Prolific multimedia artist Cicely Carew has shown her work across Massachusetts and around the world. She was awarded the prestigious James and Audrey Foster Prize by Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art in 2023, in recognition of her exceptional contributions to the city’s art scene. Many of Carew’s larger installations are multimedia “flying paintings” constructed from layers of painted mesh and other found materials. She says that through her work — which is characterized by seemingly spontaneous abstract forms and vibrant colors — she aims to evoke a sense of “radical joy and liberation” in all who experience it.
Your art’s been displayed in many public settings — from Boston’s Prudential Center to Peloton storefronts in New York City. Why is it important for art to be shown in public places?
Art needs to be everywhere because art is for everybody. Institutions can be cold and intimidating. And some people are kept out and they’re told they don’t belong. When we take art that’s been shown in museums and share it in more public settings, it helps create a sense of belonging. It allows wonder to exist in very ordinary moments, which then seeps out into the world. And why not make the world more beautiful?
What advice would you give to a MassArt grad hoping to pursue a creative career?
I’d tell them the path isn’t straight or narrow. You’ll need to be self-directed and committed to your practice. But if you’re leading with your heart and if you’re willing to ask for help, doors will open. Community is everything and your people are out there.
You’re going to pay your dues first. You’ll have a lot to learn when you leave MassArt, and that’s okay. Life is learning, so stay curious. Learning how you fit and how you can flip the world upside down is what prepares us to challenge the status quo — it’s what makes us important as artists.
When you think about the future of MassArt, what makes you most excited?
I remember seeing some MassArt students on Project Runway shortly after graduation and thinking about how MassArt turns out some big names in the art world. So I can’t wait to see what future generations of MassArt grads can do and how their work intersects with new art forms and technology.
And I’m excited to see the College embracing a more interdisciplinary curriculum and helping students develop a broader practice. Students are learning about the business side of things and how to support themselves. They’re learning how to create the professional experience that they want while contributing to our ever-changing world. When I visited recently, I noticed a lot of consciousness and connection happening on campus and a very active student body. I’m really hopeful and excited for them.
Any final thoughts?
Art is a lifelong practice, and MassArt instills that in you. MassArt helps you understand your value, know your worthiness to practice what you love, and see yourself as a necessary component of society. MassArt reminds you that creative minds are needed everywhere. You matter.
Learning how you fit and how you can flip the world upside down is what prepares us to challenge the status quo — it’s what makes us important as artists.Cicely Carew ‘05 BFA Painting
Alex Small-Butera sat down for an interview to explain about how he and Lindsay got from here to there, rising in their careers to receive this mark of achievement from Hollywood on their ability as animators, as artists.
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At MassArt, MFA students and alumni uncover their unique curatorial styles through hands-on experiences and courses like Curatorial Practice. Catherine LeComte Lecce’s exhibition, Matrescence, explored the profound and often overlooked transformations of motherhood.
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I'm here for the duration, Painting James Stanley, Associate Professor
Have a Listen to James Stanley
James Everett Stanley is a New England-based painter whose work has been exhibited most recently at Sean Horton Presents, New York (2023); Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York (2023); Provincetown Arts Society, Provincetown (2023); EXPO Chicago (2022); Art Basel Miami Beach (2021); Gaa Gallery, Provincetown (2020); and his work is included in the permanent collection of The Studio Museum in Harlem. A graduate of the MFA program at Columbia University, Stanley is the recipient of fellowships from the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. He is associate professor of painting at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Massachusetts.
Caroline Hu received her PhD in biology from Stanford University and conducted her post-doctoral work at Harvard. Now the visual artist, biologist, and educator has landed her dream job — teaching biology in MassArt’s program of Integrative Sciences and Biological Arts (ISBA). We asked her how she educates art and design students about biology and about the opportunities for comics creators and biologists to work together.
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A free Summer Art Workshop Series at three different libraries came about through a collaboration between MassArt and the state library board, and serves as a pilot for an expanding collaboration.
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The Painting and Fine Arts 2D programs provide students with access to well-equipped painting studios and facilities. Spacious group studio areas, for a cohort of up to 15 students, provide personal workspaces with natural and artificial lighting, easels, and a range of tools necessary for their practice.
Students also have the opportunity to experiment with different painting approaches, styles, and techniques, encouraging them to develop their own artistic voice and personal vision.
MassArt’s Painting Studios in the Kennedy building
As a Painting student, you’re invited to participate in a range of events, both here at the MassArt campus, and throughout Greater Boston. Grow your artistic knowledge and expand your network by attending talks, exhibitions, and career development opportunities alongside peers, faculty, and MassArt alumni.
Each year, the Fine Arts 2D & 3D departments host lectures featuring groundbreaking artists whose work has been recognized in their fields.
Past visiting artists include Matt Bollinger, Ambreen Butt, Walton Ford, Chie Fueki, Michelle Grabner, Josephine Halvorson, Polly Apfelbaum,, Lavaughan Jenkins, Byron Kim, Troy Michie, Sangram Majumdar, Meleko Mokgosi, Daniela Rivera, Duane Slick, and Alexandria Smith.
MassArt’s Painting department offers students a unique learning environment that combines traditional painting instruction with support to gain creative independence and self-directed work within an intensive, collaborative environment.
Unique To MassArt
Painting cohorts of 15 students work in group studio areas, and each student has their own personal workspace within that studio. Classes meet for 10 hours each week, and students regularly spend substantial time in studio work outside of class.
As their studies begin, Painting majors focus on core techniques and skills. Heavy emphasis is placed on drawing, from both observation and imagination. Students work mainly with oil and acrylic painting, in order to explore the main components of the language of painting, such as form, space and light articulation, composition, and color. Students also participate in frequent individual and group critiques to foster independent thinking, the construction of conceptual frameworks, and the ability to discuss and contextualize their practice in meaningful ways.
As students progress, they are introduced to advanced techniques and processes – exploring mixed media, digital drawing, abstraction, and expanded painting, all while being encouraged to experiment and grow as individual artists. Seniors work on self-defined degree projects in painting, and develop a command of both technical and conceptual elements of painting towards the articulation of meaning.
Painting faculty provide guidance, technical instruction, and critique to help students develop their painting skills, artistic vision, and conceptual thinking.
Meet our Faculty
The Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Harvard Art Museums, among other institutions in Boston, act as extensions to our classrooms. With free access, MassArt faculty frequently teach classes on site, studying directly from the most significant works of art in these institutions.
Graduates of MassArt’s Painting program pursue varied careers, as professional independent artists, curators, educators, art dealers and gallerists. They are equipped with the vision, knowledge and skills to navigate the art world and make a meaningful impact on the field of painting and beyond.
Students who complete the Painting BFA program are expected to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes.
