MassArt Illustration

March 27, 2017
by alice.stanne
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Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Winners!

The Illustration Department would like to congratulate all of the students who were selected to be included in this year’s Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Competition!

From the Society’s website:
Every year since 1981 the Society has held the Student Scholarship Competition. Over three hundred works are chosen from more than 8,700 entries submitted by professors of college-level students nationwide. In a competition which can kick start a career, students bring their most sophisticated, well-crafted and original work to be tested. A jury of professional peers, including illustrators and art directors, selects the most outstanding works created throughout the year. Pieces are accepted based on the quality of technique, concept and skill of medium used.

From the Society’s endowment, generous contributions from private and corporate donors, and proceeds from an annual auction of member-donated artworks, scholarship awards are granted to about 25 students whose work is deemed the best of the best.

In the last 30 years, the Society has awarded over $1,500,000 to deserving students in this unique competition, which has opened the door for many of today’s top professionals including Kadir Nelson, James Bennett, Gwenda Kaczor, Dan Dos Santos, James Jean and many more.
Title: A Sharing Economy
Artist: Victoria Maxfield
Medium: Gif
Instructor: Scott Bakal
Title: Calvin Dickerman Hears Failures Careless Whisper
Artist: Margaret Gillespie
Medium: Gouache
Instructor: Wesley Bedrosian

Title: Nothingness
Artist: Brady Kettle
Medium: Digital
Instructor: Polly Becker

Title: Nature’s Warning
Artist: Skarlett Prittle
Medium: Linoleum Print
Instructor: Linda Bond

Title: Assyrian Gods
Artist: James Spaeth
Medium: Graphite
Instructor: Polly Becker

Here are the MassArt winners from the previous few years competitions!
2016
2015
2014

February 22, 2017
by alice.stanne
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Faculty News

Robert Maloney – Official Unveiling and Ribbon Cutting for Haffenreffer Chimney Restoration Project

On Thursday, March 2, Illustration faculty member Robert Maloney was honored at the official unveiling and ribbon cutting ceremony for his public art work, the HAFFENREFFER CHIMNEY RESTORATION PROJECT. Held by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation at the old Haffenreffer Brewery Complex, the event drew a lively supportive crowd including nearly two dozen members of the Haffenreffer family

Robert Maloney is a MassArt alum, with a BFA in Illustration and an MFA from the MassArt Boston Low-Residency Program where his Haffenreffer Chimney Restoration Project originated in 2014. His engagement with the initial concept expanded and resulted in an ongoing endeavor that took three more years to realize.

For the public unveiling Boston Mayor Martin Walsh was in attendance. In his speech he congratulated Robert and proclaimed Thursday, March 2 as HAFFENREFFER BREWERS DAY in the city of Boston. Other guest speakers included Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley, Richard Thal executive director of the JPNDC, and Carl Nord from the George B. Henderson Foundation/Historic New England which awarded funding to the project. Margot Zurakowska, Illustration chair, paid a heartfelt tribute to Robert on behalf of the Illustration Department and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She spoke of Robert’s accomplishments as both an artist and teacher and congratulated him on making MassArt’s commitment to a rich engagement with Boston neighborhoods visible with his community based public artwork.

John Roman – ‘The Artist’s Personal Grail Quest’ in Professional Artist Magazine

Visiting Lecturer John Roman from the Illustration Dept. has a feature article in the current issue of Professional Artist magazine (February/March, 2017). “The Artist’s Personal Grail Quest” explains how an ancient myth continues to guide and inspire all creative people through their careers. The magazine is in bookstores now and can be found at any Barnes and Noble, or it can be downloaded from the Professional Artist website.

January 19, 2017
by alice.stanne
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Illustration Student’s Drawing Acquired into MassArt Library’s Permanent Collection

An original drawing by MassArt Illustration junior, Minru ‘Dora’ Wang was recently acquired by the Massachusetts College of Art Library for framing and display in the library, and to be included in the library’s permanent collection of art. Dora’s illustration was traditionally hand-drawn and digitally colored for an assignment in John Roman’s Technical Illustration course and depicts a 180-degree scene of the MassArt Library’s interior. Her drawing successfully captures the library environment in an engaging, panoramic, wide-angle view. Students and faculty can see Dora’s marvelous, framed artwork exhibited on the library’s 13th floor.

January 18, 2017
by alice.stanne
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Spring Open Drawing Sessions

November 18, 2016
by alice.stanne
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Student Awards

As we get near the end of 2016, we’ve been looking at some of the achievements of our illustration students.

We are proud to see our students get the nod this year from so many respected national competitions which have included the Society of Illustrators, 3×3, Creative Quarterly, Communication Arts, World Illustration Awards and the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles.

The Illustration Department is also incredibly proud that one of our students, Krista Perry, graced the cover of the Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Competition this year. This is the second year in a row that one of our students were selected for such a competitive placement!

Other highlights include student Elise Guillen won a $1,500 scholarship from the Society of Illustrators and Dominic Civiello was profiled in Communication Arts and won a Bronze Medal from 3×3.

Below you will find some of the great art that was represented in these competitions. Congratulations to all of the students!

Alexis DeLeon, Society of Illustrators

Caitlin Mavilia, Creative Quarterly

Tosh Spencer, Society of Illustrators

Dominic Civiello, Creative Quarterly

Caitlin Mavilia, 3 x 3

Victoria Maxfield, Society of Illustrators

Dominic Civiello, Creative Quarterly

Caitlin Mavilia, Creative Quarterly

Dominic Civiello, Creative Quarterly

November 14, 2016
by alice.stanne
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The Art of Awards

Wojciech Wolynski has been teaching in the Illustration Department at MassArt for 19 years. One special contribution from Wojciech has been his many delightful Faculty Special Recognition Awards that are presented to a handful of students at the end of the year to acknowledge exceptional achievement. The entire Illustration faculty votes to choose which students will receive an award.

