understanding of graphic design that can elevate the relationship between design and people.

Megan Sayre (She/Her), Illustration MA

Megan Sayre is an illustrator and merchandise artist from Carson, VA. She graduated with a BFA in Communication Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. She loves comics, film, and theatre and enjoys including cinematic themes and imagery into her work. Her current passions include building her growing business, working on webcomic concepts, and collecting enamel pins.

Hana Azim (She/Her), Illustration Practice, MFA

Hi! I'm Hana, an MFA Illustration Practice student. I create work that captures the little joys in life. I'm a cat person and I love brunch!

Andrew Haener (He/Him), Illustration Practice MFA

Andrew is illustrator from Southeast Texas and the current representative of the Illustration Practice MFA program’s online presence. When he’s not dreaming up social media campaigns, he can typically be found behind a guitar, meandering around the city, or cooking something spicy. He is very much looking forward to sharing more of his experiences as well as those of his peers throughout the graduate community.

Sarah Etherton (She/Her), Illustration Practice MFA

Hi! I'm Sarah, I love fiber art, printmaking, and am a hobby collector! I have a 4 year old tuxedo cat named Beau. I live in the Mt Vernon neighborhood.

Arthur Youngblood (He/Him), LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting MFA

Arthur Youngblood was born in Bronx, New York, but was raised in Augusta, Georgia. He has general positive outlook on life and cares about community. He was a teacher at a middle school for a few years before attending MICA. Arthur absolutely loves the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise.

Penn Eastburn (He/Him), LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting MFA

Steven Pennock “Penn” Eastburn (b.1990, Wilmington, DE) is a painter based in Baltimore, Maryland. Penn is an MFA candidate in the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art (2022). He received his Bachelor of Arts in Film, along with a BA in New Media from the University of Utah, class of 2012.

Lauren Lortie (She/Her), LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting MFA

Raised on Cape Cod, MA, I spent 10 years living in the Boston area while working as a program coordinator for the hospitals in the area. I decided to return to school to pursue art around 8 years ago. I received a Studio Diploma from SMFA and BFA from MassArt and am now entering my 2nd year in the Hoffberger School of Painting. I love music, watching sports and of course, painting. I also taught art to students ages 4-18 for a couple years before coming to MICA.

Sagar Kamath (He/Him), Mount Royal School of Art Multidisciplinary MFA

Hi! I am a painter and dancer from Pittsburgh, PA and super excited to join the community at MICA!!! I love cooking and eating, especially seafood! During quarantine, my parents and I were working on perfecting some family fish recipes...stay tuned :O

Peishan Huang (She/Her), Mount Royal School of Art Multidisciplinary MFA

A girl who grew up in a mountainous area and lived in a natural environment. She has an interest in man-made natural senses in the city. Good at cooking Chinese food and eating a lot. Fascinated by transparent and shiny materials.

Darryl Hines (He/Him), Mount Royal School of Art Multidisciplinary MFA

I am a second year MFA student. Prior to attending MICA I worked as an attorney for more than thirty years. My art practice focuses on historical elements of art as applied to racial and cultural marginalization of black people in the United States and, more broadly throughout Western society.

Candice EH Cramer (She/They), Mount Royal School of Art Multidisciplinary MFA

Candice EH Cramer is a painter and drawer engaging in themes of ethnobiology, mycology, and human nature. Born in Panamá, Panamá, she has lived all around the United States and calls Cape Girardeau, Missouri her hometown. She graduated Southeast Missouri State University in 2014 with a BFA in Painting with Honors and is currently earning her terminal degree at MICA in multidisciplinary art.

Braughan Morrison (She/Her), Photographic and Electronic Media MFA (Photography + Media & Society MFA)

I’m originally from Canada, but grew up in the US. I got my BFA in graphic design with a minor in entrepreneurship from Towson University in 2018. I’m currently in my 2nd year of the PEM program focusing my thesis on immigration and the rhetoric surrounding the issue.

Geoff Krist (He/Him), Rinehart School of Sculpture MFA

My name is Geoffrey Krist. I am a second year in the Rinehart Sculpture program. I am originally from Connecticut and I currently live in Baltimore.

Allison Tomlinson (She/Her), Social Design MA

A photographer, a writer, and a plant enthusiast, Allison Tomlinson is excited to be a part of the Social Design program this year. With her diverse background in education and pharmaceuticals, she never expected to head into design, but she's excited to find a path that leads to working on social issues at a system level. In her free time, you can find her reading books on place and identity, researching foraging, and playing extreme Sudoku.

Samia Bzioui (She/Her), Studio Art, MFA

My artistic journey started in Morocco in 2012 in parallel with my career at the Central Bank. After moving to the United States in 2018, I started an MFA in Studio Arts. My work follows a multidisciplinary approach to address the space in between the two places each immigrant belongs to and question the concept of homeliness.

Lauren Jackson (She/Her), Teaching MA

Lauren Jackson is a multimedia printmaker and graphic designer from the DC Metropolitan Area, living and working in Baltimore, Maryland. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), majoring in Printmaking with concentrations in Graphic Design and Book Arts. Jackson is now completing her Master of Arts in Teaching from the Maryland Institute College of Art, continuing to focus on equitable practices of teaching and finding innovative ways to teach paper and print in a variety of settings.

Saige Baxter (She/Her), Teaching MA

I am a mixed-media artist from Pittsburgh currently in the MAT program at MICA. Outside of school I am a metals and welding instructor at Open Works, a dog mom and devout foodie. My art practice has recently shifted from metal sculpture to food installations and family nostalgia which allows me to play with my food!

Sarah Rogan (She/Her) Teaching MA

I am a painter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In undergrad I worked primarily with film photography and darkroom processes, focusing on themes of nature and memory. Outside of being a grad student in Baltimore, I'm a cat mom, plant mom, and snake mom.

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