It’s time to change your story. Laura did.
This month, we share stories from our students and alumni who put themselves first and changed their careers and creative paths. Whether it’s to pursue a different creative medium or finally leave their corporate jobs, these storytellers share how the MFA Visual Narrative at SVA catalyzed their change.
Applications for Summer 2026 remain open
Meet alumnus Laura Catherine Brown, Class of ‘22, who came to MFA Visual Narrative from her 30-year tenure as a corporate graphic designer to pursue her dream of being a novelist, artist, and short fiction writer.
What was the catalyst to apply to MFAVN at that particular point in your life?
Creatively, I identified as a writer, with two published novels and several published short stories. But my corporate design job bankrolled my writing life, so there was a constant disconnect. I grew up poor, with a deprivation mindset, financial security always came first. For 30 years, I put on office-appropriate beige, low-heeled pumps and went to work. Yet, I chafed against the limitation of this dual track. At an MFAVN information session, I saw, like a revelation, the possibility of integrating these two separate selves. It was very exciting.
Was there a specific path or change you were looking for once you got the degree? What was it?
Getting through the MFAVN program was brutal, joyous, pure adrenalin. Graduating at 61 felt like such a huge accomplishment, it unleashed huge questions like what else can I do? I began writing and illustrating new stories, and for my thesis, a graphic novel. I had become larger than the life I’d formerly lived. It took a few years after graduating but I finally quit that job.
Would you recommend MFAVN for someone who is at a similar point in their career? Why?
I came to the MFAVN program because it was multidisciplinary, focused on story, and because in my heart I heard YES. So, in terms of recommending the program: If not now, when? It’s never too late. And it’s never too early.
At 62, I graduated with my MFA in Visual Narrative. It was brutal. Joyous. Pure adrenaline. It was YES shouted from the rooftops. It changed me.
MFAVN has a very different approach than many grad programs, offering a broad foundation in storytelling across all media. How did this shape or support your career goals?
The broad foundation in storytelling was the draw for me. At my job, I worked in video, some animation, web, signage and branding. In the program, I could finally put those skills to my own stories, and not only those skills—but additional skills that I learned in the program, like drawing, which I took as one of the many extracurricular classes available to everyone. Also, Riso printing, and a deep dive into animating.
In one sentence, how does your perspective on story and storytelling differ now in comparison to when you entered the program?
My perspective has widened beyond what I could’ve imagined when I entered the program. Stories are everywhere. Everywhere.
How has the program affected the way you work now?
The MFA in Visual Narrative unleashed my dormant zeal for drawing, painting, imagining, building, for learning—for its own sake. Because I love it. Because I feel alive.
Tell us about the community you found while in MFAVN, and how the people you met here have made an impact on you then until now. Are you still in touch with your class/faculty etc?
I made a couple of very good friends, women who graduated a couple of years before I did, who I exchange work with and whose critiques are invaluable to my work. I’m in touch with many of the faculty—who are generous and wise, and amazing artists in themselves. The MFAVN community is rich, vibrant and inspiring and I feel lucky to be part of it.
What did you get out of your time in MFAVN or the connections you made here that surprised you the most?
I reconnected with my younger self who got her BA in graphic design from SVA forty years ago.Now, I sketch the people around me, interacting with strangers. I attend figure-drawing sessions with live models all over the city—it’s friendly, communal. I never thought that would happen.
MFAVN attracts a very diverse student body and a multi-disciplinary faculty. What was your experience with that aspect?
It’s inspiring to be in such a creative hothouse, privy to so many different approaches, mediums, ways of thinking.
What kind of work/art practice do you do now, and how did MFAVN influence your career path?
I’m writing and illustrating my first graphic novel, a long-deferred dream. I teach writing to visual artists. And I’m working on a course to teach visual techniques to writers who want to add the visual to their stories, essays and poems.
In a few words, what was the value of the program to you, professionally and personally?
I’m finally living my own life, which allows me to observe, bear witness and connect to what matters. Making stories, making art, these are acts of empathy, and empathy is resistance. We need resistance in these times, this world.
Now it’s your turn. Change your story. Pursue what you’ve always wanted to!
Applications for Summer 2026 are Still Open!
Apply Now! Apply before February 15 to be considered for our second round deadline. Applications will remain open through May 1 while space, scholarships, and housing awards remain available.
Reach out to us at mfavn@sva.edu to learn more.