Most of us do not get to see these witty and beautiful certificates, so here they are!

November 7, 2016
by alice.stanne
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Alumni News!

Illustration alum Dimel Rivas (BFA’16) and current Illustration senior Alexa Gustafson were chosen to participate in a Día de los Muertos exhibition at 13 Forest Gallery to celebrate Capitol Square’s annual Day of the Dead festivities in Arlington.

Dimel Rivas with her three-dimensional installation about the joyous reunion between family members, both living and dead, that is celebrated on Día de los Muertos.Alexa Gustafson‘s lithograph references much of the iconography of Día de los Muertos, especially the marigolds that are laid out to attract the souls of the dead.

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Alum Amanda Gibson (BFA’16) took a strong interest in building three-dimensional work in her time in the Illustration program. She has recently channeled that passion into creating and building puppets with Puppet Showplace Theater for the Franklin Park Zoo’s Midnight Zoo show.

The Midnight Zoo surrounds visitors with never-before-seen creatures from the farthest realms of the imagination. This haunted habitat features over 20 fantastical creatures ranging in size from tiny to over 8 feet tall.Amanda has also been performing in the show as one of the stilt walking Rutach creatures! In addition she continues to design, develop and build her own unique 3-D creatures.

October 17, 2016
by alice.stanne
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Boston Campaign Headquarters: In Nothing We Trust

Boston Campaign Headquarters: In Nothing We Trust
Pat Falco’s Campaign Headquarters at Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Summer 2016
by Professor Suzanne Barnes

Since graduating from Massart’s Illustration department in 2010, Pat Falco has been busy ascending the art ladder of recognition. After running the Lincoln Arts Project gallery in Waltham, he went on to direct the Distillery Gallery in South Boston. His work was selected for the prestigious DeCordova Biennial in 2013, and in 2014, he was artist in residence at Boston Center for the Arts, creating a different site-specific public art installation around Boston each day during the month of November. In the summer of 2015 he created a block of painted store fronts on Georges Island in the Boston Harbor, poking wry dry fun at a variety of urban establishments.

Pat’s most recent project, “Boston Campaign Headquarters”, was installed this summer in an empty storefront in Faneuil Hall Marketplace, in the heart of historic Boston. The headquarters is dedicated to the election of candidate Nobody, filled with low budget office items like folding chairs and tables, a beat up copy machine, cheap landline phone, vintage television, jars of pens, an assortment of office supplies, and discarded take out food boxes.

Displayed within this setting is a large collection of red, white, and blue banners and signage, hand-painted in the distinctive Falco typeface with slogans like: “Yes We Can’t”, “Vote Lesser Evil”, “Nobody Cares About You”, “Good Enough for Someone”, “Even You (well maybe not you) Could Be President”, “With Liberty and Justice for Some”, “Together We Can Make America Better Wider Great Not That Bad”, “Pretend to be Heard”, and “The Silent Majority: Because It’s Too Embarrassing to Say Out Loud”. There’s even a shelf of familiar red baseball caps that read “Make America Great For the First Time”.

In making slight revisions to typical campaign slogans, Pat reveals the untruths of the originals, in the same way he’s previously applied his painted voice to the art world, relationships, and an assortment of social issues. His observations are funny, irreverent, melancholy, and true. Pat’s installation is a contemplative experience as well. Nothing is happening and literally, nobody is there. Pat’s headquarters project received some great reviews, including The Boston Globe, WBUR, and Big Red and Shiny. Although the headquarters are now closed, you can see pictures on Pat’s website.

September 14, 2016
by alice.stanne
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Fall Open Drawing Sessions

May 2, 2016
by alice.stanne
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Morton Godine Travel Fellowship Award

Illustration senior Eileen McIntire was awarded the Morton Godine Traveling Fellowship for 2016. This fellowship is awarded to a graduating Junior or Senior to help defray the cost of travel for the purpose of completing a well-defined project having artistic merit. The award is for $5,000.00. Eileen plans to travel to Los Angeles this summer to conduct research for illustrations for a graphic novel she plans to publish.

A description of her project in her own words:

“Since I won the Morton Godine travel grant I’ve been getting a lot of questions. What are you going to do? Where are you going to go? When I tell them I’m traveling to Los Angeles to gather research for a quiet introspective graphic novel about the twilight of ones greatest passion, they say “Huh. Why didn’t you ask to go somewhere more exotic or exciting?” But the truth is, I couldn’t imagine a more exciting venture. The story I will be adapting is called The Precipice of Angels, a short story by deceased member of the Firesign Theater, Phil Austin. My father was a great fan of Austin’s work, and my bedtimes were filled with his bizarre tales and solemn humor. The Precipice of Angels follows the solo climb of an aging “boulevardiste” pursuing his most challenging expedition over the rooftops of Wilshire Boulevard. During his aerial journey down the legendary boulevard now fallen from greatness, he reflects on the twilight of his once grand secret society of horizontal climbers. The story has always been a favorite of mine, and I am honored that the Austin estate has shown such support. The real truth of the matter is that diving into Austin’s vivid imagination and haunting tale is the most exotic place I could possibly go.”

Eileen’s depictions of shadowy architectural spaces were recently featured in an article for Drawing Magazine, written by Illustration Professor John Roman.

Congratulations to Eileen!