Elaine A. King was awarded a research grant from the Center for Arts in Society to live in New York City for several weeks to conduct research about contemporary art criticism and criteria. The data gathered will serve as preliminary work for a book she is compiling titled, "Taking Positions: Arguing Critical Criteria." Questions being raised include: How can art criticism – that is, writing about works of art – operate in an ever transformative environment that is being influenced by power, art world politics, money, and academic trends? What is the criterion
that influences the judgments of critics, theorists, curators, and artists? How in this digital era are
technology and media arts changing the production, transmission and evaluation of art?

Melissa Ragona, in conjunction with a work by filmmakers Jennifer Montgomery and Peggy Ahwesh, performs "Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms" in the Whitney Biennial at the Park Avenue Armory on Saturday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m. Drawing viewers into an immersive environment, Montgomery, longtime collaborator Ahwesh, and a cast of hired performers (Yvonne Buchanon,
Ben Coonley, Ed Halter, Jeanne Liotta, Melissa Ragona, Judith Rodenbeck, Keith Sanborn, Leslie Thornton, Emily Vey Duke, and Tom Zummer) explore the military origins of the Armory and its
relationship to firearms, alcohol, and tobacco. Showing on small screens throughout the room are films exploring, as the artists state, "luxury, the military, and the aristocracy." Dressed in historical
costumes, performers read contemporaneous texts.

Andy Warhol (A '49) has drawings in a solo exhibit, Strange World, at Paul Kasmin in NYC, February 28 - March 29. Portraits by Warhol will also be on view in Warhol's Jews:
Ten Portraits Reconsidered at The Jewish Museum, NYC, from March 16 - August 3. When it premiered in 1980, Andy Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century was met with both admiration and hostility. The series depicts such luminaries as Bernhardt, Einstein, Freud, and the Marx Brothers, among others. On view are photographs that Warhol used as source images, several preliminary sketches, a preparatory collage, an edition of the final silk-screen portfolio (of which 200 were published), and one of the five complete sets of paintings that he made for the series. Additional materials related to the portraits, including the list of nearly 100 “famous Jews” prepared by Warhol’s dealer, and television coverage of the artist’s trip to Miami for the world premiere of the series, will shed light on their creation and display. http://www.paulkasmingallery.com/, http://ww.thejewishmuseum.org

Joan Kopchik (BFA '63) won the Botanical Illustration Award for a watercolor pencil drawing of Paph. wolterianum, “Art of the Flower”, the annual exhibition at the Sketch Club in Philadelphia, PA. This exhibition runs concurrently with the Philadelphia Flower Show. There were 280 submissions with 71 pieces selected for exhibition.

Susan Schwalb (BFA '65) exhibits in a two-person show, Equilibrium: Susan Schwalb and Nan Tull, at Soprafina Gallery, 450 Harrison St., Boston, MA, through March 29. http://www.soprafina.com

Shellie Jacobson (BFA '66) is a ceramic and book artist who has been teaching and exhibiting for almost thirty years. She is an active member of the Princeton Artists Alliance and the East/West Ceramics Artists Association. She shows this year in the 5th East West Clay Works Exhibition
in Mashiko Japan. Her books are part of the recent EPI traveling exhibition to Costa Rica, Mexico and England. Two of her books will be included in the Lark book series "500 Artists Books". She maintains her ceramic studio and RockBrook Press in Skillman, NJ. http://www.shelliejacobson.com/index.htm

Katherine Morgan's (BFA '67) photo "Twisted" has been juried into the 2008 Biennial International exhibition at Nathan D. Rosen Museum Gallery, a component of the Jewish Community Center of Boca Rato, FL, on view through April 13. Currently on view are 12 of Ms. Morgan's works entitled “ Petals and Pearls”, which are included in the Artful Gardens mini museum gallery 3 woman juried show near Orlando, FL, through March. http://www.kmorganphotos.com

James Welling (BFA '73) presents a solo exhibit at Regen Projects II in Los Angeles, CA, through April 5. http://www.regenprojects.com/

Deborah Kass (BFA '74) exhibits in The Other Half: Women Artists in the Collection at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, FL, through April 13. Her interview with Velvet Park is on YouTube at: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=xi21rfYvrhU, http://www.bocamuseum.org/.

