HIDA Highlights background featuring students from the school

Highlights from 2019-20

School of Arts

Excellence in fine arts education

U.S. News and World Report ranked the School of Art in the Herberger Institute No. 15 out of 226 in overall fine arts education — moving up five spots over its 2016 rank and tying with Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy of Art and New York’s Parsons School of Design, ahead of Rutgers, the University of Texas, Austin and Temple University. The School of Art’s ceramics program ranked fourth and its photography program ranked sixth.

“Graduate programs in ASU’s School of Art continue to be globally recognized,” said Herberger Institute Dean Steven J. Tepper. “Our faculty and students are working at the highest levels of creativity here in the desert, and Grant Street Studios in downtown Phoenix is, hands down, the best studio and exhibition space for MFA candidates in the country. Importantly, we are preparing artists who are socially engaged, technologically empowered, and have the mindset and opportunity to collaborate across disciplines.”

Above A selection of work from MFA students. Artists (l–r): Casey Hanrahan, Daniel Nez and Larry Ma

Artist-at-Sea

Christine Lee, assistant professor in the School of Art, was selected for the Schmidt Ocean Institute Artists-At-Sea Program. The Schmidt Ocean Institute is a private non-profit operating foundation dedicated to advancing oceanographic research, discovery and knowledge, and to catalyzing the sharing of information about the oceans. The institute’s Artist-At-Sea Program engages artists to work with scientists to help people better understand the ocean. In the institute’s words, “Artists and scientists both have the ability to offer a deeper understanding of our Ocean. They are important storytellers that help people to see in new ways.” Lee shared her experience on the Herberger Institute’s Medium blog.

Below A selection of work from BFA students. Artists (l–r): Tyne Laferriere, Maura Dixon and Benjamin Writer.

Individual holding a model heart sculpture

Art and biomedical engineering

“It is incredible that the same process, hardware and software that enabled me to be an intermedia artist also enabled me to create models that helped and augmented clinical and surgical care processes.”

As the director of the new 3D Innovations Lab at Rady’s Children’s Hospital in San Diego, School of Art alumnus Justin Ryan crafts 3D models of hearts, brains and bones, and he credits his time as an art student for his interdisciplinary approach. Read more of his interview.

Galbut Prize

Min Kyu Kim was named the winner of the 2020 Galbut Prize. MFA sculpture student Min Kyu Kim creates figurative sculptures and forms bizarre scenes that suggest a narrative. The Galbut Prize is an annual award and $1,500 purchase prize presented to an outstanding work by one of the school’s MFA students. The winning artwork will be added to ASU’s permanent collection and displayed on campus. The 2019-2020 juror was Michelle Dock, visual arts curator at Tempe Center for the Arts.

Photos courtesy of the artists.

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