Notes from the Studio Issue #5
This fall season we have much exciting news to share! Two highlights: the launch of a part-time track for our MA degree and a $20,000 Google Research Award to our department to support the launch a 2025–26 workshop on critical frameworks for AI and design research.
Here’s a snapshot of more goings-on this semester:
- In Karrie Jacobs’ Contemporary Issues in Design class, students observed how New York City infrastructure is transforming with site visits to Red Hook with Selldorf Architects and Battery Park City with artist Mary Miss.
- We welcomed writer Roxane Gay and SVA Products of Design chair Allan Chochinov as guest critics for students’ final presentations in Steven Heller’s Approaches to Design History class.
- In partnership with Archtober, we hosted an Open Mic/Open House at the D-Crit studio featuring Metropolis magazine editor in chief Avinash Rajagopal (D-Crit Class of 2011), Untapped design journal editor in chief Tiffany Jow, and New York Review of Architecture associate publisher Nicolas Raap.
- Eric Schwartau’s Thesis Workshop included visits from Cyberfeminism author Mindy Seu and The Atlantic design director Laura Scofield (Class of 2019).
- Each semester we host several Studio Sessions that feature thinkers, writers, and designers redefining cultural discourse. Our next session is Tuesday, November 12 in the D-Crit studio, with writers Jennifer Krasinski, Ismail Muhammad, and Niela Orr in conversation with faculty member Jennifer Kabat. RSVP here!
- We are currently searching for the D-Crit Classes of 2026 and 2027! If you are ready for an MA at the frontiers of design, join one of our upcoming info sessions and apply…or consider sharing this newsletter with someone you think could be a D-Crit MA candidate.
We hope to see you in the studio soon!
- Molly Heintz, Program Chair
MA Design Research, Writing & Criticism
ALUMNI UPDATES
Across creative industries, D-Crit alumni are at the forefront of conversations about the contexts and consequences of design. Scroll to catch up with our global community of authors curators, designers, practitioners, and innovators.
- Jared Dalcourt (Class of 2022) contributed an essay to the exhibition catalog of Nike: Form Follows Motion, which opened 9/21 at the Vitra Design Museum. The essay was based in part on his MA thesis research about representations of the Black male in American media.
- Michele Washington (Class of 2011) was a co-curator and researcher for Designer’s Choice: Norman Teague — Jam Sessions, the Inaugural Exhibition in a New Series, which opened 10/10 at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
- Michele and Alicia Ajayi (Class of 2021 and faculty) were also recently appointed board members for BlackSpace, a collective of Black urbanists dedicated to bridging the gaps between policy, people, and place, to address inequality and injustice.
- Jon Key’s (Class of 2021 and faculty) new book Black Queer & Untold: A New Archive of Designers, Artists, and Trailblazers, based in part on his MA thesis, is now available for pre-order from Levine & Querido, with a release date of 11/19.
- Angela Riechers (Class of 2010) has been appointed Director of Education at the Letterform Archive in San Francisco.
- Matt Shaw (Class of 2013) authored American Modern: Architecture; Community; Columbus, Indiana, a history of one of the foremost modernist cities and architecture destinations in the US, with photography by Iwan Baan (Monacelli, 2024).
- Lila Allen (Class of 2016) recently published “Meet Basic Projects: AD’s New American Voices 2024” for Architectural Digest’s AD Pro platform.
- Esty Bagos (Class of 2023) curated Luminaries and Legacies: Gawad CCP Para sa Sining 2024 & Other CCP Institutional Awards, featuring the works and life achievements of the 2024 Gawad CCP Awardees at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila. The exhibition opened 9/24.
- 2024 Summer Intensive alum Nino Chambers just launched EXTRACONTEXTUAL, a newsletter project exploring the intersections of material culture.
- Saundra Marcel (Class of 2011) was featured in Bold Journey magazine, discussing her work as a brand author with Design Minded.
- Chappell Ellison (Class of 2010) presented “Design Didn’t Save the World: Now What?” at Design Matters DK, a digital design conference in Copenhagen on October 24.
- Michelle Duncan (Class of 2021) recently published “Travis Scott Joins Forces with Rick Owens to Design a Lavish Backstage Sanctuary for His Utopia–Circus Maximus Tour” for Architectural Design.
- Vera Sacchetti and Amelie Klein (both Class of 2011) open All In! Redesigning Democracy this November in conjunction with SKD, Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Dresden, part of their ongoing Design & Democracy platform launched in 2019.
- AIGA San Diego Tijuana announced a new scholarship named in honor of Susan Merritt (Class of 2015), AIGA Fellow and faculty emerita of the School of Art + Design at San Diego State University.
- Brooke Viegut (Class of 2022) and Anwulika Oputa (Class of 2021) contributed to 3D Tech Fest 2024: The Physical-Digital Evolution, the world’s largest virtual festival of fashion, apparel, and technology. Brooke served as co-curator and co-author, while Anwulika moderated a panel entitled “A Brand’s Responsibility to Culture.”
- Brooke was also appointed to faculty of SVA MFA Interaction Design. Brooke joins a growing collection of alumni on the faculty at School of Visual Arts, including Ida Benedetto (Class of 2016), Ian Beckman Reagan (Class of 2023), Anne Quito (Class of 2014), Jon Key (Class of 2021), and Molly Heintz.
Are you an alum with recently published work, or a new project to share? Fill out our short questionnaire linked here so we can share your successes!
Virtual Info Session Series
Prospective MA candidates are invited to join program chair Molly Heintz, director of operations Eric Schwartau, and some of our illustrious alumni online for an overview of the program and answers FAQs about applying and scholarship opportunities. This session will focus on the one-year MA with special attention to the new part-time track.
Can’t make it on October 29? D-Crit is hosting several virtual info sessions throughout the fall. Register for our upcoming events here and find more below!
- November 9: Portfolio Day at SVA Graduate Center
- November 14: D-Crit Virtual Info Session
- November 16: SVA Graduate Programs event at MFA Boston
- November 21: SVA Grad Admissions Virtual Info Session
- December 5: D-Crit Virtual Info Session
- December 7: SVA Grad Departments Open House
- December 16: D-Crit Virtual Info Session
All info session attendees receive an $80 application fee waiver when applying by January 15, 2025. Candidates who apply by this deadline will also receive priority consideration for scholarships.
Enrich your understanding of design in all its forms and develop the tools to write and think critically about design’s contexts and consequences. Join School of Visual Art’s one-year intensive MA in Design Research, Writing & Criticism or our new part-time MA track launching Fall 2025!!
