It is with deep sadness that we must acknowledge the passing of artist and teacher Matt Freedman this past Saturday, October 24th. Matt was integral in the construction of our MFA program and its interdisciplinary curriculum. Having taught as a visiting professor with us since our very first residency in the summer of 2015, the class that became “Matt’s class” is called simply “Interdisciplinary Practices”. Within it, he challenged our students to drop their preconceived notions of the expectations of a working artist in favor of a practice of asking questions. These questions would be radical and tricky, and all in the interest of what he called, “the messy process of opening up and questioning everything you hold dear.” As he reminded us in the course as well as outside of it, this is a big job, and time is precious so we have to get to work.

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