Nov.-Dec. 2011 - Maryland Institute College of Art

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22 ALUMNI Geographic Spotlight: Southern California the southern California art sCene has no shortage of talent—after all, there’s a reason Los Angeles is often referred to as “the Creative Capital of the World,” while San Diego has long been known as a vibrant cultural destination. Since many MICA alumni seek out the West Coast after graduation, President Fred Lazarus IV and Director of Parent and Alumni Relations David Hart traveled to Southern California this past June, where they were welcomed into the homes, studios, and businesses of alumni to see where their East Coast education has taken them. Juan f. bastos ’83 Alumnus Creates Connections Through Portraiture “At 10 years old I posed for my first portrait, and since then I’ve always felt the illusion of a likeness on paper or on canvas was something almost magical,” said Juan F. Bastos, a 1983 graduate and portrait artist living in Los Angeles. With an impressive list of portraits that includes Charlize Theron, Susan Sontag, Tennessee Williams, Sir Ian McKellen, Gore Vidal, and Don Bachardy—plus several hundred commissions hanging in private homes, corporate offices, government buildings, embassies, libraries, churches, and universities, including Harvard and USC—it comes as no surprise that Bastos takes pride in his ability to make connections. “It’s an interesting profession, being a portrait artist…it is about establishing a relationship with a family or an institution,” Bastos said. “I am very fortunate to have the talent that I do but also to have the social skills to maintain relationships,” he added. Born in Venezuela to an expatriate Bolivian family, Bastos shares the same philosophy on social interactions as his grandfather, who was a Bolivian government minister and ambassador. “He could talk to the gardener or talk to the president with the same kindness and the same kind of respect,” Bastos said. Bastos, who also creates representational art that utilizes mythology and symbolism, says his time at MICA was essential for his formulation as an artist. He is currently excited about his new book, The Art of Juan F. Bastos. Any client can order the art book with the portrait they commissioned on the cover, allowing Bastos to receive more exposure. “Sometimes the portrait is in a client’s bedroom, and very few people see it. But the coffee table book remains in the library or in the family room so then there is more of a chance guests will ask to see the portrait.” “It’s the process of a lifetime,” Bastos said of portraiture. “You always learn, no matter how old you are.” dena robertson ’94 Alumna Preserves Memories Through Quality Books While studying painting at MICA, Dena Robertson ’94 fell in love with a student at The Johns Hopkins University named Robert Greenberg. Two years after graduating, the couple was married— but Robertson was having trouble finding the perfect album to display the couple’s wedding images. “I really wanted something that was unique and special and that had more of a fine art presentation,” Robertson said. For months, she poured her heart into researching and creating an elegant, museum-quality book for the photographs. The result was an album made with exquisite Swiss ribbons, luxurious Japanese bookbinding fabrics, and papers repurposed from a mill on the East Coast that became the prototype for Cypress Fine Handmade Albums and Boxes. Today, Cypress employs 12 artisans who work round-the-clock to create intimate, personal albums. Robertson, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children, said the 6,000-square-foot bindery where she works and keeps a studio offers the perfect creative environment for her. “Everyone who works here is also a painter, or graphic designer, or some kind of artist. We really feed off of each other,” Robertson said. Of her time at MICA, Robertson said, “It was such an amazing experience for me; I think about it all the time. It has led me to where I’m at right now.“ Juan F. Bastos, Gore Vidal, pastel, 2006. “A number of Juan Bastos’ portraits remind me of John Singer Sargent,” said Gore Vidal, noted American author. Cypress Fine Handmade Albums and Boxes. (Photo by Yvette Roman Photography)
