Written by Rachael Dubinsky
Gennifer Leong Alvarado (BFA ‘99) didn’t know what to expect when she moved to Boston to attend MassArt, but she remembers her first day as a transfer student quite clearly. Everyone was sitting in a circle making their introductions and then one person proceeded to get up and do an entire spoken word piece on their name. At that moment, she knew she had found an incredibly unique community of talented creatives.
As a Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) student, Leong Alvarado took a variety of multimedia classes, exposing her to everything from sound to video to installation. She got involved with student groups and produced events across Boston, and even heard the Dalai Lama speak at Harvard. Leong Alvarado credits her time at MassArt with giving her access to all different types of artists and the broad range of careers available in art and design.
After graduation, she moved to New York City and applied for an internship at MTV. A fellow MassArt alumnus, Colin Barton (BFA ‘93), who had presented in one of her SIM classes, saw her resume and instead of an internship, offered her a full-time production assistant position. This serendipitous opportunity, Leong Alvardo recalls, is what laid the foundation for the rest of her career.