Constantina Zavitsanos | Media Artist

Time-based media artist Constantina Zavitsanos MFA ‘08 PAFA, recently accepted into the 2012-13 Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Student Program, recalls an especially close and unique relationship with her teachers:

“By far the greatest part of my experience at PAFA was the one-on-one interaction with my core group of chosen critics/teachers and my fellow MFA students. I continue many of these relationships today, the most formative of which were with the following academy faculty:

“Osvaldo Romberg, Jody Pinto and Kate Moran played a big role in helping me find my voice as an artist. Kate was one of the best teachers I have ever had. She pushed me formally at every turn, and helped draw out a singular concept in a piece without sacrificing the multiple ambiguities in it. Jody was fundamental in my grounding in contemporary art and theory, and Osvaldo helped me contextualize my work, in relation to art history, cultural production and international art criticism. they helped me understand the important role of art school training. You need a good school to grow as an artist.

“Unlike other art schools, PAFA’s MFA program is open in terms of media affiliation, allowing me to work in several veins without disconnect in terms of teachers or facilities. I felt very comfortable in an environment with open communication and collaboration.

“On a structural level of programming, the MFA program at PAFA is distinguished by its option for each student to select a team of critics, to rotate that selection, retain it for the duration of study, or even to restructure it altogether. This freedom of selection allowed me close engagement with my critics, which I chose to keep through every semester, opting to see other teachers outside of this schedule in addition to my full course load.”