View of Lux Art Institute, featuring an on-site installation of brick furniture titled Home by Turkish artist Ali Acerol. reesey shaW ’64, ’66 Alumna Encourages Viewers to Not Just “See Art” But to “See Art Happen” As the founding director of Lux Art Institute, Reesey Shaw ’64 ’66 is on a mission to redefine the museum experience by providing access to living artists at work. At the nonprofit institute, viewers do not just see finished works of art—they get to see the artistic process firsthand in a working studio environment. Founded in 1998, the institute invites internationally recognized artists to work in a facility that sits on the bluffs of Encinitas in California, allowing artists “to use the landscape as both inspiration and materials,” Shaw said. Visitors are encouraged to observe and engage with the artists in residency, creating what Shaw describes as a “new way to inspire art experiences.” Shaw and her colleagues have also developed a six-week summer art camp for students and a “Kids-in-Residence” program that brings young artists between the ages of eight and 14 into the institute for an after-school program that spans multiple weeks. The children are able to follow the progress of an artist-in-residence’s work from start to finish, while also engaging in conversation and experimenting with similar techniques and materials. “Art is the core of education, not a frill. Mentors, parents, and teachers should be in the business of making the ordinary extraordinary. That’s what artists do. That’s the kind of ‘Wow’ experience from which children learn. And that’s what happens at Lux,” explained Shaw. “The world becomes new. It’s one of the great gifts that art continually gives.” Shaw currently lives in La Jolla with her husband, David, who studied at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Southern California has many other notable alumni, including: Elizabeth Turk ’94, who received the MacArthur “Genius” Grant in 2010; emerging sculptor Matt Johnson ’00, who is known for his innovative manipulation of objects; Al Hurwitz ’41 and Leven Leatherbury ’47, two leaders in the field of art education; and many others. COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT 23 Testing of the cardboard prototypes for a fruit display at Blooming Sun Supermarket. Designing Fruitful Solutions for Baltimore Corner Stores at a number of small bodeGas and markets in baltimore, food choices are often limited to high-calorie snacks, sodas, and convenience foods that have little or no nutritional value. “These stores are only two minutes from here,” explained environmental design faculty member Inna Alesina. With help from the The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Alesina challenged the students in her spring 2011 Object Design 2 class to implement designs that would help make these corner stores healthier. The class focused on two Baltimore stores, where the students identified obstacles to healthful eating and then developed strategies to increase access to a nutritious diet. According to Alesina, her students’ main task was to use design as a problem solver to “make fresh fruits appealing and encourage more consumption.” The students created prototypes of designs that would cost less than $100 to manufacture and then presented them to the store owners, who decided whether or not to implement them in their business model. “The store owners are like mothers to these neighborhoods,” Alesina said. The project is continuing through the fall, when Alesina’s students revisit the same stores to refocus the project and move onto the next phase: creating working models out of wood and aluminum. If the designs show positive outcomes, the project may expand to cover more Baltimore stores. Healthful eating solutions have also been pursued by MICA’s Center for Design Practice, which teamed up with the Baltimore City Health Department to develop branding for the Virtual Supermarket program. This initiative enables Baltimoreans living in locations void of nearby supermarkets to order healthy food online through a partnering grocery store, Santoni’s Supermarket, and then pick up the groceries at the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Page 1 and 2: NEWS, EVENTS, & EXHIBITIONS Novembe
Page 3 and 4: EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS November Throu
Page 5 and 6: Students display ampersands while s
Page 7 and 8: Making History /Making Art: MICA wa
Page 9 and 10: Local artists pose on top of one of
Page 11 and 12: Students Design Mobile Farmers Mark
Page 13 and 14: MICA welcomed its largest class eve
Page 15 and 16: Richelle Vargas, Thoughts, oil past
Page 17 and 18: system that allows everyone involve
Page 19 and 20: (top) James F. Blue III (pictured o
Page 21: Irish Delight Last spring, senior Z
Page 25 and 26: (left to right) José Villarrubia (
Page 27 and 28: Shannon May, How Pleasure Works, ed
Page 29 and 30: Alumni Office Abuzz miCa’s alumni
Page 31 and 32: like ? On Twitter: @mica_news On Fa
Page 33 and 34: (top to bottom) Ursula Minervini, R
Page 35 and 36: Brittney Posternock wearing one of
Page 37 and 38: the Common obJeCt Thursday, Decembe
Page 39 and 40: end to end: Works by Youngmi Song O
Page 41 and 42: Monday Artist at Noon: Joyce J. Sco
Page 43 and 44: General fine arts Tuesday, November
Page 45 and 46: School for Professional and Continu
Page 47 and 48: fat PiG and reasons to be Pretty Th

Nov.-Dec. 2011 - Maryland Institute College of Art

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