SUNY New Paltz’s MFA program is delighted to host its inaugural COMPOSIUM, a three-day symposium on collaboration and community in the arts. Organized by the MFA Faculty led by the Graduate Coordinator, Matthew Friday, COMPOSIUM feature speakers, workshops, and an exhibition that explore keynote speaker Caroline Woolard’s provocative call for economies of solidarity within the arts.
San Francisco Bay Area-based visual artist and social practitioner Christine Wong Yap will introduce how positive psychology has influenced her practice for over 10 years. She will share recent hyperlocal and international projects that blend social engagement, participatory research, lettering, comic books, flags, and public activations.
Morgan Post, an artist and educator who conducts research and workshops at the Penumbra Foundation and author of the textbook Alternative Photographic Processes for the Contemporary Photographer: A Beginner's Guide, will address multiple avenues of research and community building in the arts.
Friday, October 20
Self-care can be a powerful antidote to stress and burnout. It can provide inner ballast to help withstand the harms caused by social media or imposter syndrome linked to white supremacy and patriarchy. Join Christine Wong Yap in this participatory workshop to co-create a Self-Care Card Deck. You do NOT need to be an artist to participate, and this workshop is open to all.
*This event has reached capacity, and we cannot accept any more people.
Join Chris Freeman to explore his journey from artist, skateboarder, and fabricator to artist / gallery director, with a focus on community enrichment through the arts. Discussion to follow focusing on community dynamics within the discipline of painting, and alumni experiences finding communities post-graduation.
Interdisciplinary artists Lenka Clayton, founder of An Artist Residency in Motherhood. and Creative Capital recipient Phillip Andrew Lewis collectively run Gallery Closed, a project space in Pittsburgh. Together, they will discuss their extensive background of socially engaged community projects.
Keynote Speaker: Author, artist, and organizer, Caroline Woolard is the W.W. Corcoran Visiting Professor in Community Engagement, a founding co-organizer of Art.coop and the CCO of OpenCollective. Join Caroline for her discussion of how artists can form networks of solidarity.
Saturday October 21
These events are located at the Unison Art Center on 68 Mountain Rest Road. Please note parking is extremely limited. A shuttle bus will be available from the Administrative Parking lot 15, located at the main entrance to SUNY New Paltz off of RT32.
From Forest to Fork: Come explore the sustainable sourcing of art materials with Sculpture Professors Michael Asbill and Emily Puthoff. Using a portable wood mill, they will mill an Ash log into a table to serve a community meal for the exhibition opening.
Join our speakers, students and professors for a communal meal and joyous exhibition opening of MFA student work. Explore the importance of pollinators with the Hudson Valley Bee Habitat’s Honey tasting workshop and entangle into ecology with Sculpture Professors Michael Asbill and Emily Puthoff in a dynamic cooking and drawing event using charcoal made from downed trees.
The exhibition and related programming are generously supported by SUNY New Paltz’s Office of Enrollment Management, The Department of Art, the School of Fine and Performing Arts, and SUNY New Paltz's Career Resource Center Major Connections. For more information or to request accommodations please contact Matthew Friday at fridaym@newpaltz.edu.
