E. JESSIE SHEFRIN

risd connection: Provost; Dean of Graduate Studies, 2005-08

roles at risd: As a member of the Dean’s Council, Jessie Shefrin has worked collaboratively to advance the educational goals of the college and create new interdisciplinary platforms within the graduate curriculum. She has been a strong advocate of strategic initiatives to champion the advancement of teaching and learning across all disciplines and continues to help lay the groundwork for new modes of artistic research by recognizing and supporting the innovative work of faculty and students. As dean of Graduate Studies, Shefrin significantly enhanced the venues for exhibiting and promoting the work of graduate students, advocated for increased financial aid, enhanced the graduate identity at RISD and worked closely with students and faculty alike to create a vibrant graduate community. In 2008 U.S. News and World Report ranked RISD’s graduate programs in Fine Arts #1 in the country.

the road to risd: Prior to accepting her post as Dean at RISD in 2005, Jessie Shefrin was Professor of Print and Digital Media at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University where she taught for 27 years and held a number of administrative roles working with both undergraduate and graduate students. At Alfred she was head of the Foundation Studies Department, the Printmaking Department and the Department of Expanded Media. She co-founded and directed The Institute for Electronic Arts and played a critical role in initiating the Electronic Integrated MFA Program. She is well known for her pioneering work integrating electronic tools and approaches into fine arts curricula. She was the recipient of the prestigious Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, conferred by the State of New York through the State University of New York in Albany, NY.

about her work: Predicated on the movement between situations, events and circumstances, Shefrin’s work explores a sense of “expectancy” — the terrain of the traveler — and looks at how narrative structures are reflected in moving and still images. It incorporates various media and processes, including drawing, large-scale video/sonic installations and wide-format digital prints, and has been widely exhibited throughout the US and abroad.

insights: (1) “If you can restructure information, you can change the way you enter your imagination.” (2) “Digital technology underscores the interrelationships between art, engineering, research and industry. We need to find relevant forms to enable communication based on understanding that the purpose of art is not separate from the purpose of technology.” (3) “When asked his name at Ellis Island, my great-grandfather said his first and middle name, but before he had had a chance to say his last name, his middle name was taken to be his first name and his first name was taken to be his last name. The word locates the voice and becomes a place of flux within the image. We are all foreigners.”

about the artist: Shefrin has been a recipient of The New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Media Grant and served as a panelist for the New York State Foundation for the Arts Artist’s Fellowships in Video. Her work has been exhibited widely in this country and abroad including venues such as: P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Museum of Modern Art affiliate, Long Island City, NY; the European Media Festival, Osnabruck, Germany; The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY; and the BS1 Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China. She received her BFA from Alfred University and her MFA from the University of New Mexico.

Shefrin has been an artist in residence and has lectured throughout the United States and abroad at many institutions including: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Wexner Center, Ohio University, Columbus, OH; Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI; The Banff Center, Banff, Canada; and The Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China. Her work is represented in many collections in the U.S., including The Philadelphia Museum of Art, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM and in the artist book collections of The Whitney Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Brooklyn Museum.