Winter Intensive in Portland, OR and Philadelphia, PA

In December 2009, MFA students and faculty visited Portland, OR and Philadelphia, PA.

Highlights from Portland included: exploring the Chinese Gardens, visiting Powell’s Books, meeting Andy Paiko and Ethan Rose, a glass artist and a sound artist who collaborated to put together the Transference show at the Museum of Contemporary Craft, and of course, the Nike Kitchen.  In between, we held interviews with each other, met two fantastic MFA alums (Shaun Jarvis, MFA ’05 and Sandra Preston, MFA ’08), went on a walking tour of the city with former-MFA faculty Tracey Cockrell, sampled some fantastic Portland beer, ate yummy vegan food, and had a super fun karaoke night.

Highlights from Philly included: a visit to the West Collection, curator/artist talk with Sue Spaid and Caroline Lathan-Stiefel, MFA ’01 at Locks Gallery, and of course, Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms at Philadelphia Museum of Art. In between, we held more interviews with each other, met some great perspective students and reconnected with Karyn Olivier, a 2008 visiting artist, enjoyed a delicious dinner at Farmacia, local/organic/slow food place.