Pat Scull (BFA '75) exhibited this February in American Craft Council National Juried Craft Show in Baltimore, MD; at Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC; Lee Hansley Gallery 15th Anniversary Show, Raleigh, NC; and in Paradise City Arts Festival, April 5-6 at the 33rd Street Armory in Philadelphia, PA. http://www.patscull.com/

Alyce Gottesman (BFA '79) exhibits in Primary: An Exhibition of Drawings at Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ. http://www.wpunj.edu/arts_culture/galleries.html

John Currin (BFA '84) presents a solo exhibit at Sadie Coles HQ in London, UK, April 2 - May 10. http://www.sadiecoles.com/

Boris Bally (BFA '84) exhibits in an international exhibition Glasswear, curated via the Museum of Art & Design, NYC, and Pforzheim Jewelry Academie, opening March 14 at the Scmuckmuseum Pforzheim and travels until 2010. Accompanying the exhibition will be an Illustrated hard-bound catalog published by Arnoldsche, Germany. The Japan Jewelry Art Competition 2008, organized by the Japan Jewelry Designers Association and mediated by Jim Bové, has invited Boris and eleven
other representative US jewelry artists to participate in their major exhibition slated to open in Spring 2008. Boris recently presented "Developing a Hybrid," a lecture on his work at the 2008 SNAG Conference in Savannah, GA.http://www.schmuckmuseum.de,
http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/.docs/pg/10034

Patricia Barefoot's (BFA '87) drawing will be exhibited in Structured Incidents, an A.I.R. national members exhibition curated by Charlotta Kotik at A. I. R. Gallery, in Chelsea, NYC through March 29. http://www.airgallery.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.event&eventid=124

James Thurman (BFA '90) exhibits in Abstracted Landscapes at The Society for Arts and Crafts in Boston, MA, through April 27. http://www.societyofcrafts.org/exhibitgallery.asp

Julie Vinette (BFA '93) exhibits with Ottavio Forte in STRUCTURES: The Real and the Sublime at Belmont Gallery of Art, Town Hall Complex, Homer Municipal Building, MA, from March 21 - April 25. Her next solo show, Influence of Order New Work by Julie Vinette, will be on view from June 5-28 at Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA. http://www.JulieVinette.com

Karen Liebowitz (BFA '97) exhibits this March with Rosamund Felsen (Booth #32) at Pulse Contemporary Art Fair, NYC. Her recent exhibit in Los Angeles, CA, was reviewed by David Pagel in the January 11 Los Angeles Times and by Christopher Miles in the January 25 LA Weekly Review. http://www.pulse-art.com/, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/01/11/calendar/et-galleries11

Mitzi Pederson (BFA '99) exhibits at Nicole Klagsbrun at the Armory Show, NYC, Booth No. 225, March 27-30. http://www.thearmoryshow.com/cgi-local/exhibitor.cgi?e=8

Hyla Willis (MFA '99 & STUDIO) and Faith Wilding (STUDIO) are presenting their project "Out-Rage-Us-Joy" in The Way That We Rhyme: Women, Art & Politics, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, March 29 - June 29.

David Serotkin's (BFA '00) mural-installation, "HOMELAND SECURITY PART 1: HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO," will be on view at The Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery located at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. The installation is part of SU's 2008 MFA Exhibition which runs April 8 - May 11. An opening reception will be held Thursday, April 17 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. David will receive his MFA in Painting at Syracuse University this May. http://www.dserotkinart.cs.net

Bianca Beck (BFA '01) has organized "Repetition," a panel discussion accompanying a screening of Tony Conrad's films. She and Josh Brand created an image/essay introduction for the panel which will be moderated by Matt Keegan (BFA '98) and include Tony Conrad, Ann Craven,
Leslie Hewitt and Haim Steinbach on March 31 at Yale School of Art's Painting Department Building in New Haven, CT. Films will be screened on March 23.

Christine Hardtman (BFA '02) currently lives in Manhattan, NYC, and will be exhibiting her newest graphite and mixed media drawing series at Creative Bubble's Second Acts Exhibition opening April 10, Creative Bubble, 79 Fifth Ave, NYC.

William Kofmehl (BFA '03) exhibits at Lombard-Freid Projects within the Armory Show, NYC, March 27-30.

