We’re getting ready for a milestone event in the Visual Narrative MFA program at SVA. Our inaugural class is having its first Digital Short Story exhibit and the whole school is buzzing!
Curated by faculty members Jim Rugg and Mark Sable, the exhibition is on view May 27 through June 14 at the SVA Flatiron Gallery, 133/141 West 21st Street, New York City. Admission is free.
A public reception is scheduled for Friday, May 30, 5:30 – 7:30pm.
Nathan Fox, the program Chair, is excited by what he’s seeing. “It’s inspiring to watch the students develop and push beyond what they thought they were capable of.”
Jim Rugg, teacher and show co-curator, agrees. “The diversity of content and form surprised me, as did the overall ambition of the students and their ability to fulfill that ambition. The commitment to produce a quality story, and all that entails stands out to me the most. I could not be more proud of the work this class produced.”
Mark Sable, teacher and co-curator, is equally impressed and moved by the experience. “The students took risks and they paid off. I’ve enjoyed having a glimpse into such varied creative processes. I felt like it helped me reconnect with the joy of creating something with the kind of freedom SVA MFVN offers.”
Fox describes the process as a kind of collision of narrative expression. “The whole semester was focused on producing digital shorts. Everything up to now has been building to this Yin and Yang of writing and visual. We’ve had students who are comfortable with writing. Others are visual artists. But from here on every individual student needs to do both. For the rest of their time in MFAVN one cannot exist without the other.”
The shorts will live on the MFAVN website where future students can see just how high the bar has been set.
It’s an exciting time to be part of the MFAVN family!
Participating artists include Ryan Ansel, Zachary Ares, Louisa Bertman, Katie Brier, Ann Coddou, Craig Coss, Anna Eveslage, Jenny Goldstick, Steven Little, Melissa Malzkuhn, Ivory Nùñez-Medrano, Alison Paul, Jacob Reilly, Feifei Ruan, Ryan Weber and Nadia Wilson.
Here are some images from the digital short story exhibit. Join us on May 30th and enjoy them with us.
SVA Flatiron Gallery
133/141 West 21st Street »
Tel: 212.592.2145
gallery@sva.edu
About the revolutionary Masters program:
“‘Story: Visualized’ is the motto and mission statement of SVA’s groundbreaking MFA in Visual Narrative program, where the artist is author,” Rugg and Sable write. “From storyboards to comics to picture books, these digital short stories and their accompanying physical art are the culmination of the year’s work from the inaugural class, visualizing stories that showcase their wide array of talents and distinct authorial voices.”
MFA Visual Narrative at SVA is an evolutionary, low-residency graduate program in visual storytelling, chaired by editorial illustrator and comic book artist Nathan Fox. Comprised of three eight-week summer sessions in New York City and two academic years online, the program places equal emphasis on creative writing and figurative visual expression. It is designed for both working professionals and recent graduates from all creative disciplines who are dedicated to the art and craft of visual storytelling as both artist and author.