AICAD Places 6 New and 13 Returning Post Graduate Teaching Fellows for 2022/23

Moon(Yuezhu) Wang, After Wind After Rain (still), 2022. Digital and hand drawing, film.

The Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) is pleased to announce the six fellows who have recently been selected to participate in a year-long, Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship at participating AICAD institutions during the 2022/23 academic year. Additionally, thirteen of the 2021/22 fellows will be continuing in their positions for a second year.

The Fellowship program seeks to provide professional practice opportunities to high-achieving alumni who have recently graduated from AICAD member schools, while also increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of faculty at these institutions. AICAD institutions aspire to create a climate that recognizes and values diversity as central to excellence in art and design education.

AICAD Fellowships include structured and unstructured mentoring and professional development opportunities along with direct teaching experience, health benefits, and other monetary supports.

Forough Abadian (MFA, Graphic Design, 2022, Rhode Island School of Design) placed at Maryland Institute College of Art. Abadian is an Iranian designer interested in the intersection of visual communication with design journalism, archival practices, and material culture. Being immersed in foreign settings, she finds her work pursuit of comprehension and interpretation of her surroundings in relation to her cultural heritage and worldview.

Christopher Williams (MFA, 2020, San Francisco Art Institute) placed at Moore College of Art and Design. Williams is a visual artist whose practice utilizes portraiture and figurative painting to convey complex narratives, including that of race and gender, originating for a deep empathy with his subjects.

Moon(Yuezhu) Wang (MFA, Experimental Animation, 2022, California Institute of the Arts) placed at Otis College of Art and Design. Wang is a Chinese animator and illustrator who’s work mainly focuses on family, love, social issues and gender awareness. Previous to their MFA, they earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in architecture from Tongji University, Shanghai.

Lipika Bhargava (MFA, Fine Arts, 2022, Parsons School of Design) placed at Pratt Institute. Bhargava is a multi-media artist working across drawing, painting, textile, sculpture, 2D and 3D animation. Her work explores different themes of sexuality, death, love, identity, fear, and political satire. Her practice is process-oriented and performative in mark-making drawing from her background in Indian classical and contemporary dance.

Dairys Escoto De León (MFA, Experimental Animation, 2022, California Institute of the Arts) placed at University of the Arts. Escoto De León is an animator and fine artist rooted in bringing her experiences as a Dominican American to the cinematic world. She challenges multiple genres and mediums, such as documentary, experimental, and even sci-fi, and explores ideas of immigration, multi-racial love, misogyny, and culture.

Noelle Choy (MFA, Sculpture, 2022, Cranbrook Academy of Art) placed at Kansas City Art Institute. Choy’s work functions mostly as performative multimedia sculpture creating complex productions and analog mechanisms. She’s contemplating intergenerational time travel, absurdity, and the impossible.

Continuing Fellows

Ricky Weaver (MFA, Photography, 2018, Cranbrook Academy of Art) placed at ArtCenter College of Design.

Ray Chang (MFA, Experimental Animation, 2020, California Institute of the Arts) placed at ArtCenter College of Design.

Kyungwon Song (MFA, Experimental Animation, 2019, California Institute of the Arts) placed at California College of Art.

Kevin Demery (MFA, 2018, School of the Art Institute of Chicago) placed at Kansas City Art Institute.

Eager Zhang (MFA, Visual Communication Design, 2021, School of the Art Institute of Chicago) placed at Kansas City Art Institute.

Luis Gutiérrez Arias (MFA, Film and Video, 2020, California Institute of the Arts) placed at Kansas City Art Institute.

Spandita Malik (MFA, Photography, 2019, Parsons School of Design) placed at Kansas City Art Institute.

Morgan Bouldes (MFA, Photography, 2021, Cranbrook Academy of Art) placed at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.

Phillip McFarlane (MFA, Communication Design, 2018, Pratt Institute) placed at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.

Gloria Fan Duan (MFA, Art and Technology, 2020, School of the Art Institute of Chicago) placed at Pratt Institute.

Gweny Jin (M. Arch, 2019, Rhode Island School of Design) placed at Pratt Institute.

Siena Smith (MFA, Fiber and Material Studies, 2021, School of the Art Institute of Chicago) placed at Rhode Island School of Design.

Ndivhuho Rasengani (MFA, Sculpture, 2021, Rhode Island School of Design) placed at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.