Christopher Kardambikis (BFA '05) and Jasdeep Khiara (BFA '04) [Encyclopedia Destructica] have just released the "Medieval Carnival Volume Bvmba DIY Addendum", containing drawings and poems by Bum Lee (BFA '03). The DIY version can be downloaded and printed from their site. http://www.encyclopediadestructica.com/medievalcarnival/index.html

Cassandra C. Jones (MFA '04) exhibits in Stretching the Truth, curated by Jennifer Jankauskas at John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, WI, through May 3. She will also be a visiting artist at the Southern Graphics Council Conference with a project residency and lecture at Virginia
Commonwealth University Art Department, March 27-28, 2008.
http://cassandrac.googlepages.com/home

Janine Biunno (BFA '04) earned an MFA in 2007 at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, and will complete the Museum Studies Certificate Program with a concentration in art history this year at Tufts University. She won a student fellowship this year from the Southern Graphics Council. Her recent exhibitions include: A Set of Disconnected Events, a print exchange with SAIC, Cal State Long Beach and SMFA; ?SITE-SEEN,? Aidekman Arts Center, Medford, MA; Rerun: the Relation Between a Symbol and a Symptom, Harold Arts, Chicago, IL; New Prints Program, International Print Center of New York; and North American Print Biennial, 808 Gallery, Boston, MA. http://www.janinebiunno.com

Ryan Murray (BFA '05) will be teaching two summer camps in moviemaking (video) and stop-motion animation through Chicago Filmmakers. He continues in the MFA Program at University of Illinois, Chicago, through next year.

Jessica Vaughn (BHA '06), presented a lecture about her work as part of the Spring 2008 Studio Lecture Series in the School of Art/Design at Columbia College, Chicago, IL, on March 10. http://www.jessvaughn.com

Tiffany Sum (MFA '06) exhibited two works in the 13th Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards Festival, March 13-16. http://www.ifva.com, http://www.hkac.org.hk/ct_lm_tc.html

The 2008 MFA Thesis Exhibition: A Moratorium on Make-Believe opens Friday, March 21, with a reception from 5:00-8:00 p.m. in the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, Purnell Center for the Arts. The thesis exhibition features recent work by 2008 MFA candidates Chris Beauregard, Michelle Fried, Ben Kinsley, Eileen Maxson, John Pena and Ally Reeves. The exhibition will be on view through April 20, with a Grand Tour scheduled for March 26 from 6:30-8:00 p.m.

“What is the restlessness that took us in sailing ships across fathomless oceans? I see that quality in this group. Their unrest moves and motivates them to explore new ideas, new places in the mind, and new possibilities for art. Their practices are diverse, varying from orchestrated spectacles to understated ephemera, from split personalities to discreet objects, and from informal economies to invented mythologies. What links them, however, is a serious playfulness. Unwilling to settle, they thrive in an open-ended practice. The exploration, experiment and inquiry is as important as any resulting artifacts."

- John Carson, Regina Gouger Miller and Marlin Miller Jr. Professor of Art and Head of the School of Art.

For more information visit the Miller Gallery website, http://www.cmu.edu/millergallery
or call 412.268.3618. More information is also posted on the School of Art News & events blog, http://news.art.cfa.cmu.edu.

Michelle Fried (MFA '08) and Chris Beauregard (MFA '08) have been accepted to New Insight, an exhibition featuring graduate work from the top art schools in the nation in conjunction with Art Chicago. Both will be showing recent video work. A reception for alumni and friends of the School of Art will be held on Friday, April 25 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Cliff Dwellers, Chicago, IL. RSVP required. For more information on the reception email artscool@andrew.cmu.edu or check the News & Events blog for updates, http://www.news.art.cfa.cmu.edu, http://www.artchicago.com, http://www.cliff-chicago.com, http://www.michellefried.com.

Jennifer Gooch's (MFA '09) ongoing project One Cold Hand was featured on CNN Headline News "News to Me" (TV) and was the recipient of the School of Computer Science's Smiley Award for "innovation in technology assisted person-to-person communication." http://wwww.onecoldhand.com, http://www.jennifergooch.com

Congratulations to RJ Tripodi (BFA '09) and Ryan Woodring (BFA '09) for being selected by the School of Art faculty to represent Carnegie Mellon in the 2008 Yale Norfolk Summer program competition. It was a very tough decision for the faculty as there was a lot of great work presented, and they would like to thank all the students that participated. We wish them luck as they go on to compete for a spot in the program!

For information on making a gift to the School of Art, please contact: Sara Mahoney, Special Gift Officer: 412-268-9555, email: mahoney@andrew.cmu.edu.